# sfdisk

## NAME



           sfdisk - display or manipulate a disk partition table
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **sfdisk**[options] _device_ [**-N** _partition-number_]
    
           **sfdisk**[options] _command_
    


## DESCRIPTION



           **sfdisk** is a script-oriented tool for partitioning any block
           device. It runs in interactive mode if executed on a terminal
           (stdin refers to a terminal).
    
           Since version 2.26 **sfdisk** supports MBR (DOS), GPT, SUN and SGI
           disk labels, but no longer provides any functionality for CHS
           (Cylinder-Head-Sector) addressing. CHS has never been important
           for Linux, and this addressing concept does not make any sense for
           new devices.
    
           **sfdisk** protects the first disk sector when create a new disk
           label. The option **--wipe always** disables this protection. Note
           that fdisk(8) and cfdisk(8) completely erase this area by default.
    
           **sfdisk**(since version 2.26) **aligns the start and end of partitions**
           to block-device I/O limits when relative sizes are specified, when
           the default values are used or when multiplicative suffixes (e.g.,
           MiB) are used for sizes. It is possible that partition size will
           be optimized (reduced or enlarged) due to alignment if the start
           offset is specified exactly in sectors and partition size relative
           or by multiplicative suffixes.
    
           The recommended way is not to specify start offsets at all and
           specify partition size in MiB, GiB (or so). In this case **sfdisk**
           aligns all partitions to block-device I/O limits (or when I/O
           limits are too small then to megabyte boundary to keep disk layout
           portable). If this default behaviour is unwanted (usually for very
           small partitions) then specify offsets and sizes in sectors. In
           this case **sfdisk** entirely follows specified numbers without any
           optimization.
    
           **sfdisk** does not create the standard system partitions for SGI and
           SUN disk labels like fdisk(8) does. It is necessary to explicitly
           create all partitions including whole-disk system partitions.
    
           **sfdisk** uses **BLKRRPART**(reread partition table) ioctl to make sure
           that the device is not used by system or other tools (see also
           **--no-reread**). It’s possible that this feature or another **sfdisk**
           activity races with systemd-udevd(8). The recommended way how to
           avoid possible collisions is to use **--lock** option. The exclusive
           lock will cause **systemd-udevd** to skip the event handling on the
           device.
    
           The **sfdisk** prompt is only a hint for users and a displayed
           partition number does not mean that the same partition table entry
           will be created (if **-N** not specified), especially for tables with
           gaps.
    


## COMMANDS



           The commands are mutually exclusive.
    
           [**-N** _partition-number_] _device_
               The default **sfdisk** command is to read the specification for
               the desired partitioning of _device_ from standard input, and
               then create a partition table according to the specification.
               See below for the description of the input format. If standard
               input is a terminal, then **sfdisk** starts an interactive
               session.
    
               If the option **-N** is specified, then the changes are applied to
               the partition addressed by _partition-number_. The unspecified
               fields of the partition are not modified.
    
               Note that it’s possible to address an unused partition with
               **-N**. For example, an MBR always contains 4 partitions, but the
               number of used partitions may be smaller. In this case **sfdisk**
               follows the default values from the partition table and does
               not use built-in defaults for the unused partition given with
               **-N**. See also **--append**.
    
           **-A** , **--activate** _device_ [_partition-number_...]
               Switch on the bootable flag for the specified partitions and
               switch off the bootable flag on all unspecified partitions.
               The special placeholder '-' may be used instead of the
               partition numbers to switch off the bootable flag on all
               partitions.
    
               The activation command is supported for MBR and PMBR only. If
               a GPT label is detected, then **sfdisk** prints warning and
               automatically enters PMBR.
    
               If no _partition-number_ is specified, then list the partitions
               with an enabled flag.
    
           **--backup-pt-sectors** _device_
               Back up the current partition table sectors in binary format
               and exit. See the **BACKING UP THE PARTITION TABLE** section.
    
