man/man7d/lofi.7d

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 LOFI 7D "Nov 25, 2008"
 NAME
lofi - Loopback file driver
 DESCRIPTION

The lofi file driver exports a file as a block device, enabling system
utilities such as fstyp(1M), fsck(1M) and mount(1M) to
operate on underlying file system images (including CD-ROM and FAT floppy
images) contained on the block device. Reads and writes to the block device are
translated to reads and writes on the exported file. See lofiadm(1M) for
examples.

File block device entries are contained in /dev/lofi. The
/dev/rlofi file contains the character (or raw) device entries. Entries
are in the form of decimal numbers and are assigned through
lofiadm(1M). When created, these device entries are owned by root, in
group sys and have permissions of 0600. Ownership, group, and permission
settings can be altered, however there may be ramifications. See
lofiadm(1M) for more information.

lofi devices can be compressed. See lofiadm(1M) for more
information.

Files exported through lofi can also be encrypted. See lofiadm(1M)
for details on how to specify encryption keys.
 FILES
/dev/lofictl

Master control device


/dev/lofi/n

Block device for file n


/dev/rlofi/n

Character device for file n


/kernel/drv/lofi

32-bit driver


/kernel/drv/sparcv9/lofi

64-bit driver (SPARC)


/kernel/drv/amd64/lofi

64-bit driver (x86)


/kernel/drv/lofi.conf

Driver configuration file. (Do not alter).


 ATTRIBUTES

See attributes(5) for a description of the following attributes:


ATTRIBUTE TYPE ATTRIBUTE VALUE
Architecture SPARC, x86
Interface Stability Committed


 SEE ALSO

fstyp(1M), fsck(1M), mount(1M), lofiadm(1M),
newfs(1M), attributes(5), lofs(7FS)
 NOTES

Just as you would not directly access a disk device that has mounted file
systems, you should not access a file associated with a block device except
through the lofi file driver.

For compatibility purposes, a raw device is also exported with the block
device. (For example, newfs(1M)).