Book Image

Linux Utilities Cookbook

By : James Kent Lewis
Book Image

Linux Utilities Cookbook

By: James Kent Lewis

Overview of this book

<p>Linux is a stable, reliable and extremely powerful operating system. It has been around for many years, however, most people still don't know what it can do and the ways it is superior to other operating systems. Many people want to get started with Linux for greater control and security, but getting started can be time consuming and complicated. <br /><br />A practical, hands-on guide that provides you with a number of clear step-by-step examples to help you solve many of the questions that crop up when using an operating system you may not be familiar with.</p> <p>Presenting solutions to the most common Linux problems in a clear and concise way, this helpful guide starts with spicing up the terminal sessions by command retrieval and line editing, and shell prompt variables. We will then get to know the different desktops (GUIs) available for Linux systems and which is the best fit for you. We will then explore the world of managing files and directories, connectivity, and what to do when it goes wrong. We will also learn a range of skills, from creating and managing user accounts to securing your system, managing and limiting processes, and letting information flow from one process to another using pipes. Later, we will master disk management, working with scripts and automating tasks quickly, and finally, understand the need for a custom kernel and tips on how to build one.</p> <p><br />Based on the author's extensive experience, there is a section on best practices that every Linux user should be familiar with.</p>
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Linux Utilities Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Using fsck to check the filesystem


In order to check and repair a Linux filesystem, the fsck program is used. In reality, fsck is just a frontend for the filesystem specific checker (similar to mkfs).

The fsck program can be run on different filesystems in parallel to speed up processing. Note that this feature can be disabled on low resource machines.

In general, the syntax for fsck is as follows:

  fsck [-lsAVRTMNP] [-C [fd]] [-t fstype] [filesys...]  [--] [fs-specific-options]

Getting ready

The fsck program if used incorrectly, can corrupt the data currently residing on the partition. So make sure you have taken all the desired backups before proceeding with this command. Once this action has been taken, it cannot be reversed. If you would like to follow these steps, you may first want to practice on a USB stick you don’t care about.

The device must be unmounted before running the command.

How to do it...

Carry out the following steps to check and run a partition:

  1. For this example, I have inserted...