how do i fsck my server?

[Julian H. Stacey]

Facts:
  8.2-RELEASE man fsck
    -B ...
	background fsck is limited to checking for only the most commonly
	occurring file system abnormalities.  Under certain circumstances,
	some errors can escape background fsck.  It is recommended that you
	perform foreground fsck on your systems periodically and whenever
	you encounter file-system-related panics.

  /usr/src/sbin/fsck/    

  <fs at freebsd.org> for specialist list discussion

  8.2-RELEASE /usr/src/etc/defaults/rc.conf
	fsck_y_enable="NO" ; background_fsck="YES"

My opinion:
Some machines merit addition of /etc/rc.conf fsck_y_enable="YES" 
	Machines where data is mastered elsewhere:
		(some http & ftp servers, routers, firewalls, name
		& boot & X servers, test boxes, laptops on day trips).
	Remote servers where a boot time interactive fsck "Shall I
		fix ?" , or failure to fix, could hang unreachably.
		( If background_fsck="NO", more chance of interactive hang )
Some machines merit addition of /etc/rc.conf	background_fsck="NO"
	For fuller fsck checking, examples:
	Machines with master copies of data.
	Laptops traveling for a week, where one can't return early to repair.

One would avoid both	fsck_y_enable="YES" &  background_fsck="YES" 
if one has local access to console & wants (if necessary) to be able
to break out of fsck & manually run fsdb.

Cheers,
Julian
-- 
Julian Stacey, BSD Unix Linux C Sys Eng Consultants Munich http://berklix.com
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