'\" te
.\" Copyright (c) 2008, 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
.TH lofi 7D "5 Jan 2012" "SunOS 5.11" "Devices"
.SH NAME
lofi \- Loopback file driver
.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
.LP
The \fBlofi\fR file driver exports a file as a block device, enabling system utilities such as \fBfstyp\fR(1M), \fBfsck\fR(1M) and \fBmount\fR(1M) to operate on underlying file system images (including CD-ROM images) contained on the block device. Reads and writes to the block device are translated to reads and writes on the exported file. See \fBlofiadm\fR(1M) for examples.
.sp
.LP
File block device entries are contained in \fB/dev/lofi\fR. The \fB/dev/rlofi\fR file contains the character (or raw) device entries. Entries are in the form of decimal numbers and are assigned through \fBlofiadm\fR(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 \fBlofiadm\fR(1M) for more information.
.sp
.LP
\fBlofi\fR devices can be compressed. See \fBlofiadm\fR(1M) for more information.
.sp
.LP
Files exported through \fBlofi\fR can also be encrypted. See \fBlofiadm\fR(1M) for details on how to specify encryption keys.
.SH FILES
.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB/dev/lofictl\fR\fR
.ad
.sp .6
.RS 4n
Master control device
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB/dev/lofi/\fIn\fR\fR\fR
.ad
.sp .6
.RS 4n
Block device for file \fIn\fR
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB/dev/rlofi/\fIn\fR\fR\fR
.ad
.sp .6
.RS 4n
Character device for file \fIn\fR
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB/kernel/drv/sparcv9/lofi\fR\fR
.ad
.sp .6
.RS 4n
64-bit driver (SPARC)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB/kernel/drv/amd64/lofi\fR\fR
.ad
.sp .6
.RS 4n
64-bit driver (x86)
.RE

.sp
.ne 2
.mk
.na
\fB\fB/kernel/drv/lofi.conf\fR\fR
.ad
.sp .6
.RS 4n
Driver configuration file. (Do not alter).
.RE

.SH ATTRIBUTES
.sp
.LP
See \fBattributes\fR(5) for a description of the following attributes:
.sp

.sp
.TS
tab() box;
cw(2.75i) |cw(2.75i) 
lw(2.75i) |lw(2.75i) 
.
ATTRIBUTE TYPEATTRIBUTE VALUE
_
ArchitectureSPARC, x86
_
Availability system/core-os, system/kernel
_
Interface StabilityCommitted
.TE

.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
.LP
\fBfstyp\fR(1M), \fBfsck\fR(1M), \fBmount\fR(1M), \fBlofiadm\fR(1M), \fBnewfs\fR(1M), \fBattributes\fR(5), \fBlofs\fR(7FS)
.SH NOTES
.sp
.LP
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 \fBlofi\fR file driver.
.sp
.LP
For compatibility purposes, a raw device is also exported with the block device. (For example, \fBnewfs\fR(1M)).