Group: Software/FSDG distributions/Filesystems

Introduction

This article is about filesystems support and might be extended to take into account block device technologies too like LVM,RAID, etc.

Choosing a filesystem

Using the default filesystem currently proposed during the installation of your distribution is a good idea. It makes sure that the filesystem is properly integrated and that the distribution trusts it enough (with data integrity, and security^[1]) to propose it by default.

Known issues and limitations

With NTFS the free software implementation lacks the ability to repair the filesystem without nonfree software, so if you have data in NTFS filesystem it would be a good idea to move it to other filesystems.

ReiserFS 3 will be removed from Linux in 2025.^[2]

Defaults

The defaults filesystems used are often a good indication of what filesystems are best supported by the distribution.

Distribution

Defaults

Comments

Dragora 3.0 beta2

Instal/l method	Boot software	Default filesystem
Graphical installer	BIOS	ext3

In the graphical installer, the "FILE SYSTEM SELECTION" default choice is set to ext3. Beside that there is no defaults for the partitioning.

Dynebolic

Guix

Hyperbola

LibreCMC

Parabola

ProteanOS

PureOS 10 (byzantium)

Install method	Boot software	Partitions
Graphical installer	BIOS	/boot	/
		not encrypted	LUKS
		ext4	ext4

In the graphical installer, encryption is mandatory when selecting "Erase disk", but it can be avoided when using manual partitioning.

Replicant 6.0

Trisquel 10 (nabia)

Ututo S

Filesystems

Distributions

Dragora 3.0 beta2

Dynebolics

Guix i686-linux and x86_64-linux (x86 GNU/Linux)

Guix i586-gnu (HURD)

Hyperbola

LibreCMC

Parabola

ProteanOS

PureOS 10 (byzantium)

Replicant 6.0

Trisquel 11 (aramo)

Ututo S

btrfs

Packages	Yes: tools/btrfs-progs
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Yes

Packages	Yes: btrfs-progs
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	Yes
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: btrfs-progs
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and debootstrap installation^[4]	Yes: btrfs-progs
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

exfat

Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

	Implementation
	kernel	fuse
Packages	Yes: exfatprogs	Yes: exfat-utils

	Implementation
	kernel	fuse
Packages	Yes: exfatprogs	Yes: exfat-utils

	Implementation
	kernel	fuse
Packages	Yes: exfatprogs	Yes: exfat-fuse, exfat-utils
Graphical installer	Yes	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Broken^[5]	No

	Implementation
	kernel	fuse
Internal partitions	No	Yes
Rootfs	No	No
MicroSD card	No	Yes

ext2

Packages	Yes: tools/e2fsprogs
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Yes

Packages	Yes: e2fsprogs
Guix system^[3]
Installer
Rootfs

Packages	Yes: e2fsprogs
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	N/A^[6]
Rootfs	Yes

Packages	Yes: e2fsprogs

ext3

Packages	Yes: tools/e2fsprogs
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Yes

Packages	Yes: e2fsprogs

Packages	Yes: e2fsprogs

ext4

Packages	Yes: tools/e2fsprogs
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Yes

Packages	Yes: e2fsprogs
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	Yes
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: e2fsprogs
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: e2fsprogs
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and debootstrap installation^[4]	Yes: e2fsprogs
Graphical installer	Yes
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Yes

Internal partitions	Yes
Rootfs	Yes
MicroSD card	No^[7]

Packages and debootstrap installation^[4]	Yes: e2fsprogs
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes

f2fs

Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Packages	Yes: f2fs-tools
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	No
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: f2fs-tools
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes

Packages and debootstrap installation^[4]	Yes: f2fs-tools
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Internal partitions	Yes
Rootfs	?
MicroSD card	Yes^[8]

fat

Packages	Yes: tools/dosfstools
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Packages	Yes: dosfstools, mtools
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	Yes
Rootfs	No

Packages	Yes: dosfstools, mtools
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	N/A^[6]
Rootfs	No

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: dosfstools, mtools
Graphical installer
Rootfs	No

Packages	Yes: dosfstools, mtools
Graphical installer	Yes
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Broken^[9]

