ems_pci: fix size of CAN controllers BAR mapping for CPC-PCI v2
[linux-block.git] / Documentation / md.txt
CommitLineData
1da177e4
LT
1Tools that manage md devices can be found at
2 http://www.<country>.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/raid/....
3
4
5Boot time assembly of RAID arrays
6---------------------------------
7
8You can boot with your md device with the following kernel command
9lines:
10
11for old raid arrays without persistent superblocks:
12 md=<md device no.>,<raid level>,<chunk size factor>,<fault level>,dev0,dev1,...,devn
13
14for raid arrays with persistent superblocks
15 md=<md device no.>,dev0,dev1,...,devn
16or, to assemble a partitionable array:
17 md=d<md device no.>,dev0,dev1,...,devn
18
19md device no. = the number of the md device ...
20 0 means md0,
21 1 md1,
22 2 md2,
23 3 md3,
24 4 md4
25
26raid level = -1 linear mode
27 0 striped mode
28 other modes are only supported with persistent super blocks
29
30chunk size factor = (raid-0 and raid-1 only)
31 Set the chunk size as 4k << n.
32
33fault level = totally ignored
34
35dev0-devn: e.g. /dev/hda1,/dev/hdc1,/dev/sda1,/dev/sdb1
36
37A possible loadlin line (Harald Hoyer <HarryH@Royal.Net>) looks like this:
38
39e:\loadlin\loadlin e:\zimage root=/dev/md0 md=0,0,4,0,/dev/hdb2,/dev/hdc3 ro
40
41
42Boot time autodetection of RAID arrays
43--------------------------------------
44
45When md is compiled into the kernel (not as module), partitions of
46type 0xfd are scanned and automatically assembled into RAID arrays.
47This autodetection may be suppressed with the kernel parameter
48"raid=noautodetect". As of kernel 2.6.9, only drives with a type 0
49superblock can be autodetected and run at boot time.
50
51The kernel parameter "raid=partitionable" (or "raid=part") means
52that all auto-detected arrays are assembled as partitionable.
53
6ff8d8ec
N
54Boot time assembly of degraded/dirty arrays
55-------------------------------------------
56
57If a raid5 or raid6 array is both dirty and degraded, it could have
58undetectable data corruption. This is because the fact that it is
59'dirty' means that the parity cannot be trusted, and the fact that it
60is degraded means that some datablocks are missing and cannot reliably
61be reconstructed (due to no parity).
62
63For this reason, md will normally refuse to start such an array. This
64requires the sysadmin to take action to explicitly start the array
fff9289b 65despite possible corruption. This is normally done with
6ff8d8ec
N
66 mdadm --assemble --force ....
67
68This option is not really available if the array has the root
69filesystem on it. In order to support this booting from such an
70array, md supports a module parameter "start_dirty_degraded" which,
71when set to 1, bypassed the checks and will allows dirty degraded
72arrays to be started.
73
74So, to boot with a root filesystem of a dirty degraded raid[56], use
75
76 md-mod.start_dirty_degraded=1
77
1da177e4
LT
78
79Superblock formats
80------------------
81
82The md driver can support a variety of different superblock formats.
83Currently, it supports superblock formats "0.90.0" and the "md-1" format
84introduced in the 2.5 development series.
85
86The kernel will autodetect which format superblock is being used.
87
88Superblock format '0' is treated differently to others for legacy
89reasons - it is the original superblock format.
90
91
92General Rules - apply for all superblock formats
93------------------------------------------------
94
95An array is 'created' by writing appropriate superblocks to all
96devices.
97
98It is 'assembled' by associating each of these devices with an
99particular md virtual device. Once it is completely assembled, it can
100be accessed.
101
102An array should be created by a user-space tool. This will write
103superblocks to all devices. It will usually mark the array as
104'unclean', or with some devices missing so that the kernel md driver
105can create appropriate redundancy (copying in raid1, parity
106calculation in raid4/5).
