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I was reading about /etc/fstab file, and found out that this file can dump data, and when searched for it, I understood that dump means backup.

# <file system>                 <dir>       <type>    <options>     <dump> <pass>
UUID=6a454a-bfd1-38989910eccd    /           ext4      defaults       1      1

  1. I want to know what it backup? The whole filesystem?

  2. where is the backup file?

  3. When does it work? On every boot?

  4. Does it need an external program called dump?

Edit: My question is not about the backup methods. I just want to know the story behind this dump column of the fstab file.

Mohammad Kholghi
  • 975

1 Answers1

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From man fstab:

   The  fifth  field,  (fs_freq),  is  used  for  these filesystems by the
   dump(8) command to determine which filesystems need to be  dumped.   If
   the  fifth  field  is not present, a value of zero is returned and dump
   will assume that the filesystem does not need to be dumped.

Nothing is dumped/backedup automatically.

Soren A
  • 7,191