           **--delete** _device_ [_partition-number_...]
               Delete all or the specified partitions.
    
           **-d** , **--dump** _device_
               Dump the partitions of a device in a format that is usable as
               input to **sfdisk**. See the **BACKING UP THE PARTITION TABLE**
               section.
    
           **-g** , **--show-geometry**[_device_...]
               List the geometry of all or the specified devices. For
               backward compatibility the deprecated option
               **--show-pt-geometry** have the same meaning as this one.
    
           **-J** , **--json** _device_
               Dump the partitions of a device in JSON format. Note that
               **sfdisk** is not able to use JSON as input format.
    
           **-l** , **--list**[_device_...]
               List the partitions of all or the specified devices. This
               command can be used together with **--verify**.
    
           **-F** , **--list-free**[_device_...]
               List the free unpartitioned areas on all or the specified
               devices.
    
           **--part-attrs** _device partition-number_ [_attributes_]
               Change the GPT partition attribute bits. If _attributes_ is not
               specified, then print the current partition settings. The
               _attributes_ argument is a comma- or space-delimited list of
               bits numbers or bit names. For example, the string
               "RequiredPartition,50,51" sets three bits. The currently
               supported attribute bits are:
    
               **Bit 0 (RequiredPartition)**
                   If this bit is set, the partition is required for the
                   platform to function. The creator of the partition
                   indicates that deletion or modification of the contents
                   can result in loss of platform features or failure for the
                   platform to boot or operate. The system cannot function
                   normally if this partition is removed, and it should be
                   considered part of the hardware of the system.
    
               **Bit 1 (NoBlockIOProtocol)**
                   EFI firmware should ignore the content of the partition
                   and not try to read from it.
    
               **Bit 2 (LegacyBIOSBootable)**
                   The partition may be bootable by legacy BIOS firmware.
    
               **Bits 3-47**
                   Undefined and must be zero. Reserved for expansion by
                   future versions of the UEFI specification.
    
               **Bits 48-63**
                   Reserved for GUID specific use. The use of these bits will
                   vary depending on the partition type. For example
                   Microsoft uses bit 60 to indicate read-only, 61 for shadow
                   copy of another partition, 62 for hidden partitions and 63
                   to disable automount.
    
           **--part-label** _device partition-number_ [_label_]
               Change the GPT partition name (label). If _label_ is not
               specified, then print the current partition label.
    
           **--part-type** _device partition-number_ [_type_]
               Change the partition type. If _type_ is not specified, then
               print the current partition type.
    
               The _type_ argument is hexadecimal for MBR, GUID for GPT, type
               alias (e.g. "linux") or type shortcut (e.g. 'L'). For backward
               compatibility the options **-c** and **--id** have the same meaning as
               this one.
    
           **--part-uuid** _device partition-number_ [_uuid_]
               Change the GPT partition UUID. If _uuid_ is not specified, then
               print the current partition UUID.
    
           **--disk-id** _device_ [_id_]
               Change the disk identifier. If _id_ is not specified, then print
               the current identifier. The identifier is UUID for GPT or
               unsigned integer for MBR.
    
           **--discard-free** _device_
               Discard any unused (unpartitioned) sectors on the device. Use
               the **--list-free** option to get a list of the free regions. See
               also blkdiscard(8).
    
                   **Warning**
    
                   All data in the discarded regions on the device will be
                   lost! Do not use this option if you are unsure.
    
               Note that the 'T' command in **fdisk** provides a dialog to
               specify which unused area should be discarded. However, **sfdisk**
               always discards all unpartitioned regions (except for the
               areas where it is not possible to create partitions, such as
               the beginning of the device).
    
           **-r** , **--reorder** _device_
               Renumber the partitions, ordering them by their start offset.
    
           **-s** , **--show-size**[_device_...]
               List the sizes of all or the specified devices in units of
               1024 byte size. This command is DEPRECATED in favour of
               blockdev(8).
    
           **-T** , **--list-types**
               Print all supported types for the current disk label or the
               label specified by **--label**.
    
