“mkfs.vfat” is a command-line utility that creates a Virtual File Allocation Table (VFAT) filesystem on a partition or disk. VFAT is an extension of the original FAT file system developed by Microsoft, and is designed to be backward-compatible with older systems while also supporting long file names and larger partition sizes. The “mkfs.vfat” command initializes the partition, creates the necessary file and directory structures, and writes the boot sector and other required information to the partition. After the process is complete, the partition is ready to be used to store and access files, and should be compatible with most operating systems that support FAT file systems. VFAT is commonly used on removable drives and other storage devices that need to be compatible with different operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux.
If you encounter the below error while running the command mkfs.vfat:
mkfs.vfat: command not found
you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:
| Distribution | Command |
|---|---|
| Debian | apt-get install dosfstools |
| Ubuntu | apt-get install dosfstools |
| Alpine | apk add dosfstools |
| Arch Linux | pacman -S dosfstools |
| Kali Linux | apt-get install dosfstools |
| CentOS | yum install dosfstools |
| Fedora | dnf install dosfstools |
| OS X | brew install dosfstools |
| Raspbian | apt-get install dosfstools |
mkfs.vfat Command Examples
1. Create a vfat filesystem inside partition 1 on device b (`sdb1`):
# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1
2. Create filesystem with a volume-name:
# mkfs.vfat -n volume_name /dev/sdb1
3. Create filesystem with a volume-id:
# mkfs.vfat -i volume_id /dev/sdb1
4. Use 5 instead of 2 file allocation tables:
# mkfs.vfat -f 5 /dev/sdb1