fio resides in a git repo, the canonical place is:
-git://git.kernel.dk/fio.git
+ git://git.kernel.dk/fio.git
-The http protocol also works, path is the same.
+When inside a corporate firewall, git:// URL sometimes does not work.
+If git:// does not work, use the http protocol instead:
-Snapshots are frequently generated and they include the git meta data as
-well. You can download them here:
+ http://git.kernel.dk/fio.git
-http://brick.kernel.dk/snaps/
+Snapshots are frequently generated and include the git meta data as well.
+Snapshots can download from:
-Pascal Bleser <guru@unixtech.be> has fio RPMs in his repository for
-SUSE variants, you can find them here:
+ http://brick.kernel.dk/snaps/
-http://linux01.gwdg.de/~pbleser/rpm-navigation.php?cat=System/fio
-Dag Wieërs has RPMs for Red Hat related distros, find them here:
+Binary packages
+---------------
+
+Debian:
+Starting with Debian "Squeeze", fio packages are part of the official
+Debian repository. http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=fio
+Ubuntu:
+Starting with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (aka "Lucid Lynx"), fio packages are part
+of the Ubuntu "universe" repository.
+http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=fio
+
+Red Hat, CentOS & Co:
+Dag Wieërs has RPMs for Red Hat related distros, find them here:
http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/fio/
+Mandriva:
Mandriva has integrated fio into their package repository, so installing
on that distro should be as easy as typing 'urpmi fio'.
+Solaris:
+Packages for Solaris are available from OpenCSW. Install their pkgutil
+tool (http://www.opencsw.org/get-it/pkgutil/) and then install fio via
+'pkgutil -i fio'.
+
+Windows:
+Bruce Cran <bruce@cran.org.uk> has fio packages for Windows at
+http://www.bluestop.org/fio/ .
+
Mailing list
------------
-There's a mailing list associated with fio. It's meant for general
-discussion, bug reporting, questions - basically anything that has to
-do with fio. An automated mail detailing recent commits is automatically
-sent to the list at most daily. The list address is fio-devel@kernel.dk,
-subscribe by sending an empty email to fio-devel+subscribe@kernel.dk.
+The fio project mailing list is meant for anything related to fio including
+general discussion, bug reporting, questions, and development.
+
+An automated mail detailing recent commits is automatically sent to the
+list at most daily. The list address is fio@vger.kernel.org, subscribe
+by sending an email to majordomo@vger.kernel.org with
+
+ subscribe fio
+
+in the body of the email. Archives can be found here:
+
+ http://www.spinics.net/lists/fio/
+
+and archives for the old list can be found here:
+
+ http://maillist.kernel.dk/fio-devel/
Building
--------
-Just type 'make' and 'make install'. If on FreeBSD, for now you have to
-specify the FreeBSD Makefile with -f and use gmake (not make), eg:
+Just type 'configure', 'make' and 'make install'.
+
+Note that GNU make is required. On BSD it's available from devel/gmake;
+on Solaris it's in the SUNWgmake package. On platforms where GNU make
+isn't the default, type 'gmake' instead of 'make'.
+
+Configure will print the enabled options. Note that on Linux based
+platforms, the libaio development packages must be installed to use
+the libaio engine. Depending on distro, it is usually called
+libaio-devel or libaio-dev.
+
+For gfio, gtk 2.18 (or newer), associated glib threads, and cairo are required
+to be installed. gfio isn't built automatically and can be enabled
+with a --enable-gfio option to configure.
-$ gmake -f Makefile.Freebsd && gmake -f Makefile.FreeBSD install
+To build FIO with a cross-compiler:
+ $ make clean
+ $ make CROSS_COMPILE=/path/to/toolchain/prefix
+Configure will attempt to determine the target platform automatically.
-Likewise with OpenSolaris, use the Makefile.solaris to compile there.
-The OpenSolaris make should work fine. This might change in the
-future if I opt for an autoconf type setup.
-If your compile fails with an error like this:
+Windows
+-------
- CC gettime.o
-In file included from fio.h:23,
- from gettime.c:8:
-os/os.h:15:20: error: libaio.h: No such file or directory
-In file included from gettime.c:8:
-fio.h:119: error: field 'iocb' has incomplete type
-make: *** [gettime.o] Error 1
+On Windows, Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com/) is required in order to
+build fio. To create an MSI installer package install WiX 3.8 from
+http://wixtoolset.org and run dobuild.cmd from the
+os/windows directory.
-Check that you have the libaio development package installed. On RPM
-based distros, it's typically called libaio-devel.
+How to compile fio on 64-bit Windows:
+
+ 1. Install Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com/). Install 'make' and all
+ packages starting with 'mingw64-i686' and 'mingw64-x86_64'.
+ 2. Open the Cygwin Terminal.
+ 3. Go to the fio directory (source files).
+ 4. Run 'make clean && make -j'.
+
+To build fio on 32-bit Windows, run './configure --build-32bit-win' before 'make'.
+
+It's recommended that once built or installed, fio be run in a Command Prompt
+or other 'native' console such as console2, since there are known to be display
+and signal issues when running it under a Cygwin shell
+(see http://code.google.com/p/mintty/issues/detail?id=56 for details).
Command line
------------
$ fio
- --debug Enable some debugging options (see below)
- --output Write output to file
- --timeout Runtime in seconds
- --latency-log Generate per-job latency logs
- --bandwidth-log Generate per-job bandwidth logs
- --minimal Minimal (terse) output
- --version Print version info and exit
- --help Print this page
- --cmdhelp=cmd Print command help, "all" for all of them
- --showcmd Turn a job file into command line options
- --readonly Turn on safety read-only checks, preventing writes
- --eta=when When ETA estimate should be printed
- May be "always", "never" or "auto"
- --section=name Only run specified section in job file
- --alloc-size=kb Set smalloc pool to this size in kb (def 1024)
+ --debug Enable some debugging options (see below)
+ --parse-only Parse options only, don't start any IO
+ --output Write output to file
+ --runtime Runtime in seconds
+ --latency-log Generate per-job latency logs
+ --bandwidth-log Generate per-job bandwidth logs
+ --minimal Minimal (terse) output
+ --output-format=type Output format (terse,json,normal)
+ --terse-version=type Terse version output format (default 3, or 2 or 4).
+ --version Print version info and exit
+ --help Print this page
+ --cpuclock-test Perform test/validation of CPU clock
+ --crctest[=test] Test speed of checksum functions
+ --cmdhelp=cmd Print command help, "all" for all of them
+ --enghelp=engine Print ioengine help, or list available ioengines
+ --enghelp=engine,cmd Print help for an ioengine cmd
+ --showcmd Turn a job file into command line options
+ --readonly Turn on safety read-only checks, preventing
+ writes
+ --eta=when When ETA estimate should be printed
+ May be "always", "never" or "auto"
+ --eta-newline=time Force a new line for every 'time' period passed
+ --status-interval=t Force full status dump every 't' period passed
+ --section=name Only run specified section in job file.
+ Multiple sections can be specified.
+ --alloc-size=kb Set smalloc pool to this size in kb (def 1024)
+ --warnings-fatal Fio parser warnings are fatal
+ --max-jobs Maximum number of threads/processes to support
+ --server=args Start backend server. See Client/Server section.
+ --client=host Connect to specified backend.
+ --idle-prof=option Report cpu idleness on a system or percpu basis
+ (option=system,percpu) or run unit work
+ calibration only (option=calibrate).
Any parameters following the options will be assumed to be job files,
-unless they match a job file parameter. You can add as many as you want,
-each job file will be regarded as a separate group and fio will stonewall
-its execution.
+unless they match a job file parameter. Multiple job files can be listed
+and each job file will be regarded as a separate group. fio will stonewall
+execution between each group.
-The --readonly switch is an extra safety guard to prevent accidentically
-turning on a write setting when that is not desired. Fio will only write
-if rw=write/randwrite/rw/randrw is given, but this extra safety net can
-be used as an extra precaution. It will also enable a write check in the
-io engine core to prevent an accidental write due to a fio bug.
+The --readonly option is an extra safety guard to prevent users from
+accidentally starting a write workload when that is not desired. Fio
+will only write if rw=write/randwrite/rw/randrw is given. This extra
+safety net can be used as an extra precaution as --readonly will also
+enable a write check in the io engine core to prevent writes due to
+unknown user space bug(s).
-The debug switch allows adding options that trigger certain logging
-options in fio. Currently the options are:
+The --debug option triggers additional logging by fio.
+Currently, additional logging is available for:
process Dump info related to processes
file Dump info related to file actions
parse Dump info related to option matching and parsing
diskutil Dump info related to disk utilization updates
job:x Dump info only related to job number x
+ mutex Dump info only related to mutex up/down ops
+ profile Dump info related to profile extensions
+ time Dump info related to internal time keeping
+ net Dump info related to networking connections
+ rate Dump info related to IO rate switching
? or help Show available debug options.
-You can specify as many as you want, eg --debug=file,mem will enable
+One can specify multiple debug options: e.g. --debug=file,mem will enable
file and memory debugging.
-The section switch is meant to make it easier to ship a bigger job file
-instead of several smaller ones. Say you define a job file with light,
-moderate, and heavy parts. Then you can ask fio to run the given part
-only by giving it a --section=heavy command line option. The section
-option only applies to job sections, the reserved 'global' section is
-always parsed and taken into account.
+The --section option allows one to combine related jobs into one file.
+E.g. one job file could define light, moderate, and heavy sections. Tell fio to
+run only the "heavy" section by giving --section=heavy command line option.
+One can also specify the "write" operations in one section and "verify"
+operation in another section. The --section option only applies to job
+sections. The reserved 'global' section is always parsed and used.
+
+The --alloc-size switch allows one to use a larger pool size for smalloc.
+If running large jobs with randommap enabled, fio can run out of memory.
+Smalloc is an internal allocator for shared structures from a fixed size
+memory pool. The pool size defaults to 1024k and can grow to 128 pools.
-Fio has an internal allocator for shared memory called smalloc. It
-allocates shared structures from this pool. The pool defaults to 1024k
-in size, and can grow to 32 pools. If running large jobs with randommap
-enabled it can run out of memory, in which case the --alloc-size switch
-is handy for starting with a larger pool size.
+NOTE: While running .fio_smalloc.* backing store files are visible in /tmp.
Job file
--------
-See the HOWTO file for a more detailed description of parameters and what
-they mean. This file contains the terse version. You can describe big and
-complex setups with the command line, but generally it's a lot easier to
-just write a simple job file to describe the workload. The job file format
-is in the ini style format, as that is easy to read and write for the user.
-
-The job file parameters are:
-
- name=x Use 'x' as the identifier for this job.
- description=x 'x' is a text description of the job.
- directory=x Use 'x' as the top level directory for storing files
- filename=x Force the use of 'x' as the filename for all files
- in this thread. If not given, fio will make up
- a suitable filename based on the thread and file
- number.
- rw=x 'x' may be: read, randread, write, randwrite,
- rw (read-write mix), randrw (read-write random mix)
- rwmixcycle=x Base cycle for switching between read and write
- in msecs.
- rwmixread=x 'x' percentage of rw mix ios will be reads. If
- rwmixwrite is also given, the last of the two will
- be used if they don't add up to 100%.
- rwmixwrite=x 'x' percentage of rw mix ios will be writes. See
- rwmixread.
- rand_repeatable=x The sequence of random io blocks can be repeatable
- across runs, if 'x' is 1.
- size=x Set file size to x bytes (x string can include k/m/g)
- ioengine=x 'x' may be: aio/libaio/linuxaio for Linux aio,
- posixaio for POSIX aio, solarisaio for Solaris
- native async IO, sync for regular read/write io,
- psync for regular pread/pwrite io, vsync for regular
- readv/writev (with queuing emulation) mmap for mmap'ed
- io, syslet-rw for syslet driven read/write, splice for
- using splice/vmsplice, sg for direct SG_IO io, net
- for network io, or cpuio for a cycler burner load. sg
- only works on Linux on SCSI (or SCSI-like devices, such
- as usb-storage or sata/libata driven) devices. Fio also
- has a null io engine, which is mainly used for testing
- fio itself.
-
- iodepth=x For async io, allow 'x' ios in flight
- overwrite=x If 'x', layout a write file first.
- nrfiles=x Spread io load over 'x' number of files per job,
- if possible.
- prio=x Run io at prio X, 0-7 is the kernel allowed range
- prioclass=x Run io at prio class X
- bs=x Use 'x' for thread blocksize. May include k/m postfix.
- bsrange=x-y Mix thread block sizes randomly between x and y. May
- also include k/m postfix.
- direct=x 1 for direct IO, 0 for buffered IO
- thinktime=x "Think" x usec after each io
- rate=x Throttle rate to x KiB/sec
- ratemin=x Quit if rate of x KiB/sec can't be met
- ratecycle=x ratemin averaged over x msecs
- cpumask=x Only allow job to run on CPUs defined by mask.
- cpus_allowed=x Like 'cpumask', but allow text setting of CPU affinity.
- fsync=x If writing with buffered IO, fsync after every
- 'x' blocks have been written.
- end_fsync=x If 'x', run fsync() after end-of-job.
- startdelay=x Start this thread x seconds after startup
- runtime=x Terminate x seconds after startup. Can include a
- normal time suffix if not given in seconds, such as
- 'm' for minutes, 'h' for hours, and 'd' for days.
- offset=x Start io at offset x (x string can include k/m/g)
- invalidate=x Invalidate page cache for file prior to doing io
- sync=x Use sync writes if x and writing buffered IO.
- mem=x If x == malloc, use malloc for buffers. If x == shm,
- use shared memory for buffers. If x == mmap, use
- anonymous mmap.
- exitall When one thread quits, terminate the others
- bwavgtime=x Average bandwidth stats over an x msec window.
- create_serialize=x If 'x', serialize file creation.
- create_fsync=x If 'x', run fsync() after file creation.
- unlink If set, unlink files when done.
- loops=x Run the job 'x' number of times.
- verify=x If 'x' == md5, use md5 for verifies. If 'x' == crc32,
- use crc32 for verifies. md5 is 'safer', but crc32 is
- a lot faster. Only makes sense for writing to a file.
- For other types of checksumming, see HOWTO.
- stonewall Wait for preceeding jobs to end before running.
- numjobs=x Create 'x' similar entries for this job
- thread Use pthreads instead of forked jobs
- zonesize=x
- zoneskip=y Zone options must be paired. If given, the job
- will skip y bytes for every x read/written. This
- can be used to gauge hard drive speed over the entire
- platter, without reading everything. Both x/y can
- include k/m/g suffix.
- iolog=x Open and read io pattern from file 'x'. The file must
- contain one io action per line in the following format:
- rw, offset, length
- where with rw=0/1 for read/write, and the offset
- and length entries being in bytes.
- write_iolog=x Write an iolog to file 'x' in the same format as iolog.
- The iolog options are exclusive, if both given the
- read iolog will be performed.
- write_bw_log Write a bandwidth log.
- write_lat_log Write a latency log.
- lockmem=x Lock down x amount of memory on the machine, to
- simulate a machine with less memory available. x can
- include k/m/g suffix.
- nice=x Run job at given nice value.
- exec_prerun=x Run 'x' before job io is begun.
- exec_postrun=x Run 'x' after job io has finished.
- ioscheduler=x Use ioscheduler 'x' for this job.
- cpuload=x For a CPU io thread, percentage of CPU time to attempt
- to burn.
- cpuchunks=x Split burn cycles into pieces of x usecs.
+See the HOWTO file for a complete description of job file syntax and
+parameters. The --cmdhelp option also lists all options. If used with
+an option argument, --cmdhelp will detail the given option. The job file
+format is in the ini style format, as that is easy for the user to review
+and modify.
+
+This README contains the terse version. Job files can describe big and
+complex setups that are not possible with the command line. Job files
+are a good practice even for simple jobs since the file provides an
+easily accessed record of the workload and can include comments.
+
+See the examples/ directory for inspiration on how to write job files. Note
+the copyright and license requirements currently apply to examples/ files.
+
+
+Client/server
+------------
+
+Normally fio is invoked as a stand-alone application on the machine
+where the IO workload should be generated. However, the frontend and
+backend of fio can be run separately. Ie the fio server can generate
+an IO workload on the "Device Under Test" while being controlled from
+another machine.
+
+Start the server on the machine which has access to the storage DUT:
+
+fio --server=args
+
+where args defines what fio listens to. The arguments are of the form
+'type,hostname or IP,port'. 'type' is either 'ip' (or ip4) for TCP/IP v4,
+'ip6' for TCP/IP v6, or 'sock' for a local unix domain socket.
+'hostname' is either a hostname or IP address, and 'port' is the port to
+listen to (only valid for TCP/IP, not a local socket). Some examples:
+
+1) fio --server
+
+ Start a fio server, listening on all interfaces on the default port (8765).
+
+2) fio --server=ip:hostname,4444
+
+ Start a fio server, listening on IP belonging to hostname and on port 4444.
+
+3) fio --server=ip6:::1,4444
+
+ Start a fio server, listening on IPv6 localhost ::1 and on port 4444.
+
+4) fio --server=,4444
+
+ Start a fio server, listening on all interfaces on port 4444.
+
+5) fio --server=1.2.3.4
+
+ Start a fio server, listening on IP 1.2.3.4 on the default port.
+
+6) fio --server=sock:/tmp/fio.sock
+
+ Start a fio server, listening on the local socket /tmp/fio.sock.
+
+Once a server is running, a "client" can connect to the fio server with:
+
+fio --local-args --client=<server> --remote-args <job file(s)>
+
+where --local-args are arguments for the client where it is
+running, 'server' is the connect string, and --remote-args and <job file(s)>
+are sent to the server. The 'server' string follows the same format as it
+does on the server side, to allow IP/hostname/socket and port strings.
+
+Fio can connect to multiple servers this way:
+
+fio --client=<server1> <job file(s)> --client=<server2> <job file(s)>
+
+
+Platforms
+---------
+
+Fio works on (at least) Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, OSX, NetBSD, OpenBSD,
+Windows and FreeBSD. Some features and/or options may only be available on
+some of the platforms, typically because those features only apply to that
+platform (like the solarisaio engine, or the splice engine on Linux).
+
+Some features are not available on FreeBSD/Solaris even if they could be
+implemented, I'd be happy to take patches for that. An example of that is
+disk utility statistics and (I think) huge page support, support for that
+does exist in FreeBSD/Solaris.
+
+Fio uses pthread mutexes for signalling and locking and FreeBSD does not
+support process shared pthread mutexes. As a result, only threads are
+supported on FreeBSD. This could be fixed with sysv ipc locking or
+other locking alternatives.
+
+Other *BSD platforms are untested, but fio should work there almost out
+of the box. Since I don't do test runs or even compiles on those platforms,
+your mileage may vary. Sending me patches for other platforms is greatly
+appreciated. There's a lot of value in having the same test/benchmark tool
+available on all platforms.
+
+Note that POSIX aio is not enabled by default on AIX. Messages like these:
+
+ Symbol resolution failed for /usr/lib/libc.a(posix_aio.o) because:
+ Symbol _posix_kaio_rdwr (number 2) is not exported from dependent module /unix.
+
+indicate one needs to enable POSIX aio. Run the following commands as root:
+
+ # lsdev -C -l posix_aio0
+ posix_aio0 Defined Posix Asynchronous I/O
+ # cfgmgr -l posix_aio0
+ # lsdev -C -l posix_aio0
+ posix_aio0 Available Posix Asynchronous I/O
+
+POSIX aio should work now. To make the change permanent:
+
+ # chdev -l posix_aio0 -P -a autoconfig='available'
+ posix_aio0 changed
Author
projects / fio.git / blobdiff