$ fio --name=random-writers --ioengine=libaio --iodepth=4 --rw=randwrite --bs=32k --direct=0 --size=64m --numjobs=4
+When fio is utilized as a basis of any reasonably large test suite, it might be
+desirable to share a set of standardized settings across multiple job files.
+Instead of copy/pasting such settings, any section may pull in an external
+.fio file with 'include filename' directive, as in the following example:
+
+; -- start job file including.fio --
+[global]
+filename=/tmp/test
+filesize=1m
+include glob-include.fio
+
+[test]
+rw=randread
+bs=4k
+time_based=1
+runtime=10
+include test-include.fio
+; -- end job file including.fio --
+
+; -- start job file glob-include.fio --
+thread=1
+group_reporting=1
+; -- end job file glob-include.fio --
+
+; -- start job file test-include.fio --
+ioengine=libaio
+iodepth=4
+; -- end job file test-include.fio --
+
+Settings pulled into a section apply to that section only (except global
+section). Include directives may be nested in that any included file may
+contain further include directive(s). Include files may not contain []
+sections.
+
+
4.1 Environment variables
-------------------------
This section describes in details each parameter associated with a job.
Some parameters take an option of a given type, such as an integer or
-a string. The following types are used:
+a string. Anywhere a numeric value is required, an arithmetic expression
+may be used, provided it is surrounded by parentheses. Supported operators
+are:
+
+ addition (+)
+ subtraction (-)
+ multiplication (*)
+ division (/)
+ modulus (%)
+ exponentiation (^)
+
+For time values in expressions, units are microseconds by default. This is
+different than for time values not in expressions (not enclosed in
+parentheses). The following types are used:
str String. This is a sequence of alpha characters.
time Integer with possible time suffix. In seconds unless otherwise
For certain types of io the result may still be skewed a bit,
since the speed may be different. It is possible to specify
a number of IO's to do before getting a new offset, this is
- one by appending a ':<nr>' to the end of the string given.
+ done by appending a ':<nr>' to the end of the string given.
For a random read, it would look like 'rw=randread:8' for
passing in an offset modifier with a value of 8. If the
suffix is used with a sequential IO pattern, then the value
while having 90% 4k writes and 10% 8k writes, you would
specify:
- bssplit=2k/50:4k/50,4k/90,8k/10
+ bssplit=2k/50:4k/50,4k/90:8k/10
blocksize_unaligned
bs_unaligned If this option is given, any byte size value within bsrange
alternate random and zeroed data throughout the IO
buffer.
-buffer_pattern=str If set, fio will fill the io buffers with this pattern.
- If not set, the contents of io buffers is defined by the other
- options related to buffer contents. The setting can be any
- pattern of bytes, and can be prefixed with 0x for hex values.
+buffer_pattern=str If set, fio will fill the io buffers with this
+ pattern. If not set, the contents of io buffers is defined by
+ the other options related to buffer contents. The setting can
+ be any pattern of bytes, and can be prefixed with 0x for hex
+ values. It may also be a string, where the string must then
+ be wrapped with "".
+
+dedupe_percentage=int If set, fio will generate this percentage of
+ identical buffers when writing. These buffers will be
+ naturally dedupable. The contents of the buffers depend on
+ what other buffer compression settings have been set. It's
+ possible to have the individual buffers either fully
+ compressible, or not at all. This option only controls the
+ distribution of unique buffers.
nrfiles=int Number of files to use for this job. Defaults to 1.
time (or hits an error condition). With this setting, the
range/size can be set independently of the number of IOs to
perform. When fio reaches this number, it will exit normally
- and report status.
+ and report status. Note that this does not extend the amount
+ of IO that will be done, it will only stop fio if this
+ condition is met before other end-of-job criteria.
fsync=int If writing to a file, issue a sync of the dirty data
for every number of blocks given. For example, if you give