Summary: How to disable the Auto FileSystem Check on SLES
Date: Around 2022
Refactor: 16 April 2025: Checked links and formatting.

On SLES 10, the sytem performs an auto check on the file systems by default. This can be very annoying when performing an emergency reboot on a production system. This behavior is adjusted for SLES 11 but as far as I am concerned I'd still check the setting.

The setting is set on a device, which can be checked using the simple command fdisk:

fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 12.9 GB, 12884901888 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1566 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000988d6

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1         191     1534176   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda2   *         192        1566    11044687+  83  Linux

You can check the file system properties for each device using the tun2fs command:

# tune2fs -l /dev/sda2
....cut...
Maximum mount count:      500
Last checked:             Wed Aug  4 15:44:42 2010
Check interval:           5184000 (2 months)
Next check after:         Sun Oct  3 15:44:42 2010
...cut...

And change them using the same command:

# tune2fs -c0 -i0 /dev/sda2
tune2fs 1.38 (30-Jun-2005)
Setting maximal mount count to -1
Setting interval between checks to 0 seconds

Setting explanation:

• -c max_mounts_count
• -i interval[d|m|w]

Now the settings look like this if you would issue tune2fs -l <device> again:

Maximum mount count:      -1
Last checked:             Wed Aug  4 15:44:03 2010
Check interval:           0 (<none>)