FDASD(8)						 FDASD(8)



NAME
       fdasd - partitioning tool.

SYNOPSIS
       fdasd [-vh?sa] [-l volser] [-c conf_file] device

DESCRIPTION
       fdasd writes a partition table to a DASD, in the form of a
       VTOC (volume table of contents) for usage with  Linux  for
       S/390  or  zSeries.  If	fdasd detects a valid VOL1 volume
       label, it will use it, otherwise it asks to  write  a  new
       one.   WARNING: Careless usage of fdasd can result in LOSS
       OF DATA.


OPTIONS
       -h or --help
	      Print usage and exit.


       -? or --help
	      Print usage and exit.


       -v or --version
	      Print version number and exit.


       -s or --silent
	      Suppresses messages in non-interactive mode.


       --verbose
	      Gives some more messages than usual.


       -a or --auto
	      Auto-create one partition using the whole  disk  in
	      non-interactive mode.


       -l volser or --label volser
	      Specify  the volume serial number or volume identi
	      fier to be written to disk in case fdasd detects an
	      invalid  volume  label.  volser  is  interpreted as
	      ASCII string  and  is  automatically  converted  to
	      uppercase and then to EBCDIC.

	      e.g. -l LNX001

	      The  volser  identifies by serial number the volume
	      on which the partition resides or  will  reside.	A
	      volume  serial  number is 1 through 6 alphanumeric,
	      national ($, #, @), or special characters;  enclose
	      a  serial  number that contains special characters,
	      other than hyphens, in apostrophes. If  the  number
	      is  shorter  than six characters, it is padded with
	      trailing blanks.

	      Do not code a volume serial number as SCRTCH,  PRI
	      VAT,  or	Lnnnnn	(L  with five numbers); these are
	      used in OS/390 messages  to  ask	the  operator  to
	      mount  a volume. Do not code a volume serial number
	      as MIGRAT, which is used by the OS/390 Hierarchical
	      Storage Manager DFSMShsm for migrated data sets.

	      Omitting	this parameter causes fdasd to ask for it
	      in case it is needed.


       -c conf_file or --config conf_file
	      This option enables you to  create  several  parti
	      tions,  controlled  by the plain text configuration
	      file conf_file.

	      Using this option fdasd automatically  switches  in
	      non-interactive mode and creates all the partitions
	      specified in conf_file.

	      conf_file contains the following line for each par
	      tition you want to create:

	      [x,y]

	      where  x is the keyword first, for the first possi
	      ble track on disk, or a  track  number.  And  y  is
	      either  the  keyword  last,  for	the last possible
	      track on disk, or also a track number.

	      Following is an example of  a  config  file,  which
	      enables you to create three partitions:

	      [first,1000]
	      [1001,2000]
	      [2001,last]


       device This  parameter  specifies  the device to be parti
	      tioned:

		   /dev/dasd/xxxx/device

	      where xxxx is the four-letter  devno  (device  num
	      ber).

	      In  case your are not using the device file system,
	      please specify:

		   /dev/dasdx

	      where x is one or more lowercase letter(s).




BUGS
       None so far ;-)


SEE ALSO
       "LINUX for S/390 Device Drivers and Installation Commands"
       at http://www10.software.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/linux390/docu/l390dd08.pdf


AUTHOR
       This man-page was written by Volker Sameske <sameske@de.ibm.com>















			 Tue Jul 03 2001		 FDASD(8)