Provided by: ntfs-3g_2022.10.3-5_amd64 bug

NAME

       ntfsfallocate - preallocate space to a file on an NTFS volume

SYNOPSIS

       ntfsfallocate [options] -l length device file [attr-type [attr-name]]

DESCRIPTION

       ntfsfallocate  preallocates  space  for any attribute of a file or directory, thus reserving space before
       actual contents is written. This is similar to fallocate(1).

OPTIONS

       Below is a summary of all the options that ntfsfallocate accepts.  Nearly all options have two equivalent
       names.  The short name is preceded by - and the long name is preceded by --.  Any single letter  options,
       that  don't  take  an  argument, can be combined into a single command, e.g.  -fv is equivalent to -f -v.
       Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique prefix of their name.

       -f, --force
              This will override some sensible defaults, such as not using a mounted volume.   Use  this  option
              with caution.

       -h, --help
              Show a list of options with a brief description of each one.

       -l, --length LENGTH
              This  is  a mandatory option to specify the number of bytes to preallocate.  It will be rounded up
              to a multiple of the cluster size.  A suffix of K, M, G, T, P or E  may  be  appended  to  mean  a
              multiplicative  factor  of  a power of 1000. Similarly a suffix of Ki, Mi, Gi, Ti, Pi or Ei may be
              appended to mean a multiplicative factor of a power of 1024.

       -n, --no-size-change
              Do not change the apparent size of the file. The space allocated beyond the apparent size  is  not
              zeroed,  but  subsequent  writing  beyond  the  apparent  end of file will force zeroing the inner
              allocated space as it cannot be considered as a hole any more, and this may take significant time.

       -N, --no-action
              Simulate the allocation without actually write to device.

       -o, --offset OFFSET
              Specify the offset in the file where  preallocation  starts.  By  default,  the  preallocation  is
              counted  from the beginning of the file. Space already allocated in the area defined by offset and
              length is preserved.

       -q, --quiet
              Suppress some debug/warning/error messages.

       -v, --verbose
              Display more debug/warning/error messages.

       -V, --version
              Show the version number, copyright and license of ntfsfallocate.

       attr-type
              Define a particular attribute type to be  preallocated  (advanced  use  only).   By  default,  the
              unnamed  $DATA attribute (the contents of a plain file) will be preallocated. The attribute has to
              be specified by a number in decimal or hexadecimal :
              ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐
              │ Hex     Decimal   Name                     │
              │ 0x10    16        "$STANDARD_INFORMATION"  │
              │ 0x20    32        "$ATTRIBUTE_LIST"        │
              │ 0x30    48        "$FILE_NAME"             │
              │ 0x40    64        "$OBJECT_ID"             │
              │ 0x50    80        "$SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR"   │
              │ 0x60    96        "$VOLUME_NAME"           │
              │ 0x70    112       "$VOLUME_INFORMATION"    │
              │ 0x80    128       "$DATA"                  │
              │ 0x90    144       "$INDEX_ROOT"            │
              │ 0xA0    160       "$INDEX_ALLOCATION"      │
              │ 0xB0    176       "$BITMAP"                │
              │ 0xC0    192       "$REPARSE_POINT"         │
              │ 0xD0    208       "$EA_INFORMATION"        │
              │ 0xE0    224       "$EA"                    │
              │ 0xF0    240       "$PROPERTY_SET"          │
              │ 0x100   256       "$LOGGED_UTILITY_STREAM" │
              └────────────────────────────────────────────┘

       attr-name
              Define the name of the particular attribute type to be preallocated (advanced use only).

EXAMPLES

       Preallocate 100MB to the file database.db located in the Data directory which is at the root of  an  NTFS
       file system.

              ntfsfallocate -l 100M /dev/sda1 Data/database.db

BUGS

       There  are  no  known problems with ntfsfallocate, however it can lead to configurations not supported by
       Windows and Windows may crash (BSOD) when writing to preallocated clusters  which  were  not  written  to
       earlier. Files with preallocated space should be fully be written to before they are updated by Windows.

       If you find a bug in ntfsfallocate proper, please send an email describing the problem to the development
       team:
       ntfs-3g-devel@lists.sf.net

AUTHORS

       ntfsfallocate was written by Jean-Pierre Andre.

AVAILABILITY

       ntfsfallocate is part of the ntfs-3g package and is available from:
       https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/wiki/

SEE ALSO

       ntfs-3g(8), ntfstruncate(8), ntfsprogs(8), fallocate(1)

ntfs-3g 2022.10.3                                   June 2014                                   NTFSFALLOCATE(8)