The dumpe2fs is a part of the e2fsprogs package. The dumpe2fs command displays the superblock and block group information of the Linux filesystem. It works with the ext2/ext3/ext4/xfs filesystem present on the device.
Syntax to use dumpe2fs command
The syntax for using the dumpe2fs command is as follows:
$ sudo dumpe2fs [option] device
1. Print super block and block group information
The dumpe2fs command without any options displays information of superblock and block groups. You have to specify the device where the filesystem is present.
$ sudo dumpe2fs device
Sample Output:
golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo dumpe2fs /dev/sdc1
dumpe2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
Filesystem volume name: <none>
Last mounted on: <not available>
Filesystem UUID: e349264e-6ae6-4326-89ce-511dd8537e7e
Filesystem magic number: 0xEF53
Filesystem revision #: 1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features: ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype sparse_super large_file
Filesystem flags: signed_directory_hash
...
Group 0: (Blocks 0-32767)
Primary superblock at 0, Group descriptors at 1-1
Reserved GDT blocks at 2-298
Block bitmap at 299 (+299)
Inode bitmap at 300 (+300)
Inode table at 301-802 (+301)
31959 free blocks, 8021 free inodes, 2 directories
Free blocks: 809-32767
Free inodes: 12-8032
Group 1: (Blocks 32768-65535)
Backup superblock at 32768, Group descriptors at 32769-32769
Reserved GDT blocks at 32770-33066
Block bitmap at 33067 (+299)
Inode bitmap at 33068 (+300)
Inode table at 33069-33570 (+301)
31965 free blocks, 8032 free inodes, 0 directories
Free blocks: 33571-65535
Free inodes: 8033-16064
...
2. Print the superblock information only
A superblock is a record of the filesystem's properties, such as its size, block size, inode tables location and size, empty and filled blocks, and block group size.
You can use the -h option to view only the superblock information for the filesystem.
$ sudo dumpe2fs -h /dev/sdc1
Sample Output:
3. Force display a filesystem
The -f option is used to force dumpe2fs to display a filesystem even if there are some filesystem feature flags that dumpe2fs do not understand.
$ sudo dumpe2fs -f /dev/sdc1
Sample Output:
golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo dumpe2fs -f /dev/sdc1
dumpe2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
Filesystem volume name: <none>
Last mounted on: <not available>
Filesystem UUID: e349264e-6ae6-4326-89ce-511dd8537e7e
Filesystem magic number: 0xEF53
Filesystem revision #: 1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features: ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype sparse_super large_file
...
Group 0: (Blocks 0-32767)
Primary superblock at 0, Group descriptors at 1-1
Reserved GDT blocks at 2-298
Block bitmap at 299 (+299)
Inode bitmap at 300 (+300)
Inode table at 301-802 (+301)
31959 free blocks, 8021 free inodes, 2 directories
Free blocks: 809-32767
Free inodes: 12-8032
Group 1: (Blocks 32768-65535)
Backup superblock at 32768, Group descriptors at 32769-32769
Reserved GDT blocks at 32770-33066
Block bitmap at 33067 (+299)
Inode bitmap at 33068 (+300)
Inode table at 33069-33570 (+301)
31965 free blocks, 8032 free inodes, 0 directories
Free blocks: 33571-65535
Free inodes: 8033-16064
...
4. Print information in hexadecimal format
The -x option displays the detailed group information block numbers in hexadecimal format.
$ sudo dumpe2fs -x /dev/sdc1
Sample Output:
golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo dumpe2fs -x /dev/sdc1
dumpe2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
Filesystem volume name: <none>
Last mounted on: <not available>
Filesystem UUID: e349264e-6ae6-4326-89ce-511dd8537e7e
Filesystem magic number: 0xEF53
Filesystem revision #: 1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features: ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype sparse_super large_file
Filesystem flags: signed_directory_hash
...
Group 0: (Blocks 0x0000-0x7fff)
Primary superblock at 0x0000, Group descriptors at 0x0001-0x0001
Reserved GDT blocks at 0x0002-0x012a
Block bitmap at 0x012b (+299)
Inode bitmap at 0x012c (+300)
Inode table at 0x012d-0x0322 (+301)
31959 free blocks, 8021 free inodes, 2 directories
Free blocks: 0x0329-0x7fff
Free inodes: 0x000c-0x1f60
Group 1: (Blocks 0x8000-0xffff)
Backup superblock at 0x8000, Group descriptors at 0x8001-0x8001
Reserved GDT blocks at 0x8002-0x812a
Block bitmap at 0x812b (+299)
Inode bitmap at 0x812c (+300)
Inode table at 0x812d-0x8322 (+301)
31965 free blocks, 8032 free inodes, 0 directories
Free blocks: 0x8323-0xffff
Free inodes: 0x1f61-0x3ec0
...
5. Display bad blocks in filesystem
Bad blocks are parts of a storage device that are completely damaged and are no longer reliable for storing data. You can use -b option view the blocks that are reserved as bad in the filesystem.
$ sudo dumpe2fs -b /dev/sdc1
Sample Output:
golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ sudo dumpe2fs -b /dev/sdc1
dumpe2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
As you can see, no information is displayed on the output. It means there are no bad blocks on the specified device.
6. View all backup superblocks
The following example prints all backup superblocks with group descriptors of a filesystem.
$ sudo dumpe2fs /dev/sdc1 | grep Backup
Sample Output:
7. Display the version of dumpe2fs
The -V option returns the version number of dumpe2fs and exit.
$ dumpe2fs -V
Sample Output:
golinux@ubuntu-PC:~$ dumpe2fs -V
dumpe2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
Using EXT2FS Library version 1.45.5
Conclusion
dumpe2fs is a command-line tool to get useful information on superblock and block groups of the filesystem. You have learned how to use dumpe2fs command with different available options. If you have any questions, let us know in the comment section.
What's Next
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How to create filesystem on a Linux partition or logical volume
Further Reading
