MKDISK(1M)                           SysV                           MKDISK(1M)



NAME
     mkdisk - create disk-device descriptor files

SYNOPSIS
     /etc/mkdisk [-S | -W | -F] [-c number] [-d number] [-l number] [-r]
     devname

DESCRIPTION
     mkdisk creates block and character special device files that describe
     disk devices attached to a node.

     SysV nodes currently support three types of disk-device.  The
     conventional name for each type of disk is as follows:

     Winchester disks   W
     Storage modules    S
     Floppy disks       F

     All disk descriptor files are usually kept in the /dev/dsk directory for
     block disk-device files and the /dev/rdsk directory for raw disk-device
     files. By convention, the names assigned to disk-device files on a SysV
     system include the disk type name as listed above, concatenated with a
     string denoting the drive number and a string denoting the logical volume
     number.  Thus, for example, logical volume 1 of drive 0 of a storage
     module disk is conventionally named /dev/dsk/S0d0s1.  In this case, the
     prefix /dev/dsk is the name of the directory where all block disk
     descriptor files normally reside; S indicates that this is a storage
     module disk; d0 denotes drive number 0, and s1 indicates that this is
     logical volume 1 (logical volumes on a physical drive are numbered from
     1).

     The UNIX operating system distinguishes between block and "raw"
     (character) devices.  Each disk has a block-device interface that makes
     the device byte-addressable.  Raw devices are also available.  Some UNIX
     systems place restrictions on the use of raw-devices (for example, on
     some systems, raw-devices must be read or written 512 bytes at a time).
     No such restrictions currently exist on SysV raw devices; in general, raw
     and block-devices can be used interchangeably on SysV.

     Typically, there is a raw-device descriptor file and a block-device
     descriptor file for each disk on a SysV system.  The raw-device
     descriptor file and the block device descriptor usually have the same
     name, with the block-device descriptor file located in the /dev/dsk
     directory and the raw-device descriptor file located in the /dev/rdsk
     directory.

     If run with no options, mkdisk tries to figure out the disk type and unit
     numbers from the disk descriptor filename you supply, using the naming
     conventions described above.

     You can use mkdisk to create disk descriptor files whose names do not
     follow the conventions described above, by supplying the needed
     information in options.  If an option is explicitly supplied, it
     overrides the information mkdisk deduces from the filename.

OPTIONS
     -S        Disk is a storage module.

     -W        Disk is a Winchester.

     -F        Disk is a floppy disk.

     -c number Controller number.

     -d number Drive number.

     -l number Logical volume number.

     -r        Disk is raw.

EXAMPLE
     /etc/mkdisk /dev/wn1c
                         creates a block-device descriptor file for logical
                         volume 3
                          of drive 1 on the Winchester disk.

DIAGNOSTICS
     The diagnostics are intended to be self-explanatory.

SEE ALSO
     mount(1M), umount(1M)