Introduction to Ntfs-3g
![[Note]](../images/note.png)
Note
A new read-write
driver for NTFS, called NTFS3, has been added into the Linux
kernel since the 5.15 release. The performance of NTFS3 is much
better than ntfs-3g. To enable NTFS3, enable the following
options in the kernel configuration and recompile the kernel if
necessary:
File systems --->
DOS/FAT/EXFAT/NT Filesystems --->
<*/M> NTFS Read-Write file system support [NTFS3_FS]
To ensure the mount
command uses NTFS3 for ntfs partitions, create a wrapper script:
cat > /usr/sbin/mount.ntfs << "EOF" &&
#!/bin/sh
exec mount -t ntfs3 "$@"
EOF
chmod -v 755 /usr/sbin/mount.ntfs
With the kernel support available, ntfs-3g is only needed if you
need the utilities from it (for example, to create NTFS
filesystems).
The Ntfs-3g package contains a
stable, read-write open source driver for NTFS partitions. NTFS
partitions are used by most Microsoft operating systems. Ntfs-3g
allows you to mount NTFS partitions in read-write mode from your
Linux system. It uses the FUSE kernel module to be able to
implement NTFS support in userspace. The package also contains
various utilities useful for manipulating NTFS partitions.
Note
Development versions of BLFS may not build or run some packages
properly if LFS or dependencies have been updated since the most
recent stable versions of the books.
Package Information
Ntfs-3g Dependencies
Optional
fuse
2.x (this disables user mounts)
Kernel
Configuration
Enable the following options in the kernel configuration and
recompile the kernel if necessary:
File systems --->
<*/M> FUSE (Filesystem in Userspace) support [FUSE_FS]
Note that it is only needed for mounting NTFS partitions with
ntfs-3g. If you will use the in-kernel NTFS3 driver for mounting
NTFS partitions (as the BLFS editors recommend) instead, you can
skip this configuration item.
Installation of Ntfs-3g
Install Ntfs-3g by running the
following commands:
./configure --prefix=/usr \
--disable-static \
--with-fuse=internal \
--docdir=/usr/share/doc/ntfs-3g-2022.10.3 &&
make
This package does not come with a test suite.
Now, as the root user:
make install &&
It's recommended to use the in-kernel NTFS3 driver for mounting
NTFS filesystems, instead of ntfs-3g (see the note at the start of
this page). However, if you want to use ntfs-3g to mount the NTFS
filesystems anyway, create a symlink for the mount command:
ln -sv ../bin/ntfs-3g /usr/sbin/mount.ntfs &&
ln -sv ntfs-3g.8 /usr/share/man/man8/mount.ntfs.8
Command Explanations
--disable-static: This
switch prevents installation of static versions of the libraries.
--with-fuse=internal: This
switch dynamically forces ntfs-3g
to use an internal copy of the fuse-2.x library. This is required if you wish
to allow users to mount NTFS partitions.
--disable-ntfsprogs: Disables
installation of various utilities used to manipulate NTFS
partitions.
chmod -v 4755
/usr/bin/ntfs-3g: Making mount.ntfs setuid root
allows non root users to mount NTFS partitions.
Using Ntfs-3g
To mount a Windows partition at boot time, put a line like this in
/etc/fstab:
/dev/sda1 /mnt/windows auto defaults 0 0
To allow users to mount a usb stick with an NTFS filesystem on it,
put a line similar to this (change sdc1 to whatever a usb stick
would be on your system) in /etc/fstab:
/dev/sdc1 /mnt/usb auto user,noauto,umask=0,utf8 0 0
In order for a user to be able to mount the usb stick, they will
need to be able to write to /mnt/usb,
so as the root user:
chmod -v 777 /mnt/usb
Contents
Installed Programs:
lowntfs-3g, mkfs.ntfs, mkntfs,
mount.lowntfs-3g, mount.ntfs, mount.ntfs-3g, ntfs-3g,
ntfs-3g.probe, ntfscat, ntfsclone, ntfscluster, ntfscmp,
ntfscp, ntfsfix, ntfsinfo, ntfslabel, ntfsls, ntfsresize and
ntfsundelete
Installed Library:
libntfs-3g.so
Installed Directories:
/usr/include/ntfs-3g and
/usr/share/doc/ntfs-3g
Short Descriptions
|
lowntfs-3g
|
is similar to ntfs-3g but uses the Fuse low-level
interface
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|
mkfs.ntfs
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is a symlink to mkntfs
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|
mkntfs
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creates an NTFS file system
|
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mount.lowntfs-3g
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is a symlink to lowntfs-3g
|
|
mount.ntfs
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mounts an NTFS filesystem
|
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mount.ntfs-3g
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is a symbolic link to ntfs-3g
|
|
ntfs-3g
|
is an NTFS driver, which can create, remove, rename, move
files, directories, hard links, and streams. It can also
read and write files, including streams, sparse files and
transparently compressed files. It can also handle
special files like symbolic links, devices, and FIFOs;
moreover it provides standard management of file
ownership and permissions, including POSIX ACLs
|
|
ntfs-3g.probe
|
tests if an NTFS volume is mountable read only or
read-write, and exits with a status value accordingly.
The volume can be a block device or image file
|
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ntfscluster
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identifies files in a specified region of an NTFS volume
|
|
ntfscp
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copies a file to an NTFS volume
|
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ntfsfix
|
fixes common errors and forces Windows to check an NTFS
partition
|
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ntfsls
|
lists directory contents on an NTFS filesystem
|
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ntfscat
|
prints NTFS files and streams on the standard output
|
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ntfsclone
|
clones an NTFS filesystem
|
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ntfscmp
|
compares two NTFS filesystems and shows the differences
|
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ntfsinfo
|
dumps a file's attributes
|
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ntfslabel
|
displays or changes the label on an ntfs file system
|
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ntfsresize
|
resizes an NTFS filesystem without data loss
|
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ntfsundelete
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recovers a deleted file from an NTFS volume
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libntfs-3g.so
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contains the Ntfs-3g API functions
|