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Linux how to determine the file system type

Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: September 1, 2006]

All files accessible in a Linux system are arranged in one big tree, the file hierarchy, rooted at /. These files can be spread out over several devices and they can be remote or local file system. Linux supports numerous file system types. For example it supports Ext2,. Ext3, NFS, FA16, FAT32, NTFS,Sysfs, Procfs etc. To determine the file system type or to find out what type of file systems currently mounted you need to use command called mount or df. Type df command as follows:
$ df -TOutput:

Filesystem    Type   1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/hdb1     ext3    19228276  14737848   3513680  81% /
tmpfs        tmpfs      383960         4    383956   1% /dev/shm

df command report filesystem disk space usage and if you pass -T option it will report filesystem type. As you see second command displays file system type (ext3). Type, mount command as follows at shell prompt:
$ mountOutput:

/dev/hdb1 on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/hdb2 on /home type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
usbfs on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
automount(pid3558) on /data type autofs (rw,fd=4,pgrp=3558,minproto=2,maxproto=4)

As you can see, second last column displays the file system type. For example first line [/dev/hdb1 on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)] can be interpreted as follows:

  • /dev/hdb1 : Partition
  • / : File system
  • ext3 : File system type
  • (rw,errors=remount-ro) : Mount options

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Discussion on This FAQ

  1. Peter Flynn Says:

    What is the best procedure for identifying the file system type of unmounted SCSI disks (salvaged from a dead Alpha [Digital Unix 4] system)?

  2. diatoid Says:

    You can try a ‘file -s’ on the device node.

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