           **-V** , **--verify**[_device_...]
               Test whether the partition table and partitions seem correct.
    
           **--relocate** _oper device_
               Relocate partition table header. This command is currently
               supported for GPT header only. The argument _oper_ can be:
    
               **gpt-bak-std**
                   Move GPT backup header to the standard location at the end
                   of the device.
    
               **gpt-bak-mini**
                   Move GPT backup header behind the last partition. Note
                   that UEFI standard requires the backup header at the end
                   of the device and partitioning tools can automatically
                   relocate the header to follow the standard.
    


## OPTIONS



           **-a** , **--append**
               Don’t create a new partition table, but only append the
               specified partitions.
    
               Note that in this case an unused partition may be re-used even
               though it is not the last partition in the partition table.
               See also **-N** for addressing a specific entry in the partition
               table.
    
           **-b** , **--backup**
               Back up the current partition table sectors before starting
               the partitioning. The default backup file name is
               _~/sfdisk- <device>-<offset>.bak_; to use another name see option
               **-O** , **--backup-file**. See section **BACKING UP THE PARTITION TABLE**
               for more details.
    
           **--color**[**=**_when_]
               Colorize the output. The optional argument _when_ can be **auto** ,
               **never** or **always**. If the _when_ argument is omitted, it defaults
               to **auto**. The colors can be disabled; for the current built-in
               default see the **--help** output. See also the **COLORS** section.
    
           **-f** , **--force**
               Disable all consistency checking.
    
           **--Linux**
               Deprecated and ignored option. Partitioning that is compatible
               with Linux (and other modern operating systems) is the
               default.
    
           **--lock**[**=**_mode_]
               Use an exclusive BSD lock for the device or file that is
               operated upon. The optional argument _mode_ can be **yes**(**1**), **no**
               (**0**), or **nonblock**. If the _mode_ argument is omitted, it defaults
               to **yes**. This option overrides the environment variable
               **$LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE**. The default is to not use any lock at all,
               but using a lock is recommended to avoid collisions with
               systemd-udevd(8) or other tools.
    
           **-n** , **--no-act**
               Do everything except writing to the device.
    
           **--no-reread**
               Do not check through the re-read-partition-table ioctl whether
               the device is in use.
    
           **--no-tell-kernel**
               Don’t tell the kernel about partition changes. This option is
               recommended together with **--no-reread** to modify a partition on
               used disk. The modified partition should not be used (e.g.,
               mounted).
    
           **-O** , **--backup-file** _path_
               Override the default backup file name. Note that the device
               name and offset are always appended to the file name.
    
           **--move-data**[**=**_path_]
               Move data after partition relocation, for example when moving
               the beginning of a partition to another place on the disk. The
               size of the partition has to remain the same, the new and old
               location may overlap. This option requires option **-N** in order
               to be processed on one specific partition only.
    
               The optional _path_ specifies log file name. The log file
               contains information about all read/write operations on the
               partition data. The word "@default" as a _path_ forces **sfdisk** to
               use _~/sfdisk- <devname>.move_ for the log. The log is optional
               since v2.35.
    
               Note that this operation is risky and not atomic. **Don’t forget**
               **to backup your data!**
    
               See also **--move-use-fsync**.
    
               In the example below, the first command creates a 100MiB free
               area before the first partition and moves the data it contains
               (e.g., a filesystem), the next command creates a new partition
               from the free space (at offset 2048), and the last command
               reorders partitions to match disk order (the original sdc1
               will become sdc2).
    
                  **echo '+100M,' | sfdisk --move-data /dev/sdc -N 1**
    
                  **echo '2048,' | sfdisk /dev/sdc --append**
    
                  **sfdisk /dev/sdc --reorder**
    
           **--move-use-fsync**
               Use the fsync(2) system call after each write when moving data
               to a new location by **--move-data**.
    
           **-o** , **--output** _list_
               Specify which output columns to print. Use **--help** to get a
               list of all supported columns.
    
