# Install e2fsprogs with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper

Utilities for the ext2, ext3, and ext4 file systems. Version 1.47.4 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install comerr-dev.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:e2fsprogs
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: sysutils/e2fsprogs/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: e2fsprogs from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/main/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: e2fsprogs from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- dnf (92%):

```sh
sudo dnf install e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: e2fsprogs from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/07190dc5ae9f35ae73866675fed6d95fe6e8d9fe22c9d7cdf85862cb2ed24a4c-primary.xml.zst

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/e2/e2fsprogs/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

- pacman (92%):

```sh
sudo pacman -S e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: e2fsprogs from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/core/os/x86_64/core.db.tar.gz

- zypper (92%):

```sh
sudo zypper install e2fsprogs
```

  Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: e2fsprogs from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/50b07339cb64c8ed4091bdbabddadc1ff5737b090e478818a195b40d8a3292861a879139b4a3987c31109699fde9fbf4a716367ddf4eef77da75f96e3193d6ed-primary.xml.zst

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:e2fsprogs
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.47.4
- **Source summary:** Utilities for the ext2, ext3, and ext4 file systems
- **Homepage:** <https://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- badblocks (alias)
- chattr (alias)
- debugfs (alias)
- dumpe2fs (alias)
- e2freefrag (alias)
- e2fsck (alias)
- e2image (alias)
- e2label (alias)
- e2mmpstatus (alias)
- e2scrub (alias)
- e2scrub_all (alias)
- e2undo (alias)
- e4crypt (alias)
- e4defrag (alias)
- filefrag (alias)
- fsck.ext2 (alias)
- fsck.ext3 (alias)
- fsck.ext4 (alias)
- logsave (alias)
- lsattr (alias)
- mk_cmds (alias)
- mkfs.ext2 (alias)
- mkfs.ext3 (alias)
- mkfs.ext4 (alias)
- mklost+found (alias)
- resize2fs (alias)
- tune2fs (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.47.4
## Project history and usage

e2fsprogs is the canonical user-space toolkit for the Linux ext2, ext3, and ext4 filesystem family. It includes the programs administrators recognize by muscle memory: `mke2fs` and `mkfs.ext*` to create filesystems, `e2fsck` and `fsck.ext*` to check and repair them, `tune2fs`, `dumpe2fs`, `debugfs`, `resize2fs`, `badblocks`, attribute tools, and supporting libraries such as libext2fs.

### Project history

The project has been maintained for decades by Theodore Ts'o and is distributed as the second extended filesystem management programs. Official release notes in the kernel.org repository show e2fsprogs 1.02 dated 1996-01-16, while the libext2fs manual documents Theodore Ts'o's library work from 1997 onward.

As ext filesystems evolved, e2fsprogs evolved with them. It began as tooling for ext2, became core to ext3 journaled filesystem administration, and then tracked ext4-era features such as extents, flex_bg, metadata checksums, bigalloc, encryption, casefolding, fast commits, and orphan-file support.

The project is both end-user tool suite and library substrate. The libext2fs manual describes a user-level library for manipulating ext2 filesystems, and related tools such as e2tools build on that library rather than implementing ext filesystem parsing from scratch.

### Adoption history

e2fsprogs became infrastructure software because ext filesystems became default or common Linux filesystems across distributions, installers, rescue environments, embedded systems, and image-building pipelines. Its tools are packaged by essentially every general-purpose Linux distribution and by cross-platform package managers where users need to inspect Linux filesystems from non-Linux hosts.

Release notes show its maintenance responding to distribution bug reports, kernel feature additions, filesystem fuzzing, Coverity findings, and very-large-filesystem performance. That history is part of why the package is treated as a base-system dependency rather than an optional convenience.

### How it is used

Administrators and installers use e2fsprogs to create, check, repair, resize, label, inspect, tune, and debug ext-family filesystems. Typical commands include `mkfs.ext4`, `e2fsck`, `resize2fs`, `tune2fs`, `dumpe2fs`, `debugfs`, `e2image`, `filefrag`, `chattr`, and `lsattr`.

