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NAME

       e2fsck.conf - Configuration file for e2fsck

DESCRIPTION

       e2fsck.conf  is  the configuration file for e2fsck(8).  It controls the
       default behavior of  e2fsck(8)  while  it  is  checking  ext2  or  ext3
       filesystems.

       The  e2fsck.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).

       The following stanzas are used in the e2fsck.conf file.  They  will  be
       described in more detail in future sections of this document.

       [options]
              This   stanza  contains  general  configuration  parameters  for
              e2fsck's behavior.

       [problems]
              This stanza allows the administrator to reconfigure  how  e2fsck
              handles various filesystem inconsistencies.

       [scratch_files]
              This  stanza  controls  when  e2fsck will attempt to use scratch
              files to reduce the need for memory.

THE [options] STANZA

       The following relations are defined in the [options] stanza.

       allow_cancellation
              If this relation is set to a boolean value of true, then if  the
              user  interrupts  e2fsck  using  ^C,  and  the filesystem is not
              explicitly flagged as containing errors, e2fsck will  exit  with
              an  exit  status  of  0 instead of 32.  This setting defaults to
              false.

       accept_time_fudge
              Unfortunately, due to Windows' unfortunate  design  decision  to
              configure  the  hardware clock to tick localtime, instead of the
              more proper and less error-prone UTC time, many users end up  in
              the  situation  where the system clock is incorrectly set at the
              time when e2fsck is run.

              Historically this was usually due to some  distributions  having
              buggy  init  scripts  and/or  installers  that  didn't correctly
              detect this case and take appropriate countermeasures.  However,
              it's still possible, despite the best efforts of init script and
              installer   authors   to   not   be   able   to   detect    this
              misconfiguration,  usually  due  to  a  buggy  or  misconfigured
              virtualization manager or the installer not having access  to  a
              network  time  server  during  the  installation process.  So by
              default, we allow the superblock times to be fudged by up to  24
              hours.  This can be disabled by setting accept_time_fudge to the
              boolean value of false.  This setting defaults to true.

       broken_system_clock
              The e2fsck(8) program has some hueristics that assume  that  the
              system clock is correct.  In addition, many system programs make
              similar assumptions.  For example, the UUID library  depends  on
              time  not going backwards in order for it to be able to make its
              guarantees about issuing universally unique ID's.  Systems  with
              broken  system clocks, are well, broken.  However, broken system
              clocks, particularly in embedded systems, do exist.  E2fsck will
              attempt  to  use  hueristics to determine if the time can no tbe
              trusted; and to skip time-based checks if this is true.  If this
              boolean  is set to true, then e2fsck will always assume that the
              system clock can not be trusted.

       clear_test_fs_flag
              This boolean relation controls whether  or  not  e2fsck(8)  will
              offer  to  clear  the  test_fs  flag  if  the ext4 filesystem is
              available on the system.  It defaults to true.

       defer_check_on_battery
              This boolean relation  controls  whether  or  not  the  interval
              between  filesystem  checks  (either  based on time or number of
              mounts) should be doubled if the system is running  on  battery.
              This setting defaults to true.

       indexed_dir_slack_percentage
              When   e2fsck(8)   repacks  a  indexed  directory,  reserve  the
              specified percentage of empty space in each leaf nodes so that a
              few  new entries can be added to the directory without splitting
              leaf nodes, so that the average fill ratio of directories can be
              maintained  at  a  higher,  more efficient level.  This relation
              defaults to 20 percent.

THE [problems] STANZA

       Each tag in the [problems] stanza names a problem code specified with a
       leading  "0x"  followed  by  six hex digits.  The value of the tag is a
       subsection where the relations in that subsection override the  default
       treatment of that particular problem code.

       Note  that  inappropriate  settings  in this stanza may cause e2fsck to
       behave incorrectly, or even crash.  Most system  administrators  should
       not be making changes to this section without referring to source code.

       Within each problem code's subsection, the following tags may be used:

       description
              This relation allows the message  which  is  printed  when  this
              filesystem inconsistency is detected to be overridden.

       preen_ok
              This boolean relation overrides the default behavior controlling
              whether this filesystem problem should  be  automatically  fixed
              when e2fsck is running in preen mode.

       no_ok  This boolean relation overrides the default behavior determining
              whether or not the filesystem will be marked as inconsistent  if
              the user declines to fix the reported problem.

       no_default
              This  boolean  relation overrides whether the default answer for
              this problem (or question) should be "no".

       preen_nomessage
              This boolean relation overrides the default behavior controlling
              whether  or  not  the  description  for  this filesystem problem
              should be suppressed when e2fsck is running in preen mode.

       no_nomsg
              This boolean relation overrides the default behavior controlling
              whether  or  not  the  description  for  this filesystem problem
              should be suppressed when e2fsck is run with the -n option.

THE [scratch_files] STANZA

       The following relations are defined in the [scratch_files] stanza.

       directory
              If the directory named by this relation exists and is writeable,
              then  e2fsck will attempt to use this directory to store scratch
              files instead of using in-memory data structures.

       numdirs_threshold
              If this relation is set, then in-memory data structures be  used
              if  the  number  of directories in the filesystem are fewer than
              amount specified.

       dirinfo
              This relation controls whether or not the scratch file directory
              is  used  instead  of  an in-memory data structure for directory
              information.  It defaults to true.

       icount This relation controls whether or not the scratch file directory
              is  used  instead  of  an in-memory data structure when tracking
              inode counts.  It defaults to true.

EXAMPLES

       The following recipe will prevent e2fsck from aborting during the  boot
       process when a filesystem contains orphaned files.  (Of course, this is
       not always a good idea, since critical files that are  needed  for  the
       security  of  the  system  could  potentially end up in lost+found, and
       starting the system without first having a system  administrator  check
       things out may be dangerous.)

            [problems]
                 0x040002 = {
                      preen_ok = true
                      description = "@u @i %i.  "
                 }

FILES

       /etc/e2fsck.conf
              The configuration file for e2fsck(8).

SEE ALSO

       e2fsck(8)