sync(8) BSD System Manager's Manual sync(8)
NAME
sync -- force completion of pending disk writes (flush cache)
SYNOPSIS
sync
DESCRIPTION
The sync utility can be called to ensure that all disk writes have been completed before the processor is halted in a way not suitably done by shutdown(8). Generally, it is preferable to use shutdown(8) to shut down the system, as they may perform additional actions such as resynchroniz- ing the hardware clock and flushing internal caches before performing a final sync. The sync utility utilizes the sync(2) function call.
SEE ALSO
fsync(2), sync(2), shutdown(8)
HISTORY
A sync utility appeared in Version 4 AT&T UNIX. BSD May 31, 1993 BSD
Mac OS X 10.8 - Generated Tue Sep 4 11:23:01 CDT 2012