clri(ADM)

clri -- clear inode

Syntax

/etc/clri filesystem i-number ...

Description

clri writes zeros on the 64 bytes occupied by the inode numbered i-number. filesystem must be a special filename referring to a device containing a filesystem. After clri is executed, any blocks in the affected file will show up as ``missing'' if the filesystem is checked with fsck(ADM). Use clri only in emergencies and exercise extreme care.

Read and write permission is required on the specified filesystem device. The inode becomes allocatable.

The primary purpose of this command is to remove a file which, for some reason, does not appear in a directory. If you use clri to destroy an inode which does appear in a directory, track down the entry and remove it. Otherwise, when the inode is reallocated to some new file, the old entry will still point to this file. At that point, removing the old entry will destroy the new file. The new entry will again point to an unallocated inode, so the whole cycle is likely to be repeated.

Warnings

For DTFS

filesystems, use clri with extreme caution as it may cause the kernel to panic. If used, be sure to run fsck on the filesystem afterwards.

Limitations

If the file is open, clri is likely to be ineffective.

This utility does not work on DOS filesystems.

Standards conformance