partx(8) — Linux manual pages

Linux manual pages	Section 8: Maintenance Commands

Name

partx — tell the Linux kernel about the presence and numbering of on-disk partitions

Synopsis

partx [ −a | −d | −s | −u ] [ −t TYPE ] [ −n M:N ] [−] disk

partx [ −a | −d | −s | −u ] [ −t TYPE ] partition [disk]

DESCRIPTION

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

The disk argument is optional when a 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:

partx −−show − /dev/sda3

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

The partx 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.

OPTIONS

−a, −−add

Add the specified partitions, or read the disk and add all partitions.

−b, −−bytes

Print the SIZE column in bytes rather than in human-readable format.

−d, −−delete

Delete the specified partitions or all partitions.

−u, −−update

Update the specified partitions.

−g, −−noheadings

Do not print a header line.

−h, −−help

Display help text and exit.

−l, −−list

List the partitions. Note that all numbers are in 512-byte sectors. This output format is DEPRECATED in favour of −−show. Do not use it in newly written scripts.

−o, −−output list

Define the output columns to use for −−show and −−raw output. If no output arrangement is specified, then a default set is used. Use −−help to get list of all supported columns. This option cannot be combined with −−add, −−delete or −−list options.

−P, −−pairs

Output using key="value" format.

−n, −−nr M:N

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:

M

Specifies just one partition (e.g. −−nr 3).

M:

Specifies lower limit only (e.g. −−nr 2:).

:N

Specifies upper limit only (e.g. −−nr :4).

M:Nor

M-N

Specifies lower and upper limits (e.g. −−nr 2:4).

−r, −−raw

Use the raw output format.

−s, −−show

List the partitions. All numbers (except SIZE) are in 512-byte sectors. The output columns can be rearranged with the −−output option.

−t, −−type type

Specify the partition table type aix, bsd, dos, gpt, mac, minix, sgi, solaris_x86, sun, ultrix or unixware.

−v, −−verbose

Verbose mode.

EXAMPLES

partx −−show /dev/sdb3
partx −−show --nr 3 /dev/sdb
partx −−show /dev/sdb3 /dev/sdb

All three commands list partition 3 of /dev/sdb.

partx −−show − /dev/sdb3: Lists all subpartitions on /dev/sdb3 (the device is used as whole-disk).
partx −o START -g --nr 5 /dev/sdb: Prints the start sector of partition 5 on /dev/sdb without header.
partx −o SECTORS,SIZE /dev/sda5 /dev/sda: Lists the length in sectors and human-readable size of partition 5 on /dev/sda.
partx −−add --nr 3:5 /dev/sdd: Adds all available partitions from 3 to 5 (inclusive) on /dev/sdd.
partx −d --nr :-1 /dev/sdd: Removes the last partition on /dev/sdd.

AUTHORS

Davidlohr Bueso

Karel Zak

The original version was written by Andries E. Brouwer

ENVIRONMENT

LIBBLKID_DEBUG=0xffff: enables debug output.

AVAILABILITY

The partx command is part of the util-linux package and is available from Linux Kernel Archive

partx.8 --
Copyright 2007 Karel Zak <kzakredhat.com>
Copyright 2007 Red Hat, Inc.
Copyright 2010 Davidlohr Bueso <davegnu.org>
May be distributed under the GNU General Public License