Ubuntu Manpages

partx

tell the Linux kernel about the presence and numbering of on-disk partitions

partx [-a|-d|-s|-u] [-t TYPE] [-n M:N] [-] disk

partx [-a|-d|-s|-u] [-t TYPE] partition [disk]

Given a device or disk-image, partx tries to parse the partition table and list its contents. It optionally adds or removes partitions.

The disk argument is optional when a partition argument is provided. To force scanning a partition as if it were a whole disk (for example to list nested subpartitions), use the argument "-". For example:


partx --show - /dev/sda3

This will see sda3 as a whole-disk rather than a partition.

This is not an fdisk program -- adding and removing partitions does not change the disk, it just tells the kernel about the presence and numbering of on-disk partitions.

Add the specified partitions, or read the disk and add all partitions.
Print the SIZE column in bytes rather than in human-readable format.
Delete the specified partitions or all partitions.
Update the specified partitions.
Do not print a header line.
List the partitions. Note that all numbers are in 512-byte sectors. This output format is DEPRECATED in favour of --show. Don't use it in newly written scripts.
Define the output columns to use for --show and --raw output. If no output arrangement is specified, then a default set is used. Use --help to get list of all supported columns.
Use the raw output format.
List the partitions. All numbers (except SIZE) are in 512-byte sectors. The output columns can be rearranged with the --output option.
Specify the partition table type -- aix, bsd, dos, gpt, mac, minix, sgi, solaris_x86, sun, ultrix or unixware.
Specify the range of partitions. For backward compatibility also the format <M-N> is supported. The range may contain negative numbers, for example "--nr :-1" means the last partition, and "--nr -2:-1" means the last two partitions. Supported range specifications are:
<M>
Specifies just one partition (e.g. --nr 3).
<M:>
Specifies lower limit only (e.g. --nr 2:).
<:N>
Specifies upper limit only (e.g. --nr :4).
<M:N>
or <M-N> Specifies lower and upper limits (e.g. --nr 2:4).

All three commands list partition 3 of /dev/sdb.
Lists all subpartitions on /dev/sdb3 (the device is used as whole-disk).
Prints the start sector of partition 5 on /dev/sda without header.
Lists the length in sectors and human-readable size of partition 5 on /dev/sda.
Adds all available partitions from 3 to 5 (inclusive) on /dev/sdd.
Removes the last partition on /dev/sdd.

addpart(8), delpart(8), fdisk(8), parted(8), partprobe(8)

Davidlohr Bueso <dave@gnu.org>
Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>

The original version was written by Andries E. Brouwer <aeb@cwi.nl>.

The partx command is part of the util-linux package and is available from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.