Linux in a Nutshell, 6th Edition

Name

sync

Synopsis

sync

System administration command. Write filesystem buffers to disk. sync executes the sync( ) system call. If the system is to be stopped, sync must be called to ensure filesystem integrity. Note that shutdown automatically calls sync before shutting down the system. sync may take several seconds to complete, so the system should be told to sleep briefly if you are about to manually call halt or reboot. Note that shutdown is the preferred way to halt or reboot your system, as it takes care of sync-ing and other housekeeping for you.