               The default list of columns may be extended if _list_ is
               specified in the format _+list_ (e.g., **-o +UUID**).
    
           **-q** , **--quiet**
               Suppress extra info messages.
    
           **--sector-size** _sectorsize_
               Specify the sector size of the disk. Valid values are 512,
               1024, 2048, and 4096. The kernel is aware of the sector size
               for regular block devices. Use this option only on very old
               kernels, when working with disk images, or to override the
               kernel’s default sector size. Since util-linux-2.17, **fdisk**
               distinguishes between logical and physical sector size. This
               option changes both sector sizes to the specified _sectorsize_.
    
           **-u** , **--unit S**
               Deprecated option. Only the sector unit is supported. This
               option is not supported when using the **--show-size** command.
    
           **-X** , **--label** _type_
               Specify the disk-label type (e.g., **dos** , **gpt** , ...). If this
               option is not given, then **sfdisk** defaults to the type of the
               existing label, but if there is no label on the device yet,
               then the type defaults to **dos**. This default may be overridden
               by the "label: <name>" script-header line. The option **--label**
               does not force **sfdisk** to create an empty disk label (see the
               **EMPTY DISK LABEL** section below).
    
           **-Y** , **--label-nested** _type_
               Force editing of a nested disk label. The primary disk label
               has to exist already. This option allows editing for example a
               hybrid/protective MBR on devices with GPT.
    
           **-w** , **--wipe** _when_
               Wipe filesystem, RAID and partition-table signatures from the
               device, in order to avoid possible collisions. The argument
               _when_ can be **auto** , **never** or **always**. When this option is not
               given, the default is **auto** , in which case signatures are wiped
               only when in interactive mode; except the old partition-table
               signatures which are always wiped before create a new
               partition-table if the argument _when_ is not **never**. The **auto**
               mode also does not wipe the first sector (boot sector), it is
               necessary to use the **always** mode to wipe this area. In all
               cases detected signatures are reported by warning messages
               before a new partition table is created. See also the
               wipefs(8) command.
    
           **-W** , **--wipe-partitions** _when_
               Wipe filesystem, RAID and partition-table signatures from a
               newly created partition, in order to avoid possible
               collisions. The argument _when_ can be **auto** , **never** or **always**.
               When this option is not given, the default is **auto** , in which
               case signatures are wiped only when in interactive mode and
               after confirmation by user. In all cases detected signatures
               are reported by warning messages after a new partition is
               created. See also wipefs(8) command.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
               Display help text and exit.
    
           **-v** , **--version**
               Display version and exit.
    


## INPUT FORMATS



           **sfdisk** supports two input formats and generic header lines.
    
       **Header lines**
           The optional header lines specify generic information that apply
           to the partition table. The header-line format is:
    
           **< name>: <value>**
    
           The currently recognized headers are:
    
           **unit**
               Specify the partitioning unit. The only supported unit is
               **sectors**.
    
           **label**
               Specify the partition table type. For example **dos** or **gpt**.
    
           **label-id**
               Specify the partition table identifier. It should be a
               hexadecimal number (with a 0x prefix) for MBR and a UUID for
               GPT.
    
           **first-lba**
               Specify the first usable sector for GPT partitions. This
               header is ignored if the script and device sector size differ.
               In this case **sfdisk** uses label specific default.
    
           **last-lba**
               Specify the last usable sector for GPT partitions. This header
               is ignored if the script and device sector size differ. In
               this case **sfdisk** uses label specific default. The last-lba
               header is ignored if **--force** is specified, making the script
               usable on disks with different sizes.
    
           **table-length**
               Specify the maximal number of GPT partitions.
    
           **grain**
               Specify minimal size in bytes used to calculate partitions
               alignment. The default is 1MiB and it’s strongly recommended
               to use the default. Do not modify this variable if you’re not
               sure.
    
