DISKLABEL64(5)

NAME
disklabel64 - 64 bit disk pack label

SYNOPSIS
#include <sys/disklabel64.h>

DESCRIPTION
Each disk or disk pack on a system may contain a 64 bit disk label which provides detailed information the disk and the partitions into which the disk is divided. It should be initialized when the disk is formatted, and may be changed later with the disklabel64(8) program. This information is used by the system disk driver to determine how to program the drive. Additional information is used by the file system in order to locate important file system information. The description of each partition contains an identifier for the partition type (standard file system, swap area, etc.). The file system updates the in-core copy of the label if it contains incomplete information about the file system.

The label is located in byte number 0 where it may be found without any information about the disk geometry. The disk sector containing the label is normally made read-only so that it is not accidentally overwritten by pack-to-pack copies or swap operations; the DIOCWLABEL ioctl(2), which is done as needed by the disklabel64(8) program.

A copy of the in-core label for a disk can be obtained with the DIOCGDINFO64 ioctl(2); this works with a file descriptor for a block or character (“raw”) device for any partition of the disk. The in-core copy of the label is set by the DIOCSDINFO64 ioctl(2). The offset of a partition cannot generally be changed while it is open, nor can it be made smaller while it is open. One exception is that any change is allowed if no label was found on the disk, and the driver was able to construct only a skeletal label without partition information. Finally, the DIOCWDINFO64 ioctl(2) operation sets the in-core label and then updates the on-disk label; there must be an existing label on the disk for this operation to succeed. Thus, the initial label for a disk or disk pack must be installed by writing to the raw disk. All of these operations are normally done using disklabel64(8).

The format of the 64 bit disk label is specified in <sys/disklabel64.h>.

SEE ALSO
disklabel32(5), disktab(5), disklabel64(8)