Manual: wipefs

WIPEFS(8)					    System Administration					   WIPEFS(8)

NAME
       wipefs - wipe a signature from a device

SYNOPSIS
       wipefs [options] device...

       wipefs [--backup] -o offset device...

       wipefs [--backup] -a device...

DESCRIPTION
       wipefs can erase filesystem, raid or partition-table signatures (magic strings) from the specified device to make the
       signatures invisible for libblkid. wipefs does not erase the filesystem itself nor any other data from the device.

       When used without any options, wipefs lists all visible filesystems and the offsets of their basic signatures. The
       default output is subject to change. So whenever possible, you should avoid using default outputs in your scripts.
       Always explicitly define expected columns by using --output columns-list in environments where a stable output is
       required.

       wipefs calls the BLKRRPART ioctl when it has erased a partition-table signature to inform the kernel about the
       change. The ioctl is called as the last step and when all specified signatures from all specified devices are already
       erased. This feature can be used to wipe content on partition devices as well as a partition table on a disk device,
       for example by wipefs -a /dev/sdc1 /dev/sdc2 /dev/sdc.

       Note that some filesystems and some partition tables store more magic strings on the device (e.g., FAT, ZFS, GPT).
       The wipefs command (since v2.31) lists all the offsets where magic strings have been detected.

       When option -a is used, all magic strings that are visible for libblkid(3) are erased. In this case the wipefs scans
       the device again after each modification (erase) until no magic string is found.

       Note that by default wipefs does not erase nested partition tables on non-whole disk devices. For this the option
       --force is required.

OPTIONS
       -a, --all
	   Erase all available signatures. The set of erased signatures can be restricted with the -t option. When performed
	   on a partitioned whole-disk device like /dev/sdX, it will erase only the partition tables, not the content of the
	   partitions.

       -b, --backup[=dir]
	   Create a signature backup to the file wipefs--.bak in $HOME or the directory specified as the
	   optional argument. For more details see the EXAMPLE section.

       -f, --force
	   Force erasure, even if the filesystem is mounted. This is required in order to erase a partition-table signature
	   on a block device.

       -J, --json
	   Use JSON output format.

       --lock[=mode]
	   Use exclusive BSD lock for device or file it operates. The optional argument mode can be yes, no (or 1 and 0) or
	   nonblock. If the mode argument is omitted, it defaults to "yes". This option overwrites environment variable
	   $LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE. The default is not to use any lock at all, but it’s recommended to avoid collisions with
	   udevd or other tools.

       -i, --noheadings
	   Do not print a header line.

       -O, --output list
	   Specify which output columns to print. Use --help to get a list of all supported columns.

       -n, --no-act
	   Causes everything to be done except for the write(2) call.

       -o, --offset offset
	   Specify the location (in bytes) of the signature which should be erased from the device. The offset number may
	   include a "0x" prefix; then the number will be interpreted as a hex value. It is possible to specify multiple -o
	   options.

	   The offset argument may be followed by the multiplicative suffixes KiB (=1024), MiB (=1024*1024), and so on for
	   GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB (the "iB" is optional, e.g., "K" has the same meaning as "KiB"), or the suffixes
	   KB (=1000), MB (=1000*1000), and so on for GB, TB, PB, EB, ZB and YB.

       -p, --parsable
	   Print out in parsable instead of printable format. Encode all potentially unsafe characters of a string to the
	   corresponding hex value prefixed by '\x'.

       -q, --quiet
	   Suppress any messages after a successful signature wipe.

       -t, --types list
	   Limit the set of printed or erased signatures. More than one type may be specified in a comma-separated list. The
	   list or individual types can be prefixed with 'no' to specify the types on which no action should be taken. For
	   more details see mount(8).

       -h, --help
	   Display help text and exit.

       -V, --version
	   Display version and exit.

ENVIRONMENT
       LIBBLKID_DEBUG=all
	   enables libblkid(3) debug output.

       LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE=
	   use exclusive BSD lock. The mode is "1" or "0". See --lock for more details.

EXAMPLES
       wipefs /dev/sda*
	   Prints information about sda and all partitions on sda.

       wipefs --all --backup /dev/sdb
	   Erases all signatures from the device /dev/sdb and creates a signature backup file ~/wipefs-sdb-.bak for
	   each signature.

       dd if=~/wipefs-sdb-0x00000438.bak of=/dev/sdb seek=$((0x00000438)) bs=1 conv=notrunc
	   Restores an ext2 signature from the backup file ~/wipefs-sdb-0x00000438.bak.

AUTHORS
       Karel Zak 

SEE ALSO
       blkid(8), findfs(8)

REPORTING BUGS
       For bug reports, use the issue tracker .

AVAILABILITY
       The wipefs command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive
       .

util-linux 2.41.3					 2025-12-15						   WIPEFS(8)