           **sector-size**
               Specifies the sector size used in the input. **sfdisk** always
               internally uses the device sector size provided by the kernel
               for the block device, or as specified by the user on the
               command line (see **--sector-size**). Starting with version 2.39,
               **sfdisk** recalculates sizes from the input if the **sector-size**
               header and device sector size are different.
    
           Note that it is only possible to use header lines before the first
           partition is specified in the input.
    
       **Unnamed-fields format**
              _start size type bootable_
    
           where each line fills one partition descriptor.
    
           Fields are separated by whitespace, comma (recommended) or
           semicolon possibly followed by whitespace; initial and trailing
           whitespace is ignored. Numbers can be octal, decimal or
           hexadecimal; decimal is the default. When a field is absent, empty
           or specified as '-' a default value is used. But when the **-N**
           option (change a single partition) is given, the default for each
           field is its previous value.
    
           The default value of _start_ is the first non-assigned sector
           aligned according to device I/O limits. The default start offset
           for the first partition is 1 MiB. If the offset is followed by the
           multiplicative suffixes (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and
           YiB), then the number is interpreted as offset in bytes. Since
           v2.38 when the **-N** option (change a single partition) is given, a
           '+' can be used to enlarge partition by move start of the
           partition if there is a free space before the partition.
    
           The default value of _size_ indicates "as much as possible"; i.e.,
           until the next partition or end-of-device. A numerical argument is
           by default interpreted as a number of sectors, however if the size
           is followed by one of the multiplicative suffixes (KiB, MiB, GiB,
           TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB) then the number is interpreted as the
           size of the partition in bytes and it is then aligned according to
           the device I/O limits. A '+' can be used instead of a number to
           enlarge the partition as much as possible. Note '+' is equivalent
           to the default behaviour for a new partition; existing partitions
           will be resized as required.
    
           The partition _type_ is given in hex for MBR (DOS) where 0x prefix
           is optional; a GUID string for GPT; a shortcut or an alias. It’s
           recommended to use two letters for MBR hex codes to avoid
           collision between deprecated shortcut 'E' and '0E' MBR hex code.
           For backward compatibility **sfdisk** tries to interpret _type_ as a
           shortcut as a first possibility in partitioning scripts although
           on other places (e.g. **--part-type** command) it tries shortcuts as
           the last possibility.
    
           Since v2.36 libfdisk supports partition type aliases as extension
           to shortcuts. The alias is a simple human readable word (e.g.
           "linux").
    
           Since v2.37 libfdisk supports partition type names on input,
           ignoring the case of the characters and all non-alphanumeric and
           non-digit characters in the name (e.g. "Linux /usr x86" is the
           same as "linux usr-x86").
    
           Supported shortcuts and aliases:
    
           **L - alias 'linux'**
               Linux; means 83 for MBR and
               0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4 for GPT.
    
           **S - alias 'swap'**
               swap area; means 82 for MBR and
               0657FD6D-A4AB-43C4-84E5-0933C84B4F4F for GPT
    
           **Ex - alias 'extended'**
               MBR extended partition; means 05 for MBR. The original
               shortcut 'E' is deprecated due to collision with 0x0E MBR
               partition type.
    
           **H - alias 'home'**
               home partition; means 933AC7E1-2EB4-4F13-B844-0E14E2AEF915 for
               GPT
    
           **U - alias 'uefi'**
               EFI System partition, means EF for MBR and
               C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B for GPT
    
           **R - alias 'raid'**
               Linux RAID; means FD for MBR and
               A19D880F-05FC-4D3B-A006-743F0F84911E for GPT
    
           **V - alias 'lvm'**
               LVM; means 8E for MBR and E6D6D379-F507-44C2-A23C-238F2A3DF928
               for GPT
    
           The default _type_ value is _linux_.
    
           The shortcut 'X' for Linux extended partition (85) is deprecated
           in favour of 'Ex'.
    
