1metassist(1M) System Administration Commands metassist(1M)
2
6 metassist - automated volume creation utility to support Solaris Volume
7 Manager
8
10 metassist -V
11 metassist -?
14 metassist create [-v n] [-c] -F config_file
17 metassist create [-v n] [-c | -d] -F request_file
20 metassist create [-v n] [-c | -d] [-f] [-n name]
23 [-p datapaths] [-r redundancy]
24 [-a available [,available,...]]
25 [-u unavailable [,unavailable,...]] -s setname -S size
26 metassist create -?
29
32 The metassist command provides assistance, through automation, with
33 common Solaris Volume Manager tasks.
34 SUBCOMMANDS
36 The following subcommands are supported:
37 create The create subcommand creates one or more Solaris Volume Man‐
39 ager volumes. You can specify this request on the command
40 line or in a file specified on the command line.
41 If you create a volume using the command line, you can spec‐
43 ify the characteristics of the volume in terms of the desired
44 quality of service it will provide - its size, the number of
45 redundant copies of the data it contains, the number of data
46 paths by which it is accessible, and whether faulty compo‐
47 nents are replaced automatically. The diskset in which the
48 volume will reside and the volume's size must be specified on
49 the command line in this form of the command.
50 If you create a volume using a request in a file, you can
52 specify the characteristics of the volume in terms of the
53 quality of service they provide, as on the command line.
54 Alternatively, the file can specify the types and component
55 parts of the volume, (for example, mirrors, stripes, concate‐
56 nations, and their component slices). The file may also spec‐
57 ify volumes partly in terms of their types and partly in
58 terms of their component parts, and may specify the charac‐
59 teristics of more than one volume. All volumes specified in a
60 file must reside in the same diskset, whose name must be
61 specified in the file.
62 If you specify the -c or -d option on the command line, the
64 command runs without creating an actual volume or volumes.
65 Instead, it outputs either a a Bourne shell command script
66 (-c option) or a volume configuration (-d option). The com‐
67 mand script, when run, creates the specified volume or vol‐
68 umes. The volume configuration specifies the volume or vol‐
69 umes in complete detail, naming all their components.
70 The input file given on the command line can take one of the
72 following forms:
73 o a volume request, which specifies a request for a
75 volume with explicit attributes and components, or
76 matching a given quality of service
77 o a volume configuration, produced by a previous
79 execution of the command
80
83 The following option is mandatory if you specify a volume request or
84 volume configuration in a file:
85 -F config_file | request_file
87 Specify the volume request or volume configuration file to process.
89 If config_file or request_file is -, it is read from standard
90 input.
91 The -d option cannot be specified when inputfile is a volume con‐
93 figuration file.
94 The following options are mandatory if you specify a volume request on
98 the command line:
99 -s set Specify the disk set to use when creating volumes. All the
101 volumes and hot spare pools are created in this disk set. If
102 necessary, disks are moved into the diskset for use in the
103 volumes and hot spare pools. If the diskset doesn't exist
104 the command creates it. This option is required. metassist
105 works entirely within a named disk set. Use of the local, or
106 unnamed disk set, is not allowed.
107 -S size Specify the size of the volume to be created. The size argu‐
110 ment consists of a numeric value (a decimal can be speci‐
111 fied) followed by KB, MB, GB, or TB, indicating kilobytes,
112 megabytes, gigabytes, or terabytes, respectively. Case is
113 ignored when interpreting this option. This option is
114 required.
115 The following options are optional command line parameters:
119 -a device1,device2,... Explicitly specify the devices that can be
121 used in the creation of this volume. Named
122 devices may be controllers or disks. Only
123 used when specifying a volume on the command
124 line.
125 -c Output the command script that would imple‐
128 ment the specified or generated volume con‐
129 figuration. The command script is not run,
130 and processing stops at this stage.
131 -d Output the volume configuration that satis‐
134 fies the specified or generated volume
135 request. No command script is generated or
136 executed, and processing stops at this stage.
137 -f Specify whether the volume should support
140 automatic component replacement after a
141 fault. If this option is specified, a mirror
142 is created and its submirrors are associated
143 with a hot spare.
144 -n name Specify the name of the new volume. See
147 metainit(1M) for naming guidelines.
148 -p n Specify the number of required paths to the
151 storage volume. The value of n cannot be
152 greater than the number of different physical
153 paths and logical paths to attached storage.
154 Only used when specifying a volume on the
155 command line.
156 -r n Specify the redundancy level (0-4) of the
159 data. The default is 0. Only used when speci‐
160 fying a volume on the command line. If redun‐
161 dancy is 0, a stripe is created. If redun‐
162 dancy is 1 or greater, a mirror with this
163 number of submirrors is created. In this
164 case, the volume can suffer a disk failure on
165 n-1 copies without data loss. With the use of
166 hot spares (see the -f option), a volume can
167 suffer a disk failure on n+hsps-1 volumes
168 without data loss, assuming non-concurrent
169 failures.
170 -u device1,device2,... Explicitly specify devices to exclude in the
173 creation of this volume. Named devices can be
174 controllers or disks. You can use this option
175 alone, or to exclude some of the devices
176 listed as available with the -a option, Only
177 used when specifying a volume on the command
178 line.
179 -v value Specify the level of verbosity. Values from 0
182 to 2 are available, with higher numbers spec‐
183 ifying more verbose output when the command
184 is run. -v 0 indicates silent output, except
185 for errors or other critical messages. The
186 default level is 1.
187 -V Display program version information.
190 -? Display help information. This option can
193 follow a subcommand for subcommand-specific
194 help.
195
198 Example 1 Creating a Mirror
199 The following example creates a two-way, 36Gb mirror on available
202 devices from controller 1 and controller 2. It places the volume in
203 diskset mirrorset.
204 # metassist create -r 2 -a c1,c2 -s mirrorset -S 36GB
207 Example 2 Creating a Mirror with Additional Fault Tolerance
211 The following example creates a two-way, 36Gb mirror on available
214 devices from controller 1 and controller 2. It provides additional
215 fault tolerance in the form of a hot spare. It places the volume in
216 diskset mirrorset.
217 # metassist create -f -r 2 -a c1,c2 -s mirrorset -S 36GB
220 Example 3 Creating a Three-way Mirror and Excluding Devices
224 The following example creates a three-way, 180Gb mirror from storage
227 devices on controller 1 or controller 2. It excludes the disks c1t2d0
228 and c2t2d1 from the volume. It places the volume in diskset mirrorset.
229 metassist create -r 3 -a c1,c2 -u c1t2d0, c2t2d1 \
232 -s mirrorset -S 180GB
233 Example 4 Determining and Implementing a Configuration
237 The following example determines and implements a configuration satis‐
240 fying the request specified in a request file:
241 # metassist create -F request.xml
244 Example 5 Determining a Configuration and Saving It in a volume-config
248 File
249 The following example determines a configuration which satisfies the
252 given request. It saves the configuration in a volume-config file with‐
253 out implementing it:
254 # metassist create -d -F request.xml > volume-config
257 Example 6 Determining a Configuration and Saving It in a Shell Script
261 The following example determines a configuration which satisfies the
264 given request. It saves the configuration in a shell script without
265 implementing it:
266 # metassist create -c -F request.xml > setupvols.sh
269 Example 7 Implementing the Given volume-config
273 The following example implements the given volume-config:
276 # metassist create -F config.xml
279 Example 8 Converting the Given volume-config to a Shell Script
283 The following example converts the given volume-config to a shell
286 script that you can run later:
287 # metassist create -c -F config.xml > setupvols.sh
290
294 The following exit values are returned:
295 0 Successful completion.
297 >0 An error occurred.
300
303 /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-request.dtd
304 /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-defaults.dtd
309 /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-config.dtd
314
319 See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
320 ┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
325 │ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
326 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
327 │Availability │SUNWmdr │
328 ├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
329 │Inteface Stability │Stable │
330 └─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
331
333 mdmonitord(1M), metaclear(1M), metadb(1M), metadetach(1M), metahs(1M),
334 metainit(1M), metaoffline(1M), metaonline(1M), metaparam(1M), metare‐
335 cover(1M), metarename(1M), metareplace(1M), metaroot(1M), metaset(1M),
336 metastat(1M), metasync(1M), metattach(1M), md.tab(4), md.cf(4),
337 mddb.cf(4), md.tab(4), volume-config(4), volume-request(4),
338 attributes(5), md(7D)
339
341 The quality of service arguments are mutually exclusive with the -F
342 inputfile argument.
343 When specifying a request file or quality of service arguments on the
346 command line, the /etc/default/metassist.xml file is read for global
347 and per-disk set defaults.
348 Characteristics of this file are specified in the DTD, in
351 /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-defaults.dtd.
352 Characteristics of the XML request file are specified in the DTD, in
355 /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-request.dtd.
356 Characteristics of the XML configuration file are specified in the DTD,
359 in /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-config.dtd.
360 This command must be run as root.
363 This command requires a functional Solaris Volume Manager configuration
366 before it runs.
367SunOS 5.11 22 Feb 2005 metassist(1M)