Allow ':' in filenames

[fio.git] / HOWTO

diff --git a/HOWTO b/HOWTO
index 5099c83c8fd7913773de58285ff323e2bdaec4d0..aec00e84e548f1c9d65952e73803d8fcb5df53e9 100644 (file)
--- a/HOWTO
+++ b/HOWTO
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ section residing above it. If the first character in a line is a ';' or a
 '#', the entire line is discarded as a comment.
 
 So let's look at a really simple job file that defines two processes, each
 '#', the entire line is discarded as a comment.
 
 So let's look at a really simple job file that defines two processes, each

-randomly reading from a 128MiB file.
+randomly reading from a 128MB file.

 
 ; -- start job file --
 [global]
 
 ; -- start job file --
 [global]


@@ -150,9 +150,9 @@ numjobs=4
 
 Here we have no global section, as we only have one job defined anyway.
 We want to use async io here, with a depth of 4 for each file. We also
 
 Here we have no global section, as we only have one job defined anyway.
 We want to use async io here, with a depth of 4 for each file. We also

-increased the buffer size used to 32KiB and define numjobs to 4 to
+increased the buffer size used to 32KB and define numjobs to 4 to

 fork 4 identical jobs. The result is 4 processes each randomly writing
 fork 4 identical jobs. The result is 4 processes each randomly writing

-to their own 64MiB file. Instead of using the above job file, you could
+to their own 64MB file. Instead of using the above job file, you could

 have given the parameters on the command line. For this case, you would
 specify:
 
 have given the parameters on the command line. For this case, you would
 specify:
 


@@ -197,21 +197,21 @@ Some parameters take an option of a given type, such as an integer or
 a string. The following types are used:
 
 str    String. This is a sequence of alpha characters.
 a string. The following types are used:
 
 str    String. This is a sequence of alpha characters.

-time   Integer with possible time postfix. In seconds unless otherwise
+time   Integer with possible time suffix. In seconds unless otherwise

        specified, use eg 10m for 10 minutes. Accepts s/m/h for seconds,
        minutes, and hours.
        specified, use eg 10m for 10 minutes. Accepts s/m/h for seconds,
        minutes, and hours.

-int    SI integer. A whole number value, which may contain a postfix
-       describing the base of the number. Accepted postfixes are k/m/g,
-       meaning kilo, mega, and giga. So if you want to specify 4096,
-       you could either write out '4096' or just give 4k. The postfixes
-       signify base 2 values, so 1024 is 1k and 1024k is 1m and so on.
-       If the option accepts an upper and lower range, use a colon ':'
-       or minus '-' to separate such values. May also include a prefix
-       to indicate numbers base. If 0x is used, the number is assumed to
-       be hexadecimal. See irange.
+int    SI integer. A whole number value, which may contain a suffix
+       describing the base of the number. Accepted suffixes are k/m/g/t/p,
+       meaning kilo, mega, giga, tera, and peta. The suffix is not case
+       sensitive. So if you want to specify 4096, you could either write
+       out '4096' or just give 4k. The suffixes signify base 2 values, so
+       1024 is 1k and 1024k is 1m and so on. If the option accepts an upper
+       and lower range, use a colon ':' or minus '-' to separate such values.
+       May also include a prefix to indicate numbers base. If 0x is used,
+       the number is assumed to be hexadecimal. See irange.

 bool   Boolean. Usually parsed as an integer, however only defined for
        true and false (1 and 0).
 bool   Boolean. Usually parsed as an integer, however only defined for
        true and false (1 and 0).

-irange Integer range with postfix. Allows value range to be given, such
+irange Integer range with suffix. Allows value range to be given, such

        as 1024-4096. A colon may also be used as the separator, eg
        1k:4k. If the option allows two sets of ranges, they can be
        specified with a ',' or '/' delimiter: 1k-4k/8k-32k. Also see
        as 1024-4096. A colon may also be used as the separator, eg
        1k:4k. If the option allows two sets of ranges, they can be
        specified with a ',' or '/' delimiter: 1k-4k/8k-32k. Also see


@@ -243,8 +243,11 @@ filename=str       Fio normally makes up a filename based on the job name,
                can specify a number of files by separating the names with a
                ':' colon. So if you wanted a job to open /dev/sda and /dev/sdb
                as the two working files, you would use
                can specify a number of files by separating the names with a
                ':' colon. So if you wanted a job to open /dev/sda and /dev/sdb
                as the two working files, you would use

-               filename=/dev/sda:/dev/sdb. '-' is a reserved name, meaning
-               stdin or stdout. Which of the two depends on the read/write
+               filename=/dev/sda:/dev/sdb. If the wanted filename does need to
+               include a colon, then escape that with a '\' character. For
+               instance, if the filename is "/dev/dsk/foo@3,0:c", then you would
+               use filename="/dev/dsk/foo@3,0\:c". '-' is a reserved name,
+               meaning stdin or stdout. Which of the two depends on the read/write

                direction set.
 
 opendir=str    Tell fio to recursively add any file it can find in this
                direction set.
 
 opendir=str    Tell fio to recursively add any file it can find in this


@@ -290,6 +293,11 @@ rw=str             Type of io pattern. Accepted values are:
                IO's, instead of for every IO. Use rw=randread:8 to specify
                that.
 
                IO's, instead of for every IO. Use rw=randread:8 to specify
                that.
 

+kb_base=int    The base unit for a kilobyte. The defacto base is 2^10, 1024.
+               Storage manufacturers like to use 10^3 or 1000 as a base
+               ten unit instead, for obvious reasons. Allow values are
+               1024 or 1000, with 1024 being the default.
+

 randrepeat=bool        For random IO workloads, seed the generator in a predictable
                way so that results are repeatable across repetitions.
 
 randrepeat=bool        For random IO workloads, seed the generator in a predictable
                way so that results are repeatable across repetitions.
 


@@ -595,7 +603,7 @@ thinktime_blocks
                after every block.
 
 rate=int       Cap the bandwidth used by this job. The number is in bytes/sec,
                after every block.
 
 rate=int       Cap the bandwidth used by this job. The number is in bytes/sec,

-               the normal postfix rules apply. You can use rate=500k to limit
+               the normal suffix rules apply. You can use rate=500k to limit

                reads and writes to 500k each, or you can specify read and
                writes separately. Using rate=1m,500k would limit reads to
                1MB/sec and writes to 500KB/sec. Capping only reads or
                reads and writes to 500k each, or you can specify read and
                writes separately. Using rate=1m,500k would limit reads to
                1MB/sec and writes to 500KB/sec. Capping only reads or


@@ -691,7 +699,7 @@ mem=str             Fio can use various types of memory as the io unit buffer.
                that for shmhuge and mmaphuge to work, the system must have
                free huge pages allocated. This can normally be checked
                and set by reading/writing /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages on a
                that for shmhuge and mmaphuge to work, the system must have
                free huge pages allocated. This can normally be checked
                and set by reading/writing /proc/sys/vm/nr_hugepages on a

-               Linux system. Fio assumes a huge page is 4MiB in size. So
+               Linux system. Fio assumes a huge page is 4MB in size. So

                to calculate the number of huge pages you need for a given
                job file, add up the io depth of all jobs (normally one unless
                iodepth= is used) and multiply by the maximum bs set. Then
                to calculate the number of huge pages you need for a given
                job file, add up the io depth of all jobs (normally one unless
                iodepth= is used) and multiply by the maximum bs set. Then


@@ -715,7 +723,7 @@ iomem_align=int     This indiciates the memory alignment of the IO memory buffers.
 
 hugepage-size=int
                Defines the size of a huge page. Must at least be equal
 
 hugepage-size=int
                Defines the size of a huge page. Must at least be equal

-               to the system setting, see /proc/meminfo. Defaults to 4MiB.
+               to the system setting, see /proc/meminfo. Defaults to 4MB.

                Should probably always be a multiple of megabytes, so using
                hugepage-size=Xm is the preferred way to set this to avoid
                setting a non-pow-2 bad value.
                Should probably always be a multiple of megabytes, so using
                hugepage-size=Xm is the preferred way to set this to avoid
                setting a non-pow-2 bad value.


@@ -1005,10 +1013,10 @@ each thread, group of threads, and disks in that order. For each data
 direction, the output looks like:
 
 Client1 (g=0): err= 0:
 direction, the output looks like:
 
 Client1 (g=0): err= 0:

-  write: io=    32MiB, bw=   666KiB/s, runt= 50320msec
+  write: io=    32MB, bw=   666KB/s, runt= 50320msec

     slat (msec): min=    0, max=  136, avg= 0.03, stdev= 1.92
     clat (msec): min=    0, max=  631, avg=48.50, stdev=86.82
     slat (msec): min=    0, max=  136, avg= 0.03, stdev= 1.92
     clat (msec): min=    0, max=  631, avg=48.50, stdev=86.82

-    bw (KiB/s) : min=    0, max= 1196, per=51.00%, avg=664.02, stdev=681.68
+    bw (KB/s) : min=    0, max= 1196, per=51.00%, avg=664.02, stdev=681.68

   cpu        : usr=1.49%, sys=0.25%, ctx=7969, majf=0, minf=17
   IO depths    : 1=0.1%, 2=0.3%, 4=0.5%, 8=99.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >32=0.0%
      submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%
   cpu        : usr=1.49%, sys=0.25%, ctx=7969, majf=0, minf=17
   IO depths    : 1=0.1%, 2=0.3%, 4=0.5%, 8=99.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, >32=0.0%
      submit    : 0=0.0%, 4=100.0%, 8=0.0%, 16=0.0%, 32=0.0%, 64=0.0%, >=64=0.0%


@@ -1068,8 +1076,8 @@ After each client has been listed, the group statistics are printed. They
 will look like this:
 
 Run status group 0 (all jobs):
 will look like this:
 
 Run status group 0 (all jobs):

-   READ: io=64MiB, aggrb=22178, minb=11355, maxb=11814, mint=2840msec, maxt=2955msec
-  WRITE: io=64MiB, aggrb=1302, minb=666, maxb=669, mint=50093msec, maxt=50320msec
+   READ: io=64MB, aggrb=22178, minb=11355, maxb=11814, mint=2840msec, maxt=2955msec
+  WRITE: io=64MB, aggrb=1302, minb=666, maxb=669, mint=50093msec, maxt=50320msec

 
 For each data direction, it prints:
 
 
 For each data direction, it prints:
 


@@ -1112,12 +1120,12 @@ Split up, the format is as follows:
 
        jobname, groupid, error
        READ status:
 
        jobname, groupid, error
        READ status:

-               KiB IO, bandwidth (KiB/sec), runtime (msec)
+               KB IO, bandwidth (KB/sec), runtime (msec)

                Submission latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Completion latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Bw: min, max, aggregate percentage of total, mean, deviation
        WRITE status:
                Submission latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Completion latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Bw: min, max, aggregate percentage of total, mean, deviation
        WRITE status:

-               KiB IO, bandwidth (KiB/sec), runtime (msec)
+               KB IO, bandwidth (KB/sec), runtime (msec)

                Submission latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Completion latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Bw: min, max, aggregate percentage of total, mean, deviation
                Submission latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Completion latency: min, max, mean, deviation
                Bw: min, max, aggregate percentage of total, mean, deviation