           _bootable_ is specified as [***** |**-**], with as default not-bootable. The
           value of this field is irrelevant for Linux - when Linux runs it
           has been booted already - but it might play a role for certain
           boot loaders and for other operating systems.
    
       **Named-fields format**
           This format is more readable, robust, extensible and allows
           specifying additional information (e.g., a UUID). It is
           recommended to use this format to keep your scripts more readable.
    
              [_device_ **:**] _name_[**=**_value_], ...
    
           The _device_ field is optional. **sfdisk** extracts the partition number
           from the device name. It allows specifying the partitions in
           random order. This functionality is mostly used by **--dump**. Don’t
           use it if you are not sure.
    
           The _value_ can be between quotation marks (e.g., name="This is
           partition name"). The fields **start=** and **size=** support '+' and '-'
           in the same way as **Unnamed-fields format**.
    
           The currently supported fields are:
    
           **start=**_number_
               The first non-assigned sector aligned according to device I/O
               limits. The default start offset for the first partition is 1
               MiB. If the offset is followed by the multiplicative suffixes
               (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB), then the number
               is interpreted as offset in bytes.
    
           **size=**_number_
               Specify the partition size in sectors. The number may be
               followed by the multiplicative suffixes (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB,
               PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB), then it’s interpreted as size in bytes
               and the size is aligned according to device I/O limits.
    
           **bootable**
               Mark the partition as bootable.
    
           **attrs=**_string_
               Partition attributes, usually GPT partition attribute bits.
               See **--part-attrs** for more details about the GPT-bits string
               format.
    
           **uuid=**_string_
               GPT partition UUID.
    
           **name=**_string_
               GPT partition name.
    
           **type=**_code_
               A hexadecimal number (without 0x) for an MBR partition, a GUID
               for a GPT partition, a shortcut as for unnamed-fields format
               or a type name (e.g. type="Linux /usr (x86)"). See above the
               section about the unnamed-fields format for more details. For
               backward compatibility the **Id=** field has the same meaning.
    


## EMPTY DISK LABEL



           **sfdisk** does not create partition table without partitions by
           default. The lines with partitions are expected in the script by
           default. The empty partition table has to be explicitly requested
           by "label: <name>" script header line without any partitions
           lines. For example:
    
              **echo 'label: gpt' | sfdisk /dev/sdb**
    
           creates empty GPT partition table. Note that the **--append** disables
           this feature.
    


## BACKING UP THE PARTITION TABLE



           It is recommended to save the layout of your devices. **sfdisk**
           supports two ways.
    
       **Dump in sfdisk compatible format**
           Use the **--dump** command to save a description of the device layout
           to a text file. The dump format is suitable for later **sfdisk**
           input. For example:
    
              **sfdisk --dump /dev/sda > sda.dump**
    
           This can later be restored by:
    
              **sfdisk /dev/sda < sda.dump**
    
           Note that **sfdisk** completely restores partition types and partition
           UUIDs. This could potentially become problematic if you duplicate
           the same layout to different disks, as it may result in duplicate
           UUIDs within your system.
    
       **Full binary backup**
           If you want to do a full binary backup of all sectors where the
           partition table is stored, then use the **--backup-pt-sectors**
           command. It writes the sectors to _~/sfdisk- <device>-<offset>.bak_
           files. The default name of the backup file can be changed with the
           **--backup-file** option. The backup files contain only raw data from
           the _device_. For example:
    
              **sfdisk --backup-pt-sectors /dev/sda**
    
           The GPT header can later be restored by:
    
              **dd if=~/sfdisk-sda-0x00000200.bak of=/dev/sda**
              **seek=$((0x00000200)) bs=1 conv=notrunc**
    
           It’s also possible to use the **--backup** option to create the same
           backup immediately after startup for other **sfdisk** commands. For
           example, backup partition table before deleting all partitions
           from partition table:
    
              **sfdisk --backup --delete /dev/sda**
    
           The same concept of backup files is used by wipefs(8).
    