Internal partitions	Yes
Rootfs	No
MicroSD card	Yes

hfs

Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

No^[10]

No^[11]

No^[12]

Packages	Yes: hfsutils
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

No^[13]

Packages	Yes: hfsutils
Graphical installer	?
Rootfs with the graphical installer	?

hfs+

Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

No^[14]

No^[15]

No^[16]

Packages	Yes: hfsplus
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

No^[17]

Packages	Yes: hfsplus
Graphical installer	?
Rootfs with the graphical installer	?

jfs

Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Packages	Yes: jfsutils
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	Yes
Rootfs	Yes

Packages	Yes: jfsutils

Packages	Yes: jfsutils
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

minix

Packages	Yes: tools/util-linux
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Packages	Yes: util-linux

Packages	Yes: util-linux
Graphical installer	Yes
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Broken^[18]

nilfs2

Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Packages	Yes: nilfs-utils
Guix system^[3]	?
Installer	?
Rootfs	?

Packages	Yes: nilfs-utils

Packages	Yes: nilfs-tools
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

ntfs

Packages	Yes: tools/ntfs-3g
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Packages	Yes: ntfs-3g
Guix system^[3]	?
Installer	Broken^[19]
Rootfs	Broken^[20]

Packages	Yes: ntfs-3g

	Implementation
	kernel	fuse
Packages		Yes: ntfs-3g
Graphical installer	No^[21]	Yes
Rootfs with the graphical installer		Broken^[22]

reiser4

Packages	Yes: tools/reiser4progs
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Kernel	No^[23]
Packages	No
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Kernel	No^[23]
Packages	No
Graphical installer
Rootfs

Kernel	No^[23]
Packages	Yes: reiser4progs
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

reiserfs

Kernel	Until 2025^[2]
Packages	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Kernel	Until 2025^[2]
Packages	No
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Kernel	Until 2025^[2]
Packages	No
Graphical installer
Rootfs

Kernel	Until 2025^[2]
Packages	Yes: reiserfsprogs
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

xfs

Packages	Yes: tools/xfsprogs
Rootfs with the graphical installer	Yes

Packages	Yes: xfsprogs
Guix system^[3]	Yes
Installer	Yes
Rootfs	Yes

Packages	Yes: xfsprogs, xfsdump

Packages	Yes: xfsprogs, xfsdump
Graphical installer	No
Rootfs with the graphical installer	No

Dragora 3.0 beta2

Dynebolics

Guix i686-linux and x86_64-linux (x86 GNU/Linux)

Guix i586-gnu (HURD)

Hyperbola

LibreCMC

Parabola

ProteanOS

PureOS 10 (byzantium)

Replicant 6.0

Trisquel 11 (aramo)

Ututo S

Distributions

Block device layer

Distributions

Dragora

Dynebolics

Guix i686-linux and x86_64-linux (x86 GNU/Linux)

Guix i586-gnu (HURD)

Hyperbola

LibreCMC

Parabola

ProteanOS

PureOS 10 (byzantium)

Replicant 6.0

Trisquel 11 (aramo)

Ututo S

dmraid

LUKS 1

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: cryptsetup
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes

Yes

LUKS 2

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: cryptsetup
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes but requires a /boot as GRUB only has partial LUKS2 support

