mdadm:tldr:9e182

This command is used to zero out the superblock of a specified device using the mdadm command with superuser privileges (sudo).

Here's a breakdown of the command components:

• sudo: A command used in Unix-like systems to execute a command with superuser (or root) privileges, allowing the user to perform actions that require administrative rights.

• mdadm: A utility tool in Linux and other Unix-like systems used for managing software RAID arrays. It allows the user to create, manage, monitor, and repair RAID arrays.

• --zero-superblock: This flag instructs mdadm to zero out the superblock of the specified device. The superblock is a metadata structure that provides information about a RAID array, such as the version, layout, and state. By zeroing it out, you effectively remove any existing RAID configuration on the device.

• ${-dev-sdXN}: This is a placeholder for the device you want to zero out the superblock for. sdXN refers to a specific partition or entire disk on your system, where sdX denotes the disk (e.g., sda, sdb) and N refers to a partition number (e.g., 1, 2, 3). You would replace ${-dev-sdXN} with the actual device path, such as /dev/sda1 or /dev/sdb2.

So, effectively, running this command with the appropriate device path will remove any previous RAID configuration stored in the superblock of that device.