.TH FDASD 8 "Apr 2006" "s390-tools"
.SH NAME
fdasd \- partitioning tool.
.SH SYNOPSIS
interactive mode:
.br
     \fBfdasd\fR [-s] [-r] \fIdevice\fR
.br
command line mode:
.br
     \fBfdasd\fR [-s] [-r] {-a[-k|-l \fIvolser\fR]|-i|-p|-c \fIconf_file\fR} 
\fIdevice\fR
.br
help:
.br
     \fBfdasd\fR {-h|-v}
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBfdasd\fR writes a partition table to a cdl (compatible disk layout) 
formatted 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 \fBVOL1\fR volume label, it 
will use it, otherwise it asks to write a new one.
.br

\fBAttention\fR: Careless use of
\fBfdasd\fR can result in loss of data.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
\fB-h\fR or \fB--help\fR
Print usage information, then exit.

.TP
\fB-v\fR or \fB--version\fR 
Print version information, then exit.

.TP
\fB-s\fR or \fB--silent\fR  
Suppress messages in non-interactive mode.

.TP
\fB-r\fR or \fB--verbose\fR  
Provide more verbose output.

.TP
\fB-a\fR or \fB--auto\fR  
Automatically create a partition using the entire disk in non-interactive 
mode.

.TP
\fB-k\fR or \fB--keep_volser\fR
Keeps the volume serial when writing the volume label. 
.br
This is useful, if the volume serial has been written before and should not
be overwritten. This option is only applicable in non-interactive mode.

.TP
\fB-l\fR \fIvolser\fR or \fB--label\fR \fIvolser\fR
Specify the volume serial.
.br
\fIvolser\fR is interpreted as ASCII string and is automatically converted to 
uppercase, padded with blanks and finally converted to EBCDIC to be written
to disk. This option is only applicable in non-interactive mode.
.br

Do not use the following reserved volume serial: SCRTCH, PRIVAT, MIGRAT, 
or Lnnnnn (L with five digit number); These are used as keywords by 
other operating systems (OS/390).
.br

A volume serial is 1 through 6 alphanumeric characters or one of the 
following special characters: $, #, @, %. All other characters are simply 
ignored. 
.br
Try to avoid using special characters in the volume serial. 
This may cause problems accessing a disk by volser. 
In case you really have to use special characters, make sure you are using 
quotes. In addition there is a special handling for the '$' sign. 
Please specify it using '\\$' if necessary.
.br

e.g. -l 'a@b\\$c#' to get A@B$C#
.br

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

.TP
\fB-c\fR \fIconf_file\fR or \fB--config\fR \fIconf_file\fR
Use this option to create multiple partitions according to
specifications in a configuration file, \fIconf_file\fR.
.br
The configuration file contains one line for each partition. The lines
have this format:
.sp
[<first>,<last>,<type>]
.br

where:

.br
<first> and <last> are numbers that specify the first and the last
track of the partition. Instead of a numerical value, you can
specify 'first' for the first possible track on the disk and 'last'
for the last possible track on disk.
.br

<type> is optional and specifies the partition type. <type> can be one
of: native, swap, raid, or lvm.
If omitted, 'native' is used.
.br

The configuration file of the following example specifies three
partitions that use the entire disk:
.sp
[first,1000]
.br
[1001,2000,swap]
.br
[2001,last,lvm]
.br

.TP
\fB-i\fR or \fB--volser\fR 
Print the volume serial, then exit.

.TP
\fB-p\fR or \fB--table\fR 
Print partition table, then exit. 
.br
In combination with the -s option fdasd will display a short version of the 
partition table.

.TP
\fIdevice\fR
This parameter specifies the device to be partitioned:
.sp
	\fB/dev/dasd/\fR\fIxxxx\fR\fB/device\fR
.br

where \fIxxxx\fR is the four-letter devno (device number).
.br

In case your are not using the device file system, please specify:
.sp
	\fB/dev/dasd\fR\fIx\fR
.br

where \fIx\fR is one or more lowercase letter(s) or any other device
node specification configured by udev for kernel 2.6 or higher. 

.SH SEE ALSO
.BR dasdfmt (8)