           Note that **sfdisk** since version 2.26 no longer provides the **-I**
           option to restore sectors. dd(1) provides all necessary
           functionality.
    


## COLORS



           The output colorization is implemented by terminal-colors.d(5)
           functionality. Implicit coloring can be disabled by an empty file
    
              _/etc/terminal-colors.d/sfdisk.disable_
    
           for the **sfdisk** command or for all tools by
    
              _/etc/terminal-colors.d/disable_
    
           Since version 2.41, the $NO_COLOR environment variable is also
           supported to disable output colorization unless explicitly enabled
           by a command-line option.
    
           The user-specific _$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/terminal-colors.d_ or
           _$HOME/.config/terminal-colors.d_ overrides the global setting.
    
           Note that the output colorization may be enabled by default, and
           in this case _terminal-colors.d_ directories do not have to exist
           yet.
    
           The logical color names supported by **sfdisk** are:
    
           **header**
               The header of the output tables.
    
           **warn**
               The warning messages.
    
           **welcome**
               The welcome message.
    


## ENVIRONMENT



           **SFDISK_DEBUG** =all
               enables **sfdisk** debug output.
    
           **LIBFDISK_DEBUG** =all
               enables libfdisk debug output.
    
           **LIBBLKID_DEBUG** =all
               enables libblkid debug output.
    
           **LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG** =all
               enables libsmartcols debug output.
    
           **LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE** =<mode>
               use exclusive BSD lock. The mode is "1" or "0". See **--lock** for
               more details.
    


## NOTES



           Since version 2.26 **sfdisk** no longer provides the **-R** or **--re-read**
           option to force the kernel to reread the partition table. Use
           **blockdev --rereadpt** instead.
    
           Since version 2.26 **sfdisk** does not provide the **--DOS** , **--IBM** ,
           **--DOS-extended** , **--unhide** , **--show-extended** , **--cylinders** , **--heads** ,
           **--sectors** , **--inside-outer** , **--not-inside-outer** options.
    


## EXAMPLES



           **sfdisk --list --label-nested=mbr /dev/sda**
               Print protective MBR on device with GPT disk label.
    
           **echo -e ',10M,L\n,10M,L\n,+,\n' | sfdisk /dev/sdc**
               Create three Linux partitions, with the default start, the
               size of the first two partitions is 10MiB, and the last
               partition fills all available space on the device.
    
           **echo -e 'size=10M, type=L\n size=10M, type=L\n size=+\n' | sfdisk**
           **/dev/sdc**
               The same as the previous example, but in named-fields format.
    
           **echo -e 'type=swap' | sfdisk -N 3 /dev/sdc**
               Set type of the 3rd partition to 'swap'.
    
           **sfdisk --part-type /dev/sdc 3 swap**
               The same as the previous example, but without script use.
    
           **sfdisk --delete /dev/sdc 2**
               Delete 2nd partition.
    
           **echo "+,+" | sfdisk -N 3 --move-data /dev/sdc**
               Enlarge 3rd partition in both directions, move start to use
               free space before the partition and enlarge the size to use
               all free space after to the partition, and move partition data
               too.
    


## AVAILABILITY



           The **sfdisk** command is part of the util-linux package which can be
           downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive
           <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>. This page is
           part of the _util-linux_ (a random collection of Linux utilities)
           project. Information about the project can be found at 
           ⟨https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/⟩. If you have a
           bug report for this manual page, send it to
           util-linux@vger.kernel.org. This page was obtained from the
           project's upstream Git repository
           ⟨git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/utils/util-linux/util-linux.git⟩ on
           2025-08-11. (At that time, the date of the most recent commit that
           was found in the repository was 2025-08-05.) If you discover any
           rendering problems in this HTML version of the page, or you
           believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for the page,
           or you have corrections or improvements to the information in this
           COLOPHON (which is _not_ part of the original manual page), send a
           mail to man-pages@man7.org
    
    util-linux 2.42-start-521-ec46  2025-08-09                      _SFDISK_(8)
    


* * *