The syntax for the `tune2fs` command in linux

tune2fs [options] device

Here,

[options]: Refers to the various options that you can use to modify specific file system attributes.

device: Specifies the path to the block device representing the file system you want to tune.

Example : tune2fs -c /dev/sda1

Commonly Used Options in the`tune2fs` command in Linux

1. List the file system files using the `-l` option using the tune2fs command

The ‘-l’ option is used with the ‘tune2fs’ command in Linux to display file system information. When using this option, the command can provide a lot of detailed information about the file system, which can be overwhelming. To make it more manageable, you can use the ‘head’ command to display only the first few lines of the output. Here’s an example :

Example:

sudo tune2fs -l /dev/sda | head

2. How to set the label of the drive?

The ‘-L’ option in the ‘tune2fs‘ command is used to change the label (name) of a filesystem on a drive in Linux. Here’s an example of how to use it to set the label of a drive:

Example:

sudo tune2fs -L "New Label" /dev/sda1

To verify that the label of the filesystem has been successfully changed using the ‘-L’ option with the ‘tune2fs’ command, you can use the ‘-l‘ option to display the filesystem information, including the label. Here’s an example of how to do that:

3. How to set the count in a file system?

The ‘-c’ option in the ‘tune2fs’ command is used to set the maximum mount count for the filesystem before it should be checked for errors. Here’s an example of how to use it:

Example:

sudo tune2fs -c 40 /dev/sda1

To check the current maximum mount count setting using the ‘tune2fs’ command, you can use the ‘-l’ option to display the filesystem information and then ‘grep’ for the “Maximum mount count” line. Here’s an example:

sudo tune2fs  -l /dev/sda1 | grep mount

4. How to enable or disable some specific features of file system?

The ‘-O’ option in the ‘tune2fs’ command is indeed a powerful feature that allows you to enable or disable specific filesystem features on an ext2, ext3, or ext4 filesystem. It’s often used for tuning filesystem options. Here’s an example of how to use the ‘-O’ option:

Example:

sudo tune2fs -O dir_index /dev/sda1

5. How to set reserved blocks in file system?

The ‘-r‘ option in the ‘tune2fs’ command is used to set the reserved block percentage for a filesystem. The reserved blocks are space on the filesystem that is reserved for use by the system administrator. They can be useful to ensure that there is always some space available for system maintenance, even if the filesystem becomes full.

Here’s an example of how to use the ‘-r’ option to set the reserved block percentage:

Example:

sudo tune2fs -r 5 /dev/sda1   

To verify whether the reserved block percentage has been successfully set using the ‘-r’ option in the tune2fs command, you can use the ‘-l’ option to display the filesystem information and check the reserved block count. Here’s an example:

Linux, as a versatile and powerful operating system, offers a myriad of command-line tools to manage and manipulate various aspects of the file system. Among these tools, the tune2fs command stands out as a crucial utility for fine-tuning the ext2, ext3, and ext4 file systems. This command empowers Linux administrators to customize file system parameters, making it an indispensable part of the Linux toolkit.