Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Superblock (file system)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
In computer file systems, a superblock is a critical metadata structure that contains information about the file system's layout, size, and status. It is used by the operating system to understand and manage the file system stored on a storage device. Without a valid superblock, the file system cannot be correctly mounted or interpreted. Usually multiple copies of the superblock are kept on the volume.[1]
Remove ads
Overview
The superblock stores global information about the file system, such as:
- File system size and block size
- Number of allocation groups
- Metadata locations
- File system UUID and label
- Journal configuration (if applicable)
- Supported features and format version
While the specific structure of a superblock varies between file systems, its role as the "header" of the file system remains consistent.
XFS superblock structure
In XFS, the superblock is located at a well-known offset at the beginning of the file system (usually block 0 of AG 0), and additional copies exist at the start of each Allocation Group (AG).
The XFS superblock includes fields such as:
magicnum
: Magic number identifying XFSblocksize
: Block size in bytesdblocks
: Total number of data blocksagcount
: Number of allocation groupsuuid
: File system UUIDlogstart
: Start block of the journal (log) if internal
This structure is fixed-size and versioned, ensuring compatibility and upgrade paths across kernel versions.
Remove ads
Location and redundancy
XFS divides its storage into multiple allocation groups for parallelism and scalability. Each AG contains its own copy of the superblock. This design provides redundancy and allows for localized metadata operations, improving performance on large systems.
Corruption in the primary AG's superblock can sometimes be recovered by referencing the superblock from a different AG. Tools like xfs_repair
and xfs_db
assist in verifying or rebuilding the superblock when issues are detected.
Mounting and recovery
When an XFS file system is mounted, the superblock is read to determine critical parameters such as block size, journaling state, and AG structure. If the superblock is unreadable, the mount operation will fail.
The tool xfs_repair
can attempt to reconstruct a damaged superblock using redundant copies:
xfs_repair /dev/sdX
Advanced recovery and analysis can be performed using xfs_db
:
xfs_db /dev/sdX xfs_db> sb 0 xfs_db> p
These tools help inspect or rebuild specific superblocks in alternate AGs.
Remove ads
Other file systems with superblocks
- ext2, ext3, ext4[2] – Redundant superblocks in fixed block groups
- UFS (Unix File System) – Single primary superblock with backups
See also
References
Sources
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads