clri(ADM)                       19 June 1992                       clri(ADM)


 Name

    clri - clear inode

 Syntax

    /etc/clri filesystem i-number ...

 Description

    clri writes zeros on the 64 bytes occupied by the inode numbered i-num-
    ber.  Filesystem must be a special filename referring to a device con-
    taining a filesystem.  After clri is executed, any blocks in the affected
    file will show up as ``missing'' if the filesystem is checked with
    fsck(ADM).  Use clri only in emergencies and exercise extreme care.

    Read and write permission is required on the specified filesystem device.
    The inode becomes allocatable.

    The primary purpose of this command is to remove a file which, for some
    reason, does not appear in a directory. If you use clri to destroy an
    inode which does appear in a directory, track down the entry and remove
    it.  Otherwise, when the inode is reallocated to some new file, the old
    entry will still point to this file.  At that point, removing the old
    entry will destroy the new file.  The new entry will again point to an
    unallocated inode, so the whole cycle is likely to be repeated.

 See also

    fsck(ADM), ncheck(ADM)

 Notes

    If the file is open, clri is likely to be ineffective.

    This utility does not work on DOS filesystems.