e2label

Additional Notes

e2label displays or sets the volume label on ext2, ext3, and ext4 filesystems. A filesystem label is a human-readable identifier stored in the superblock. Labels are used to identify filesystems by name instead of device path, making /etc/fstab entries and mount commands more readable and robust.

Labels can be viewed with blkid, lsblk, or e2label itself. Changing the label does not modify the filesystem data. Labels are limited to 16 characters on ext2/ext3 filesystems. The tune2fs -L command provides the same functionality.

Syntax

e2label device [new-label]

Parameters

• device: The block device of the ext filesystem (e.g., /dev/sda1).
• new-label: The new label to assign. If omitted, the current label is displayed.

Examples

e2label /dev/sda1

Show the current label on /dev/sda1.

sudo e2label /dev/sda1 mydata

Change the label of /dev/sda1 to mydata.

sudo e2label /dev/nvme0n1p2 "root-fs"

Set a label containing a dash on an NVMe partition.

Practical Notes

• The filesystem must not be mounted (or must be mounted read-only) when changing the label.
• Labels are limited to 16 characters. Longer labels are truncated or rejected depending on the filesystem version.
• Use blkid /dev/sda1 to verify the label after changing it.
• Labels can be used in /etc/fstab with LABEL=mylabel instead of device paths.
• e2label is functionally identical to tune2fs -L label device.
• To change labels on other filesystem types, use ntfslabel (NTFS), xfs_admin -L (XFS), or btrfs filesystem label (Btrfs).