NAME

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

SYNOPSIS

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

DESCRIPTION

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.

The partx 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.

OPTIONS

-a, --add: Add the specified partitions, or read the disk and add all partitions.
-b, --bytes: Print the SIZE column in bytes rather than in human-readable format.
-d, --delete: Delete the specified partitions or all partitions.
-u, --update: Update the specified partitions.
-g, --noheadings: Do not print a header line.
-h, --help: Print a help text and exit.
-l, --list: List the partitions. Note that all numbers are in 512-byte sectors. This output format is DEPRECATED in favour of --show. Do not use it in newly written scripts.
-o, --output list: 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. This option cannot be combined with --add, --delete or --list options.
-P, --pairs: Output using key="value" format.
-n, --nr M:N: 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).

-r, --raw: Use the raw output format.
-s, --show: List the partitions. All numbers (except SIZE) are in 512-byte sectors. The output columns can be rearranged with the --output option.
-t, --type type: Specify the partition table type aix, bsd, dos, gpt, mac, minix, sgi, solaris_x86, sun, ultrix or unixware.
-v, --verbose: Verbose mode.

EXAMPLES

partx --show /dev/sdb3
partx --show --nr 3 /dev/sdb
partx --show /dev/sdb3 /dev/sdb: All three commands list partition 3 of /dev/sdb.
partx --show - /dev/sdb3: Lists all subpartitions on /dev/sdb3 (the device is used as whole-disk).
partx -o START -g --nr 5 /dev/sdb: Prints the start sector of partition 5 on /dev/sdb without header.
partx -o SECTORS,SIZE /dev/sda5 /dev/sda: Lists the length in sectors and human-readable size of partition 5 on /dev/sda.
partx --add --nr 3:5 /dev/sdd: Adds all available partitions from 3 to 5 (inclusive) on /dev/sdd.
partx -d --nr :-1 /dev/sdd: Removes the last partition on /dev/sdd.

AUTHORS

Davidlohr Bueso
Karel Zak

The original version was written by Andries E. Brouwer.

ENVIRONMENT

LIBBLKID_DEBUG=0xffff: enables debug output.

AVAILABILITY

The partx command is part of the util-linux package and is available from Linux Kernel Archive.