disk inconsistency - should 'fsck' always executed with -y ?

[ddm at mclinux.com (Derek Martin)]

On Fri, 2 Feb 2001, Glenn Burkhardt wrote:

> > But running with the -A option will not allow you make changes
> > to the filesystem... if an inconsistency is found, you must run fsck
> > manually.
> > 
> What changes would I like to make?

IOW, it will not prompt you to fix errors that it ordinarily would without
the -A option.  It will only tell you to run fsck manually.


> If my system has a single physical disk, is there any downside to running
> fsck -fy on boot?

Hmmm....  You would need to specify all of your filesystems on the command
line... Generally if the filesystem IS modified, you should reboot
afterward, in order to avoid buffer cache from corrupting the fixed
filesystem and such.  I'm not positive how your system will behave if you
do this since I've never messed with it, but I think if you modify your
start scripts to do what you suggest, they will simply plow on through and
bring the system up after fixing problems, which could result in you
running on a corrupted filesystem.

That seems like a bad idea...

You might want to refer to the Unix System Administrator's Handbook by Evi
Nemeth, et. al., which has a good section that talks about fsck.  It may
have some insight.


-- 
Derek Martin
Senior System Administrator
Mission Critical Linux
martin at MissionCriticalLinux.com 

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