Ext3

FileSystem > Ext3

Ext3 is an improved and compatible version of the Ext2 filesystem for Linux. It was introduced in kernel 2.2 and 2.4 (back in 1999). For more information about Ext3, follow the links in See Also section.

Compatibility:

Ext3 is the default filesystem in Debian since Potato or Woody.
It is possible to mount an ext3 file system using an ext2 driver (some features, like journaling won't be available).
Ext2/3 are extremely well supported by most tools (partitioning, resizing, bootloaders, etc...)

Features:

Journaling (see ext3.txt in the See Also section)
Extended User Attributes (needs to be enabled at mount time, see user_xattr in mount(8). See also lsattr(1)).
Access Control Lists, POSIX conformant. (needs to be enabled at mount time, see acl in mount(8). See also getfacl(1) from acl).
Quotas. (needs to be enabled at mount time, see quota in mount(8). See also edquota(1) from quota).

Status

Ext3 is the current default filesystem in DebianLenny.

FAQ

What are the default option for Ext3 partitions in Lenny?

ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype sparse_super large_file (See /etc/mke2fs.conf. Read the docs for the flags meaning)

 LANG=C tune2fs -l /dev/sda1 | grep features
Filesystem features:      ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype sparse_super large_file

Can I resize an ext3 partition?

Yes. Either live (ext2online(8)) and/or offline (using ext2resize(8))

Can I recover a deleted file?

Short answer: use your backup ! (otherwise try sometools like ext3grep)

How to convert Ext3 to Ext4?

See http://ext4.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Ext4_Howto (in squeeze or later)

Can I read Ext3 partitions from Windows ?

Yes. Wikipedia Ext3 page list some tools.

Documentations

/usr/share/doc/linux-doc-2.6.XX/Documentation/filesystems/ext3.txt.gz, also available online for 2.6.29
Manpages: mkfs.ext3(8), mount(8), tune2fs(8).

Status

FAQ

Documentations

See also