.\" partx.8 --
.\" Copyright 2007 Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>
.\" Copyright 2007 Red Hat, Inc.
.\" Copyright 2010 Davidlohr Bueso <dave@gnu.org>
.\" May be distributed under the GNU General Public License
.TH PARTX 8 "February 2011" "util-linux" "System Administration"
.SH NAME
partx \-
tell the Linux kernel about the presence and numbering of on-disk partitions
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B partx
.RB [ \-a | \-d | \-s ]
.RB [ \-t
.IR TYPE ]
.RB [ \-n
.IR M:N ]
.RI [ \- ]
.I disk

.B partx
.RB [ \-a | \-d | \-s ]
.RB [ \-t
.IR TYPE ]
.I partition
.RI [ disk ]

.SH DESCRIPTION
Given a device or disk-image, \fBpartx\fP tries to parse the partition table and
list its contents.  It optionally adds or removes partitions.

The
.I disk
argument is optional when a 
.I partition 
argument is provided.  To force scanning a partition as if it were a whole disk
(for example to list nested subpartitions), use the argument "-".  For example:

.RS
.br
.B partx \-\-show \- /dev/sda3
.RE

This will see sda3 as a whole-disk rather than a partition.

.B This is not an fdisk program
\-\- adding and removing partitions
does not change the disk, it just tells the kernel
about the presence and numbering of on-disk partitions.

.SH OPTIONS
.IP "\fB\-a, \-\-add\fP"
Add the specified partitions, or read the disk and add all partitions.
.IP "\fB\-b, \-\-bytes\fP"
Print the SIZE column in bytes rather than in human-readable format.
.IP "\fB\-d, \-\-delete\fP"
Delete the specified partitions or all partitions.
.IP "\fB\-g, \-\-noheadings\fP"
Do not print a header line.
.IP "\fB\-l, \-\-list\fP"
List the partitions.  Note that all numbers are in 512-byte sectors.  This output
format is DEPRECATED in favour of \fB\-\-show\fP.  Don't use it in newly written
scripts.
.IP "\fB\-o, \-\-output \fIlist\fP"
Define the output columns to use for \fB\-\-show\fP and  \fB\-\-raw\fP output.
If no output arrangement is specified, then a default set is used.
Use \fB\-\-help\fP to  get list of all supported columns.
.IP "\fB\-r, \-\-raw\fP"
Use the raw output format.
.IP "\fB\-s, \-\-show\fP"
List the partitions.  All numbers (except SIZE) are in 512-byte sectors.  The output
columns can be rearranged with the \fB\-\-output\fP option.
.IP "\fB\-t, \-\-type \fItype\fP"
Specify the partition table type -- aix, bsd, dos, gpt, mac, minix, sgi, solaris_x86,
sun, ultrix or unixware.
.IP "\fB\-n, \-\-nr \fIM:N\fP"
Specify the range of partitions.  For backward compatibility also the format
<M-N> is supported.  The range may contain negative
numbers, for example "--nr :-1" means the last partition, and "--nr -2:-1" means
the last two partitions.  Supported range specifications are:
.RS
.TP
.B <M>
Specifies just one partition (e.g. --nr 3).
.TP
.B <M:>
Specifies lower limit only (e.g. --nr 2:).
.TP
.B <:N>
Specifies upper limit only (e.g. --nr :4).
.TP
.B <M:N>
or
.B <M-N>
Specifies lower and upper limits (e.g. --nr 2:4).
.RE
.SH EXAMPLES
.IP "\fBpartx \-\-show /dev/sdb3\fP"
.IP "\fBpartx \-\-show --nr 3 /dev/sdb\fP"
.IP "\fBpartx \-\-show /dev/sdb3 /dev/sdb\fP"
All three commands list partition 3 of /dev/sdb.
.IP "\fBpartx \-\-show \- /dev/sdb3\fP"
Lists all subpartitions on /dev/sdb3 (the device is used as whole-disk).
.IP "\fBpartx \-o START -g --nr 3 /dev/sdb\fP"
Prints the start sector of partition 5 on /dev/sda without header.
.IP "\fBpartx \-o SECTORS,SIZE /dev/sda5 /dev/sda\fP"
Lists the length in sectors and human-readable size of partition 5 on /dev/sda.
.IP "\fBpartx \-\-add --nr 3:5 /dev/sdd\fP"
Adds all available partitions from 3 to 5 (inclusive) on /dev/sdd.
.IP "\fBpartx \-d --nr :-1 /dev/sdd\fP"
Removes the last partition on /dev/sdd.

.SH SEE ALSO
.BR addpart (8),
.BR delpart (8),
.BR fdisk (8),
.BR parted (8),
.BR partprobe (8)

.SH AUTHORS
.nf
Davidlohr Bueso <dave@gnu.org>
Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>
.fi

The original version was written by Andries E. Brouwer <aeb@cwi.nl>.
.SH AVAILABILITY
The partx command is part of the util-linux package and is available from
ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.