Filesystem checks

TonyW · 1st August 2008, 08:36 PM

I've read about these having to be done every so often. Just exactly what is a filesystem check?

UH-Matt · 1st August 2008, 08:39 PM

Its when the Linux filesystem detects some inconsistancies and wants to run a full scan to ensure the file system has no errors and to maintain integrity, it will repair any inconsistancies it finds.

Often if a server reboots without a correct shut down then when it boots back up it will run an FSCK. Also if a server has been online for more than 100 days without a reboot, it will run one on its next reboot. Finally an FSCK can be required when the server crashes due to any filesystem error which could be a result of data integrity issues.

You can read more here, where it describes it a lot better than I do:

fsck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TonyW · 2nd August 2008, 03:16 PM

Thank you for the explanation. It seems like the filesystem check is similar to chkdsk/scandisk for Windows systems.

UH-Matt · 2nd August 2008, 06:11 PM

Yep exactly the same type of thing.