107
108When an array is assembled, it is first initialized with the
109SET_ARRAY_INFO ioctl. This contains, in particular, a major and minor
110version number. The major version number selects which superblock
111format is to be used. The minor number might be used to tune handling
112of the format, such as suggesting where on each device to look for the
113superblock.
114
115Then each device is added using the ADD_NEW_DISK ioctl. This
116provides, in particular, a major and minor number identifying the
117device to add.
118
119The array is started with the RUN_ARRAY ioctl.
120
121Once started, new devices can be added. They should have an
122appropriate superblock written to them, and then passed be in with
123ADD_NEW_DISK.
124
125Devices that have failed or are not yet active can be detached from an
126array using HOT_REMOVE_DISK.
127
128
129Specific Rules that apply to format-0 super block arrays, and
130 arrays with no superblock (non-persistent).
131-------------------------------------------------------------
132
133An array can be 'created' by describing the array (level, chunksize
134etc) in a SET_ARRAY_INFO ioctl. This must has major_version==0 and
135raid_disks != 0.
136
137Then uninitialized devices can be added with ADD_NEW_DISK. The
138structure passed to ADD_NEW_DISK must specify the state of the device
139and it's role in the array.
140
141Once started with RUN_ARRAY, uninitialized spares can be added with
142HOT_ADD_DISK.
bb636547
N
143
144
145
146MD devices in sysfs
147-------------------
148md devices appear in sysfs (/sys) as regular block devices,
149e.g.
150 /sys/block/md0
151
152Each 'md' device will contain a subdirectory called 'md' which
153contains further md-specific information about the device.
154
155All md devices contain:
156 level
d33a56d3
N
157 a text file indicating the 'raid level'. e.g. raid0, raid1,
158 raid5, linear, multipath, faulty.
bb636547 159 If no raid level has been set yet (array is still being
d33a56d3
N
160 assembled), the value will reflect whatever has been written
161 to it, which may be a name like the above, or may be a number
162 such as '0', '5', etc.
bb636547
N
163
164 raid_disks
165 a text file with a simple number indicating the number of devices
166 in a fully functional array. If this is not yet known, the file
11373542
N
167 will be empty. If an array is being resized this will contain
168 the new number of devices.
169 Some raid levels allow this value to be set while the array is
170 active. This will reconfigure the array. Otherwise it can only
171 be set while assembling an array.
172 A change to this attribute will not be permitted if it would
173 reduce the size of the array. To reduce the number of drives
174 in an e.g. raid5, the array size must first be reduced by
175 setting the 'array_size' attribute.
bb636547 176
3b34380a 177 chunk_size
11373542
N
178 This is the size in bytes for 'chunks' and is only relevant to
179 raid levels that involve striping (0,4,5,6,10). The address space
3b34380a
N
180 of the array is conceptually divided into chunks and consecutive
181 chunks are striped onto neighbouring devices.
3f6dee9b 182 The size should be at least PAGE_SIZE (4k) and should be a power
3b34380a
N
183 of 2. This can only be set while assembling an array
184
08a02ecd
N
185 layout
186 The "layout" for the array for the particular level. This is
187 simply a number that is interpretted differently by different
188 levels. It can be written while assembling an array.
189
11373542
N
190 array_size
191 This can be used to artificially constrain the available space in
192 the array to be less than is actually available on the combined
193 devices. Writing a number (in Kilobytes) which is less than
194 the available size will set the size. Any reconfiguration of the
195 array (e.g. adding devices) will not cause the size to change.
196 Writing the word 'default' will cause the effective size of the
197 array to be whatever size is actually available based on
198 'level', 'chunk_size' and 'component_size'.
199
200 This can be used to reduce the size of the array before reducing
201 the number of devices in a raid4/5/6, or to support external
202 metadata formats which mandate such clipping.
203
08a02ecd
N
204 reshape_position
205 This is either "none" or a sector number within the devices of
206 the array where "reshape" is up to. If this is set, the three
207 attributes mentioned above (raid_disks, chunk_size, layout) can
208 potentially have 2 values, an old and a new value. If these
209 values differ, reading the attribute returns
210 new (old)
211 and writing will effect the 'new' value, leaving the 'old'
212 unchanged.
