mkswap: command not found

The mkswap command is used to create swap space on a storage partition. It is typically used when you wish to move swap space to a different partition than the one that was created during system installation. For example, you might want to save space on a low-capacity boot drive.

It provides options to perform various tasks.

Option Used To
-c Verify that the device is free from bad sectors before mounting the swap space.
-p Set the page size to be used by the mkswap command. A page is a chunk of memory that is copied to the storage device during the swap process.
-L {label} Activate the swap space using labels applied to partitions or file systems.

If you encounter the below error while running the mkswap command:

mkswap: command not found

you may try installing the below package as per your choice of distribution:

OS Distribution Command
Debian apt-get install util-linux
Ubuntu apt-get install util-linux
Alpine apk add util-linux
Arch Linux pacman -S util-linux-ng
Kali Linux apt-get install util-linux
CentOS yum install util-linux-ng
Fedora dnf install util-linux-ng
Raspbian apt-get install util-linux

mkswap Command Examples

1. To make the swap:

# mkswap /dev/sdf 

2. To check the device (if it is a block device) for bad blocks:

# mkswap -c /dev/sdf 

3. To Force – go ahead even if the command is stupid:

# mkswap -f /def/sdf 

4. To Specify the page size to use:

# mkswap -p PAGESIZE 

5. To specify a label, to allow swapon by label:

# mkswap -L LABEL 

6. To specify the swap space version:

# mkswap -v0
# mkswap -v1 

7. To specify the UUID to use:

# mkswap -U UUID 
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