Yes

mdraid

LVM2

Packages and manual installation^[4]	Yes: lvm2
Graphical installer
Rootfs	Yes

Yes

References

↑ See the Unmaintained filesystems as a threat vector lwn.net article for more details.
↑ ^2.0^2.1^2.2^2.3^2.4 The Linux kernel documentation for the REISERFS_FS option tells that:
Reiserfs is deprecated and scheduled to be removed from the kernel
in 2025. If you are still using it, please migrate to another
filesystem or tell us your usecase for reiserfs.
↑ ^3.00^3.01^3.02^3.03^3.04^3.05^3.06^3.07^3.08^3.09^3.10 This tells if that filesystem can be used in a system.scm system definition.
↑ ^4.00^4.01^4.02^4.03^4.04^4.05^4.06^4.07^4.08^4.09^4.10^4.11 Since users simply run commands manually during the manual installation, they can easily use the (packaged) tools to create new filesystems and add them to /etc/fstab for automatic mounting.
↑ The installation fails with an error.
↑ ^6.0^6.1 There is no HURD installer yet.
↑ After creating the rootfs with mkfs.ext4 from Guix, in Replicant, it says "Corrupted <vendor> SD card" in the notification bar.
↑ We can easily view the card content with "File Manager". It also detects a new MicroSD card when it is just formatted.
↑ The installation fails with an error.
↑ There is no hfsutils package.
↑ There is no hfsutils package.
↑ There is no hfsutils package.
↑ There is no hfsutils repository in the manifest.
↑ There is no hfsprogs package.
↑ There is no hfsprogs package.
↑ There is no hfsprogs package.
↑ There is no hfsprogs repository in the manifest.
↑ The installation fails with an error.
↑ The graphical installer complains about some UUID related issue
↑ In the graphical installer, the installation fails with: "The installer has encountered an unexpected problem. [...]", and we then get a stacktrace. If we manually install with the same system.scm we'd probably get the exact same stacktrace.
↑ Once installed, the rootfs is mounted with FUSE and ntfs-3g.
↑ The installation succeeds, but then sudo and policykit are broken due to wrong permissions. So users can't install any software. It's also a very bad idea to use NTFS since there is at the time of writing no way to safely repair corrupted NTFS filesystems with free software: The only tools we have are in ntfs-3g and they are way too experimental and dangerous so they are probably not shipped by any distribution.
↑ ^23.0^23.1^23.2 According to the reiser 4 wiki, upstream Linux has no reiser4 support.

[1] See the Unmaintained filesystems as a threat vector lwn.net article for more details.

[reiserfs-deprecated-2] 2.0^2.1^2.2^2.3^2.4 The Linux kernel documentation for the REISERFS_FS option tells that:
Reiserfs is deprecated and scheduled to be removed from the kernel
in 2025. If you are still using it, please migrate to another
filesystem or tell us your usecase for reiserfs.

[guix-system-3] 3.00^3.01^3.02^3.03^3.04^3.05^3.06^3.07^3.08^3.09^3.10 This tells if that filesystem can be used in a system.scm system definition.

[manual-installation-4] 4.00^4.01^4.02^4.03^4.04^4.05^4.06^4.07^4.08^4.09^4.10^4.11 Since users simply run commands manually during the manual installation, they can easily use the (packaged) tools to create new filesystems and add them to /etc/fstab for automatic mounting.

[5] The installation fails with an error.

[guix-hurd-installer-6] 6.0^6.1 There is no HURD installer yet.

[7] After creating the rootfs with mkfs.ext4 from Guix, in Replicant, it says "Corrupted <vendor> SD card" in the notification bar.

[8] We can easily view the card content with "File Manager". It also detects a new MicroSD card when it is just formatted.

[9] The installation fails with an error.

[10] There is no hfsutils package.

[11] There is no hfsutils package.

[12] There is no hfsutils package.

[13] There is no hfsutils repository in the manifest.

[14] There is no hfsprogs package.

[15] There is no hfsprogs package.

[16] There is no hfsprogs package.

[17] There is no hfsprogs repository in the manifest.

[18] The installation fails with an error.

[19] The graphical installer complains about some UUID related issue

[20] In the graphical installer, the installation fails with: "The installer has encountered an unexpected problem. [...]", and we then get a stacktrace. If we manually install with the same system.scm we'd probably get the exact same stacktrace.

[21] Once installed, the rootfs is mounted with FUSE and ntfs-3g.

[22] The installation succeeds, but then sudo and policykit are broken due to wrong permissions. So users can't install any software. It's also a very bad idea to use NTFS since there is at the time of writing no way to safely repair corrupted NTFS filesystems with free software: The only tools we have are in ntfs-3g and they are way too experimental and dangerous so they are probably not shipped by any distribution.

[reiser4-not-upstream-23] 23.0^23.1^23.2 According to the reiser 4 wiki, upstream Linux has no reiser4 support.

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Group: Software/FSDG distributions/Filesystems

Contents

Introduction

Choosing a filesystem

Known issues and limitations

Defaults

Filesystems

Block device layer

References

Campaigns

Get Involved