diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'README')
| -rw-r--r-- | README | 282 |
1 files changed, 282 insertions, 0 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,282 @@ +E2tools is a simple set of GPL'ed utilities to read, write, and +manipulate files in an ext2/ext3 filesystem. These utilities access a +filesystem directly using the ext2fs library. I wrote these tools in order +to copy files into a linux filesystem on a machine that does not have ext2 +support. Of course, they can also be used on a linux machine to read/write +to disk images or floppies without having to mount them or have root +access. + +Supported functionality: + +copy files: e2cp +move files: e2mv +remove files: e2rm +create directory: e2mkdir +create hard links: e2ln +list files/directories: e2ls +output the last part of a file: e2tail + +Requirements: + +e2fsprogs-1.27 or later - http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/ +gcc - e2fsprogs will not compile with some proprietary compilers (ie SCO's) + +If you have questions, comments, patches, or feature requests, just email +them to me. I will do my best to respond in a timely manner. + +Keith Sheffield <sheff@pobox.com> + + +Quickstart Documentation +------------------------ + +In general, to specify a directory or file on an ext2 filesystem for the +e2tools utilities, use the following form: + + filesystem:directory_path + +The filesystem can be an unmounted partition or a regular file that's been +formatted to contain an ext2 filesystem. In general, if a command takes +multiple file names on the command line, if the first one contains an ext2 +file specification, the rest of the files are assumed to be on the same +filesystem until another one is explicitly stated: + +/tmp/boot.img:/tmp/file1 /tmp/file2 /tmp/file3 /tmp/boot2.img:/tmp/file4 + +Files 1-3 are on /tmp/boot.img and the last file is on /tmp/boot2.img + + +e2cp +----- + +This program copies files to/from an e2fs filesystem from/to the machine's +native filesystem. + +Usage: + +e2cp [-0apv][-P mode][-O uid][-G gid][-d dest_dir][-s src_dir][file1..N dest] + +-0 Input lines terminated by a null character +-a Absolute directory names - create directories instead of just copying + into the destination. Only valid for copying into an ext2fs filesystem +-d Destination of files to be copied. May be in the ext2fs filesystem or + the host filesystem. +-G Set the default group to gid. +-O Set the default file owner to uid. +-p Preserve host file attributes (permissions, times, etc.) when copying + files. +-P Set the file permissions (ie 755, 666). +-s The source of the files to be copied. +-v Be verbose. + +A - by itself means to use standard input/output + +Examples: + +Copy a file and use the default permission and ownership of the current user: + +e2cp README.txt /tmp/boot.img:/tmp + +Do the same thing, but keep permissions & ownership: + +e2cp -p README.txt /tmp/boot.img:/tmp + +Dump a file to standard out: + +e2cp /tmp/boot.img:/tmp/README.txt - | wc + +Get a file from standard input and put it on an unmounted partition: + +tar cf - /data/logs|gzip| e2cp - /dev/hdb1:/backup/logs.tar.gz + +Copy the files from one directory and put them under another directory on +an unmounted partition, keeping the original paths, permissions & ownership: + +find /data -type f |tee filelist | e2cp -apv -d /dev/hdb1:/mirror + +Copy files from a directory on an unmounted partition to a local directory +(Note: this does not recreate the directories in the local filesystem, +yet). The list of files are read from standard input: + +e2cp -pv -s /dev/hdb1:/mirror -d /data2 < filelist + +Copy a file to a file system and make the group and ownership root + +e2cp -G 0 -O 0 myfile /tmp/boot.img/boot/rootfile + + +e2mv +---- + +This program moves or renames files on an ext2fs filesystem. + +Usage: + +e2mv [-vfs] source1 [... sourceN] destination + +-f Force the operation to remove any existing