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user784637
Asked: 2011-12-12 15:14:50 +0800 CST

What's the difference between mkfs and mkdosfs?

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I'm trying to put a linux distro .iso on my usb and the instructions suggests using the following command to make a fat32 filesystem:

mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sdc1

Is there a reason this command is to be used instead of mkfs?

gnome

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    mkfs is a command to make a file system, and is a front end for the more specific mkfs.file_type (mkfs.vfat , mkfs.ext4, etc)

    In actuality, mkfs is simply a front-end for the various file system builders (mkfs.fstype) available under Linux. The file system-specific builder is searched for in a number of directories like perhaps /sbin, /sbin/fs, /sbin/fs.d, /etc/fs, /etc (the precise list is defined at compile time but at least contains /sbin and /sbin/fs), and finally in the directories listed in the PATH environment variable. Please see the file system-specific builder manual pages for further details.

    mkfs.vfat is a symbolilc link to mkdosfs

    They are the same

    ls -l /sbin/mkfs.vfat
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 2011-10-29 23:13 /sbin/mkfs.vfat -> mkdosfs

    For additional information see

    man mkfs

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