213
a35b0d69
N
214 component_size
215 For arrays with data redundancy (i.e. not raid0, linear, faulty,
216 multipath), all components must be the same size - or at least
217 there must a size that they all provide space for. This is a key
218 part or the geometry of the array. It is measured in sectors
219 and can be read from here. Writing to this value may resize
220 the array if the personality supports it (raid1, raid5, raid6),
221 and if the component drives are large enough.
222
8bb93aac
N
223 metadata_version
224 This indicates the format that is being used to record metadata
225 about the array. It can be 0.90 (traditional format), 1.0, 1.1,
226 1.2 (newer format in varying locations) or "none" indicating that
227 the kernel isn't managing metadata at all.
11373542
N
228 Alternately it can be "external:" followed by a string which
229 is set by user-space. This indicates that metadata is managed
230 by a user-space program. Any device failure or other event that
231 requires a metadata update will cause array activity to be
232 suspended until the event is acknowledged.
8bb93aac 233
a94213b1
N
234 resync_start
235 The point at which resync should start. If no resync is needed,
236 this will be a very large number. At array creation it will
237 default to 0, though starting the array as 'clean' will
238 set it much larger.
239
6d7ff738
N
240 new_dev
241 This file can be written but not read. The value written should
242 be a block device number as major:minor. e.g. 8:0
243 This will cause that device to be attached to the array, if it is
244 available. It will then appear at md/dev-XXX (depending on the
245 name of the device) and further configuration is then possible.
246
16f17b39
N
247 safe_mode_delay
248 When an md array has seen no write requests for a certain period
249 of time, it will be marked as 'clean'. When another write
fff9289b
ML
250 request arrives, the array is marked as 'dirty' before the write
251 commences. This is known as 'safe_mode'.
16f17b39
N
252 The 'certain period' is controlled by this file which stores the
253 period as a number of seconds. The default is 200msec (0.200).
254 Writing a value of 0 disables safemode.
255
9e653b63
N
256 array_state
257 This file contains a single word which describes the current
258 state of the array. In many cases, the state can be set by
259 writing the word for the desired state, however some states
260 cannot be explicitly set, and some transitions are not allowed.
261
0fd62b86
NB
262 Select/poll works on this file. All changes except between
263 active_idle and active (which can be frequent and are not
264 very interesting) are notified. active->active_idle is
265 reported if the metadata is externally managed.
266
9e653b63
N
267 clear
268 No devices, no size, no level
269 Writing is equivalent to STOP_ARRAY ioctl
270 inactive
271 May have some settings, but array is not active
272 all IO results in error
273 When written, doesn't tear down array, but just stops it
274 suspended (not supported yet)
275 All IO requests will block. The array can be reconfigured.
276 Writing this, if accepted, will block until array is quiessent
277 readonly
278 no resync can happen. no superblocks get written.
279 write requests fail
280 read-auto
281 like readonly, but behaves like 'clean' on a write request.
282
283 clean - no pending writes, but otherwise active.
284 When written to inactive array, starts without resync
285 If a write request arrives then
286 if metadata is known, mark 'dirty' and switch to 'active'.
287 if not known, block and switch to write-pending
288 If written to an active array that has pending writes, then fails.
289 active
290 fully active: IO and resync can be happening.
291 When written to inactive array, starts with resync
292
293 write-pending
294 clean, but writes are blocked waiting for 'active' to be written.
295
296 active-idle
297 like active, but no writes have been seen for a while (safe_mode_delay).
298
299
bb636547
N
300As component devices are added to an md array, they appear in the 'md'
301directory as new directories named
302 dev-XXX
303where XXX is a name that the kernel knows for the device, e.g. hdb1.
304Each directory contains:
305
306 block
307 a symlink to the block device in /sys/block, e.g.
