mke2fs.conf is the configuration file for mke2fs(8). It controls
the default parameters used by mke2fs(8) when it is creating
ext2, ext3, or ext4 file systems.
The mke2fs.conf file uses an INI-style format. Stanzas, or top-
level sections, are delimited by square braces: [ ]. Within each
section, each line defines a relation, which assigns tags to
values, or to a subsection, which contains further relations or
subsections. An example of the INI-style format used by this
configuration file follows below:
[section1]
tag1 = value_a
tag1 = value_b
tag2 = value_c
[section 2]
tag3 = {
subtag1 = subtag_value_a
subtag1 = subtag_value_b
subtag2 = subtag_value_c
}
tag1 = value_d
tag2 = value_e
}
Comments are delimited by a semicolon (';') or a hash ('#')
character at the beginning of the comment, and are terminated by
the end of line character.
Tags and values must be quoted using double quotes if they
contain spaces. Within a quoted string, the standard backslash
interpretations apply: "\n" (for the newline character), "\t"
(for the tab character), "\b" (for the backspace character), and
"\\" (for the backslash character).
Some relations expect a boolean value. The parser is quite
liberal on recognizing ``yes'', '`y'', ``true'', ``t'', ``1'',
``on'', etc. as a boolean true value, and ``no'', ``n'',
``false'', ``nil'', ``0'', ``off'' as a boolean false value.
The following stanzas are used in the mke2fs.conf file. They
will be described in more detail in future sections of this
document.
[options]
Contains relations which influence how mke2fs behaves.
[defaults]
Contains relations which define the default parameters
used by mke2fs(8). In general, these defaults may be
overridden by a definition in the fs_types stanza, or by a
command-line option provided by the user.
[fs_types]
Contains relations which define defaults that should be
used for specific file system and usage types. The file
system type and usage type can be specified explicitly
using the -tand-T options to mke2fs(8), respectively.
[devices]
Contains relations which define defaults for specific
devices.
