VDOFORMAT(8)

📦
version 8.3.2.1 · 2 versions
, in centos-stream 10, debian trixie, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

🌸 VDOFORMAT — bestie's guide to formatting a VDO device 🌸

okay so this is vdoformat, section 8 of the System Manager's Manual, and she is that girl when it comes to prepping a device for VDO. grab a snack, we're doing this together 💖

✨ NAME ✨

vdoformat — format a VDO device 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

vdoformat [options...] filename

like, that's it. options, then the file. iconic, lowkey 🦋

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so real talk: vdoformat formats the file named by filename as a VDO device. it's giving low-level device formatting, because that's literally what it is ✨

🚨 heads up bestie: the device will not be formatted if it already contains a VDO, unless the --force flag is used. do not come for me if you forgot the flag, i warned you 💀

and also, vdoformat can modify some of the formatting parameters too. multitasking queen 👑

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • --format — format the block device, even if there is already a VDO formatted thereupon. yes, even then. she said "i'm formatting it anyway" 💅
  • --help — print this help message and exit. the classic. the goat. when in doubt, ask for help 🫶
  • *--logical-size=size* — set the logical (provisioned) size of the VDO device to size. you can tack on a size suffix if you're feeling fancy: K for kilobytes, M for megabytes, G for gigabytes, T for terabytes, or P for petabytes. it's optional, no pressure. but if you don't say anything, the default unit is megabytes ✨
  • *--slab-bits=bits* — set the free space allocator's slab size to 2^bits 4 KB blocks. now bits has to be a value between 13 and 23 (inclusive, bestie, both ends count), which corresponds to a slab size between 32 MB and 32 GB. the default value is 19, which results in a slab size of 2 GB. this allocator manages the space VDO uses to store user data, so she's kind of a big deal 👑

okay so here's the tea on slabs, fr fr: the maximum number of slabs in the system is 8192, so this value determines the maximum physical size of a VDO volume. one slab is the minimum amount by which a VDO volume can be grown. and smaller slabs also increase the potential for parallelism if the device has multiple physical threads. therefore, this value should be set as small as possible, given the eventual maximal size of the volume. tiny slab, big dreams 🌈

  • *--uds-memory-size=gigabytes* — specify the amount of memory, in gigabytes, to devote to the index. accepted options are .25, .5, .75, and all positive integers. yes queen, fractions are allowed, we love a flexible menu 🍓
  • --uds-sparse — specify whether or not to use a sparse index. that's the whole vibe. sparse index: discussed 🌸
  • --verbose — describe what is being formatted and with what parameters. she will narrate her own life, and honestly? we stan a transparent queen 💖
  • --version — show the version of vdoformat. for when you need receipts 📜

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

vdo(8). go read her too, she's the main character of this whole saga 👑

okay that's the whole page bestie!! this little love letter to vdoformat comes to you from Red Hat, dated 2017-09-12, and it lives in the VDOFORMAT(8) corner of the manual universe. now go format something responsibly, no cap 💜✨🦋

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