E2fsprogs

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The correct title of this article is e2fsprogs. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

e2fsprogs

Developer:	Theodore Ts'o
Latest release:	1.39 / May 29, 2006
OS:	Unix-like
Use:	File system utilities
License:	GPL
Website:	http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/

e2fsprogs (sometimes called the e2fs programs) is a set of utilities for maintaining the ext2 and ext3 file systems. Since those file systems are often the default for Linux distributions, it is commonly considered to be essential software.

Included with e2fsprogs are:

e2fsck, a fsck program that checks for and corrects inconsistencies
mke2fs, used for creating ext2 and ext3 file systems
resize2fs, which can expand and shrink ext2 and ext3 file systems
tune2fs, used to modify file system parameters
dumpe2fs, which can be used to take Berkeley dump compatible file system backups
debugfs, used to manually view or modify internal structures of the file system

Many of these utilities are based on the libext2fs library.

Despite what its name might suggest, the e2fsprogs work not only with ext2, but also with ext3, which is based on ext2. Although ext3's journaling capability can reduce the need to use e2fsck, it is sometimes still necessary.

As the userspace companion for the ext2 and ext3 drivers in the Linux kernel, the e2fsprogs are most commonly used with the Linux operating system. However, they have been ported to other systems, such as FreeBSD and Darwin.