files +-s Swap names of the two files +-v Be verbose + +Note: The source files must be explicitly stated. It does not use regular +expressions, yet. + +Examples: + +Rename a file: + +e2cp -v /tmp/boot.img:/boot/grub/grub.conf /boot/grub/grub.conf.old + +If /boot/grub/grub.conf.old already exists and is not a directory, this +will fail. Use -f to force removal. + +Move a file to a different directory (/data/processed): + +e2cp -v /dev/hdb1:/data/input0.txt /data/processed + +To swap the names of two files: + +e2cp -vs /tmp/boot.img:/boot/grub/grub.conf /boot/grub/grub.conf.bk + +To swap two files and use a new name for the first one: + +e2cp -vs boot.img:/boot/grub/grub.conf /boot/grub/grub.c2 /boot/grub/grub.c1 + +/boot/grub/grub.conf is now /boot/grub/grub.c1 +/boot/grub/grub.c2 is now /boot/grub/grub.conf + + +e2rm +---- + +This program removes files and directories on an ext2 filesystem. + +Usage: + +e2rm [-vr] filesystem:filepath ...fileN + +-r Recursively delete files if a directory name is givne +-v Be verbose + +Note: This program expects to have a full ext2 file specification for each +argument. + +Examples: + +Remove a file + +e2rm -v boot.img:/boot/grub/grub.c1 /boot/grub/grub.c2 + +Remove a directory and all the files + +e2rm -r boot.img:/boot/grub + + +e2mkdir +------- + +This program creates a directory on an ext2 filesystem. It behaves similar +to 'mkdir -p'. + + +Usage: + +e2mkdir [-G gid][-O uid][-P mode][-v] filesystem:directory...dirN + +-G Set the default group to gid. +-O Set the default file owner to uid. +-P Set the file permissions (ie 755, 666). +-v Be verbose. + +Note: This program expects to have a full ext2 file specification for each +argument. + +Examples: + +This creates the directory /boot/grub with on boot.img with the current +user and group ids: + +e2mkdir boot.img:/boot/grub + +To override the default ownership and permissions: + +e2mkdir -O 100 -P 700 /dev/hdb1:/data/backup + +e2ln +---- + +This program is used to create hard links on an ext2 filesystem. + +Usage: + +e2ln [-vsf] source destination + +-f Force the operation to remove any existing files +-s Create a symlink +-v Be verbose + +Note: creating symlinks is not operational at this time. + +Examples: + +This will remove /data/process_status if it exists and isn't already a hard +link to /data/info/status. + +e2ln -vf /dev/hdb1:/data/info/status /data/process_status + + +e2ls +---- + +This program is used to list files and directories on an ext2 filesystem. + +Usage: + +e2ls [-acDfilrt][-d dir] file_specification + +-a Show hidden directories +-c Sort by creation time (must include -t when using -l) +-d dir Open the ext2 filesystem specified by dir +-D Show deleted files bracketed with ><. +-f No sorting of the file list +-i Show the inodes (very useful for the -l option) +-l Long listing +-r Reverse the sort order +-t Sort by time + +Note: Files deleted via e2rm sometimes will show up even without the -D +option. It is being investigated. + +Examples: + +e2ls -a boot.img:. +e2ls -l /dev/hdb1:/data + + +e2tail +------ + +This program implements a basic version of the tail command. + +Usage: + +e2tail [-n num_lines][-fF][-s sleep_interval] file + +-n The number of lines to display +-f Output appended data as the file grows. This is inode dependent, so if + the file is renamed, it will keep checking it. +-F Output appended data as the file grows. This is file name dependent, + so if the file is renamed, it will check on any new files with the same + name as the original. This is useful for watching log files that may + be rotated out occasionally. This was requested by a person in the + computer security field for monitoring 'honeypot' type machines. +-s The number of seconds to sleep before checking if the file has grown + while in 'follow' mode. The default is 1. + + +Examples: + +Check /var/log/messages on /dev/sdc1 every 10 seconds + +e2tail -s 10 -F /dev/sdc1:/var/log/messages + |