308 /sys/block/md0/md/dev-hdb1/block -> ../../../../block/hdb/hdb1
309
310 super
311 A file containing an image of the superblock read from, or
312 written to, that device.
313
314 state
315 A file recording the current state of the device in the array
316 which can be a comma separated list of
317 faulty - device has been kicked from active use due to
318 a detected fault
319 in_sync - device is a fully in-sync member of the array
f655675b
N
320 writemostly - device will only be subject to read
321 requests if there are no other options.
322 This applies only to raid1 arrays.
52664732
NB
323 blocked - device has failed, metadata is "external",
324 and the failure hasn't been acknowledged yet.
325 Writes that would write to this device if
326 it were not faulty are blocked.
bb636547
N
327 spare - device is working, but not a full member.
328 This includes spares that are in the process
d6bc8ac9
ML
329 of being recovered to
330 This list may grow in future.
45dc2de1
N
331 This can be written to.
332 Writing "faulty" simulates a failure on the device.
333 Writing "remove" removes the device from the array.
f655675b
N
334 Writing "writemostly" sets the writemostly flag.
335 Writing "-writemostly" clears the writemostly flag.
52664732
NB
336 Writing "blocked" sets the "blocked" flag.
337 Writing "-blocked" clear the "blocked" flag and allows writes
338 to complete.
339
340 This file responds to select/poll. Any change to 'faulty'
341 or 'blocked' causes an event.
bb636547 342
4dbcdc75
N
343 errors
344 An approximate count of read errors that have been detected on
345 this device but have not caused the device to be evicted from
346 the array (either because they were corrected or because they
347 happened while the array was read-only). When using version-1
348 metadata, this value persists across restarts of the array.
349
350 This value can be written while assembling an array thus
351 providing an ongoing count for arrays with metadata managed by
352 userspace.
353
014236d2
N
354 slot
355 This gives the role that the device has in the array. It will
356 either be 'none' if the device is not active in the array
357 (i.e. is a spare or has failed) or an integer less than the
992caacf 358 'raid_disks' number for the array indicating which position
014236d2
N
359 it currently fills. This can only be set while assembling an
360 array. A device for which this is set is assumed to be working.
361
93c8cad0
N
362 offset
363 This gives the location in the device (in sectors from the
364 start) where data from the array will be stored. Any part of
365 the device before this offset us not touched, unless it is
366 used for storing metadata (Formats 1.1 and 1.2).
367
83303b61
N
368 size
369 The amount of the device, after the offset, that can be used
370 for storage of data. This will normally be the same as the
371 component_size. This can be written while assembling an
372 array. If a value less than the current component_size is
d7027458 373 written, it will be rejected.
83303b61 374
bb636547
N
375
376An active md device will also contain and entry for each active device
377in the array. These are named
378
379 rdNN
380
992caacf 381where 'NN' is the position in the array, starting from 0.
bb636547
N
382So for a 3 drive array there will be rd0, rd1, rd2.
383These are symbolic links to the appropriate 'dev-XXX' entry.
384Thus, for example,
385 cat /sys/block/md*/md/rd*/state
386will show 'in_sync' on every line.
387
388
389
390Active md devices for levels that support data redundancy (1,4,5,6)
391also have
392
393 sync_action
394 a text file that can be used to monitor and control the rebuild
395 process. It contains one word which can be one of:
396 resync - redundancy is being recalculated after unclean
397 shutdown or creation
398 recover - a hot spare is being built to replace a
399 failed/missing device
400 idle - nothing is happening
401 check - A full check of redundancy was requested and is
402 happening. This reads all block and checks
403 them. A repair may also happen for some raid
404 levels.
405 repair - A full check and repair is happening. This is
406 similar to 'resync', but was requested by the
407 user, and the write-intent bitmap is NOT used to
408 optimise the process.
409
410 This file is writable, and each of the strings that could be
411 read are meaningful for writing.
412
413 'idle' will stop an active resync/recovery etc. There is no
414 guarantee that another resync/recovery may not be automatically
415 started again, though some event will be needed to trigger
416 this.
