mkfs.xfs

creates an XFS filesystem on a partition or device

TLDR

Create XFS filesystem on partition

$ sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/sdXY

Create with volume label

$ sudo mkfs.xfs -L mylabel /dev/sdXY

Force creation (overwrite existing)

$ sudo mkfs.xfs -f /dev/sdXY

Set block size

$ sudo mkfs.xfs -b size=4096 /dev/sdXY

Create with specific inode size

$ sudo mkfs.xfs -i size=512 /dev/sdXY

SYNOPSIS

mkfs.xfs [options] device

DESCRIPTION

mkfs.xfs creates an XFS filesystem on a partition or device. XFS is a high-performance journaling filesystem designed for scalability and parallel I/O operations.

PARAMETERS

-L LABEL

Set the filesystem label (max 12 characters)

-f

Force overwrite of existing filesystem

-b size=N

Set block size in bytes (512-65536, default usually 4096)

-i size=N

Set inode size in bytes

-d options

Data section options (agcount, file, name, size, etc.)

-l options

Log section options (internal, size, version, etc.)

-n options

Naming options (size, version, etc.)

-r options

Real-time section options

-q

Quiet mode; suppress output

-N

Dry run; print parameters without creating filesystem

INSTALL

sudo apt install xfsprogs

sudo dnf install xfsprogs

sudo pacman -S xfsprogs

sudo apk add xfsprogs

sudo zypper install xfsprogs

nix profile install nixpkgs#xfsprogs

CAVEATS

Creating a filesystem destroys all existing data on the device. The device should not be mounted. XFS cannot be shrunk, only grown.

HISTORY

mkfs.xfs is part of xfsprogs, the XFS filesystem utilities. XFS was originally developed by Silicon Graphics for IRIX and was ported to Linux in 2001.