1NVME-FORMAT(1) NVMe Manual NVME-FORMAT(1)
2
6 nvme-format - Format an NVMe device
7
9 nvme format <device> [--namespace-id=<nsid> | -n <nsid>]
10 [--lbaf=<lbaf> | -l <lbaf>]
11 [--ses=<ses> | -s <ses>]
12 [--pil=<pil> | -p <pil>]
13 [--pi=<pi> | -i <pi>]
14 [--ms=<ms> | -m <ms>]
15 [--reset | -r ]
16 [--timeout=<timeout> | -t <timeout> ]
17
19 For the NVMe device given, send an nvme Format Namespace admin command
20 and provides the results.
21 The <device> parameter is mandatory and may be either the NVMe
23 character device (ex: /dev/nvme0), or a namespace block device (ex:
24 /dev/nvme0n1). If the character device is given, the namespace
25 identifier will default to 0xffffffff to send the format to all
26 namespace, but can be overridden to any namespace with the namespace-id
27 option. If the block device is given, the namespace identifier will
28 default to the namespace id of the block device given, but can be
29 overridden with the same option.
30 On success, the program will automatically issue BLKRRPART ioctl to
32 force rescanning the namespaces. If the driver is recent enough, this
33 will automatically update the physical block size. If it is not recent
34 enough, you will need to remove and rescan your device some other way
35 for the new block size to be visible.
36
38 -n <nsid>, --namespace-id=<nsid>
39 Send the format command for the specified nsid. This can be used to
40 override the default value for either character device (0xffffffff)
41 or the block device (result from NVME_IOCTL_ID).
42 -l <lbaf>, --lbaf=<lbaf>
44 LBA Format: This field specifies the LBA format to apply to the NVM
45 media. This corresponds to the LBA formats indicated in the
46 Identify Namespace command. Defaults to 0.
47 -s <ses>, --ses=<ses>
49 Secure Erase Settings: This field specifies whether a secure erase
50 should be performed as part of the format and the type of the
51 secure erase operation. The erase applies to all user data,
52 regardless of location (e.g., within an exposed LBA, within a
53 cache, within deallocated LBAs, etc). Defaults to 0.
54 ┌──────┬────────────────────────────┐
56 │Value │ Definition │
57 ├──────┼────────────────────────────┤
58 │0 │ No secure erase operation │
59 │ │ requested │
60 ├──────┼────────────────────────────┤
61 │1 │ User Data Erase: All user │
62 │ │ data shall be erased, │
63 │ │ contents of the user data │
64 │ │ after the erase is │
65 │ │ indeterminate (e.g., the │
66 │ │ user data may be zero │
67 │ │ filled, one filled, etc). │
68 │ │ The controller may perform │
69 │ │ a cryptographic erase when │
70 │ │ a User Data Erase is │
71 │ │ requested if all user data │
72 │ │ is encrypted. │
73 ├──────┼────────────────────────────┤
74 │2 │ Cryptographic Erase: All │
75 │ │ user data shall be erased │
76 │ │ cryptographically. This is │
77 │ │ accomplished by deleting │
78 │ │ the encryption key. │
79 ├──────┼────────────────────────────┤
80 │3–7 │ Reserved │
81 └──────┴────────────────────────────┘
82 -p <pil>, --pil=<pil>
84 Protection Information Location: If set to ‘1’ and protection
85 information is enabled, then protection information is transferred
86 as the first eight bytes of metadata. If cleared to ‘0’ and
87 protection information is enabled, then protection information is
88 transferred as the last eight bytes of metadata. Defaults to 0.
89 -i <pi>, --pi=<pi>
91 Protection Information: This field specifies whether end-to-end
92 data protection is enabled and the type of protection information.
93 Defaults to 0.
94 ┌──────┬───────────────────────────┐
96 │Value │ Definition │
97 ├──────┼───────────────────────────┤
98 │0 │ Protection information is │
99 │ │ not enabled │
100 ├──────┼───────────────────────────┤
101 │1 │ Protection information is │
102 │ │ enabled, Type 1 │
103 ├──────┼───────────────────────────┤
104 │2 │ Protection information is │
105 │ │ enabled, Type 2 │
106 ├──────┼───────────────────────────┤
107 │3 │ Protection information is │
108 │ │ enabled, Type 3 │
109 ├──────┼───────────────────────────┤
110 │4–7 │ Reserved │
111 └──────┴───────────────────────────┘
112 -m <ms>, --ms=<ms>
114 Metadata Settings: This field is set to ‘1’ if the metadata is
115 transferred as part of an extended data LBA. This field is cleared
116 to ‘0’ if the metadata is transferred as part of a separate buffer.
117 The metadata may include protection information, based on the
118 Protection Information (PI) field. Defaults to 0.
119 -r, --reset
121 Issue a reset after successful format. Must use the character
122 device for this.
123 -t <timeout>, --timeout=<timeout>
125 Override default timeout value. In milliseconds.
126
128 · Format the device using all defaults:
129 # nvme format /dev/nvme0n1
131 · Format namespace 1 with user data secure erase settings and
133 protection information:
134 # nvme format /dev/nvme0 --namespace-id=1 --ses=1 --pi=1
136
138 Part of the nvme-user suite
139NVMe 06/05/2018 NVME-FORMAT(1)