417 'resync' or 'recovery' can be used to restart the
418 corresponding operation if it was stopped with 'idle'.
419 'check' and 'repair' will start the appropriate process
420 providing the current state is 'idle'.
421
72a23c21
NB
422 This file responds to select/poll. Any important change in the value
423 triggers a poll event. Sometimes the value will briefly be
424 "recover" if a recovery seems to be needed, but cannot be
425 achieved. In that case, the transition to "recover" isn't
426 notified, but the transition away is.
427
a99ac971
NB
428 degraded
429 This contains a count of the number of devices by which the
430 arrays is degraded. So an optimal array with show '0'. A
431 single failed/missing drive will show '1', etc.
432 This file responds to select/poll, any increase or decrease
433 in the count of missing devices will trigger an event.
434
bb636547
N
435 mismatch_count
436 When performing 'check' and 'repair', and possibly when
437 performing 'resync', md will count the number of errors that are
438 found. The count in 'mismatch_cnt' is the number of sectors
439 that were re-written, or (for 'check') would have been
440 re-written. As most raid levels work in units of pages rather
441 than sectors, this my be larger than the number of actual errors
442 by a factor of the number of sectors in a page.
443
9b1d1dac
PC
444 bitmap_set_bits
445 If the array has a write-intent bitmap, then writing to this
446 attribute can set bits in the bitmap, indicating that a resync
447 would need to check the corresponding blocks. Either individual
448 numbers or start-end pairs can be written. Multiple numbers
449 can be separated by a space.
450 Note that the numbers are 'bit' numbers, not 'block' numbers.
451 They should be scaled by the bitmap_chunksize.
452
08a02ecd
N
453 sync_speed_min
454 sync_speed_max
455 This are similar to /proc/sys/dev/raid/speed_limit_{min,max}
456 however they only apply to the particular array.
457 If no value has been written to these, of if the word 'system'
458 is written, then the system-wide value is used. If a value,
459 in kibibytes-per-second is written, then it is used.
460 When the files are read, they show the currently active value
461 followed by "(local)" or "(system)" depending on whether it is
462 a locally set or system-wide value.
463
464 sync_completed
465 This shows the number of sectors that have been completed of
466 whatever the current sync_action is, followed by the number of
467 sectors in total that could need to be processed. The two
468 numbers are separated by a '/' thus effectively showing one
469 value, a fraction of the process that is complete.
c6207277
N
470 A 'select' on this attribute will return when resync completes,
471 when it reaches the current sync_max (below) and possibly at
472 other times.
473
474 sync_max
475 This is a number of sectors at which point a resync/recovery
476 process will pause. When a resync is active, the value can
477 only ever be increased, never decreased. The value of 'max'
478 effectively disables the limit.
479
08a02ecd
N
480
481 sync_speed
482 This shows the current actual speed, in K/sec, of the current
483 sync_action. It is averaged over the last 30 seconds.
484
485 suspend_lo
486 suspend_hi
487 The two values, given as numbers of sectors, indicate a range
488 within the array where IO will be blocked. This is currently
489 only supported for raid4/5/6.
490
491
bb636547
N
492Each active md device may also have attributes specific to the
493personality module that manages it.
494These are specific to the implementation of the module and could
495change substantially if the implementation changes.
496
497These currently include
498
499 stripe_cache_size (currently raid5 only)
500 number of entries in the stripe cache. This is writable, but
501 there are upper and lower limits (32768, 16). Default is 128.
502 strip_cache_active (currently raid5 only)
503 number of active entries in the stripe cache
8b3e6cdc
DW
504 preread_bypass_threshold (currently raid5 only)
505 number of times a stripe requiring preread will be bypassed by
506 a stripe that does not require preread. For fairness defaults
507 to 1. Setting this to 0 disables bypass accounting and
508 requires preread stripes to wait until all full-width stripe-
509 writes are complete. Valid values are 0 to stripe_cache_size.