mkfs.ext4: Size of device too big to be expressed in 32 bits using a blocksize of 4096

Folders

Everything has a limit. So do the File Systems. At standard 4KiB block size, the 32-bit Ext3 has a limit of 16TB for a volume.  

Ext4 will now support volumes up to 1 exbibyte (EiB).  However to accomplish that we need upgrade ext4 to support 64-bit volumes. 
We need to update e2fsprogs utilities. 

Error:

root@example build]# mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/CS-PROD04p1
mke2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
mkfs.ext4: Size of device /dev/mapper/CS-PROD04p1 too big to be expressed in 32 bits
        using a blocksize of 4096.
[root@example build]#

Solution:

 1. Download the latest e2fsprogs utility and follow following procedure to build and install it.

  # cd /opt/
# wget -Oe2fsprogs-1.42.7.tar.gz http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/e2fsprogs/e2fsprogs/v1.42.7/e2fsprogs-1.42.7.tar.gz?r=http%3A%2F%2Fe2fsprogs.sourceforge.net%2F&ts=1361548232&use_mirror=superb-dca3

2. Untar the Downloaded Tarball:

  # tar -xzvf e2fsprogs-1.42.7.tar.gz

3. Go to the "e2fsprogs-1.42.7" dicrectory.

# cd e2fsprogs-1.42.7

4. Create a build Directory.

# mkdir build

5. Change to the build directory

# cd build

6. Now Configure and install "e2fsprogs"

# ../configure
# make
# make install

7. Now Edit the /etc/mke2fs.conf file

[fs_types]
        ext3 = {
                features = has_journal
        }
        ext4 = {
                features = has_journal,extent,huge_file,flex_bg,uninit_bg,dir_nlink,extra_isize
                auto_64-bit_support = 1 --- Add this line
                inode_size = 256

8. After you save the file. You have to create the File system Now.

# mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/CS-PROD04p1

9. Now mount the File system.