xfs_ncheck(8)

✨ NAME ✨

okay so bestie, this is xfs_ncheck (the 8 just means it's a System Manager's Manual page, from the System Manager's Manual 🎀). It's how you go from an inode number to a pathname for XFS. "generate pathnames from i-numbers for XFS" 🦋

💅 SYNOPSIS 💅

xfs_ncheck [ -i ino ] ... [ -f ] [ -s ] [ -l logdev ] device
xfs_ncheck -V

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

ngl this one is kind of iconic. Run xfs_ncheck with no -i arguments and it spits out a list of every inode number and pathname on the filesystem ✨ Anything that's a directory gets a /.. tacked on the end, so you can tell which names are folders 📁 The output is not sorted in any particular order, so don't expect neat alphabetical vibes 🙈

You point it at the filesystem with the device argument, and that should be the disk or volume device the filesystem lives on 💖 Filesystems that are just sitting inside regular files can get checked too, using the -f flag. It's giving flexibility 🧚

👑 OPTIONS 👑

• -f — this one tells xfs_ncheck that the filesystem image is stored in a regular file at device, instead of on a real disk. This can happen if you made an image copy of a filesystem into an ordinary file. (See the mkfs.xfs -d file option.) 💜
• -l logdev — tells it where the filesystem's external log lives 🪵 This only matters for filesystems that actually use an external log. Check out the mkfs.xfs -l option, and read xfs(5) if you want the full tea on the XFS log 🍓
• -s — limits the report to special files and files with setuserid mode. Super useful for spotting security policy violations 🔥
• -i ino — limits the report to only the files whose inode numbers follow. You can give it multiple times to pick out several inode numbers at once 🦋
• -V — prints the version number and exits. Quick and iconic ⭐

🌈 CAVEATS 🌈

💀 Heads up, bestie: if the filesystem is seriously corrupted, or it's super busy and looks corrupt even when it isn't, you might see a message like the one the xfs_db(8) "check" command generates. Don't panic, just know what you're looking at 😭

Also, xfs_ncheck is only useful with XFS filesystems. It's not gonna do anything nice for other filesystem types 🫶

🧚 SEE ALSO 🧚

mkfs.xfs(8), xfs(5).

That's a wrap on xfs_ncheck(8) from the System Manager's Manual 💖 Go forth and slay your inode hunts, periodt 🎀✨💅