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I have been reviewing various HOWTOs and blog posts about encrypted LUKS volumes formatted with ext3. Every single document specifies mkfs with: -O dir_index,filetype,sparse_super and not one of them explains why.

I have a rough idea what dir_index does. What I am looking for is an explanation of why these three options specifically would be so universally accepted as a good idea for encrypted filesystems.

Thanks.

Mark
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1 Answers1

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the -o flag dictates the 'options' switch.

Flags Item Description

-b Boot Names the program to be installed in block 0 of the new file system.

-i i-Nodes Specifies the initial number of i-nodes on the file system. This flag is ignored when creating a journaled file system.

-l Label Specifies the file system label for the new file system.

-o Options Specifies a comma-separated list of virtual file system implementation-specific options.

https://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/ssw_aix_61/com.ibm.aix.cmds3/mkfs.htm

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    That completely sidesteps the question. I'm not asking what -O does. I'm asking why the options dir_index, filetype, and sparse_super are used so frequently in mkfs examples pertaining to LUKS volumes. – Mark Aug 28 '15 at 19:11