The toolkit is also used outside ordinary mounted filesystems: recovery workflows run `e2fsck`, image builders run `mke2fs` against files, developers inspect metadata with `debugfs` and `dumpe2fs`, and downstream tools use libext2fs to manipulate disk images without going through the kernel mount path.

### Why package nerds care

For package nerds, e2fsprogs is one of the rare packages that is simultaneously mundane and load-bearing. It is a formula in Homebrew, a package in major Linux distributions, a rescue-disk staple, a cross-build dependency, and a version-sensitive companion to Linux kernel filesystem features.

Its release notes are a map of Linux storage history: new kernel features land, then user-space tools learn to create, repair, report, or safely ignore them. Packaging the right e2fsprogs version matters because old user-space can misunderstand newer filesystem feature bits.

### Timeline

- 1996-01-16: e2fsprogs 1.02 release notes document early ext2 filesystem tool maintenance.
- 1997: libext2fs manual copyright begins, documenting a user-level library for manipulating ext2 filesystems.
- 2010: e2fsprogs 1.41 release notes show ext4-era support work around flex_bg, ext4 mount defaults, direct I/O in debugfs, discard-aware mke2fs, and large filesystem handling.
- 2015: e2fsprogs 1.42.13 includes security and robustness fixes, including CVE-2015-1572 in libext2fs.
- 2021: e2fsprogs 1.46.0 adds support for fast_commit, stable_inodes, encryption plus casefolding, and fuse2fs improvements.
- 2023: e2fsprogs 1.47.0 adds support for orphan_file and makes newer ext4 features default through mke2fs configuration.

### Related projects

- Related projects include the Linux kernel ext2/ext3/ext4 drivers, e2tools, fuse2fs, distribution initramfs/rescue tooling, filesystem image builders, and package-manager formulas that expose the tools on non-Linux hosts.
- e2tools is a particularly close neighbor: its README states that it directly uses the ext2fs library from e2fsprogs to read and write ext filesystem images without mounting them.

### Sources

- <https://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net/>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/README>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/doc/libext2fs.texinfo>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/doc/RelNotes/v1.02.txt>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/doc/RelNotes/v1.41.txt>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/doc/RelNotes/v1.42.txt>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/doc/RelNotes/v1.46.0.txt>
- <https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/plain/doc/RelNotes/v1.47.0.txt>
- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/e2tools/e2tools/master/README.md>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.

- **Geiger risk:** blue / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - comerr-dev - 2.1-1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: comerr-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | common error description library - headers and static libraries | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - e2fsck-static - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: e2fsck-static from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | statically-linked version of the ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem checker | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - e2fsprogs - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: e2fsprogs from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | ext2/ext3/ext4 file system utilities | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - e2fsprogs-l10n - 1.47.2-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: e2fsprogs-l10n from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | ext2/ext3/ext4 file system utilities - translations | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - fuse2fs - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: fuse2fs from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | ext2 / ext3 / ext4 file system driver for FUSE | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - fuseext2 - 1.47.2-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: fuseext2 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | transitional package | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - libcom-err2 - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libcom-err2 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | common error description library | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - libext2fs-dev - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libext2fs-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | ext2/ext3/ext4 file system libraries - headers and static libraries | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - libext2fs2t64 - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libext2fs2t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | ext2/ext3/ext4 file system libraries | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - libss2 - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libss2 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | command-line interface parsing library | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - logsave - 1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: logsave from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | save the output of a command in a log file | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Debian apt - ss-dev - 2.0-1.47.2-3+b11: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ss-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | command-line interface parsing library - headers and static libraries | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Nix - e2fsprogs: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/e2/e2fsprogs/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - comerr-dev - 2.1-1.47.0-2.4~exp1ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: comerr-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | common error description library - headers and static libraries | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Ubuntu apt - e2fsck-static - 1.47.0-2.4~exp1ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: e2fsck-static from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | statically-linked version of the ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem checker | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net
- Ubuntu apt - e2fsprogs - 1.47.0-2.4~exp1ubuntu4: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: e2fsprogs from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/main/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | ext2/ext3/ext4 file system utilities | http://e2fsprogs.sourceforge.net


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/e2fsprogs.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/e2fsprogs.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph