Tru64 UNIX

AdvFS Administration

Part Number: AA-RH96A-TE

July 1999

Product Version: Tru64 UNIX Version 5.0 or higher

This guide provides task-based information and instruction for

understanding, configuring, troubleshooting, and tuning the AdvFS file
system. It is designed primarily for system administrators.

Compaq Computer Corporation

Houston, Texas
© 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Compaq Computer Corporation

COMPAQ, the Compaq logo, and the Digital logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Microsoft and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Intel, Pentium, and Intel
Inside are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark and The Open
Group is a trademark of The Open Group in the US and other countries. Other product names mentioned
herein may be the trademarks of their respective companies.

Possession, use, or copying of the software described in this publication is authorized only pursuant to a
valid written license from Compaq Computer Corporation or an authorized sublicensor.

Compaq Computer Corporation shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained
herein. The information in this document is subject to change without notice.
 Contents

Preface

1 Introducing AdvFS
1.1 Advanced File System Features .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–2
1.2 What’s New in Tru64 UNIX Version 5.0 . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–3
1.3 File System Design . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–3
1.3.1 Filesets, File Domains and Volumes . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–4
1.3.2 Transaction Log . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–5
1.3.3 File Storage Allocation .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–6
1.4 License Registration . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–7
1.5 Related Information . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–8

2 Configuring the File System

2.1 Setting Up AdvFS . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–1
2.2 Volumes .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–2
2.2.1 Volume Structure . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–3
2.2.2 Volume Attributes . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–3
2.3 File Domains .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–4
2.3.1 Configuring File Domains . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–4
2.3.2 The /etc/fdmns Directory . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–5
2.3.3 Version 5.0 File Domains . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–6
2.3.3.1 Creating a File Domain with DVN 4 . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–6
2.3.3.2 Upgrading a File Domain to DVN 4 . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–6
2.3.4 Displaying File Domain Information . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–7
2.3.5 Creating a Single-Volume File Domain . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–8
2.3.6 Increasing the Size of a File Domain .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–10
2.3.6.1 Adding Overlapping Partitions on Mounted File
Systems .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–12
2.3.6.2 Adding Overlapping Partitions on Unmounted File
Systems .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–13
2.3.7 Reducing the Size of an Existing File Domain . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–13
2.3.8 Removing a File Domain . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–15
2.3.9 Renaming a File Domain . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–15
2.4 Filesets .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–16

Contents iii
 2.4.1 Configuring Filesets .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–17
2.4.2 The /etc/fstab File . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–17
2.4.3 Displaying Fileset Information . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–18
2.4.4 Creating a Fileset . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–19
2.4.5 Upgrading a Fileset .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–19
2.4.6 Mounting a Fileset . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–20
2.4.7 Unmounting a Fileset . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–20
2.4.8 Removing a Fileset .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–21
2.4.9 Renaming a Fileset .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–21
2.5 Clone Filesets . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–22
2.5.1 How Cloning Works .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–23
2.5.2 Creating a Clone Fileset . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–25
2.5.3 Mounting a Clone . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–25
2.5.4 Removing a Clone . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–26
2.5.5 Renaming a Clone . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–26
2.6 Configuring an AdvFS root File System .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–26
2.6.1 Mounting the root File System in Single-User Mode . . .. . 2–27
2.6.2 Changing the Name of the root File Domain . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–27
2.6.3 Changing the Name of the root Fileset . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–28
2.7 Data Logging by the Transaction Log .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–29
2.8 Using AdvFS with LSM .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–30
2.8.1 Setting Up AdvFS with LSM Volumes .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–31
2.8.2 Mirroring LSM Volumes Under AdvFS .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–33
2.8.3 Striping LSM Volumes and Striping AdvFS Files .. . .. . .. . 2–33

3 Managing Quotas
3.1 Introducing Quotas . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–1
3.1.1 Quota Limits . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–2
3.1.2 Grace Period .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–2
3.2 User and Group Quotas .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–3
3.2.1 Quota Files . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–3
3.2.2 Setting Quotas and Grace Periods . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–4
3.2.2.1 User Quotas Example .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–5
3.2.2.2 User Grace Period Example . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–6
3.2.2.3 Group Quotas Example . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–7
3.2.2.4 Group Grace Period Example .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–8
3.2.3 Setting Quotas for Multiple Users and Groups . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–9
3.2.3.1 Prototype User Example .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–9
3.2.3.2 Prototype Group Example . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–10
3.2.4 Verifying File and Disk Space Usage .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–11
3.2.4.1 Printing the Tag and Full Path Name for Each File . 3–12

iv Contents
 3.2.4.2 Summarizing Fileset Ownership .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–12
3.2.4.3 Displaying Disk Usage and Limits . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–12
3.2.4.4 Verifying Quota Consistency . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–13
3.2.4.5 Summarizing Quotas by Fileset . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–14
3.2.5 Activating Quotas at System Startup . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–15
3.2.6 Activating Quotas Manually .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–16
3.2.7 Deactivating Quotas .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–17
3.3 Fileset Quotas . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–17
3.3.1 Quota Files . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–17
3.3.2 Setting Quotas and Grace Periods . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–17
3.3.2.1 Fileset Quotas Example . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–18
3.3.2.2 Setting the Grace Period .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–19
3.3.3 Setting Quotas for Multiple Filesets .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–20
3.3.4 Verifying File and Disk Space Usage .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–21
3.3.4.1 Displaying Used and Available Disk Space for
Filesets . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–21
3.3.4.2 Displaying Used and Available Disk Space for File
Domains and Filesets . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–22
3.3.4.3 Displaying Fileset Attributes .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–23
3.3.4.4 Displaying File Domain Attributes .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–23
3.3.5 Activating Quotas .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–24
3.3.6 Deactivating Quotas .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–24

4 Backing Up and Restoring

4.1 Backing Up Data . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–2
4.1.1 Unique Features of the vdump Command .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–2
4.1.2 Dumping to Tape . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–3
4.1.3 Dumping Subdirectories . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–3
4.1.4 Dumping to Disk Partitions . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–3
4.1.5 Compressing Savesets . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–4
4.1.6 Dumping with Error Protection . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–4
4.1.7 Backup Level . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–5
4.1.8 Listing Saved Files . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–5
4.1.9 Dumping and Restoring Files Remotely . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–5
4.2 Cloning for Online Backup .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–6
4.3 Cloning to Back Up Databases . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–6
4.4 Restoring Data . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–7
4.4.1 Unique Features of the vrestore Command . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–7
4.4.2 Restoring Files .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–8
4.4.3 Restoring Quotas . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–8
4.4.4 Restoring Selected Savesets . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–8

Contents v
 4.5 AdvFS and NetWorker . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 4–9

5 Optimizing Performance
5.1 Configuring AdvFS .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–1
5.1.1 Configuring File Domains .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–1
5.1.2 Configuring Volumes . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–1
5.1.3 Improving Transaction Log Performance .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–2
5.1.4 Improving Data Transfer Rate with Direct I/O . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–3
5.2 Tuning AdvFS . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–4
5.2.1 Increasing the AdvFS Buffer Cache . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–4
5.2.2 Defragmenting a File Domain . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–4
5.2.2.1 Choosing to Defragment .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–6
5.2.2.2 Defragment Example . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–7
5.2.3 Balancing a Multivolume File Domain . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–8
5.2.3.1 Choosing to Balance . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–9
5.2.3.2 Balance Example . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–10
5.2.4 Moving Files to Different Volumes . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–10
5.2.4.1 Choosing to Migrate . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–12
5.2.4.2 Migrate Example . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–13
5.2.5 Striping Files in a File Domain . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–14
5.2.5.1 Choosing to Stripe . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–16
5.2.5.2 Stripe Example . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–16
5.2.5.3 Removing Striping . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–17
5.2.6 Changing Attributes to Improve System Performance . .. . 5–17
5.2.7 Controlling Domain Panic Information .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–19
5.3 Using a Trashcan . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–19

6 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI

6.1 Installing the GUI . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–1
6.2 Components of the GUI .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–2
6.2.1 GUI Agent (advfsd) . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–2
6.2.2 GUI (dtadvfs) . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–3
6.2.2.1 GUI Security . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–3
6.2.2.2 Ignoring Disks . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–4
6.2.2.3 Log Files .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–4
6.2.2.4 Help . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–5
6.2.2.5 Monitoring Remote File Systems .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–5
6.2.2.6 Managing LSM Volumes .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–5
6.3 Displaying File System Information . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–6
6.3.1 Choosing Units for Displaying Information . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–7

vi Contents
 6.3.2 Main Window . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–7
6.3.3 Devices and Volumes Window . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–8
6.4 Performing File System Operations . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–9
6.4.1 Operations on a File Domain . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–9
6.4.1.1 Creating a File Domain .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–10
6.4.1.2 Setting a Free Space Alert for a File Domain . .. . .. . .. . 6–11
6.4.1.3 Enlarging a File Domain . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–11
6.4.1.4 Removing a File Domain .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–12
6.4.1.5 Renaming a File Domain . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–13
6.4.2 Operations on a Fileset .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–13
6.4.2.1 Creating a Fileset . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–13
6.4.2.2 Mounting a Fileset . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–14
6.4.2.3 Unmounting a Fileset .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–14
6.4.2.4 Setting a Free Space Alert for a Fileset . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–14
6.4.2.5 Setting Fileset Quotas .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–15
6.4.2.6 Removing a Fileset . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–15
6.4.2.7 Renaming a Fileset .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–16
6.4.3 Operations on a Clone Fileset . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–16
6.4.3.1 Creating a Clone Fileset .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–16
6.4.3.2 Mounting a Clone . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–17
6.4.3.3 Unmounting a Clone . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–17
6.4.3.4 Removing a Clone . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–17
6.4.4 Operations on a Volume . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–18
6.4.4.1 Setting a Free Space Alert for a Volume .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–18
6.4.4.2 Adding a Volume . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–18
6.4.4.3 Removing a Volume .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–18
6.4.5 Maintaining AdvFS . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–19
6.4.5.1 Balancing a Multivolume File Domain . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–19
6.4.5.2 Defragmenting a File Domain . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–19
6.5 Troubleshooting GUI Operation . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–20

7 Troubleshooting
7.1 Managing Disk Space .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–1
7.1.1 Checking Free Space and Disk Usage . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–1
7.1.2 Limiting Disk Space Usage . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–2
7.1.2.1 Setting User and Group Quotas . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–3
7.1.2.2 Setting Fileset Quotas .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–3
7.1.2.3 Running into Quota Limits .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–4
7.2 Disk File Structure Incompatibility . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–4
7.2.1 Utility Incompatibility . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–5
7.2.2 Transaction log Incompatiblity .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–5

Contents vii
 7.3 Memory Mapping and Data Logging Incompatibility . .. . .. . .. . 7–5
7.4 Handling Poor Performance . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–5
7.5 Handling Disk Problems . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–8
7.5.1 Recovering from Disk Failure . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–8
7.5.2 Errors Restoring from Disk . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–9
7.5.3 Recovering from a Domain Panic .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–9
7.5.4 Recovering from Filesets Mounted Read-Only . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–11
7.5.5 Possible Data Problems Prior to Version 4.0D . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–12
7.5.6 Reusing AdvFS Volumes . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–15
7.5.7 Checking AdvFS Disk Structure . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–16
7.5.8 Salvaging File Data from a Damaged AdvFS File Domain 7–16
7.6 Restoring an AdvFS File System . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–19
7.6.1 Restoring the /etc/fdmns Directory . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–19
7.6.1.1 Reconstructing the /etc/fdmns Directory Manually .. . 7–20
7.6.1.2 Reconstructing the /etc/fdmns Directory Using
advscan . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–21
7.6.2 Recovering from Failure of the root Domain .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–25
7.6.3 Restoring a Multivolume usr Domain . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–26
7.7 Recovering from a System Crash . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–28
7.7.1 Verifying File System Consistency . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–28
7.7.2 Displaying Disk Structures . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–30
7.7.3 Moving an AdvFS Disk to Another Machine .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–30
7.7.4 Changing Operating Systems . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–32

A AdvFS Commands
A.1 AdvFS Base System Commands . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–1
A.2 AdvFS Utilities Commands . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–4

B Converting File Systems

B.1 Converting a /usr File System to AdvFS .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–1
B.1.1 Using a Backup Tape . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–1
B.1.2 Using an Intermediate File . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–3
B.1.3 Using a Second Disk . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–4
B.2 Converting the root File System to AdvFS . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–6
B.3 Converting a Data File System to AdvFS . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–8
B.3.1 Using a Backup Tape . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–8
B.3.2 Using an Intermediate File . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–9
B.3.3 Using a Second Disk . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–11
B.3.4 Using a Second System .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–12
B.4 Converting from AdvFS to UFS . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–14
B.4.1 Converting the root File System to UFS . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–14

viii Contents
 B.4.2 Converting a Fileset to UFS .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . B–15

C Accessing File System Information with the SysMan Menu

Glossary

Index

Figures
1–1 AdvFS File System Design . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–4
2–1 Single-Volume File Domain .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–9
2–2 Enlarging a File Domain . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–11
2–3 Cloning a Fileset .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 2–23
5–1 Defragmenting a File Domain .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–4
5–2 Balancing a File Domain . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–9
5–3 Migrating Files . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–12
5–4 Creating Striped Files . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–15
6–1 Main Window Showing Disk Usage Information .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–8
6–2 Main Window Showing Fileset Quota Information . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–8
6–3 Devices and Volumes Window .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–9

Tables
1–1 AdvFS Features and Benefits .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 1–2
3–1 Quota Size Limits . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–2
3–2 User and Group Usage Commands .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–11
3–3 Fileset Disk Usage Commands . . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 3–21
5–1 Trashcan Commands . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 5–20
6–1 AdvFS GUI Subsets . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–2
6–2 Disk Space Requirements for the AdvFS GUI .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–2
6–3 GUI Troubleshooting . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 6–20
7–1 Disk Space Usage Information Commands .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–2
7–2 User and Group Quotas Commands . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–3
7–3 Fileset Quota Commands . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–4
7–4 Fileset Anomalies and Corrections .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–22
7–5 Fileset Anomalies and Corrections .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–23
7–6 Fileset Anomalies and Corrections .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–23
7–7 Disk Structure Dumping Utilities . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . 7–30
A–1 AdvFS Configuration Commands . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–1
A–2 AdvFS Information Display Commands . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–2

Contents ix
 A–3 AdvFS Backup Commands . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–2
A–4 AdvFS Check and Repair Commands . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–2
A–5 AdvFS Quota Commands . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–3
A–6 AdvFS Disk Structure Commands . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–3
A–7 AdvFS Utilities Commands .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . A–4

x Contents
 Preface

Advanced File System (AdvFS) is the default file system for the Compaq
Tru64TM UNIX® (formerly DIGITAL UNIX) operating system. It provides
rapid crash recovery and a flexible structure that allows you to manage
your file system while it is on line.
AdvFS Utilities is a layered product that extends the file system
capabilities by including utilities to add volumes, create clones, stripe files,
and balance file domains. AdvFS Utilities also includes a graphical user
interface (GUI) to simplify AdvFS management.
This guide describes AdvFS and AdvFS Utilities in detail. It provides
information on features and functions, and it gives suggestions on how to
use these functions. Many functions can be accomplished through either
the command line or GUI. The AdvFS GUI provides online help for
completing specific procedures.

Structure of This Document

This guide contains the following chapters and appendixes:
• Chapter 1 introduces AdvFS, describes new AdvFS features, and
presents an overview of AdvFS design.
• Chapter 2 details how to configure your AdvFS system.
• Chapter 3 explains how to set up and use quotas on AdvFS files.
• Chapter 4 explains fileset cloning and backup and restore procedures.
• Chapter 5 provides information and instructions for maximizing the
performance of AdvFS.
• Chapter 6 describes the AdvFS GUI, dtadvfs.
• Chapter 7 provides diagnostic and troubleshooting instructions for
problems that can be handled at the file system level.
• Appendix A lists all of the commands available for AdvFS functions.
• Appendix B provides guidelines for converting from the UNIX File
System (UFS) to AdvFS and from AdvFS to UFS.
• Appendix C presents instructions for accessing file information through
the SysMan menu.

Preface xi
 • The Glossary contains definitions of terms unique to AdvFS or that
need clarification.

Conventions
This guide uses the following conventions:

%
$ A percent sign represents the C shell system
prompt. A dollar sign represents the system prompt
for the Bourne, Korn, and POSIX shells.

# A number sign represents the superuser prompt.

% cat Boldface type in interactive examples indicates

typed user input.

file Italic (slanted) type indicates variable values,

placeholders, and function argument names.

[|]
{|} In syntax definitions, brackets indicate items that
are optional and braces indicate items that are
required. Vertical bars separating items inside
brackets or braces indicate that you choose one item
from among those listed.

...
In syntax definitions, a horizontal ellipsis indicates
that the preceding item can be repeated one or
more times.

cat(1) A cross-reference to a reference page includes the

appropriate section number in parentheses. For
example, cat(1) indicates that you can find
information on the cat command in Section 1 of the
reference pages.

Ctrl/x This symbol indicates that you hold down the first
named key while pressing the key or mouse button
that follows the slash. In examples, this key
combination is enclosed in a box (for example,
Ctrl/C ).

xii Preface
 1
Introducing AdvFS

AdvFS is a log-based file system that provides flexibility, compatibility, data

availability, and high performance. AdvFS takes advantage of the 64-bit
computing environment and is designed to handle files and filesets as large
as almost 16 terabytes. For hardware and software requirements, see the
Technical Overview.
The configuration of AdvFS differs from the traditional UNIX file system.
In AdvFS, the physical storage layer is managed independently of the
directory layer. System administrators can add and remove storage without
unmounting the file system or halting the operating system. As a result,
configuration planning is less complicated and more flexible.
From a user’s perspective, AdvFS behaves like any other UNIX file system.
End users can use the mkdir command to create new directories, the cd
command to change directories, and the ls command to list directory
contents. AdvFS logical structures, quota controls, and backup capabilities
are based on traditional file system design. AdvFS replaces or eliminates
several standard commands, such as newfs, dump, restore, and fsck.
AdvFS commands and utilities are described in Appendix A.
Without taking an AdvFS system off line, system administrators can
perform backups, file system reconfiguration, and file system tuning. End
users can retrieve their own unintentionally deleted files from predefined
trashcan directories or from clone filesets without assistance from system
administrators.
AdvFS supports multivolume file systems, which enables file-level striping
(spreading data to more than one volume) to improve file transfer rates for
I/O-intensive applications. Logical Storage Manager (LSM), which allows
volume-level striping, can be incorporated into AdvFS configurations.
AdvFS Utilities, which is licensed separately from the Tru64 UNIX
operating system, provides additional file management capabilities and a
graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify system administration. The
AdvFS GUI, which runs under the Common Desktop Environment (CDE),
features menus, graphical displays, and comprehensive online help that
make it easy to perform AdvFS operations. In addition, the GUI displays
summarized system status information.

Introducing AdvFS 1–1

1.1 Advanced File System Features
Table 1–1 lists the main AdvFS features and their benefits.

Table 1–1: AdvFS Features and Benefits

Feature Benefit
Rapid crash recovery Write-ahead logging eliminates the need to use the
fsck utility to recover from a system failure. The
file system recovery time is rapid and is
independent of file system size.
Extended capacity, The design supports large-scale storage systems.
scalability
High performance An extent-based file allocation scheme consolidates
data transfer.
Disk spanning* A file or file system can span multiple disks within
a shared storage pool.
Unified buffer cache This cache interacts with the virtual memory
(UBC) system to dynamically adjust the amount of
physical memory being used to cache file data.
Online defragmentation System performance improves by defragmenting
the data on the disk while the system remains in
use. Defragmentation makes file data more
contiguous on the storage medium.
Online resizing* The size of the file system can be dynamically
changed by adding or removing disk volumes while
the system remains in use. This enables both online
storage configuration and online file system
maintenance.
File-level striping* Distributing file data across multiple disk volumes
improves file transfer rates.
Online backup* File system contents can be backed up to media
without interrupting the work flow of system users
by using fileset clones.
File undelete* Users can recover deleted files without assistance
from system administrators.
Quotas AdvFS supports quotas for users and groups as well
as for filesets.
Graphical user The GUI simplifies file system management by
interface* organizing AdvFS functions into menu-selected
tasks and by displaying file system status.

* This feature requires the optional AdvFS Utilities license.

1–2 Introducing AdvFS

1.2 What’s New in Tru64 UNIX Version 5.0
The following features have been added to AdvFS:
• Improved disk structure that increases the number of files the file
domain can track (see Section 2.3.3)
• A disk salvage utility that can recover information at the block level
from disks that have been damaged (see Section 7.5.8)
• An improved directory structure that increases the speed of file creation
and access (see Section 2.3.3)
• Enhanced vdump and vrestore command capability (see Chapter 4)
• Remote device support for backup and restore (see Chapter 4)
• Increased quota limits (see Chapter 3)
• Direct I/O to allow unbuffered, synchronous I/O (see Section 5.1.4)
• Smooth sync option to promote continuous I/O (see Section 5.2.6)
• New utilities (such as vdf, which displays disk usage for file domains
and filesets) (see Section 3.3.4.2)
• Metadata display utilities (see Section 7.7.2)

1.3 File System Design

AdvFS consists of two distinct layers: the directory hierarchy layer and the
physical storage layer. The directory hierarchy layer implements the
file-naming scheme and POSIX-compliant functions such as creating and
opening files, or reading and writing to files. The physical storage layer
implements write-ahead logging, caching, file allocation, and physical disk
I/O functions.

This decoupled file system structure enables you to manage the physical
storage layer apart from the directory hierarchy layer. This means that you
can move files between a defined group of disk volumes without changing
path names for your files. Because the path names remain the same, the
action is completely transparent to end users.
AdvFS can incorporate Logical Storage Manager (LSM) volumes into the
file system structure. AdvFS configured with LSM improves file system
reliability and availability because AdvFS can take advantage of LSM
features (see Section 2.8).

Introducing AdvFS 1–3

1.3.1 Filesets, File Domains and Volumes
AdvFS implements two unique file system concepts: filesets and file
domains. Filesets and file domains enable a two-layer file system structure
that decouples the physical storage layer of the file system from its
directory hierarchy. With this unique architecture, you can manage the
logical structure of your file systems independently of the storage volumes
that contain them. Figure 1–1 is a representation of this structure.

Figure 1–1: AdvFS File System Design

Fileset A

Fileset B

Domain

ZS0820
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3

A fileset follows the logical structure of a traditional UNIX file system. It is

a hierarchy of directory names and file names, and it is what you mount.
AdvFS goes beyond the traditional file system by allowing you to create
multiple filesets that share a common pool of storage called a file domain.
See Section 2.4 for more information about filesets.
A file domain is a pool of storage that is managed separately from the
directory structure. You can add or remove volumes without affecting the
directory structure. See Section 2.3 for more information.
A volume is any mechanism that behaves like a UNIX block device: an
entire disk, a disk partition, or an aggregate volume provided by a logical
storage manager (see Section 2.2). When first created, all file domains
consist of a single volume. If you have the optional AdvFS Utilities (see
Section 1.4), you can transform a single-volume file domain into a
multivolume file domain by adding one or more volumes.

1–4 Introducing AdvFS

 File domain names can be up to 255 characters and filesets can have
names of up to 31 characters. You cannot use slash (/), pound (#), colon (:),
asterisk (*), question mark (?), tab, newline, formfeed, return, vertical tab,
and space characters. Filesets that are not in the same file domain can
have the same name and file names must be unique in the directory.

1.3.2 Transaction Log

AdvFS is a log-based file system that employs write-ahead logging to
ensure the integrity of the file system. Write-ahead logging means that
modifications to the metadata (the file structure information) are
completely written to a transaction log before the actual changes are
written to disk. The log is implemented as a circular file buffer so that the
contents of the transaction log are written to disk at regular intervals. By
committing only completed transactions to disk, the file system is not left
in an inconsistent state after an unexpected system crash.

When a file domain is created, AdvFS creates a transaction log for it. The
first time the domain is activated, 4 megabytes of storage are allocated for
the log. It is separate from the user data but can be stored on the same
device.

During crash recovery, AdvFS consults the transaction log to confirm file
system transactions. All completed transactions are committed to disk and
uncompleted transactions are undone. The number of uncommitted records
in the log, not the amount of data in the file system, dictates the speed of
recovery. This means that recovery usually takes only a few seconds.
Traditional UNIX file systems rely on the fsck utility to recover from a
system failure. The fsck utility can take hours to check and repair a large
file system.

By default, only file structures are logged, but you can choose to log file
data (see Section 2.7). A file that has data logging turned on will remain
internally consistent in the event of a system crash. However, enabling
data logging can slow system performance.

It is possible to move the transaction log to a faster volume if the one it is

on is causing a bottleneck (see Section 5.1.3).
Note that the version of the transaction log on one version of the operating
system may not be compatible with the version on another. After a crash it
is important to recover your files on the same operating system on which it
crashed (see Section 7.7.4).

Introducing AdvFS 1–5

1.3.3 File Storage Allocation
Files are not static; their space requirements change over time. To
maintain contiguous file placement without overallocating space on the
disk, AdvFS uses a unique file storage allocation scheme.

Key features of storage allocation are:

• Extents
An extent is a contiguous area of disk space that AdvFS allocates to a
file. Extents are composed of sets of one or more 8-kilobyte pages. When
storage is added to a file, it is grouped in extents. There is an extent
map for each volume on which the file system resides.
File I/O is most efficient when there are few extents. If a file consists of
many small extents, it takes more I/O processing to read or write that
file.
Given the dynamic nature of a file system, the file-storage allocation
cannot always guarantee contiguous placement of pages. The following
factors affect placement:
– Excessive disk fragmentation
When a disk is fragmented, there are many small free spaces, so
AdvFS writes data to isolated physical pages, based on availability,
instead of writing to contiguous pages. This may result in files with
many extents.
– Multiple users
When there are many users on a system, requests for space
increase, decreasing the likelihood of contiguous file allocation.
If you have a file domain with many extents, you can decrease the
number by running the defragment utility (see Section 5.2.2).
• Preallocation
Each time a file is appended, AdvFS adds pages to the file by
preallocating one-fourth of the file size, up to 16 pages. Excess
preallocated space is truncated when the file is closed.
For multivolume file domains, new files are allocated sequentially
across volumes. Volumes that are more than 86% full (allocated) are not
used for new file allocation unless all volumes are more than 86% full.
When data is appended to existing files, storage is allocated on the
volume on which the file was initially allocated until the volume is full.

1–6 Introducing AdvFS

 • Fragments
AdvFS writes files to disk in sets of 8-kilobyte pages. In files where
holding the last bytes in an 8-kilobyte page would represent a waste of
more than 5% of the allocated space, a file fragment is created. The
fragment, which ranges in size from 1 kilobyte to 7 kilobytes, is
allocated from the frag file, a special file used for storing the file
fragments. This technique considerably reduces the amount of unused,
wasted disk space.
• Sparse files
A sparse file is one that does not have disk storage reserved for some of
its pages. Reading a sparse file at a page that does not have storage
reserved returns zeroes. Writing to a page that does not have storage
reserved allocates a page of disk storage.
Core files are sparse files. They have large areas with no information
and don’t use up disk blocks for locations where no data exists. Quota
files are sparse because they are indexed by user ID. If there are gaps
in the user IDs, there may be sections of the file with no data.
In contrast, database files generally reserve storage for the entire file
even when data is not available. Database applications generally write
zeroes in the pages that have no useful data so that storage is allocated.
In addition, by writing the data sequentially, a database file is created
with large sets of contiguous pages and a small number of extents.
To examine the length of a sparse file, including the pages that don’t
have disk storage, use the ls command with the -l option. The ls
command with the -s option shows the amount of storage actually used
by the file. The du command gives the same information as the ls -s
command.

1.4 License Registration

AdvFS is a file system option on the operating system. AdvFS Utilities is a
separately licensed product that provides additional processing capabilities.
Before you can use the file system utilities, you must register a license
product authorization key (PAK) for AdvFS Utilities. Contact your software
support organization for additional information.

Introducing AdvFS 1–7

1.5 Related Information
Other useful documentation includes:
• System Administration
• Installation Guide
• Logical Storage Manager
• Technical Overview
• Software License Management
• System Configuration and Tuning

1–8 Introducing AdvFS

 2
Configuring the File System

AdvFS differs from the traditional UNIX File System (UFS). The UFS
model is rigid. Each disk (or disk partition) contains one separate file
system; you mount the file system into the logical name space using mount
points.
The directory hierarchy layer of UFS is bound tightly to the physical
storage layer. When a file system becomes full, this tight binding makes it
impossible to move selected files onto another disk without changing the
full path names of those files. The task of dividing a logical directory into
directory subtrees and mapping the subtrees onto separate disks requires
careful consideration. Even with extensive planning, adjustments to the
directory structure are limited with the UFS model.
In contrast, with AdvFS you can modify your system configuration at any
time without taking down the system. As your system requirements
change, AdvFS allows you to easily adjust your storage up or down to meet
your requirements.

2.1 Setting Up AdvFS

You can initially set up AdvFS to resemble a traditional UFS configuration
with one partition (volume) per file domain and each domain containing
one fileset. If you have the optional AdvFS Utilities, when space is needed
you can add volumes to increase the size of existing file domains and
filesets. You do not have to change anything in the existing configuration.
When planning your configuration, consider setting up the root and /usr
file systems on AdvFS. Using AdvFS as the root file system enables booting
from an AdvFS file domain. By having the /usr file system on AdvFS, you
can significantly reduce the amount of time your system is down after a
system failure.
The minimum configuration needed for an active AdvFS file system is one
file domain and one mounted fileset.

Configuring the File System 2–1

 See the Appendix A for a complete list of AdvFS functionality and
commands. To create an active file domain:

1. Create a file domain (see Section 2.3.5).

2. Create a fileset (see Section 2.4.4).
3. Create a mount-point directory (see Section 2.4.6).
4. Mount a fileset (see Section 2.4.6).

You can also automatically mount a fileset at system reboot (see

Section 2.4.2).
For more detailed information on AdvFS configuration, see System
Configuration and Tuning. For more information on setting up file
domains, see Section 2.3 and Section 6.4.1.1.

2.2 Volumes
A volume on AdvFS can be a single disk partition, an entire disk, an
aggregate volume provided by Logical Storage Manager (LSM), or hardware
or software redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage.
A volume can be assigned to only one file domain. It is associated with its
file domain by a file domain ID, which is automatically stored in the file
domain attributes table of the volume. Each volume in a file domain is
assigned a volume index number, starting with 1, when it is initialized.
Numbers are reused when volumes are removed and new ones added.
When a volume is removed from a file domain, the file domain ID is cleared
in the file domain attributes table.
If you have the optional AdvFS Utilities, adding volumes allows you to
create a multivolume file domain, increase the disk capacity of an existing
file domain, increase the storage available for the filesets, and perform
preventative disk maintenance. You can add volumes immediately after
creating the file domain, even before creating and mounting filesets. To
perform preventative disk maintenance, you can add a new volume to the
file domain, migrate your files to the new volume, and then remove the old
volume.
For AdvFS to function properly, the number of volumes in a file domain
with the same file domain ID must remain consistent with the number of
volumes identified in the file domain attributes table. In addition, each file
domain is defined by an entry in the /etc/fdmns directory (see
Section 2.3.2). This directory must be up-to-date; that is, the file domain
entries must correctly reference the volumes associated with the domains.
The number of links to the volumes in the /etc/fdmns directory must
equal the number of volumes identified in the domain attributes table.

2–2 Configuring the File System

 All volumes are labeled either unused or with the file system for which
they were last used (for example, advfs). You can only add a volume that
is labeled unused to a file domain (see Section 7.5.6).

2.2.1 Volume Structure

Each volume in an AdvFS file domain contains the following structures:
• A bitfile metadata table (BMT), which is used to store file data structure
(metadata), including file attributes, file extent maps, fileset attributes,
and the POSIX file statistics.
• A storage bitmap, which is used to track free and allocated disk space.
• A miscellaneous metadata bitfile, which maps areas of the volume that
do not represent AdvFS metadata, such as the disk label and boot
blocks.
In addition to these structures, each file domain has the following
structures on one volume in the file domain:
• A transaction log, which stores all metadata changes until they are
written to disk.
• A root tag directory, which defines the location of all filesets in the file
domain.
This information is provided only to show how the volume is structured for
AdvFS. You cannot change the way AdvFS configures the volume.

2.2.2 Volume Attributes

AdvFS volumes are configured with attributes that determine how data is
read, cached, written, and consolidated. When an AdvFS volume is
incorporated into a file domain, either by creating the initial file domain or
by adding a volume, the default volume attributes are set. Modifying these
default attributes may improve performance in some system configurations.
To display or modify the current volume attributes, use the AdvFS GUI
(see Chapter 6) or, from the command line, enter the chvol command:

chvol [options] device_name file_domain

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
See Chapter 5 and System Configuration and Tuning for more complete
information on modifying attributes to improve system performance.

Configuring the File System 2–3

2.3 File Domains
A file domain is a defined pool of physical storage that can contain one or
more volumes. It is the physical storage layer of the AdvFS file system.
Because this storage is managed separately from the directory structure
(see Section 2.3.2), you can expand and contract the size of the file domain
by adding or removing volumes. You can move files between disks in the
file domain without changing file path names.

2.3.1 Configuring File Domains

How you configure file domains on your system depends on your
organization’s needs. You can assign all available storage to one file domain
or group specific partitions or disks into different file domains. With AdvFS
Utilities, you can assign multiple volumes to a file domain and distribute
the filesets and files across the volumes.

Establishing multiple file domains allows greater control over your physical
resources. You can create file domains to be used by specific projects,
groups of users, departments, or any division that makes sense for your
organization. For example, you could create file domains for each of your
organization’s departments, such as engineering, finance, and personnel.

There are a number of factors to consider when configuring file domains:

• To maintain high performance, avoid splitting a disk between two file
domains. For example, do not add partition g to one file domain and
partition h of the same disk to another file domain.
• Adding one partition (typically, partition c) to a file domain is
preferable to adding several partitions (such as a, b, g, h). You will
get an error message if you try to assign overlapping partitions to a file
domain (Section 2.3.6.1).
• It is generally more efficient to spread your file domain over several
disks, assuming the disks are the same type and speed. For example, a
file domain with three volumes on separate disks is more efficient than
one with three partitions on a single disk because the latter has only
one I/O path.
• The defragment utility processes each volume in parallel. Thus,
creating a file domain on several volumes can increase the defragment
speed.

2–4 Configuring the File System

 • Combining multiple volumes within a single file domain allows you to
build larger file domains and reduces the overall management effort
because fewer file domains require less administration. However, a
single volume failure within a file domain renders the entire file
domain inaccessible.
• Limiting the number of volumes to eight decreases the risk of disk
errors that can cause the entire file domain to become inaccessible. To
improve reliability, you can set up LSM mirrors. See Section 2.8 for
information about setting up AdvFS with LSM. See Logical Storage
Manager for LSM functionality.
The System Configuration and Tuning guide provides detailed guidelines
for planning and configuring your file system. The AdvFS Software Product
Description (SPD) contains information about system limits. See Chapter 6
if you want to configure your file domains using the AdvFS GUI.

2.3.2 The /etc/fdmns Directory

The /etc/fdmns directory defines the file domains on your system by
providing a subdirectory for each file domain you create. The subdirectories
contain a symbolic link to every volume in the file domain.
This directory is created and maintained automatically by AdvFS when you
use standard AdvFS commands. You must have a current /etc/fdmns
directory in order to mount the filesets in a file domain.

When you create a file domain, a soft link is created from the file domain
entry in the /etc/fdmns directory to the block device. You cannot create a
file domain simply by creating a link in the directory.
Back up the /etc/fdmns directory regularly. If the contents of the
directory become corrupted or deleted, restore the directory from your most
recent backup. A damaged directory prevents access to the file domain
because the information matching the file domain to the physical volume
containing the filesets is incorrect; the filesets are not affected.
If you attempt to mount a fileset from a file domain with a damaged
directory, a message similar to the following for the file domain accounts
will be displayed:
Volume count mismatch for file domain accounts.
accounts expects 2 volumes, /etc/fdmns/accounts has 1 links.

AdvFS provides the advscan utility to reconstruct the/etc/fdmns

directory by finding the location of AdvFS file domains on volumes or LSM
disk groups (see Section 7.6.1).

Configuring the File System 2–5

2.3.3 Version 5.0 File Domains
Version 5.0 operating system file domains have an improved disk structure
that provides support for quota values larger than 2 terabytes and
increases performance for directories containing thousands of files. All file
domains that were created prior to Version 5.0 are recognized by later
versions but are not automatically upgraded to the new structure.
A domain version number (DVN) is associated with a file domain. The
Version 5.0 operating system is the first for which a new file domain carries
a DVN of 4. File domains created earlier carry a DVN of 3.
You can mount an older fileset on a system running Version 5.0. You cannot
mount a fileset in a file domain created under Version 5 or later on a
system running a Version 4 operating system except by NFS mounting
from a Version 5 or later server (see Section 7.2). Therefore, if your
application requires backward compatibility, it is inadvisable to upgrade
your file domain to the new DVN.

2.3.3.1 Creating a File Domain with DVN 4

All file domains created under Version 5.0 automatically have a DVN of 4.
Therefore, if you do a full install of Version 5.0, all the file domains created
in the process will have the new structure. If you update install Version
5.0, your existing file domains will retain the DVN of 3. This means that
/root, /usr, and /var will also have a DVN of 3. You will have to
upgrade the DVN 3 files manually. There is no conversion utility.

2.3.3.2 Upgrading a File Domain to DVN 4

If you are running Version 5.0 and if you are running an application that
requires quota limits larger than 2 terabytes or that uses directories
containing thousands of files, you can improve performance by upgrading
your old file domain to a file domain with a DVN of 4.
To upgrade a file domain, create a new file domain on a Version 5.0 or later
system and copy all the information from the old file domain to it. If you
are unfamiliar with creating file domains, read Section 2.3.5 first. To
upgrade a file domain:

1. Back up the filesets in the domain to tape with the vdump command. It
is a good idea to use the -x option for additional protection from
saveset errors. You will lose all the data in your file domain if you
cannot restore it after creating a new domain.

2–6 Configuring the File System

 2. Remove the old file domain with the rmfdmn command. This will also
remove the old fileset.
3. Create a new file domain with the mkfdmn command. The new file
domain has a DVN of 4. Note that you do not need to use the -x and
-p options for the mkfdmn command. Version 5.0 takes care of BMT
allocations.
4. Create the new filesets with the mkfset command.
5. Restore the filesets in the new domain with the vrestore command.

For example, to upgrade the file domain domain_p on /dev/disk/dsk1c

containing filesets fset_p and fset_m and put them back on the same
volume with the same names:
# vdump -0 -N -x 8 /fset_p
# vdump -0 -N -x 8 /fset_m
# umount /fset_p
# umount /fset_m
# rmfdmn domain_p
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk1c domain_p
# mkfset domain_p fset_p
# mkfset domain_m fset_m
# mount domain_p#fset_p /fset_p
# mount domain_m#fset_m /fset_m
# vrestore -x -D /fset_p
# mt fsf 1
# vrestore -x -D /fset_m

It is possible to create file domains with a DVN of 3, which would be

recognized by older operating systems, on a Version 5.0 system. See
mkfdmn(8) for more information.

2.3.4 Displaying File Domain Information

If a file domain is active (at least one fileset is mounted), you can display
detailed information about the file domain and the volumes included in it
with the showfdmn command:
showfdmn domain_name

Configuring the File System 2–7

 For example, to display file domain information for the domain_1 file
domain:
# showfdmn domain_1
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
2bb0c594.00008570 Wed Mar 24 12:33 1999 512 4 domain_1
Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1L 8325 79210 90% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk1c

2 832527 1684 98% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk2c
-------------------------
1665054 80894 94%

2.3.5 Creating a Single-Volume File Domain

The first step in setting up an AdvFS file system is creating a file domain
and assigning an initial volume to it. However, a file domain is not a
complete file system that you can mount. In order to mount an AdvFS file
system, the file domain must contain one or more filesets. You can access
files as soon as you mount one or more filesets (see Section 2.4).
Creating a single-volume file domain with a single fileset is equivalent to
creating a traditional UFS file system. To set up an active, single-volume
file system, as illustrated in Figure 2–1, use the AdvFS GUI or, from the
command line, enter the mkfdmn command:
mkfdmn volume_name domain_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
To create an active single-volume file domain:

1. Create a single-volume file domain associated with a volume using the

mkfdmn command.
2. Create one or more filesets with the mkfset command and name each
fileset the same as its mount-point directory; for example, if the
mount-point directory is /tmp, name the fileset tmp. (This naming
scheme is recommended but is not required.)
3. Create the mount-point directory with the mkdir command.
4. Mount each fileset with the mount command.

2–8 Configuring the File System

 _____________________ Caution _____________________

The mkfdmn command destroys the data existing on the volume

named in the command. Do not name a volume that contains
data that you want to keep. If you have accidentally used the
mkfdmn command, you may be able to recover some of your data
with the salvage utility if the volume that was destroyed was
an AdvFS volume (see Section 7.5.8).

Figure 2–1: Single-Volume File Domain

ZS0826

There are a number of ways to set up active, single-volume AdvFS file

systems. The following example configures a file system with volume
/dev/disk/dsk3c, file domain domain_1, and fileset staff with mount
point /staff.
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk3c domain_1
# mkfset domain_1 staff
# mount domain_1#staff /staff# mkdir /staff

The following example creates a single-volume file domain, domain_2, and

two filesets, private and public, in the file domain. Because the file
domain has only one volume, the files in both filesets physically reside on
one volume (this is allowed in AdvFS):

Configuring the File System 2–9

 # mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk2c domain_2
# mkfset domain_2 private
# mkfset domain_2 public
# mkdir /private
# mkdir /public
# mount domain_2#private /private
# mount domain_2#public /public

You can set up a file domain with an LSM volume by naming the volume in
the mkfdmn command. See Section 2.8 for information about using AdvFS
with LSM. If you have AdvFS Utilities, you can change the size of your file
domain by adding more volumes. You can transform a single-volume file
domain (except the root file domain) into a multivolume file domain (see
Section 2.3.6 and Chapter 6).
If you try to create a file domain on a volume that is in use, you will get an
error message. You can override the message and create the domain. For
example, if /dev/disk/dsk3g is in use and you try to create the file
domain usr_domain, you will get the following message:
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk3g usr_domain
Warning: /dev/rdisk/dsk3g is marked in use for 4.2BSD.
If you continue with the operation you can
possibly destroy existing data.
CONTINUE? [y/n] <y>

2.3.6 Increasing the Size of a File Domain

You can expand a file domain by replacing one of the volumes in the file
domain with a larger storage device or, alternatively, adding another
volume to the file domain. Figure 2–2 shows a graphic illustration of
adding volumes to a file domain. Neither adding nor removing volumes
affects the directory hierarchy layer; all path names for the files remain the
same. Also, the file system can remain active during the disk exchange.

2–10 Configuring the File System

Figure 2–2: Enlarging a File Domain

addvo
l

There may be performance benefits if you upgrade a file domain created

before Version 5.0 to the new file structure (see Section 2.3.3) when you
increase its size.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

If your file domain is located on an LSM volume, do not use the
LSM grow option to increase its size.

A newly created file domain consists of one volume, which can be a disk,
disk partition, or logical volume. To add volumes, use the AdvFS GUI (see
Chapter 6) or, from the command line, enter the addvol command:
addvol device_name domain_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
For example, to add volume dsk3c to the file domain resources:
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk3c resources
You can add volumes immediately after creating a file domain, or you can
wait until the file domain requires additional space. You can add a volume
to an active file domain while its filesets are mounted and in use.
You cannot add a volume to the root file domain unless you are running a
cluster (see Cluster Administration). If you are running a cluster
configuration, adding another root volume is the same procedure as adding
any volume.

Configuring the File System 2–11

 _____________________ Caution _____________________
Existing data on the volume you add is destroyed during the
addvol procedure. Do not add a volume containing data that
you want to keep. If you have accidentally used the addvol
command, you may be able to recover some of your data with the
salvage utility if the volume that was destroyed was an AdvFS
volume (see Section 7.5.8).

If you do not have AdvFS Utilities and want to increase the size of your file
domain, you must move the domain to a different volume with the vdump
and vrestore commands process (see Section 5.2.4).
To increase the size of a file domain if you have AdvFS Utilities:

1. Use the showfdmn command to display the contents of the file domain
and the current disk capacity of each volume. This step is optional.
2. Add the new volume to the file domain.
3. Remove the old volume if you do not want it.
4. Run the balance utility to even the file distribution between the
volumes. This step is not required.

The following example replaces one disk, the volume /dev/disk/dsk2c, of

the domain_1 file domain with a larger disk, the volume
/dev/disk/dsk3c:
# showfdmn domain_1
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
2bb0c594.00008570 Wed Mar 24 12:33 1999 512 4 domain_1

Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1L 832527 79210 90% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk1c
2 832527 1684 98% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk2c
-------------------------
1665054 80894 94%
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk3c domain_1
# rmvol /dev/disk/dsk2c domain_1
# balance domain_1

2.3.6.1 Adding Overlapping Partitions on Mounted File Systems

AdvFS will not add a volume that would overlap a mounted file system. If
you try to add a volume that would cause partitions to overlap with
another volume that is mounted for another file system, a swap area, or a
reserved partition (by a database, for example), the system displays an
error message and does not permit the addvol procedure to complete:

2–12 Configuring the File System

 # addvol /dev/disk/dsk3b big_dom
Error: /dev/rdisk/dsk3b or an overlapping partition is open.
addvol: Can’t add volume ’/dev/disk/dsk3b’ to domain ’big_dom’

2.3.6.2 Adding Overlapping Partitions on Unmounted File Systems

You cannot add a volume with partitions that overlap with an unmounted
partition that has a disk label for a file system, a swap area, or a reserved
partition. If you attempt to add a volume that would overlap, you will get
an error message.
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk2c domain_1
Error: Partition(s) that overlap /dev/rdisk/dsk2c are marked
in use.
To edit an incorrect disklabel, use the -e flag with disklabel;
for more information see the disklabel(8) reference page.
addvol: Can’t add volume ’/dev/disk/dsk2c’ to domain ’domain_1’

If you want to overwrite partitions that are labeled in use, use the addvol
-F command. Using the -F option allows the volume to be added and
overwrites any partition that has a disk label but is not mounted.

2.3.7 Reducing the Size of an Existing File Domain

When there is sufficient free space on the remaining volumes, you can
remove volumes from a file domain at any time without interrupting users
or affecting the logical structure of the filesets in the file domain. When you
use the rmvol utility, the file system automatically migrates the contents
of the selected volume to other volumes in the file domain. Before you can
remove a volume from a file domain, all filesets in the file domain must be
mounted. An error will occur if you try to remove a volume from a file
domain with unmounted filesets.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

If your file domain is located on an LSM volume, do not use the
LSM shrink option to reduce its size.

To remove a volume, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from the
command line, enter the rmvol command:
rmvol device_name domain_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
For example, to remove dsk3c from the file domain inventory:
# rmvol /dev/disk/dsk3c inventory

Configuring the File System 2–13

 If there is not enough free space on other volumes in the file domain to
accept the files offloaded from the departing volume, as many files as
possible are moved to available free space on other volumes. Then a
message is sent indicating that there is insufficient space. The file domain
is not damaged.
You can interrupt the rmvol process (see rmvol(8)) with Ctrl/c or with the
kill -term command without damaging your file domain. Do not use the
kill -KILL command. When you interrupt the process, AdvFS will stop
removing files from the volume. Files already removed will remain in their
new location.
Under some circumstances unterrupting an rmvol command with the kill
command can leave the volume in an inaccessible state. If a volume does
not allow writes after an aborted rmvol operation, use the chvol
command with the -A option to reactivate the volume.
To reduce the size of a file domain:

1. Use the showfdmn command to display the contents of the file domain
and the current disk capacity of each volume. This step is optional.
2. Remove the volume.
3. Run the balance utility to even the file distribution between the
remaining volumes. This step is not required.

The following example shows how to remove one disk of the domain_2 file
domain, /dev/disk/dsk2c:
# showfdmn domain_2
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
2bb0c594.00008570 Wed Jun 9 10:23 1999 512 4 domain_2
Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1L 832527 386984 54% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk1c

2 832527 647681 22% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk2c
3 832527 568894 32% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk3c
----------------------
249758 1603559 36%
# rmvol /dev/disk/dsk2c domain_2
# balance domain_2

If you remove an AdvFS volume that contains a stripe segment, the rmvol
utility moves the segment to another volume that does not already contain
a stripe segment of the same file. When a file is striped across all volumes
in the file domain, a confirmation is required before removing the volume.
If you allow the removal process to continue, more than one stripe segment
will be placed on the remaining volumes. See Section 5.2.5 for details on
file striping.

2–14 Configuring the File System

2.3.8 Removing a File Domain
You can remove a file domain after all filesets in the domain are
unmounted. When you remove a file domain, the entry in the /etc/fdmns
directory that defined the file domain is removed and you cannot mount the
filesets. Volumes that were assigned to the removed file domains are
relabeled as unused and can be reused. However, removing the file domain
instead of using the rmfset command to remove each fileset may present a
security hole since no data on the volumes is changed. Thus it may be
possible to access the data with the salvage command (see Section 7.5.8).
To remove a file domain, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from the
command line, unmount all filesets and clone filesets. Then, enter the
rmfdmn command:
rmfdmn domain_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
You will be prompted to verify the removal. Responding y will complete the
removal. A confirmation message will be displayed when the procedure is
complete.
For example, to remove the file domain promotions:
# rmfdmn promotions
rmfdmn: remove domain promotions? [y/n]y
rmfdmn: domain promotions removed

If you attempt this command when there are mounted filesets, the system
displays an error message. AdvFS will not remove an active file domain.

2.3.9 Renaming a File Domain

An existing file domain can be assigned a new name. File domains are
known to the system by their file domain identifier, a set of numbers that
identify the file domain. When you rename a file domain, the file domain
identifier is not changed.
When you rename a file domain, entries for all filesets in the domain must
be updated in the /etc/fstab file. To rename a file domain, use the
AdvFS GUI, which updates the /etc/fstab file (see Chapter 6), or, from
the command line:

Configuring the File System 2–15

 1. Unmount all the filesets and any related clones.
2. In the /etc/fdmns directory, change the old file domain name to the
new one:
mv /etc/fdmns/old_dom_name /etc/fdmns/new_dom_name
3. Edit the /etc/fstab file to enter the new domain name and remove
the old.
4. Mount the filesets in the renamed file domain.

For example, to rename the file domain marketing to advertising,

assuming one fileset, fset, is mounted at /fset:
# umount /fset
# mv /etc/fdmns/marketing /etc/fdmns/advertising
# vi /etc/fstab

Change the line

marketing#fset /fset advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2

to
advertising#fset /fset advfs,userquota,groupquota rw 0 2

and mount the fileset

# mount /fset

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

2.4 Filesets
A fileset represents a mountable portion of the directory hierarchy of a file
system. Filesets and traditional UNIX file systems are equivalent in many
ways. Like traditional file systems, you mount AdvFS filesets. Similarly,
filesets contain files, are units on which you enable quotas, and are units
for backing up data.
In contrast with traditional file systems, the directory hierarchy of AdvFS
is independent of the storage. Therefore, you can change file placement
without affecting the logical structure of the filesets.
Fileset names may be associated with their file domain names as in
filedomain#fileset. Here the pound sign (#) is part of the naming
syntax and does not represent a comment. Fileset names must be unique
within a file domain.
AdvFS also supports clone filesets. A clone fileset is a read-only copy of an
existing fileset that you create to capture your data at one instant in time
(see Section 2.5).

2–16 Configuring the File System

2.4.1 Configuring Filesets
The number of filesets on your system depends on your organization’s
needs. To share storage, you can create multiple filesets in one file domain
but manage the filesets separately. Or, you can set up AdvFS in a standard
UNIX file system configuration by creating one fileset per file domain.

Because filesets are managed independently of their physical storage, each

fileset can be backed up independently (see Chapter 4) and can be assigned
its own quota limits (see Chapter 3). Consequently, you can group files by
their management requirements. For example, you could create a fileset for
developer files that will be backed up twice a day and you could create
another fileset with quotas imposed to limit the amount of disk space
available to the marketing department.
There is one transaction log per file domain that is shared by all filesets in
the file domain. When there are many filesets with a large amount of I/O,
the transaction log can become a bottleneck because all transactions are
written to the transaction log (see Section 1.3.2). Balance the management
gains of having multiple filesets in a file domain against the potential
performance reduction caused by having all of the log data for all filesets
going to one transaction log (see Section 5.1.3).

You can create and mount AdvFS filesets until the system runs out of
system resources (such as memory or disk space). The AdvFS SPD contains
information about this and other system limits.

The System Configuration and Tuning guide provides detailed guidelines

and suggestions for file system configuration. Many configuration
operations can be accomplished with the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6).

2.4.2 The /etc/fstab File

AdvFS filesets are added to the /etc/fstab file by listing them with an
advfs designation (see fstab(4)). This is similar to the way that you add
any other file system. AdvFS filesets listed in the /etc/fstab file are
mounted each time you reboot the system.
The fileset entry includes the file domain name, fileset name, mount point,
file system type, and the mount point options. The user quota and group
quota options (see Section 3.2) should be included along with the pass field
numbers if quotas are used. If they are not desired, the user quota and

Configuring the File System 2–17

 group quota options can be omitted. An AdvFS /etc/fstab entry with
user and group quotas enforced should include:
file_dmn#fileset /mount_point advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2

For example, to automatically mount the credit fileset with user and
group quotas (assuming the fileset’s mount point exists), add the following
line to the /etc/fstab file:
acct_domain#credit /usr/credit advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2

2.4.3 Displaying Fileset Information

Any system user can use the showfsets command to display detailed
information about mounted filesets and clones. Root user privilege is
required only if the file domain is inactive (filesets unmounted).

showfsets domain_name
The following example displays the file domain big_domain, which has
four filesets:
# showfsets big_domain
staff1_fs
Id : 2cb9d009.000419f4.1.8001
Files : 18554, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Blocks(512) : 712230, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Quota Status : user=on group=on
guest_fs
Id : 2cb9d009.000419f4.2.8001
Files : 4765, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Blocks(512) : 388698, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Quota Status : user=on group=on
staff2_fs
Id : 2cb9d009.000419f4.3.8001
Files : 12987, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Blocks(512) : 842862, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Quota Status : user=on group=on
staff3_fs
Id : 2cb9d009.000419f4.4.8001
Files : 48202, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Blocks(512) : 1341436, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Quota Status : user=on group=on

2–18 Configuring the File System

 The following example displays domain_2, which contains one fileset and
one clone fileset:
# showfsets domain_2
test_fs
Id : 3003f44f.0008ac95.4.8001
Clone is : clone_test
Files : 7456, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Blocks (512) : 388698, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Quota Status : user=on group=on
Clone_test
Id : 3003f44f.0008ac95.5.8001
Clone of : test_fs
Revision : 2

You can use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) to obtain similar information.

2.4.4 Creating a Fileset

A file domain must contain at least one mounted fileset to be active (see
Section 1.3.1). Any fileset can consume all of the storage available in the
file domain. You can also create multiple filesets within a file domain that
share the storage pool established for the file domain.

Each fileset can be mounted and unmounted independently of the other

filesets in the file domain. You can limit fileset growth within a file domain
by assigning fileset quotas.

To create a fileset in a file domain, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or,
from the command line, enter the mkfset command:

mkfset domain_name fileset_name

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

For example, to create the fileset coupons in the file domain advertising:

# mkfset advertising coupons

See also Section 2.3.5 which contains examples for configuring an active
(filesets mounted) file domain.

2.4.5 Upgrading a Fileset

Filesets that are part of file domains that were created prior to Version 5.0
do not have the structure that enables them to support large quota values
and better performance for very large directories. To upgrade filesets to the
new version, you must upgrade the file domain (that is, create a new one)

Configuring the File System 2–19

 and restore the filesets to it. Then the restored filesets will have the new
structure (see Section 2.3.3).
You cannot mount filesets with the new DVN on operating systems earlier
than Version 5.0 unless you NFS mount them from a Version 5.0 or later
server (see Section 7.2).

2.4.6 Mounting a Fileset

As with traditional UNIX file systems, AdvFS filesets must be mounted in
order to access them. Filesets to be mounted must be compatible with the
operating system on which they were created (see Section 7.2).

To mount a fileset, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from the
command line, enter the mount command, where mnt_point is the path to
the mount point:

mount domain_name#fileset_name mnt_point

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

For example, to mount the fileset coupons in the file domain

advertising:

# mount advertising#coupons /coupons

Before a file is mounted, AdvFS verifies that all data in all volumes in a file
domain can be accessed. If there are problems, the mount may fail or the
fileset may be mounted as read-only (see Section 7.5.4).
If you attempt to mount a fileset with an incorrect number of volumes, the
mount operation will fail. See Section 7.6.1.2 and advscan(8) for further
information.
You will get an error message if you attempt to mount a fileset created
under Version 5.0 on a system running Version 4 or earlier (see Section 7.2).

2.4.7 Unmounting a Fileset

To unmount an AdvFS fileset, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from
the command line, enter the umount command:
umount mnt_point

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

2–20 Configuring the File System

 For example, to unmount the fileset coupons in the file domain
advertising that was mounted in Section 2.4.6:

# umount /coupons

2.4.8 Removing a Fileset

Filesets can be deleted from a file domain when they are no longer needed.
Only unmounted filesets can be removed. A fileset’s clone must be removed
before the fileset is removed. Once filesets are removed, they cannot be
remounted. If you have set up a trashcan directory (see Section 5.3) for the
fileset, it is also removed.

You can use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) to remove a fileset or, from the
command line, enter the rmfset command:

rmfset domain_name fileset_name

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

For example, to remove the tmp_1 fileset in domain_1:

# rmfset domain_1 tmp_1
rmfset: remove fileset tmp_1? [Y/N]y

The fastest way to remove all filesets in a file domain is with the rmfdmn
command. However, the salvage command (see Section 7.5.8) may be able
to access some of the data. The rmfdmn command removes the definition of
the domain in the /etc/fdmns/ directory and relabels the volumes, but it
does not touch any data on the volume. Filesets removed with the rmfset
commmand are not recoverable with the salvage utility because the
utility destroys pointers to the fileset data (metadata) and all the files in
the fileset.

2.4.9 Renaming a Fileset

An existing fileset can be assigned a new name. Filesets are known to the
system by their fileset identifier, which is a combination of the file domain
identifier and an additional set of numbers that identify the fileset within
the file domain. The fileset name is kept within the domain and is an
attribute that you assign. When you rename a fileset, only this assignment
is changed. The fileset identifier is not altered. Filesets must be unmounted
to be renamed.

You can use the AdvFS GUI, which updates the /etc/fstab file (see
Chapter 6) to rename a fileset or, from the command line, enter the
renamefset command:

Configuring the File System 2–21

 renamefset domain_name old_fileset_name new_fileset_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
For example, to rename the marketing fileset to the advertising fileset:
# renamefset domain_1 marketing advertising
After renaming the fileset, you must update the corresponding entries in
the /etc/fstab file (see Section 2.4.2). If you do not do this, AdvFS will
not mount the fileset when the system is booted.

_______________________ Note _______________________

If you rename a fileset, its clone can no longer track it. You
cannot rename the clone. You must delete the old clone and
create a new one.

2.5 Clone Filesets

If you have the optional AdvFS Utilities, you can back up your files using a
clone fileset, a read-only snapshot of fileset data structures (metadata).
When you clone a fileset (create a clone fileset), the utility copies only the
structure of the original fileset, not the actual data. Only when a file is
modified does the file system copy the original, unchanged data to the clone
fileset. (This is called copy-on-write.) Because the only data contained in
the clone fileset is a copy of original data that was modified, the clone
fileset usually consumes less disk space than the original fileset.
Figure 2–3 illustrates the relationship between parent and clone filesets.

2–22 Configuring the File System

 Figure 2–3: Cloning a Fileset
PAREN
T FILESE
T
CLONE
FILESE
T

COPY-O
N-WRIT ORIGIN
E AL
OF MO VERSIONS
DIFIED
FILES
ZS0822

Clone filesets increase the availability of data because they:

• Preserve the system at a particular time
A clone is not a replacement for the backup process (using the vdump
command, for example). However, it can provide internal consistency if
you are trying to back up a system where files are changing rapidly and
you want to retain the information at a particular time. Use the clone
to make a snapshot of your data, then use the vdump command to back
up the clone.
• Protect against accidental file deletion or corruption
Create a clone of each fileset that you plan to access or modify. By
leaving the clone fileset on line, you can replace unintentionally deleted
or corrupted files without loading backup tapes.
See Section 4.2 for command line instructions on using cloning for online
backup and Section 6.4.3 for an explanation of cloning with the AdvFS GUI.

2.5.1 How Cloning Works

When you create a clone fileset, only pointers to the file metadata (file
structure) are stored in the clone fileset. Data files are not copied. When you
modify your data in the original fileset, AdvFS saves the pages that existed
when the clone fileset was created. As you update data in a file, the original
pages associated with the change are copied to the clone fileset. The original

Configuring the File System 2–23

 pages are then rewritten with the new data. The clone fileset retains the
originals of all data that has changed since the clone was created.
Therefore, the clone will get larger over time as the files are changed.
To create a clone fileset, AdvFS:

1. Creates a read-only fileset to be the clone.

2. Copies only the original fileset tag directory to the clone.
3. Creates a link between the two filesets.
4. Sets up bookkeeping to track whether a given page has been updated.

Once a page has been added to the clone, it is marked. If the same page is
updated again, the clone does not change. It already contains the
information that existed when the clone was created.
AdvFS allocates clone fileset space by pages (8 kilobytes). If you modify one
page in a large file, then only one additional page is allocated by the clone.
Note that if a file is modified so that pages are appended, these pages will
not appear in the clone because they were created after the clone was
created.
Unless you modify every page of every file in the original fileset during the
life of the clone, the clone fileset occupies less disk space than the original
fileset.

_______________________ Note _______________________

Changing text files with an editor may cause the entire original
file to be copied to the clone. Many editors rewrite the entire file
regardless of what has changed. When this happens, your clone
fileset may grow very large. There is no way for AdvFS to alter
this process.

When you delete a file that existed when the clone was created, it remains
available (but not visible in the original fileset) for the life of the clone. The
file is not copied to the clone, but the actual delete is delayed until the
clone is deleted. The version of the file that is retained is the one that
existed when the clone was created. Later updates are lost.
The size of the clone fileset depends upon the number of updates that occur
during the life of the clone. The df command, which displays statistics on
free disk space, does not accurately reflect the size of the clone fileset
because it constantly changes as files are updated.

2–24 Configuring the File System

 _____________________ Caution _____________________
When a file domain runs out of disk space, the file system loses
its ability to maintain the consistency of files within clone
filesets. The original fileset is usable, but the clone fileset is not
accurate. A warning message is displayed on both the user’s
terminal and the system console.

2.5.2 Creating a Clone Fileset

Cloning is transparent to the user and has little impact on system
performance. You do not have to be root user to create a clone. To create a
clone fileset, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from the command
line, enter the clonefset command:
clonefset domain_name fileset_name clone_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
For example, to create a clone called clone_day300 for the fileset day300
in the file domain transactions:
# clonefset transactions day300 clone_day300

2.5.3 Mounting a Clone

An AdvFS fileset clone must be mounted in order to access it. To mount a
clone, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from the command line, enter
the mount command. Identify the clone and mount point:
mount domain_name#clone_name mnt_point
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

For example, to mount the clone clone_day300 created above:

# mount transactions#clone_day300 /day_of_year
To unmount a clone, enter the standard umount command:
umount mnt_point
For example, to unmount the clone clone_day300 created and mounted
above:
# umount /day_of_year

Configuring the File System 2–25

2.5.4 Removing a Clone
A clone can be deleted from a file domain when it is no longer needed. Once
clones are removed, they cannot be remounted. Note that a fileset’s clone
must be removed before the fileset can be removed.

To remove a clone, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from the
command line, unmount the clone, and then enter the rmfset command:
rmfset domain_name clone_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

For example, to remove the tmp_clone clone in domain_1:

# rmfset domain_1 tmp_clone
rmfset: remove fileset tmp_clone? [Y/N]y

2.5.5 Renaming a Clone

A clone fileset cannot be renamed. To assign a different name to a clone,
remove the old clone and create a new clone for the fileset. (Note that this
new clone is a snapshot of the original fileset at a later point in time than
the deleted clone.)
If you have renamed a fileset that has a clone, you must delete the clone
associated with the old name before you can create a clone for the newly
named fileset.

2.6 Configuring an AdvFS root File System

There are several advantages to configuring the root file system on AdvFS.
You can:
• Restart quickly after a crash. You do not run the fsck utility after a
crash.
• Use one set of tools to manage all local file systems. All features of
AdvFS except addvol and rmvol are available to manage the root file
system.
• Use AdvFS with LSM to mirror the root file system. This allows your
root file system to remain viable even if there is a media failure.

2–26 Configuring the File System

 The following restrictions on the AdvFS root file systems are currently
enforced:
• Unless you are running a cluster (see Cluster Administration), the root
file domain can only contain one volume. You cannot add volumes to the
root file domain.
• The volume must start from the beginning of the physical device (a or c
partitions).
• The root fileset must be the first fileset created in the root file domain.
• You can assign any name to the root file domain and fileset but the
same name must be entered in the /etc/fstab file.

You can put the root file system on AdvFS during the initial base-system
installation or you can convert your existing root file system after
installation. Note that when you install AdvFS as root during the initial
installation, root will default to the a partition.

If you construct your own root file system, you can configure it on the a or
c partition. See Section B.2 for instructions on converting an existing UFS
root file system to AdvFS. See the Installation Guide for instructions on
installing AdvFS as the root file system during the initial installation.

2.6.1 Mounting the root File System in Single-User Mode

The root file system is automatically mounted as read-only when the
system is booted in single-user mode. You can change the root fileset mount
from read-only to read-write with the mount -u command:

mount -u /

Use this procedure when you need to make modifications to the root
configuration. For example, use it if you need to modify your /etc/fstab
file.

2.6.2 Changing the Name of the root File Domain

You can change the name of the root domain (or any domain). The name of
a root domain is stored as the directory name in the /etc/fdmns directory
and in the entry for root in the /etc/fstab file.

To change the name of the root file domain:

1. Use the mv command to rename the root file domain.

2. Use an editor to rename the root file domain entry in the /etc/fstab
file.

Configuring the File System 2–27

 For example, to change root_domain to root_dmn:
# mv /etc/fdmns/root_domain /etc/fdmns/root_dmn

Use an editor to change the entry in the /etc/fstab file that mounts the
root file domain:
root_domain#root / advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2

to
root_dmn#root / advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2

2.6.3 Changing the Name of the root Fileset

Changing the name of the root fileset is similar to changing the name of
any other fileset (see Section 2.4.9). There are, however, two complications:
• The renamefset command requires that the fileset be unmounted, and
you cannot unmount the root fileset.
• You must edit the /etc/fstab file to change the name of the root
fileset. To do this, you must make the root fileset writeable. But the root
fileset cannot be mounted as writeable unless the /etc/fstab entry is
correct.

Therefore, you must use an alternate bootable partition and manipulate

the root fileset you are changing as you would an ordinary fileset, make the
changes, then reboot the changed fileset as root.

To rename the root fileset:

1. Boot a partition other than the one you want to change. (It can be
UFS.)
2. Make a new entry in the /etc/fdmns directory of the booted partition
for the fileset whose name you want to change.
3. Change to the new directory and make a symbolic link to the device
holding the original fileset.
4. Use the renamefset command to rename the root fileset.
5. Mount the newly named root fileset at a temporary location in order to
update its /etc/fstab file.
6. Change the fstab entry to correspond to the new root fileset name.
7. Shut down the alternate system.
8. Reboot the original AdvFS system.

2–28 Configuring the File System

 The following example changes the name of the root fileset from root_fs
to new_root. Assume that the root fileset is in the root_domain file
domain on /dev/disk/dsk2a.

1. Boot a device other than the one you want to change.

2. Make an entry for tmp_root_domain in the /etc/fdmns directory:
# mkdir /etc/fdmns/tmp_root_domain
3. Change to the new directory and make a symbolic link for
tmp_root_domain:
# cd /etc/fdmns/tmp_root_domain
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk2a
4. Rename the fileset from root_fs to new_root:
# renamefset tmp_root_domain root_fs new_root
5. Mount the changed root to update the associated fstab file:
# mount tmp_root_domain#new_root /mnt
6. Edit the /mnt/etc/fstab entry for tmp_root_domain:
# cd /mnt/etc
# vi fstab
Change the line:
root_domain#root_fs / advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
to:
root_domain#new_root / advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
7. Shut down the alternate system.
# shutdown -h now
8. Reboot the AdvFS system.

______________________ Note ______________________

If you change the root file domain and fileset names and forget
to change the /etc/fstab entries, you will not be able to boot
past single-user mode. You will have to fix /etc/fstab from
single-user mode using an editor before you can proceed.

2.7 Data Logging by the Transaction Log

Normally write requests are asynchronously written to disk. The write
system returns a success value once the data has been cached. If the

Configuring the File System 2–29

 system crashes before the write occurs, inconsistencies can occur. You can
decrease the likelihood of inconsistent data if you modify the way your
system writes to storage. There are two ways to do this:
• Forced synchronous I/O
Using the chfile command with the -l on option causes the write
system call to return a success value only after the data has been
successfully written to disk. To turn synchronous I/O on and off, enter
the chfile command with the -l option:
chfile -l on file_name
chfile -l off file_name
• Atomic write data logging
Using the chfile command with the -L on option retains
asynchronous write requests, but these requests are also written to the
transaction log. If the system crashes during or after a write system
call, only complete write requests will be moved to the file. To turn
synchronous I/O on and off, enter the chfile command with the -L
option:
chfile -L on file_name
chfile -L off file_name

The chfile command can be used on AdvFS files that are NFS mounted.

Both forced synchronous writes and atomic write data logging can slow
system performance. In addition, files that use atomic write data logging
cannot be memory mapped through the mmap system call to determine the
I/O. See Section 7.3 for information on improving transaction log
performance.

2.8 Using AdvFS with LSM

LSM is a disk-management tool that allows you to create arbitrary-sized
volumes independent of disk sizes and partition boundaries. You can create
mirrored and striped volumes and change their attributes as performance
and availability needs dictate. For more information see Logical Storage
Manager.

AdvFS treats LSM volumes just like any other volume such as a disk or a
disk partition. You can use LSM to create and manage the volumes that
you use in AdvFS file domains.

2–30 Configuring the File System

 LSM and AdvFS together provide some performance enhancements:
• Availability
Volume mirroring and RAID allow access to the same information on
more than one volume. This provides backup in the case of a disk
failure.
• I/O performance
Mirroring can improve the read throughput because files can be
accessed from either volume depending upon I/O load.
LSM’s volume striping is useful when large files will be shared and
when the transaction log is spread over multiple disks. AdvFS can only
stripe individual files.
• Performance monitoring
Detailed information on disk I/O activity is available with LSM disk
monitoring.
Use AdvFS with or without LSM volumes to manage file systems and
file-level activities:
• Create file domains and filesets.
• Expand and shrink file domains.
• Perform online backups.
• Set quotas on users, groups, and filesets.
• Configure and maintain file systems online.
• Stripe individual files rather than all files on a volume. Do not stripe
individual files when using LSM striped volumes.
• Recover from system failures quickly.
You can operate on LSM volumes running AdvFS either through the
command line or the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6). There is also an LSM
GUI that manipulates LSM volumes. See Logical Storage Manager for
further information.

2.8.1 Setting Up AdvFS with LSM Volumes

To use LSM with AdvFS from the command line:

1. Create the LSM volumes with the desired attributes.

You can specify mirrored volumes, striped volumes, mirrored and
striped volumes, volume location, and volume size.
2. Create a file domain with the mkfdmn command and identify the LSM
volume as the initial volume.

Configuring the File System 2–31

 3. To create a multivolume file domain, use the addvol command with
either an LSM or non-LSM volume.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

Do not use the grow or shrink LSM options to change the size
of AdvFS file domains. Use the addvol and rmvol commands.

You will get an error message if you try to create an AdvFS file domain on
an LSM volume that is already opened or on a volume that is already
labeled as in use by either UFS or AdvFS.

If you already have an AdvFS file domain, you can encapsulate the domain
into LSM using the encapsulation tools.
If mirrored or striped LSM volumes are part of an AdvFS file domain that
also includes non-LSM volumes, you do not have control over which files go
to the mirrored or striped LSM volumes. To place specific data on mirrored
or striped volumes, create an AdvFS file domain that contains only LSM
volumes with the attributes that you want. Then, put the files you want
mirrored or striped in that file domain.

The showfdmn command and the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) include LSM
volumes in the file domain information display. In addition, you can use the
advscan command to locate AdvFS volumes in LSM disk groups.

It is better to add multiple small LSM volumes rather than a single, large,
striped or concatenated volume to an AdvFS file domain. This enables
AdvFS to balance and stripe I/O across volumes if necessary.

Note that you must use the full LSM path name when referencing an LSM
volume.
The following example creates a file domain on an existing LSM volume:

# mkfdmn /dev/vol/rootdg/vol01 domain_rs

You can also add volumes to an existing file domain:

# addvol /dev/vol/rootdg/vol02 domain_rs

2–32 Configuring the File System

 The following example creates a 1-gigabyte file domain with two LSM
volumes:
# volassist make vol01 500m
# volassist make vol02 500m
# mkfdmn /dev/vol/rootdg/vol01 onegb_domain
# addvol /dev/vol/rootdg/vol02 onegb_domain
# mkfset onegb_domain onegb_fset1
# mkdir /fset1
# mount onegb_domain#onegb_fset1 /fset1

2.8.2 Mirroring LSM Volumes Under AdvFS

You can place two (or more) LSM volumes in a mirror configuration for
AdvFS file domains. This configuration provides distributed processing and
fail-over protection; since both disks contain the same information, either
one can be accessed.
The following example creates a 500-megabyte mirrored LSM volume,
creates a file domain using the LSM volume, creates a new fileset, and then
mounts the fileset:
# volassist make v2_mirr 500m nmirror=2
# mkfdmn /dev/vol/rootdg/v2_mirr domain1
# mkfset domain1 fset_1
# mount domain1#fset_1 /mnt9

Once a mirror is created, you would not ordinarily split it. If you wish to
back up a mirrored volume (see Logical Storage Manager), you can mount a
mirror that has been split using the mount command with the dual option.
If you do not use the dual option, you will get the error message:
E_DOMAIN_ALREADY_EXISTS
The following example assumes that volume1 is the split mirror volume.
To remount the data from domain1#fset1 on the same system in
domain2 after a mirror has been split:
# mkdir /fileset2
# mkdir /etc/fdmns/domain2
# ln -s /dev/vol/rootdg/volume1 /etc/fdmns/domain2/volume1
# mount -o dual domain2#fset1 /fileset2

2.8.3 Striping LSM Volumes and Striping AdvFS Files

You can distribute I/O across multiple volumes by striping. AdvFS and
LSM striping both work well on a busy system. LSM is better suited for
general striping, while AdvFS striping allows the administrator
finer-grained control for positioning individual files.

Configuring the File System 2–33

 When you choose LSM striping, you preconfigure your volumes for file
striping; then all files located on the volumes configured for striping will be
striped. You can do this from the command line or from the LSM GUI (see
Logical Storage Manager).

You can stripe an AdvFS file at any time (see Section 5.2.5). Therefore, if
you find that a file has become large or has heavy I/O requirements, you
can use the AdvFS stripe command to stripe it.

It is not advisable to do both LSM and AdvFS striping because this may
degrade system performance.

The following example creates a striped LSM volume and then creates an
AdvFS file domain using that striped LSM volume. All files created in this
AdvFS file domain will be striped across LSM volumes:
# volassist make vol06 600m layout=stripe nstripe=3
# mkfdmn /dev/vol/rootdg/vol06 striped_domain

2–34 Configuring the File System

 3
Managing Quotas

AdvFS allows you to activate quotas to track and control the amount of
physical storage that each user, group, or fileset consumes. You must have
root user privilege to set and edit quotas. The root user is never restricted
by quota limits; quota limits only apply to nonroot users.
The AdvFS quota system is compatible with the Berkeley-style quotas of
UFS. However, the AdvFS quota system differs in two ways:
• AdvFS differentiates between quota maintenance and quota
enforcement. Quota information is always maintained, but enforcement
can be activated and deactivated.
• AdvFS supports fileset quotas; that is, you can set quota limits for the
filesets in a file domain.

3.1 Introducing Quotas

You can set two quota values: on the amount of disk storage and on the
number of files. In addition there are two types of quotas you can set:
• User and group quotas
AdvFS user and group quotas are similar to UFS quotas. You can set a
separate quota for each user or each group of users for each fileset.
• Fileset quotas
You can restrict the space that a fileset itself can use. Fileset quotas are
useful when a file domain contains multiple filesets. Without fileset
quotas, any fileset can grab all of the disk space in the file domain.
For example, it is useful to set quotas on filesets that contain home
directories such as /usr/users because these filesets can grow rapidly.
Conversely, setting quota limits on the /tmp fileset is not recommended
because this fileset is likely to fluctuate in size.

Managing Quotas 3–1

3.1.1 Quota Limits
Limits are set on disk usage (number of blocks) or on number of files
(inodes) or both. Table 3–1 shows the size limits for both types of quota
values.

Table 3–1: Quota Size Limits

User and Group Quotas Fileset Quotas
Disk Usage 8 billion terabytes* 4 billion terabytes
Number of Files 4 billion 4 billion

* Prior to Version 5.0, the disk usage limit for user and group quotas was 2
terabytes. If your file domain was created prior to Version 5.0, and if you
are now running Version 5.0 or later, you must upgrade your file domain if
you wish to take advantage of the new limits (see Section 2.3.3).
All quotas can have two types of limits: hard and soft. A hard limit cannot
be exceeded. No more space can be allocated or files created. A soft limit
permits a period of time during which the limit can be exceeded as long as
the hard limit has not been exceeded.
Hard and soft limits can be set or changed by the root user at any time and
take effect the next time quotas are activated. Hard and soft limits can be
set for users, for groups, and for filesets.
The default is no quota limit. You can also:
• Set the hard limit to 0 blocks or files to impose no quota limits.
• Set the hard limit to 1 block or file to permit no disk space allocations.
• Set the soft limit to 1 block or file and the hard limit to 0 blocks or files
to permit disk-space allocations on a temporary basis. These limits
remain in effect until you unmount the fileset.
See Section 7.1.2.3 for directions if your activities cause you to run into
limits.

3.1.2 Grace Period

Associated with each soft limit is a grace period. The grace period is the
amount of time during which the soft limit can be exceeded. When the
grace period expires, no one can create new files or allocate any more disk
space until enough files are deleted to fall below the soft limit. Updating
existing files may cause loss of data.

3–2 Managing Quotas

 The timer for the grace period starts when the user exceeds the soft limit. If
you allow no grace period, the user can exceed the soft limit only once. The
grace period is turned off and reset each time usage drops below the soft
limit. If you change the grace period after the user has exceeded the soft
limit, the old grace period stays in effect until usage drops below the limit.

You can set grace periods for:

• Users
For each fileset you can set only one grace period for all users (see
Section 3.2.2). If the user grace period expires, the user cannot allocate
storage in the fileset until enough files are deleted to fall below the soft
limit. The grace periods for the number of blocks and for the number of
files do not need to be the same.
• Groups
For each fileset you can only set one grace period for all groups (see
Section 3.2.2). If the group grace period expires, no one in the group can
allocate storage in the fileset until enough files are deleted to fall below
the soft limit. All users are limited by the group grace period, even if
the fileset grace period is larger.
• Filesets
The fileset grace period is the same as the group grace period (see
Section 3.3.2.2). Any user or group can cause the fileset to exceed its
soft limit and thereby evoke the fileset grace period. Any user or group
(not necessarily the one that exceeded the limit) can delete files to bring
the fileset below the soft limit.
AdvFS sets a default grace period of 7 days. This period can be changed
(see Section 3.2.2 and Section 3.3.2). You can specify the grace period in
days, hours, minutes, or seconds. You can also:
• Set the grace period to 0 days to impose the default grace period of 7
days.
• Set the grace period to 1 second to allow no grace period.

3.2 User and Group Quotas

The following sections describe quota files and how quotas and grace
periods are set for users and groups.

3.2.1 Quota Files

AdvFS creates quota files to track quotas, grace periods, and fileset usage.
Quota files are maintained within the fileset but, unlike UFS, the user

Managing Quotas 3–3

 cannot delete or create them. Quota files are present in the fileset even if
quota limits have not been established.
AdvFS keeps user and group quota information in the root directory of the
fileset in the quota.user and quota.group files. These files are created
when the fileset is created. They are indexed by user ID and group ID.
Each quota file entry contains the following information: hard block limit,
soft block limit, block usage, hard file limit, soft file limit, file usage, block
grace period, and file grace period.
Quota files are sparse files (see Section 1.3.3); that is, there are holes in the
file where no user IDs or group IDs fall. Use the ls command with the -l
option to see the space spanned by the quota.user or the quota.group
file. This does not show the actual disk usage. For example:
# ls -l quota.user
-rw-r----- 1 root operator 294912 Jul 20 08:50 quota.user

Use the ls command with the -s option to display how many blocks the
file actually uses:
# ls -s quota.user
16 quota.user

To enforce user and group quotas for a fileset, the /etc/fstab file must
have the following quota mount point options for the fileset:
advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
You can relocate the quota.user and quota.group files to subdirectories
of the fileset. However, you cannot relocate them to other filesets nor delete
them. If you relocate your files, you must update the /etc/fstab file entry
to include the path and name of the relocated file(s) in the userquota and
groupquota parameters.
For example, to relocate the quota.user file to the subdirectory d4 and
rename itnquot, change the /etc/fstab entry to:
dom_1#fset /mnt advfs rw,userquota=/mnt/d4/nquot,groupquota 0 2

In this example, the group quota file is not moved.

Whether or not you relocate your quota files, you do not need to enforce
quotas. See Section 3.2.7 for instruction on deactivating user and group
quotas.

3.2.2 Setting Quotas and Grace Periods

You are not required to set both user and group quotas. If you specify a
group quota, it will apply to all users belonging to that group. If you specify

3–4 Managing Quotas

 a user quota that is larger than the group quota, it will have no effect
because the group quota will take effect before the user quota is reached.

Use the edquota command to set the quotas for users and groups and
again to change the grace period. The fileset must be mounted before you
can set quotas and grace periods. Note that for each fileset, only one grace
period can be set for all users and one grace period can be set for all
groups. However, you do not have to set the same grace period for the
number of blocks and for the number of files. The group grace period you
set is also entered as the fileset grace period (see Section 3.3.2.2).

Follow these general steps to set user and group quotas and grace periods:

1. Add quota file mount point options to the /etc/fstab file.

2. Enter the edquota command with the -u option to set user quotas or
the -g option to set group quotas. An ASCII representation of the
quota file is displayed through the editor specified by the EDITOR
environmental variable. If EDITOR is not set, the vi editor is used.
3. When the user or group quota information is displayed, modify the
values in the limits fields as needed. Then, exit the editor, saving the
changes.
4. To set user or group grace periods, enter the edquota command with
the -ut option for user or -gt option for group. Note that the fileset
grace period is the same as the group grace period.
5. When the grace period information is displayed, modify the grace
period as desired. Then, exit the editor, saving the changes.

To change the default editor and for more information, see edquota(8).

The quota limits you set for a fileset do not take effect until you activate
them. Use the quotaon command to activate quotas (see Section 3.2.5 and
Section 3.2.6). If you are changing quota limits and quotas have already
been activated for a fileset, the new limits become effective immediately.

If you have set quotas for a single user, you can use the edquota command
with the -p option to create prototype quota files. Then you can apply the
prototype quota to other users that you specify (see Section 3.2.3).

3.2.2.1 User Quotas Example

The following example sets quotas for the user user5:

1. If they do not already exist, add quota mount-point options to the

/etc/fstab file. Note that there can be no spaces in the list of options
delimited by commas; that is, from rw through groupquota:

Managing Quotas 3–5

 domain_1#test1 /test1 advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
domain_2#test3 /test3 advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
domain_4#test4 /test4 advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
2. Enter the edquota command with the -u option followed by the user
name. If you specify more than one user name, the edits will affect all
users named. The command creates a temporary file with an ASCII
representation of the current quotas assigned to the named users and
invokes an editor to allow you to modify the file:
# edquota -u user5
Quotas for user user5:
/test1: blocks in use: 0, limits (soft = 0, hard = 0)
inodes in use: 0, limits (soft = 0, hard = 0)
/test3: blocks in use: 0, limits (soft = 0, hard = 0)
inodes in use: 0, limits (soft = 0, hard = 0)
/test4: blocks in use: 0, limits (soft = 0, hard = 0)
inodes in use: 0, limits (soft = 0, hard = 0)
The values for blocks in use and inodes in use are the current
block usage and the number of files for each fileset. You cannot change
them. Soft and hard limits of 0 (zero) indicate that no limits have been
set.
3. To change user quotas for user5 for fileset test3, edit the file. Enter
the new limits for disk usage on the blocks line and enter the new
limits for the number of files on the inodes line:
/test3:blocks in use: 0, limits(soft=5000, hard=10000)
inodes in use: 0, limits(soft= 100, hard= 200)
4. Exit the editor, saving the changes.

If quotas have already been activated for fileset test3, the new limits
become effective immediately. If quotas are not yet activated for the fileset,
the limits become effective as soon as quotas are activated (see
Section 3.2.6).
Quotas set for the group to which the user belongs take precedence over
quotas set for the user of the fileset.

3.2.2.2 User Grace Period Example

When you impose soft limits for a fileset, you can set a grace period for that
fileset. If you do not specify a grace period, the grace period remains at the
AdvFS default of 7 days. You can set different grace periods for the number
of blocks and for the number of files. If the group grace period is less than a
user grace period, the user is limited by the group grace period.

3–6 Managing Quotas

 The following example sets the grace period for all users of fileset test3:

1. Run the edquota command with the user grace period options. The
command creates a temporary file with an ASCII representation of the
current grace period and invokes an editor to allow you to modify the
file:
# edquota -ut
Time units may be: days, hours, minutes, or seconds
Grace period before enforcing soft limits for users:
/test1: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period: 7 days
/test3: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period: 7 days
/test4: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period: 7 days
2. To set the user grace period for the number of blocks and for the
number of files for test3, edit the file to change the existing grace
period:
Time units may be: days, hours, minutes, or seconds
Grace period before enforcing soft limits for users:
/test1: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
/test3: block grace period: 2 days,file grace period:3 days
/test4: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
3. Exit the editor, saving the changes.

If quotas have already been activated for the fileset test3, the new grace
period becomes effective immediately. If a user has already exceeded the
soft limit, the grace period becomes effective once the usage drops below
the soft limit. If quotas are not yet activated for the fileset, the grace period
becomes effective as soon as quotas are activated (see Section 3.2.6).

3.2.2.3 Group Quotas Example

The following example sets quotas on test3 for the group rsgusers:

1. If they do not already exist, add quota mount-point options to the

/etc/fstab file. Note that there can be no spaces in the list of options
delimited by commas; that is, from rw through groupquota:
domain_1#test1 /test1 advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
domain_2#test3 /test3 advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
domain_4#test4 /test4 advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
2. Enter the edquota command with the -g option. If you specify more
than one group name, the edits will affect all groups named. The
command creates a temporary file with an ASCII representation of the
current quotas assigned to the named groups and invokes an editor to
allow you to modify the file:

Managing Quotas 3–7

 # edquota -g rsgusers
Quotas for group rsgusers:
/test1: blocks in use: 0, limits (soft=0, hard=0)
inodes in use: 0, limits (soft=0, hard=0)
/test3: blocks in use: 0, limits (soft=0, hard=0)
inodes in use: 0, limits (soft=0, hard=0)
/test4: blocks in use: 0, limits (soft=0, hard=0)
inodes in use: 0, limits (soft=0, hard=0)
The values for blocks in use and inodes in use are the current
block usage and the number of files for each fileset. You cannot change
them. Soft and hard limits of 0 (zero) indicate that no limits have been
set.
3. To change the group quotas for test3, edit the file. Enter the new
limits for disk usage on the blocks line and enter the new limits for
the number of files on the inodes line:
/test3: blocks in use:0,limits(soft=60000, hard=80000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 6000, hard= 8000)
4. Exit the editor, saving the changes.

If quotas have already been activated for fileset test3, these limits become
effective immediately. If quotas are not yet activated for test3, these
limits become effective as soon as quotas are activated (see Section 3.2.6).
Quotas set for the group take precedence over quotas set for the individual.

3.2.2.4 Group Grace Period Example

When you impose soft limits, you can set one grace period per fileset for all
groups. If you do not specify a grace period, the grace period remains the
AdvFS default of 7 days. You can set different grace periods for the number
of blocks and for the number of files. The group grace period takes
precedence over all user grace periods.
The following example sets the grace period for all groups for fileset test3:

1. Run the edquota command with the group grace period options. The
command creates a temporary file with an ASCII representation of the
current grace period and invokes an editor to allow you to modify the
file:
# edquota -gt
Time units may be: days, hours, minutes, or seconds
Grace period before enforcing soft limits for groups:
/test1: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
/test3: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
/test4: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days

3–8 Managing Quotas

 2. To set the group grace period for the number of blocks and for the
number of files for test3, edit the file to change the existing grace
period:
Time units may be: days, hours, minutes, or seconds
Grace period before enforcing soft limits for groups:
/test1: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
/test3: block grace period:12hours,file grace period:5 days
/test4: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
3. Exit the editor, saving the changes.

If quotas have already been activated, this grace period becomes effective
immediately unless a group has already exceeded the soft limit for test3.
In that case, the new grace period becomes effective for that group once the
group usage drops below the soft limit. If quotas are not yet activated, the
group grace period becomes effective as soon as they are activated (see
Section 3.2.6).

3.2.3 Setting Quotas for Multiple Users and Groups

AdvFS allows you to use a single command to modify quotas for a list of
users or groups so you do not need to access and enter values for each one
individually. Note that you do not have to set multiple grace periods
because, for each user or group quota, one grace period applies to all users
or to all groups.

Use the edquota command with the -p option to take existing quota
information and establish it as a prototype user or group quota. Then apply
the prototype to one or more users or groups.

For example, to set up all student accounts to have the same disk usage
quota:

1. Establish a set of quotas for a single student. Use the edquota

command with the desired limits.
2. Use the edquota command with the -p option to apply the quotas set
up for the first user to other student accounts.

3.2.3.1 Prototype User Example

The following example sets up prototype-user quotas that are then used to
modify the quotas for other users:

Managing Quotas 3–9

 1. Set quotas for one user, user5 (see Section 3.2.2.1):
# edquota -u user5
Quotas for user user5:
/test1:blocks in use:0,limits(soft= 20000,hard= 30000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 350,hard= 500)
/test3:blocks in use:1,limits(soft= 30000,hard= 40000)
inodes in use:4,limits(soft= 400,hard= 550)
/test4:blocks in use:2,limits(soft= 10000,hard= 20000)
inodes in use:1,limits(soft= 150,hard= 200)
/test5:blocks in use:2,limits(soft=100000,hard=150000)
inodes in use:1,limits(soft= 5000,hard= 7000)
2. To create quotas for new users user7, user8, and user9, use the
quotas from user user5 as a prototype:
# edquota -p user5 -u user7 user8 user9
3. To verify that the quotas were set, run the edquota command for
user7:
# edquota -u user7
Quotas for user user7:
/test1:blocks in use:0,limits(soft= 20000,hard= 30000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 350,hard= 500)
/test3:blocks in use:0,limits(soft= 30000,hard= 40000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 400,hard= 550)
/test4:blocks in use:0,limits(soft= 10000,hard= 20000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 150,hard= 200)
/test5:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=100000,hard=150000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 5000,hard= 7000)

3.2.3.2 Prototype Group Example

The following example sets up prototype group quotas that are then used to
modify the quotas for another group:

1. Set quotas for the group rsgusers (see Section 3.2.2.3):

# edquota -g rsgusers
Quotas for group rsgusers:
/test1:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=100000,hard=200000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 10000,hard= 20000)
/test3:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=300000,hard=400000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 30000,hard= 40000)
/test4:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=500000,hard=600000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 50000,hard= 60000)
/test5:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=350000,hard=450000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 35000,hard= 45000)

3–10 Managing Quotas

 2. To create quotas for a new group, rsgstudents, use the quotas from
group rsgusers as a prototype:
# edquota -p rsgusers -g rsgstudents
3. To verify that the quotas were set, run the edquota command for
rsgstudents:
# edquota -g rsgstudents
Quotas for group rsgstudents:
/test1:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=100000,hard=200000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 10000,hard= 20000)
/test3:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=300000,hard=400000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 30000,hard= 40000)
/test4:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=500000,hard=600000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 50000,hard= 60000)
/test5:blocks in use:0,limits(soft=350000,hard=450000)
inodes in use:0,limits(soft= 35000,hard= 45000)

3.2.4 Verifying File and Disk Space Usage

Even if you are not enforcing quotas, you can monitor file and disk space
usage with the df, showfdmn, showfsets, and vdf commands. See the
appropriate reference pages.
If you are enforcing quotas, you can periodically verify your quota setup.
You can display user and group quota information in a number of ways. If
you are not the root user, you can display information only for your own
files. The root user can display all user and all group quota information for
all filesets.
The commands shown in Table 3–2 are useful for examining disk space and
file usage for filesets for which user and group quotas are enforced.

Table 3–2: User and Group Usage Commands

Command Description
ncheck Prints the tag and full path name for each file in the
fileset
quot Summarizes fileset ownership
quota Displays disk usage and limits by user or group
quotacheck Checks fileset quota consistency
repquota Summarizes quotas for a fileset

See the command reference pages for more information.

If your disk usage information appears to be corrupt, see Section 7.1.1 for
instructions on how to correct this.

Managing Quotas 3–11

3.2.4.1 Printing the Tag and Full Path Name for Each File

The ncheck command lists files by tag (inode) number. By piping the
output to the sort command, you can use the sorted output as input for
the quot command to list all files and their owners. Use the following
format to generate the listing:
ncheck domain#fileset |sort +0n| quot -n domain#fileset

3.2.4.2 Summarizing Fileset Ownership

The quot command displays block usage and the number of files in the
fileset that each user owns. If you do not specify a fileset, the command
processes all filesets in the /etc/fstab file that include the ro, rw, and
rq mount options.
The quot command entered with no options displays only blocks:
# quot domain_1#set_1
domain_1#set_1:
34128 root
816 user5

The quot command entered with the -f option displays both blocks and
files:
# quot -f domain_1#set_1
domain_1#set_1:
34128 125 root
816 9 user5

3.2.4.3 Displaying Disk Usage and Limits

The quota command displays the block usage, number of files, and quotas
for a user or group. Users can run this command to look at their own disk
space usage. The root user can look at usage for the whole system.
You can choose to display quota information for users or groups, for all
filesets with usage over quota, or for all mounted filesets regardless of
whether quotas are activated.
The quota command displays the block usage of the fileset, soft limit
(quota), hard limit (limit), grace period, and number of files used for each
user. An asterisk (*) in a column means that a soft quota limit has been
exceeded. Note that the grace period is not displayed unless the soft limit
has been exceeded. Use the edquota command to view complete quota
specifications.

3–12 Managing Quotas

 The following example shows quota information for the user user5:
# quota -u user5
Disk quotas for user user5 (uid 446):
Filesystem blocks quota limit grace files quota limit grace
/ 60 100 150 3 10 20
/usr 5071* 5000 10000 24:40 2 20 40
/test1 816 20000 30000 9 350 500
/test2 22032 50000 200000 2 2000 4000
/test3 2344 10000 15000 370 1000 2000
/test4 18023* 10000 20000 7days 3 100 150
/test5 32012* 20000 50000 7days 0 2000 3000

The following example shows quota information for the group rsgusers:
# quota -g rsgusers
Disk quotas for group rsgusers (gid 15):
Filesystem blocks quota limit grace files quota limit grace
/ 118 200 300 2 20 40
/usr 13184* 10000 20000 7days 2 40 80
/test1 36136 100000 200000 124 10000 20000
/test2 44064 200000 400000 4 2000 4000
/test3 3587 30000 60000 628 3000 5000
/test4 51071 150000 300000 6 1050 1800
/test5 61044 100000 200000 3 10000 20000

3.2.4.4 Verifying Quota Consistency

The quotacheck command verifies that actual block use and number of
files are consistent with the established limits. It examines user and group
files, builds a table of current disk usage, and compares this table with that
stored in the disk quota file. If any inconsistencies are detected, AdvFS
updates both the quota file(s) and the current system copy.
If you do not activate quotas automatically at system startup (see
Section 3.2.5), it is a good practice to run the quotacheck command when
quotas are first activated (see Section 3.2.6). To ensure accuracy, run this
command when there is no activity on the system.
The quotacheck command only checks filesets that have the userquota
or groupquota option specified in the /etc/fstab file (see Section 3.2.2).
By default both user and group quotas are checked, but you can specify
either by selecting the -u option for user or the -g option for group.
The quotacheck command requires that filesets be mounted with quotas
activated. Select the -v option (verbose) to display inconsistencies found
and procedures performed during the checking process.
The following example shows a verbose check of the fileset set_1 that
displays no inconsistencies:

Managing Quotas 3–13

 # quotacheck -v domain_1#set_1
*** Checking user and group quotas for domain_1#set_1 (/test1)

The following example checks all filesets that have quotas defined in the
/etc/fstab file. In this example the quotacheck command fixes
inconsistencies in /usr:
# quotacheck -va
*** Checking user and group quotas for /dev/rdisk/dsk0g (/usr)
*** Checking user and group quotas for domain_1#set_1 (/test1)
/usr: root fixed: inodes 3057 -> 3022 blocks 100616 -> 123440
/usr: system fixed: inodes 2483 -> 2488 blocks 91721 -> 114568
/usr: adm fixed: inodes 280 -> 240 blocks 487 -> 464

In this display, inodes is the number of files and blocks is the block
usage.

3.2.4.5 Summarizing Quotas by Fileset

The repquota command displays the actual disk usage and quotas for the
specified filesets. To be included in the summary, the fileset must have a
quota entry in the /etc/fstab file. By default both user and group quotas
are reported, but you can specify either by using the -u option for user or
the -g option for group.
For each user or group, the repquota command prints the current number
of files, the amount of space used, and the quota limits established with the
edquota command.

The following example summarizes quotas for a single fileset mounted on

/test1:
# repquota -v /test1
*** Report for user quotas on /test1 (domain_1#set_1)
Block limits File limits
User used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
root -- 34088 0 0 123 0 0
user5 -- 816 20000 30000 9 350 500

The following example displays user and group quota information for all
filesets in /etc/fstab that have quotas defined. Note that this example
contains both UFS and AdvFS files:

3–14 Managing Quotas

 # repquota -va
*** Report for group quotas on /usr (/dev/disk/dsk0g)
Block limits File limits
Group used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
system -- 114568 0 0 2488 0 0
daemon -- 144 0 0 1 0 0
uucp -- 801 0 0 8 0 0
mem -- 1096 0 0 10 0 0
bin -- 108989 0 0 3219 0 0
mail -- 209 0 0 2 0 0
terminal -- 56 0 0 2 0 0
adm -- 464 0 0 240 0 0
operator -- 392 0 0 3 0 0
211 -- 6937 0 0 33 0 0
*** Report for user quotas on /usr (/dev/disk/dsk0g)
Block limits File limits
User used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
root -- 123440 0 0 3022 0 0
bi -- 102534 0 0 2940 0 0
uucp -- 729 0 0 7 0 0
adm -- 1 0 0 1 0 0
user5 -- 15 18 24 1 0 0
kraetsch -- 6937 0 0 35 0 0
*** Report for group quotas on /test1 (domain_1#set_1)
Block limits File limits
Group used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
system -- 22816 0 0 50 0 0
daemon -- 12088 0 0 82 0 0
*** Report for user quotas on /test1 (domain_1#set_1)
Block limits File limits
User used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
root -- 34088 0 0 123 0 0
user5 -- 816 20000 30000 9 350 500
*** Report for group quotas on /test3 (domain_2#set_1)
Block limits File limits
Group used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
system -- 1593 0 0 6 0 0
*** Report for user quotas on /test3 (domain_2#set_1)
Block limits File limits
User used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
root -- 1593 0 0 6 0 0

3.2.5 Activating Quotas at System Startup

You can automatically start user and group quota enforcement during
system initialization by modifying the /etc/rc.config option. Edit the
QUOTA_CONFIG option to read:

QUOTA_CONFIG=YES

Managing Quotas 3–15

 This entry causes the /sbin/init.d quota script to run the quotaon and
quotacheck commands.
Then, edit the /etc/fstab file entry to add userquota and groupquota
to the mount point. Quota enforcement is activated for the mounted fileset
the next time and every time you reboot.
For example, if you wanted to activate a quota on the fileset WA in the file
domain expenses, the /etc/fstab entry would be:
expenses#WA /WA advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2

______________________ Note ______________________

If you unmount a fileset when quota enforcement is active, you

must explicitly reactivate quota enforcement with the quotaon
command when you remount the fileset. This must be done even
if there is a QUOTA_CONFIG=YES entry.

3.2.6 Activating Quotas Manually

If your system is running, enter the quotaon command to activate new
quotas for a mounted fileset. To establish new user or group quotas do the
following:

1. Edit the /etc/fstab file entry for your fileset to add userquota and
groupquota to the mount point.
2. Run the edquota command to enter the hard and soft limits and to
enter the grace period.
3. Run the quotaon command to activate the quotas you have chosen.

If your system is set up to initialize quotas (see Section 3.2.5), you do not
need to run the quotaon command again unless you have unmounted your
fileset. If you have initialized your system without quota enforcement, you
must run the quotaon command to start enforcement each time you reboot.
The following example activates quotas for the filesets for which quota
values were set in the previous sections:
# quotaon -av
/test1: group quotas turned on
/test1: user quotas turned on
/test3: group quotas turned on
/test3: user quotas turned on
/test4: group quotas turned on
/test4: user quotas turned on

3–16 Managing Quotas

 By default, both user and group quotas are affected by the quotaon and
quotaoff commands. You can choose to activate quotas either for users
(with the -u option) or for groups (with the -g option). You can also specify
the filesets for which user or group quotas will be enforced (see
Section 3.3.5 for information on fileset quotas).

3.2.7 Deactivating Quotas

You can turn off quota enforcement either temporarily or permanently. You
can obtain file and disk space usage information regardless of whether you
are enforcing quotas.

The quotaoff command turns off quota enforcement until the quotaon
command is run again either manually or through system initialization
that turns quotas on.

The umount command turns off quotas before it unmounts a fileset. If you
remount the fileset, you must run the quotaon command to enforce user
and group quotas for the fileset.
If you want to permanently turn quotas off for a user or group, use the
edquota command to set quota limits to 0 (zero). To prevent quotas from
ever being activated for a fileset, run the quotaoff command. Then,
remove the userquota and groupquota entries for the fileset in the
/etc/fstab file.

3.3 Fileset Quotas

The following sections describe fileset quota files and how quotas and grace
periods are set for filesets from the command line. For information on
setting fileset quotas from the AdvFS GUI, see Chapter 6.

3.3.1 Quota Files

AdvFS keeps fileset soft and hard limits in the structural information
associated with the fileset. You do not have direct access to this file. It
contains the same type of information that the user and group quota files
contain: hard and soft limits for number of blocks and hard and soft limits
for number of files. For a given fileset, the fileset grace period is the same
as the group grace period.

3.3.2 Setting Quotas and Grace Periods

Fileset quotas limit the number of files or the amount of disk space a fileset
can use. You can set both soft and hard limits. If fileset quotas are not

Managing Quotas 3–17

 imposed, any fileset has access to all of the available disk space in the file
domain. The fileset quotas are set with the chfsets command. If fileset
quotas are set, they are activated whenever you mount the fileset.
The fileset grace period is the same as the group grace period (see
Section 3.3.2.2). If you do not set a grace period, the grace period remains
at the AdvFS default grace period of 7 days.

Use the chfsets command to define fileset quota values. You can set a soft
limit for the number of files (-F option), a hard limit for the number of files
(-f option), a soft limit for block usage (-B option), and a hard limit for
block usage (-b option). The command displays both the old and new limits.

3.3.2.1 Fileset Quotas Example

The following example sets fileset quotas for the set_1 fileset in dmn_2.
Note that unlike the quota commands, the showfsets command displays
block usage in 512-byte blocks. If you wish to display kilobyte values, use
the -k option.

1. To display existing fileset quotas, use the showfsets command:

# showfsets dmn_2 set_1
set_1
Id : 2feff762.00034e3f.1.8001
Clone is : set_1_clone
Files : 7, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Blocks (512) : 118, SLim= 0, HLim= 0
Quota Status : user=on group=on
Here SLim is the soft limit and HLim is the hard limit for the number
of files (Files) and the current block usage (Blocks).
2. Use the chfsets command to set the quotas. Note that the arguments
for block usage for the chfsets command are in units of 1 kilobyte,
not 512 bytes as shown by the showfsets command display.
# chfsets -F 10000 -f 20000 -B 250000 - b 500000 dmn_2 set_1
set_1
Id : 2feff762.00034e3f.1.8001
File H Limit : 0 ⇒ 20000
Block H Limit: 0 ⇒ 500000
File S Limit : 0 ⇒ 10000
Block S Limit: 0 ⇒ 250000
Here File H Limit is the hard limit for the number of files, Block
H Limit is the hard limit for block usage, File S Limit is the soft
limit for the number of files, and Block S Limit is the soft limit for
block usage.

3–18 Managing Quotas

 3. To verify the new fileset quotas, run the showfsets command again:
# showfsets dmn_2 set_1
set_1
Id : 2feff762.00034e3f.1.8001
Clone is : set_1_clone
Files : 7, SLim= 10000, HLim= 20000
Blocks (512) : 118, SLim= 500000, HLim= 1000000
Quota Status : user=on group=on
Note that the soft limit for the number of blocks is 500000, twice the
number 250000 that was input with the chfsets command; similarly,
the hard limit for the number of blocks appears to double from 500000
to 1000000. To avoid this confusion, enter the showfsets command
with the -k option to display blocks in 1-kilobyte units.

3.3.2.2 Setting the Grace Period

The fileset grace period is the same as the group grace period and cannot
be modified independently (see Section 3.2.2). Therefore, if you use the
edquota -gt command to change the grace period for which a fileset can
exceed its soft limits, you will also change the group grace period and vice
versa. The default AdvFS grace period of 7 days remains in effect until you
change it.
You can set only one grace period per fileset, but you can set different grace
period values for block usage and number of files. The grace period applies
to all users and all groups. If the grace period is reset, the new grace period
for the fileset takes effect immediately unless the fileset has already
exceeded its soft limits. In that case, the new grace period becomes effective
once the fileset drops below the soft limit.

The following example sets the grace period for the filesets test1, test3,
and test4:

1. Run the edquota command with the group grace period options. The
command creates a temporary file with an ASCII representation of the
current grace period and invokes an editor to allow you to modify the
file:
# edquota -gt
Time units may be: days, hours, minutes, or seconds
Grace period before enforcing soft limits for groups:
/test1: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
/test3: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days
/test4: block grace period: 7 days,file grace period:7 days

Managing Quotas 3–19

 2. To change the fileset grace period for the number of blocks and for the
number of files, edit the file to change the existing grace period:
Time units may be: days, hours, minutes, or seconds
Grace period before enforcing soft limits for groups:
/test1: block grace period: 7 days, file grace period:7 days
/test3: block grace period:12hours, file grace period:5 days
/test4: block grace period: 7 days, file grace period:7 days
3. Exit the editor, saving the changes.

Run the showfsets command with the -q option to see the time (if
exceeded) and fileset usage and limits:
# showfsets -q test_domain
Block (512) Limits File Limits
Fileset BF used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
fileset1 +- 1750 1500 2000 11:32 35 300 400

In this example, the plus sign (+) in the BF field means that the soft limit
for block usage is exceeded. An asterisk (*) indicates that the hard limit
has been reached.

3.3.3 Setting Quotas for Multiple Filesets

You can set quota limits for multiple filesets by listing more than one
fileset name when you run the chfsets command (see Section 3.3.2).
For example, to change the hard limits for the data and data2 filesets in
test1_domain, enter the names of both filesets after the chfsets
command:
# chfsets -b 1000 -f 200 test1_domain data data2
data
Id : 2fdf591b.000855fa.2.8001
File H Limit : 11 ⇒ 200
Block H Limit: 121 ⇒ 1000
data2
Id : 2fdf591b.000855fa.3.8001
File H Limit : 50 ⇒ 200
Block H Limit: 200 ⇒ 1000

Setting fileset quotas automatically activates the quotas.

3–20 Managing Quotas

3.3.4 Verifying File and Disk Space Usage

To examine how system resources are being used, look at fileset activity.
Table 3–3 contains commands that are useful for examining disk space and
the file usage of filesets.

Table 3–3: Fileset Disk Usage Commands

Command Description
df Displays disk space used and available
disk space for a fileset
showfdmn Displays the attributes of a file domain
showfsets Displays the attributes of filesets in a
file domain
vdf Displays disk space used and available
disk space for a fileset or a file domain

See the command reference pages for more information.

3.3.4.1 Displaying Used and Available Disk Space for Filesets

You can display the available disk space and the disk space used for a
fileset with the df command (see Section 3.3.4.2 for file domain
information). The command calculates capacity using the lower (hard or
soft) limit for the amount of space available:
• If a fileset quota has been set, the command displays the amount of
space remaining until the quota limit is reached.
• When both soft and hard quota limits are set, the command calculates
the disk space available using the lower limit.
• If there is less space in the domain than is allowed by the fileset quota,
the command displays the actual space available in the file domain.
• If fileset quotas have not been established, the command displays the
available domain size; all unused space is available to each fileset.

The following example displays the amount of space available for

fileset_1:
# df /fileset_1
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
test_domain#fileset_1 1500 1750 0 117% /fileset_1

Managing Quotas 3–21

 Because the usage is over the limit, the capacity is determined by the
actual space used (1750/1500) and appears as more than 100%. If usage is
not over the limit, capacity is calculated as (used)/(used + available).
AdvFS calculates each fileset capacity independently. If the domain has
multiple filesets, all unused space is available for each fileset unless the
space is limited by fileset quotas. As a result, the total capacity of all
filesets in the domain may appear to be greater than 100%. In the following
example, the filesets domain_1#test3 and domain_1#test4 each can
use all of the available disk space from the volumes in domain_1:
# df
Filesystem 512-blocks Used Avail Capacity Mounted on
domain_1#test3 2000000 390820 98864 80% /test3
domain_1#test4 2000000 271580 98864 73% /test4

3.3.4.2 Displaying Used and Available Disk Space for File Domains and Filesets

The vdf utility reformats output from the showfdmn, showfsets,

shfragbf, and df commands to display information about the disk usage
of AdvFS file domains and filesets. It clarifies the relationship between a
domain’s disk usage and its fileset’s disk usage.
The utility is subject to the following restrictions:
• All filesets in a file domain must be mounted if you want to calculate
disk usage of the domain.
• Disk space used by clone filesets is not calculated.
• The command does not produce valid results for filesets that are NFS
mounted.

You can specify either a file domain or a fileset name for the vdf command.
If you specify only a fileset name, the output is the same as that of the df
command. If you specify a file domain, the utility also displays the number
of disk blocks used for metadata. If you specify the -l option with either a
file domain or a fileset, both domain and fileset information will be
displayed. The domain metadata displayed is the total metadata shared by
all filesets in the file domain.
The following example shows the summary information for the file domain
usr_domain:
# vdf usr_domain
Domain 512-blocks Metadata Used Available Capacity
usr_domain 65536 11219 47549 6768 89%

The following example examines the domain test that contains two
filesets. Each has a quota limit of 60,000 blocks.

3–22 Managing Quotas

 # vdf -l test
Domain 512-blocks Metadata Used Available Capacity
test 266240 5824 29128 231288 13%

Fileset QuotaLimit Used Available Capacity

testfs 60000 20800 39200 35%
testfs2 60000 8328 51672 14%

The following example shows the domain test that contains two filesets
with no quota limits. In this case, the total space available to each fileset is
the same as the domain total.
# vdf -l test
Domain 512-blocks Metadata Used Available Capacity
test 266240 5824 29128 231288 13%

Fileset QuotaLimit Used Available Capacity

testfs - 20800 231288 35%
testfs2 - 8328 231288 14%

3.3.4.3 Displaying Fileset Attributes

The showfsets command with the -q option shows file usage, hard and
soft limits, and grace period information for the filesets in the specified
domain. It shows the block usage, the block usage limit, the number of
files, and the file limit. The correct information will be displayed only if the
fileset is mounted.

The following example shows fileset information for the domain

test_domain:
# showfsets -q test_domain
Block (512) Limits File Limits
Fileset BF used soft hard grace used soft hard grace
fileset1 +- 1750 1500 2000 11:32 35 300 400

In this example, the plus sign (+) in the BF field means that the soft limit
for block usage is exceeded. An asterisk (*) would indicate that the hard
limit has been reached.

3.3.4.4 Displaying File Domain Attributes

The showfdmn command is useful for obtaining file domain statistics to

make decisions about filesets and their quotas. The command shows the
attributes of a file domain and information about each volume in the
domain. For single-volume or multivolume file domains, the command
shows the total volume size, the total number of free blocks, and the total
percentage of volume space currently allocated.

Managing Quotas 3–23

3.3.5 Activating Quotas
Running the chfsets command automatically activates fileset quotas
immediately (see Section 3.3.3). No further steps are needed. Fileset quotas
are in effect whenever you mount the fileset.

3.3.6 Deactivating Quotas

You can turn off quota enforcement either temporarily or permanently by
running the chfsets command with the hard and soft limits set to 0 (zero)
to deactivate quotas on a fileset. You can obtain file and disk space usage
information regardless of whether you are enforcing quotas.

3–24 Managing Quotas

 4
Backing Up and Restoring

AdvFS provides extended file system backup capabilities with the vdump
and vrestore commands. The rvdump and rvrestore commands provide
the same capabilities for remote storage devices. In addition, the AdvFS
clonefset utility can be used with the vdump command to back up online
AdvFS filesets. Clone filesets provide a static snapshot of files for the
backup.

The vdump command can be used to back up AdvFS filesets as well as UFS
and other standard file systems. This means that you can have a single
backup utility for your facility. The dump and restore commands function
differently from the vdump and vrestore commands. The dump command
works at the inode level so it can handle only UFS files. The vdump
command works at the file level. It scans the directories and uses regular
POSIX file system calls to access directories and files. See vdump(8) and
vrestore(8) for more information.

In the discussion that follows, only the vdump and vrestore commands
are mentioned, but the rvdump and rvrestore commands can be
substituted for remote operation.

_______________________ Note _______________________

The tools you use to back up and to restore files must be

compatible. For example, if you use the vdump or the rvdump
command to back up a file system, you must use the vrestore
or the rvrestore command to restore saved files. You cannot
use the vrestore command to restore files backed up with the
dump command.

You do not have to be root user to use the vdump and vrestore commands.
However, the AdvFS quota files and the fileset quotas for the fileset can be
saved and restored only when the root user initiates the command. You
must have write permission for the directory to which you want to restore
files.

Do not back up a fileset to an output file in the same fileset.

Backing Up and Restoring 4–1

 _______________________ Note _______________________

The vrestore command for operating system versions earlier

than Version 4.0 will not properly restore information saved by
the vdump command for Version 4.0 or later. The vdump and
vrestore dump file formats are compatible in Version 4 and
Version 5.

4.1 Backing Up Data

The vdump command creates a list of fixed-size blocks, called a saveset, as
it copies all files that are new or have changed after a certain date to the
default storage device or the device that you specify. The first block of the
saveset contains the block size, the mount point, and other saveset
attributes. The vdump command then makes two passes through the
directory hierarchy of the file system being backed up. In the first pass it
saves the directories and the file names to the second area of the saveset.
In the second pass, it writes the file data to the third area of the saveset.

A saveset can span multiple tapes or a tape can contain multiple savesets.
Savesets on tapes are delimited by file marks that are written when the
saveset is closed by the vdump command.

To enter a vdump command:

vdump options mount_point

For example, to dump the filesets mounted at /psm to tape:

# vdump -0 -f /dev/tape/tape0 /psm

4.1.1 Unique Features of the vdump Command

The vdump command has a number of functions that the UFS dump
command does not have. You can:
• Save mounted filesets.
• Choose a subdirectory that you want to back up. You do not need to
dump an entire fileset.
• Compress files to minimize the saveset size.
• Specify the number of in-memory buffers. You can maximize
throughput by choosing a number compatible with your storage device.
• Display the current vdump version number.
• Display help information during the dump process.

4–2 Backing Up and Restoring

 • Limit your display to error messages. You do not need to display
warning messages.
• Display the names of files as they are backed up.
• Configure output with an error-protection system that will allow you to
recover data even if there is a read error when you restore.
• Handles AdvFS and UFS sparse files without zero fills.

4.1.2 Dumping to Tape

You can place multiple savesets on one tape with the vdump command. Set
the -N option to specify no rewind or specify a no-rewind device such as
/dev/ntape/tape0. This ensures that the tape does not rewind when the
dump finishes.
If a saveset requires more than one tape to complete, you will be prompted
to mount another.

Do not combine the output from the dump and vdump utilities on the same
tape. If the vrestore command is used to recover files from a tape created
by the dump utility, the results are unpredictable and can result in data loss.

4.1.3 Dumping Subdirectories

You can selectively back up individual subdirectories of a fileset by
specifying the subdirectory with the -D option of the vdump command.
Without the -D option, if you specify a subdirectory instead of a fileset on
the command line, the vdump command backs up the entire fileset that
contains the named subdirectory. If you specify the -D option, backup is
always run at level 0.

4.1.4 Dumping to Disk Partitions

If you want to dump to a partition that starts at block 0 of a disk, you must
first clear the disk label. If you do not, the dump command may appear to
contain valid savesets, but when the vrestore command attempts to
interpret the disk label as part of the saveset, it will return the message:
vrestore: unable to use save-set; invalid or corrupt format
This is also true for the rvdump and rvrestore commands.

Backing Up and Restoring 4–3

 _____________________ Caution _____________________

If you attempt to dump to the first block of a disk partition that

contains a valid disk label, the device driver will not overwrite
the disk label. You will get an error message only if you are
using a character or raw device; block special devices will not
return an error.

To correctly dump the first disk block, begin by clearing the disk label with
the disklabel command and the -z flag. See vdump(8) and vrestore(8)
for more information.

4.1.5 Compressing Savesets

You can compress savesets as they are backed up. This reduces the amount
of storage required for the backup and allows the dump to run faster on
slow devices because less data is written. Use the -C option with the vdump
command to request compression. You cannot specify the compression ratio;
it is determined by the contents of the dump.

_______________________ Note _______________________

If you are using a tape drive that automatically does hardware

compression, using the vdump command with compression may
result in a larger saveset than expected. Sometimes, due to
compression algorithms, already compressed data gets expanded
when an attempt is made to do more compression.

4.1.6 Dumping with Error Protection

You can use the -x option with the vdump command to place checksum
blocks on your tape so that the vrestore command can recover damaged
blocks. The vdump command creates these blocks every n number of blocks
you specify. The valid range of n is 2 to 32; the default is 8. If the
vrestore command detects a read error in a block, it uses the other blocks
and the checksum block to recreate the bad block.

Dumping with error protection requires saving one extra block for every n
blocks. It can correct only one block in each series of n blocks when the
blocks are restored. This means there is a trade-off:
• If you believe tapes are error prone or you require extremely accurate
backups and you have many tapes available for backup, set the value of
-x to 2. This will permit error correction of one bad block for every two

4–4 Backing Up and Restoring

 blocks saved. It will require 50% more tape because after every two
dump blocks, a checksum block will be written.
• If you believe that tapes are generally reliable but you want to be able
to correct a rare bad block, set the value of -x to 32. This will require
3% more tape because an extra block will be added for every 32 blocks
written. You could then recover information from any one bad block in
the group of 32 dump blocks.

4.1.7 Backup Level

You can specify the level of incremental backup in the vdump command. A
value of 0 specifies complete fileset backup. A higher number specifies a
less complete backup. See vdump(8) for more information.
The vdump command operates by checking the file modification date. This
may cause problems on a subsequent incremental backup because the file
modification date does not change if you rename or move a file and don’t
modify the data. Thus, if you back up your files then move or rename them,
change the modification date using the touch command:
touch file_name

4.1.8 Listing Saved Files

You can check your saveset and make sure you have backed up the files
you intended. After your backup is complete, run the vrestore command
with the -t option to display the files you have saved. This will not initiate
the restore procedure.

4.1.9 Dumping and Restoring Files Remotely

The rvdump command backs up files from a single mounted fileset or a
clone fileset to a remote storage device. You must be able to execute the
rsh command on the remote node to which you are dumping. See rsh(8) for
server and client access rules.

The rvdump command has the same options as the vdump command, but
you must specify the node name for the device that you are backing your
files to. The following example dumps a fileset sar to a tape on node
rachem:
# rvdump -0f rachem:/dev/tape/tape0 /sar

To restore the fileset from the remote tape drive, enter:

# rvrestore -xf rachem:/dev/tape/tape0 -D /sar

Backing Up and Restoring 4–5

4.2 Cloning for Online Backup
A clone fileset is a read-only snapshot of the data in an existing fileset. If
you have the optional AdvFS Utilities, you can create a clone. You must be
the root user to clone the root fileset.
You can create a clone fileset for any AdvFS fileset with the command-line
interface (see Section 2.5) or with the AdvFS GUI (see Section 6.4.3). You
cannot clone UFS file systems. Only one clone can exist per fileset.
If the files in your system are changing during the time you wish to do your
backup, you can create a clone and then back up from the clone because it
is stable. Once a clone is created, when you modify the data in your
original files, AdvFS saves the data that existed in the original, page by
page, into the clone.

_______________________ Note _______________________

After you have finished your backup, delete the clone. Clones of
active filesets will continue to grow as the files are changed.

The following example backs up the pssm fileset on line by creating the
pssm_clone fileset and backing it up to the default device. The file domain
in this example is domain1.
# clonefset domain1 pssm pssm_clone
# mkdir /pssm_clone
# mount -t advfs domain1#pssm_clone /pssm_clone
# vdump -0 -u -C /pssm_clone

To remove the pssm_clone fileset, enter:

# umount /pssm_clone
# rmfset domain1#pssm_clone

4.3 Cloning to Back Up Databases

If your database has an online backup utility, use it to backup the
database. If it does not, you can back up databases with database down
time limited to the short time it takes to create the clone fileset. Backing
up a database with a clone fileset is the same as backing up any other
fileset. You get the same benefits (see Section 4.2).

4–6 Backing Up and Restoring

 To back up a database with a clone:

1. Shut down the database so that all database buffers are flushed and
the fileset has a complete, consistent copy of the database files.
2. Clone the fileset and mount the clone.
3. Reactivate the database.
4. When you want to back up the clone fileset, run a backup procedure
such as the vdump utility or DIGITAL NetWorker.
5. Unmount and delete the clone.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

Do not use anything except the database’s own utilities to back

up an active database. You can use the vdump and vrestore
commands on a clone fileset that contains the database.

If your database has files spread over multiple AdvFS filesets, it is a good
idea to create a clone on each of the filesets at the same time. This ensures
a consistent back up of all the database information.

4.4 Restoring Data

The vrestore command restores files by processing the blocks from a
saveset created with the vdump command. The vrestore command will
not work on a saveset created by the UFS dump command.

You do not have to be root user to run the vrestore command, but you
must have write privilege for the directory you will restore to. Only the root
user can restore quota files and fileset quotas. See vrestore(8) for details.

4.4.1 Unique Features of the vrestore Command

The vrestore command performs a number of activities that the UFS
restore command does not. You can:
• Display the current vrestore version number.
• Display the source directory path.
• List the saveset structure.
• Display error messages only. Information messages will not be shown.
• Specify how the vrestore command should proceed if it encounters a
file that already exists. You can choose whether the command will

Backing Up and Restoring 4–7

 always overwrite an existing file, never overwrite an existing file, or
query you for each event.

4.4.2 Restoring Files

The vrestore command allows you to select specific files and directories to
be restored. It can restore data from a file, a pipe, magnetic tapes, or disks.
Use the same version of the vdump and vrestore utilities. If your version
of the vrestore utility is unable to read the ormat of your saveset, you
will get an error message.
Before you restore files, you can check if the saveset you are accessing
contains the information you wish to recover. You can list the names and
sizes of all files in the saveset by running the vrestore command using
the -t option. The restore operation will not be performed. You can also
display the files and directories saved by running the vrestore command
with the -i option. This interactive option allows you to select individual
files or directories to restore from a list.
Restoring data from a clone fileset is the same as restoring data from any
other fileset.
Start with the full backup if you are restoring an entire fileset. Then
restore later incremental backups on top of this to retrieve files that have
changed since the full backup was created. Files that were deleted after the
full backup was performed are restored. It is necessary to delete these files
manually.

4.4.3 Restoring Quotas

AdvFS user and group quota files can be restored either to an AdvFS fileset
or to a UFS file system. If AdvFS quota files are to be restored to a UFS
file system, quotas must be activated on the UFS file system. AdvFS fileset
quotas cannot be restored to a UFS file system because there is no UFS
analog to AdvFS fileset quotas. You must be root user to restore quotas.

4.4.4 Restoring Selected Savesets

To restore to the current working directory from a tape containing multiple
savesets, use the mt command with the fsf n (forward space n savesets or
files) option to locate the saveset you want to restore. Then use the
vrestore command.

4–8 Backing Up and Restoring

 The following example selects and restores the fourth saveset on a tape:
# mt fsf 3
# vrestore -xf /dev/ntape/tape0

The vrestore command can also selectively restore files from your saveset
with the -x option followed by the file names. You can specify a destination
path other than the current directory for the restored files.
The following example restores the file named data_file from the
/mnt/fdump saveset. It is restored to the /mnt directory.
# vrestore -f /mnt/fdump -D /mnt -x data_file
vrestore: Date of the vdump save-set: Tue Jun 15 15:27:36 1999

4.5 AdvFS and NetWorker

NetWorker for Tru64 UNIX provides scheduled, online, automated backup.
Use NetWorker with AdvFS as a comprehensive backup solution.
NetWorker can automatically back up multiple servers in a heterogeneous
environment. It has a graphical interface and several scheduling options.
If filesets will be accessed by users during the backup process, use the
AdvFS clonefset utility to clone all filesets for backup and mount the
clone filesets. (You can create a script to accomplish this task.) Then, set up
NetWorker to automatically back up the clone filesets on a convenient
schedule.

Backing Up and Restoring 4–9

 5
Optimizing Performance

AdvFS provides a number of ways to configure and tune your file system.
Some of the tuning functions are available through the AdvFS GUI (see
Chapter 6). The System Configuration and Tuning manual provides
detailed information.
It is helpful to understand how your system will be used before you
configure and tune your system. Be careful not to optimize toward a
workload that is not easily understood or that may change.

5.1 Configuring AdvFS

You will obtain the best performance if you carefully plan your AdvFS
configuration. You can control how you configure your file domains and how
you allocate disks. You can turn on direct I/O to speed data transfer. You
can make choices about transaction logging and file structure.

5.1.1 Configuring File Domains

There is a trade-off in using one large file domain instead of several
smaller ones. Because each file domain has one transaction log, creating a
single large file domain decreases maintenance complexity at the cost of
putting a greater load on the log, which may become a bottleneck. See
System Configuration and Tuning for more detailed information about
allocating file domains effectively.
File domains that were created on operating systems prior to Version 5.0 do
not have the structure necessary to provide large quota values and better
performance for directories containing thousands of files. If either of these
new features is important to you, update your file domains (see
Section 2.3.3).

5.1.2 Configuring Volumes

You can add multiple volumes to an AdvFS file domain. This may improve
performance because I/O processes can run in parallel. However, without
LSM disk mirroring, it is inadvisable to add more than eight volumes. If

Optimizing Performance 5–1

 you lose a volume, the entire domain becomes inaccessible. The risk of
losing a volume, and thus losing access to your file domain, increases as the
number of volumes increases.
In many cases, there is a significant performance advantage to dividing
disks on different SCSI busses. See System Configuration and Tuning for
more detailed information.

5.1.3 Improving Transaction Log Performance

Each file domain has a transaction log that keeps track of fileset activity for
all filesets in the file domain. If the log resides on a congested disk or bus, or
if the file domain contains many filesets, system performance can degrade.

You can monitor performance of the volume with Performance Manager

(see Section 7.4) or the iostat utility. Do one of the following if the volume
containing the log appears overloaded:
• Divide the file domain into several smaller domains. Then each
transaction log will handle transactions for fewer filesets.
• Move the transaction log to a faster or less congested volume.

To move the transaction log to another volume:

1. Use the showfdmn command to determine the location of the log. The
letter L after the volume number indicates the volume on which the
log resides.
2. Use the switchlog command to move the log to another volume:
switchlog domain_name new_volume_number

For example, to move the transaction log for the file domain january:
# showfdmn january
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
31bf51ba.0001be10 Wed Jun 9 16:24 1999 512 4 january

Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1L 1787904 885168 52% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk0g
2 1790096 1403872 22% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk0h
-------------------------
3578000 2259040 37%
# switchlog january 2

5–2 Optimizing Performance

 # showfdmn january
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
31bf51ba.0001be10 Wed Jun 9 16:24 1999 512 4 january

Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1 1787904 885168 52% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk0g
2L 1790096 1395680 22% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk0h
-------------------------
3578000 2250848 37%

Moving the transaction log may also be useful when you are using LSM
and wish to increase reliability by placing your transaction log on a volume
that is mirrored.

5.1.4 Improving Data Transfer Rate with Direct I/O

You can use direct I/O mode to synchronously read and write data from a
file without copying the data into a cache (the normal AdvFS process). That
is, when direct I/O is enabled for a file, read and write requests on it are
executed to and from disk storage through direct memory access(similar to
raw I/O), bypassing AdvFS caching. This may improve the speed of the I/O
process for applications that access data only once.
Although direct I/O will handle I/O requests of any byte size, the best
performance will occur when the requested byte size is aligned on file page
boundaries and is evenly divisible into 8-kilobyte pages. Direct transfer
from the user buffer to the disk is optimized in this configuration.

Direct I/O is particularly suited for files that are used exclusively by a
database. However, if an application tends to access data multiple times,
direct I/O can adversely impact performance because caching will not occur.
As soon as you specify direct I/O, it takes precedence and any data already
in the buffer cache for that file will automatically be flushed to disk.

To open a file for direct I/O, use the open() function and specify the
O_DIRECTIO flag. If the file is already open for direct I/O or is in cached
mode, the new mode will be direct I/O and will remain so until the last
close of the file. Note that direct I/O, atomic write data logging, and
mmapping are mutually exclusive modes. Therefore, if the file is already
open for atomic write data logging or is mmapped, then calling the open
function to initiate direct I/O will fail.
The fcntl() function can be used to determine whether the file is open in
cached or in direct I/O mode. See fnctl(2) and open(2) or the
Programmer’s Guide for more information.

Optimizing Performance 5–3

5.2 Tuning AdvFS
There are a number of things you can do to operate AdvFS more efficiently.
You can defragment a file domain, balance a multivolume file domain to
even the storage distribution, stripe files across disks to improve read/write
performance, and migrate files to faster volumes. You can change caching
attributes, I/O transfer parameters, and other AdvFS attributes. Detailed
information about tuning is available in System Configuration and Tuning.

5.2.1 Increasing the AdvFS Buffer Cache

Caching data in the AdvFS buffer cache increases the throughput if the
cached data is reused. Increasing the cache decreases the amount of
memory available for the virtual memory system. You can specify the
amount of physical memory that AdvFS uses for the buffer cache with the
AdvfsCacheMaxPercent attribute (seeSystem Configuration and Tuning).

5.2.2 Defragmenting a File Domain

AdvFS attempts to store file data in contiguous blocks on a disk. This
collection of contiguous blocks is called a file extent. If all data in a file is
stored in contiguous blocks, that file has one file extent. However, as files
grow, contiguous blocks on the disk may not be available to accommodate
the new data, and the system will spread the file over discontiguous blocks.
As a result, the file is fragmented on the disk and consists of multiple file
extents. File fragmentation degrades the read/write performance because
many disk addresses must be examined to access a file.

Figure 5–1: Defragmenting a File Domain

ZS0823

defra
gment

The defragment utility reduces the amount of file fragmentation in a file

domain by attempting to make the files more contiguous. Defragmentation,

5–4 Optimizing Performance

as illustrated in Figure 5–1, is an iterative, two-step process that operates
on the file domain:

1. Files are moved out of a region to create an area with contiguous,

unallocated space.
2. Fragmented files are written into a region that has more contiguous
space so they are less fragmented.

In addition to making files contiguous so that the number of file extents is

reduced, defragmenting a file domain often makes the free space on a disk
more contiguous so files that are created later will also be less fragmented.

You can improve the efficiency of the defragment process by deleting any
unneeded files in the file domain before running the defragment utility.
Aborting the defragment process does not damage the file system. Files
that have been defragmented remain in their new locations.

It is difficult to specify the load that defragmenting will place on a system.

The time it takes to defragment a file domain depends on:
• The size of the volume.
• The amount of free space available.
• The activity of the system.
• The configuration of your file domain. A file domain consisting of
several small volumes is faster to defragment than one consisting of one
large volume.

To defragment a file domain, use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or, from
the command line, enter the defragment command:

defragment domain_name

This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.

The following restrictions apply to running the defragment command:

• You must have root user privileges.
• All filesets in the file domain must be mounted. If you try to
defragment an active file domain that includes unmounted filesets, you
will get an error message.
• A minimum free space of 1% of the total space or 5 megabytes per
volume (whichever is less) must exist in order to run.
• The defragment utility cannot be run while the addvol, rmvol,
balance, or rmfset command is running in the same file domain.

See defragment(8) for more information.

Optimizing Performance 5–5

5.2.2.1 Choosing to Defragment

Running the defragment command may have a performance penalty, so it

is a good idea to run the utility when file system activity is low. How
fragmented you should let your file system become before running the
utility depends on the size of the files and the number of extents. These are
generally application dependent, so it is a good idea to monitor the number
of extents (see defragment(8)) to see if elevated extent counts correlate
with decreased application performance. In many cases, even a large, fairly
fragmented file will show no noticeable decrease in performance because of
fragmentation.

It is not necessary to run defragment:

• If most of your files are less than 8 kilobytes.
• On write-only file domains.
• On any system that is not experiencing performance-related problems
because of excessive file fragmentation.
• On mail servers.

If you want to determine the amount of file fragmentation that exists in a

domain without altering the domain, run the defragment command with
the -v and -n options. From the output you can determine how fragmented
your file domain is and if it is a possible cause of poor system performance.
For example, to determine the fragmentation of the file domain staff_dmn:
# defragment -vn staff_dmn
defragment: Gathering data for ’staff_dmn’
Current domain data:
Extents: 263675
Files w/ extents: 152693
Avg exts per file w/exts: 1.73
Aggregate I/O perf: 70%
Free space fragments: 85574
<100K <1M <10M >10M
Free space: 34% 45% 19% 2%
Fragments: 76197 8930 440 7

You can use the showfile command to check the number of file extents of
individual files. For example, to show the attributes and extent information
for the orig_file_1 file:

5–6 Optimizing Performance

 # showfile -x orig_file_1
Id Vol PgSz Pages XtntType Segs SegSz I/O Perf File
6.8002 2 16 71 simple ** ** async 82% orig_file_1
extentMap: 1
pageOff pageCnt vol volBlock blockCnt
0 5 2 40720 80
5 12 2 41856 192
17 16 2 40992 256
33 7 2 42048 112
40 12 2 41360 192
52 15 2 42160 240
67 4 2 41792 64
extentCnt: 7

5.2.2.2 Defragment Example

The following example defragments the accounts_domain file domain

from the command line. (See Section 6.4.5.2 for an explanation of running
defragment using the GUI.) A time limit of 15 minutes is imposed.
Verbose mode is requested to display the fragmentation data at the
beginning of each pass through the file domain and at the end of the
defragmentation process.
# defragment -v -t 15 accounts_domain
defragment: Defragmenting domain ’accounts_domain’

Pass 1;
Volume 2: area at block 144 ( 130800 blocks): 0% full
Volume 1: area at block 468064 ( 539008 blocks): 49% full
Domain data as of the start of this pass:
Extents: 7717
Files w/extents: 6436
Avg exts per file w/exts: 1.20
Aggregate I/O perf: 78%
Free space fragments: 904
<100K <1M <10M >10M
Free space: 4% 5% 12% 79%
Fragments: 825 60 13 6

Optimizing Performance 5–7

 Pass 2;
Volume 1: area at block 924288 ( 547504 blocks): 69% full
Volume 2: area at block 144 ( 130800 blocks): 0% full
Domain data as of the start of this pass:
Extents: 6507
Files w/extents: 6436
Avg exts per file w/exts: 1.01
Aggregate I/O perf: 86%
Free space fragments: 1752
<100K <1M <10M >10M
Free space: 8% 13% 11% 67%
Fragments: 1574 157 15 6

Pass 3;
Domain data as of the start of this pass:
Extents: 6522
Files w/extents: 6436
Avg exts per file w/exts: 1.01
Aggregate I/O perf: 99%
Free space fragments: 710
<100K <1M <10M >10M
Free space: 3% 11% 21% 65%
Fragments: 546 126 32 6

Defragment: Defragmented domain ’accounts_domain’

Information displayed before each pass and at the conclusion of the

defragmentation process indicates the amount of improvement made to the
file domain. A decrease in the Extents and Avg exts per file
w/extents values indicates a reduction in file fragmentation. An increase
in the Aggregate I/O perf value indicates improvement in the overall
efficiency of file-extent allocation.

5.2.3 Balancing a Multivolume File Domain

The balance utility distributes the percentage of used space evenly
between volumes in a multivolume file domain created with the optional
AdvFS Utilities. This improves performance and evens the distribution of
future file allocations.

5–8 Optimizing Performance

 Figure 5–2: Balancing a File Domain

Files are moved from one volume to another, as illustrated in Figure 5–2,
until the percentage of used space on each volume in the domain is as
equal as possible. Because the balance utility does not generally split
files, file domains with very large files may not balance as evenly as file
domains with smaller files.
To redistribute files across volumes use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or,
from the command line, enter the balance command:
balance domain_name
This functionality is also available from the SysMan menu.
If you interrupt the balance process, all relocated files remain at their new
locations. The rest of the files remain in their original locations.
The following restrictions apply to running the balance utility:
• You must have root user privileges.
• All filesets in the file domain must be mounted. If you try to balance an
active file domain that includes unmounted filesets, you will get an
error message.
• A minimum free space of 1% of the total space or 5 megabytes per
volume (whichever is less) must exist in order to run.
• The balance utility cannot run while the addvol, rmvol,
defragment, or rmfset command is running in the same file domain.
See balance(8) for more information.

5.2.3.1 Choosing to Balance

To determine if you need to balance your files across volumes, use the
showfdmn command to display file domain information. From the % used
field you can determine if the files are evenly distributed.

Optimizing Performance 5–9

 Use the balance utility to even file distribution after you have added a
volume with the addvol command or removed a volume with the rmvol
command (if there are multiple volumes remaining).
In the following example, the usr_domain file domain is not balanced.
Volume 1 has 63% used space while volume 2 has 0% used space (it has
just been added).
# showfdmn usr_domain
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
3437d34d.000ca710 Mon Jul 5 10:50:05 1999 512 4 usr_domain

Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1L 1488716 549232 63% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk0g
2 262144 262000 0% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk4a
--------- ------- ------
1750860 811232 54%

5.2.3.2 Balance Example

The following example balances the multivolume domain usr_domain,

examined above.
# balance usr_domain
balance: Balancing domain ’usr_domain’
balance: Balanced domain ’usr_domain’
# showfdmn usr_domain
Id Date Created LogPgs Version Domain Name
3437d34d.000ca710 Mon Jul 5 10:50:05 1999 512 4 usr_domain

Vol 512-Blks Free % Used Cmode Rblks Wblks Vol Name

1L 1488716 689152 54% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk0g
2 262144 122064 53% on 128 128 /dev/disk/dsk4a
--------- ------- ------
1750860 811216 54%

The balance utility moved files from volume 1 to volume 2 in order to

even the percentage of used space between the two volumes.

5.2.4 Moving Files to Different Volumes

If you suspect that a fileset or file domain is straining system resources,
run the iostat utility (see iostat(1)). If the filesets or file domains are
located on devices that appear to be a bottleneck, you can migrate files or
pages of files to equalize the load. If a high-performance device is available,
you can move an I/O-intensive file to the more efficient volume.
If you do not have AdvFS Utilities, you must go through the dump and
restore procedure to move files to a new file domain created on a different

5–10 Optimizing Performance

device. Because files that are being modified at the time of the copy may
not copy correctly, consider mounting the filesets to be moved as read-only
or keeping users from accessing the filesets before moving your files.
To move files using the dump and restore procedure:

1. Make a new file domain on the new device. It must have a temporary
new name.
2. For each fileset in the old file domain, create a fileset with the same
name in the corresponding new file domain.
3. Create a temporary mount point directory.
4. Mount the new filesets on the temporary mount point.
5. Use the vdump command to copy the filesets from the old device. Use
the vrestore command to restore them to the newly mounted filesets.
6. Unmount the old and new filesets.
7. Rename the new file domain to the old name. Since you have not
changed the file domain and fileset names, it is not necessary to edit
the /etc/fstab file.
8. Mount the new filesets using the mount points of the old filesets. The
directory tree will then be unchanged. Delete the temporary mount
point directory.

If you are running Version 5.0 or later, the new file domain is created with
the new DVN of 4 (see Section 2.3.3). However, if you must retain the DVN
of 3 in order to use earlier versions of the operating system, see mkfdmn(8).
The vdump and vrestore utilities are not affected by the change of DVN.
The following example moves the file domain accounts with the fileset
technical to volume dsk3c using the same fileset names. The file domain
new_accounts is the temporary file domain. Assume the fileset
accounts#technical is mounted on /technical. Assume that the
/etc/fstab file has an entry to mount accounts#technical on
/technical.
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk3c new_accounts
# mkfset new_accounts technical
# mkdir /tmp_mnt
# mount new_accounts#technical /tmp_mnt
# vdump -dxf - /technical|vrestore -xf - -D /tmp_mnt
# umount /technical
# umount /tmp_mnt
# rmfdmn accounts
# mv /etc/fdmns/new_accounts/ /etc/fdmns/accounts/
# mount /technical
# rmdir /tmp_mnt

Optimizing Performance 5–11

 If you have the optional AdvFS Utilities, you can use the migrate utility
to move heavily accessed or large files to a different volume in the file
domain. The balance and defragment utilities also migrate files but are
not under user control. With the migrate command, you can specify the
volume where a file is to be moved or allow the system to pick the best
space in the file domain. You can migrate either an entire file or specific
pages to a different volume. Figure 5–3 illustrates the migrate process.

Figure 5–3: Migrating Files

migra
te

ZS0829

To move an entire file to a specific volume, use the migrate command with
the -d option:
migrate -s -d destination_vol_index file_name

A file that is migrated will be defragmented in the process if possible. This

means that you can use the migrate command to defragment selected files.
The following restrictions apply to the migrate utility:
• You must have root user privilege.
• You can only perform one migrate operation at a time on the same file.
• When you migrate a striped file, you can only migrate from one volume
at a time.
• The migrate utility does not evaluate your migration decisions. For
example, you can move more than one striped file segment to the same
disk, which defeats the purpose of striping the file.

5.2.4.1 Choosing to Migrate

Choose the migrate utility over the balance utility when you want to
control the files that are moved. The balance utility moves files only to
optimize distribution. For example, it might move many small files when
moving a single larger one would be a better solution for your system.

5–12 Optimizing Performance

 Choose the migrate utility over the defragment utility when you want to
defragment an individual file. If you have a large enough contiguous area
on disk, you can migrate the file to that area to defragment it.
You can use the showfile -x command to look at the extent map and the
performance percentage of a file. A low performance percentage (less than
80%) indicates that the file is fragmented on the disk. The extent map
shows whether the entire file or a portion of the file is fragmented.
The following example displays the extent map of a file called src. The file,
which resides in a two-volume file domain, shows an 18% performance
efficiency:
# showfile -x src
Id Vol PgSz Pages XtntType Segs SegSz I/O Perf File
8.8002 1 16 11 simple ** ** async 18% src
extentMap: 1
pageOff pageCnt vol volBlock blockCnt
0 1 1 187296 16
1 1 1 187328 16
2 1 1 187264 16
3 1 1 187184 16
4 1 1 187216 16
5 1 1 187312 16
6 1 1 187280 16
7 1 1 187248 16
8 1 1 187344 16
9 1 1 187200 16
10 1 1 187232 16
extentCnt: 11

The file src consists of 11 file extents. This file would be a good candidate
to move to another volume to reduce the number of file extents.

5.2.4.2 Migrate Example

The following example migrates the file src examined above. The number
of file extents is decreased:
# migrate -d 2 src
# showfile -x src
Id Vol PgSz Pages XtntType Segs SegSz I/O Perf File
8.8002 1 16 11 simple ** ** async 100% src
extentMap: 1
pageOff pageCnt vol volBlock blockCnt
0 11 2 45536 176
extentCnt: 1
The file src now resides on volume 2, consists of one file extent, and has a
100% performance efficiency. Note that in the output above, the first data

Optimizing Performance 5–13

 line of the display lists the metadata. The metadata does not migrate to the
new volume. It remains in the original location. The extentMap portion of
the display lists the migrated files.
You can tailor the migrate utility to the needs of your system. The
following examples illustrate some possibilities.
You can migrate file abc and let the system pick a new location in the file
domain:
# migrate abc
You can migrate pages 10 through 99 (that is, 90 pages) of file abc to
volume 2 of the file domain:
# migrate -p 10 -n 90 -d 2 abc
You can move the pages of a striped file to different volumes within a file
domain. For example, if the abc file is striped across three volumes
(volumes 1, 2, 3) of a six-volume file domain, you can use the migrate
utility to move the pages from volume 2 to volume 4. You must specify the
page offset and the page count for the pages you want to move in addition
to the source and destination volume information. Use the showfile
command to determine the page count. See migrate(8) for a detailed
example.

5.2.5 Striping Files in a File Domain

Striping increases sequential read/write performance by allocating storage
in segments across more than one volume. If you have the optional AdvFS
Utilities, you can stripe individual files across a number of volumes. For
example, if you stripe files with heavy input/output requirements, the I/O is
spread across the volumes so that read/write requests to the different disk
drives can be overlapped. The stripe utility, in contrast to Logical Storage
Manager (LSM) striping, does not require you to stripe all your files.

5–14 Optimizing Performance

Figure 5–4: Creating Striped Files

ZS0830

strip
e

The stripe utility, as illustrated in Figure 5–4, lets you direct a file to
distribute segments across specific disks (or volumes) within a file domain.
Zero-length files are striped before data is written to the file. The stripe
width is 64 kilobytes. However, you can specify the number of volumes over
which your file is striped.
As the file is appended, AdvFS determines the number of pages per stripe
segment; the segments alternate among the disks in a sequential pattern.
For example, the file system allocates the first segment of a two-disk
striped file on the first disk and the next segment on the second disk. This
completes one sequence, or stripe. The next stripe starts on the first disk,
and so on. Because AdvFS spreads the I/O of the striped file across the
specified disks, the sequential read/write performance of the file increases.
To stripe a file and specify the number of volumes in the file domain over
which the file should be striped, enter the stripe command:
stripe -n volume_count filename
To stripe a file:

1. Create a new, empty file.

2. Stripe the new, empty file specifying the number of volumes over
which the file should be striped.
3. If you are striping an existing file, copy the contents of the old file into
the striped file.

For example, to stripe the file shift, which already contains data, across
two volumes in the file domain:
# touch newshift
# stripe -n 2 newshift
# cp shift newshift

Optimizing Performance 5–15

 You cannot use the stripe utility to modify the number of disks that an
already striped file crosses or to restripe a file that is already striped. To
change the configuration of a striped file, you must create a new file, stripe
it, then copy the original file data to it.

5.2.5.1 Choosing to Stripe

Before you use the stripe utility, run the iostat utility (see iostat(1)) to
determine if disk I/O is the bottleneck operation. The blocks per second and
transactions per second should be cross checked with the drive’s sustained
transfer rate. If the disk access is slow, then striping is one of the ways to
improve performance (see Section 7.4). Maximum stripe performance will
be achievable if each stripe disk is on its own disk controller.
Do not use LSM striping and AdvFS striping at the same time. This has
the potential to degrade performance (see Section 2.8.3).

5.2.5.2 Stripe Example

The following example creates an empty file, stripes it, copies data into the
striped file, then shows the extents of the striped file:

1. Create the empty file file_1 and stripe it across three volumes in a
domain:
# touch file_1
# ls -l file_1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root system 0 Oct 14 11:06 file_1
# stripe -n 3 file_1
2. Copy the data from the original file to the striped file:
# cp orig_file_1 file_1
3. Examine the extents of the new striped file:
# showfile -x file_1
Id Vol PgSz Pages XtntType Segs SegSz I/O Perf File
7.8001 1 16 71 stripe 3 8 async 100% file_1
extentMap: 1
pageOff pageCnt volIndex volBlock blockCnt
0 8 2 42400 384
24 8
48 8
extentCnt: 1

5–16 Optimizing Performance

 extentMap: 2
pageOff pageCnt volIndex volBlock blockCnt
8 8 3 10896 384
32 8
56 8
extentCnt: 1

extentMap: 3
pageOff pageCnt volIndex volBlock blockCnt
16 8 1 186784 368
40 8
64 7
extentCnt: 1

5.2.5.3 Removing Striping

You can alter the pattern of striping in your file domain:

• Remove striping from a file
If you have a striped file that you no longer want to be striped, copy it
to a file that is not striped. Delete the original.
• Removing a striped volume
If you remove a volume that contains an AdvFS stripe segment, the
rmvol utility moves the segment to another volume that does not
already contain a stripe segment of the same file. If all remaining
volumes contain stripe segments, the system requests confirmation
before the segment is moved to a volume that already contains a stripe
segment of the file. To retain the full benefit of striping when this
occurs, stripe a new file across existing volumes and copy the file with
the doubled-up segments to it.

5.2.6 Changing Attributes to Improve System Performance

A number of attributes can be changed to improve system performance.
System Configuration and Tuning details the significance of each and the
trade-offs engendered when they are changed. See sysconfig(8) for more
information. You can modify attributes to:
• Increase the dirty-data caching threshold
Dirty or modified data is data that has been written by an application
and cached but has not yet been written to disk. You can modify the
amount of dirty data that AdvFS will cache for each volume in a file
domain with the chvol -t command or for all new volumes of a file
system with the AdvfsReadyQLim attribute (see chvol(8)).

Optimizing Performance 5–17

 • Adjust the size of the buffer cache hash table
At system initialization, AdvFS calculates the size of the hash table for
the buffer cache. This value can be overriden by setting the
AdvfsCacheHashSize attribute.
• Promote continuous I/O with smooth sync
The smooth sync queue improves AdvFS asynchronous I/O
performance; that is, it increases filesystem efficiency in writing
modified pages to disk. The smooth sync functionality is controlled by
the vfs attribute smoothsync_age. By default smooth sync is
enabled on the system.
• Change the I/O transfer size
AdvFS reads and writes data by 8 kilobyte pages. The maximum
transfer size depends on the underlying storage configuration but is
typically 128 or 256 blocks. LSM may assign a larger maximum
transfer size. The maximum transfer size is adjustable using the chvol
command (see chvol(8)).
• Flushing modified mmapped pages
The AdvfsSyncMmapPages attribute controls whether modified
mmapped pages are flushed to disk during a sync system call.
• Modify the AdvFS device queue limit
Synchronous and asynchronous AdvFS I/O requests are placed on
separate consolidation queues and are then moved to the AdvFS device
queue. The AdvfsMaxDevQLen attribute limits the length of the AdvFS
device queue to prevent flooding the storage device with I/O requests.
• Increase the memory available for access structures
AdvFS allocates access structures until the percentage of pageable
memory used for the access structures is AdvfsAccessMaxPercent.
Increasing the value of the AdvfsAccessMaxPercent attribute may
improve AdvFS performance on systems that open and reuse many
files, but this will decrease the memory available for the virtual
memory subsystem and the Unified Buffer Cache (UBC). Decreasing
the value of the attribute frees pageable memory but may degrade
AdvFS performance on systems that open and reuse many files.
• Increase the number or percentage of access structures on the free list
Whenever there are fewer access structures on the free list than
specified by the AdvfsMinFreeAccess attribute, AdvFS allocates
access structures until it has twice the number of access structures
specified by the attribute (if this value does not exceed the
AdvfsMaxFreeAccessPercent attribute value). The

5–18 Optimizing Performance

 AdvfsMaxFreeAccessPercent attribute specifies the maximum
percentage of the allocated access structures that can be on the free list.
If the number of access structures exceeds this limit, the system
deallocates access structures from the free list. Increasing these values
may improve AdvFS performance for systems that open and reuse
many files.

5.2.7 Controlling Domain Panic Information

The AdvfsDomainPanicLevel attribute allows you to choose whether to
have crash dumps created when a domain panic occurs. Values of the
attribute are:
• 0 – Create crash dumps for no file domains.
• 1 – Create crash dumps only for file domains with mounted filesets
(default).
• 2 – Create crash dumps for all file domains.
• 3 – Promote the domain panic to a system panic. The system will crash.
See sysconfig(8) for information on changing attributes. See Section 7.5.3
for information about recovering from a domain panic.

5.3 Using a Trashcan

If you have the optional AdvFS Utilities, end users can configure their
systems to retain a copy of files they have deleted. Trashcan directories can
be attached to one or more directories within the same fileset. Once
attached, any file deleted from an attached directory is automatically
moved to the trashcan directory. The last version of a file deleted from a
directory with a trashcan attached can be returned to the original directory
with the mv command.
Root user privilege is not required to use this command. However, the
following restrictions apply:
• You can restore only the most recently deleted version of a file.
• You can attach more than one directory to the same trashcan directory;
however, if you delete files with identical file names from the attached
directories, only the most recently deleted file remains in the trashcan
directory.
• Only files you delete directly are removed to the trashcan. If you delete
a complete fileset using the rmfset command, the files in it are not
saved.

Optimizing Performance 5–19

 • Deleted files in an attached trashcan count against your quota.
• When you delete files in the trashcan directory, they are unrecoverable.
Table 5–1 lists and defines the commands for setting up and managing a
trashcan:

Table 5–1: Trashcan Commands

Command Description
mktrashcan Creates the trashcan.
shtrashcan Shows the contents of the trashcan.
rmtrashcan Removes the trashcan directory.

For example, to attach the trashcan directory keeper to the directory

booklist:
# mkdir keeper
# mktrashcan keeper /booklist
’keeper’ attached to ’/booklist’

To remove a file, and look for it in the trashcan directory:

# rm old_titles
# shtrashcan /booklist
’//keeper’ attached to ’/booklist’
#cd /booklist
# ls
old_titles

To remove the connection between the trashcan and the directory:

# rmtrashcan /booklist
’/booklist’ detached

5–20 Optimizing Performance

 6
Managing the Advanced File System
with the AdvFS GUI

The AdvFS Graphical User Interface (GUI), available with AdvFS Utilities,
provides a visual representation of the AdvFS file system. The GUI is
designed to run under the Common Desktop Environment (CDE). You can
use the GUI as a remote manager to monitor your system or to search for
available volumes. The GUI does not exactly duplicate the file system
management tasks available from the command line. Rather, it allows you
to visualize your file system structure and perform the most common
operations on volumes, file domains, filesets, and clones.

To access this utility, you must register the AdvFS Utilities license and you
must have root-user privilege. For information about license activation see
Section 1.4.

6.1 Installing the GUI

To load the GUI, choose the AdvFS Utilities subset when you update or
install the Version 5.0 operating system.

Table 6–1 contains the subset titles, names, and descriptions of the subsets
that make up the AdvFS GUI. The disk space requirements for loading and
running AdvFS Utilities software subsets are shown in Table 6–2.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–1
 Table 6–1: AdvFS GUI Subsets
Subset Name Description
AdvFS Utilities (OSFADVFS500) Contains a set of advanced
utilities licensed for managing
AdvFS
AdvFS Graphical (OSFXADVFS500) Contains the AdvFS Graphical
User Interface User Interface and online help
(dtadvfs) files
AdvFS Agent (OSFADVFSDAEMON500) Contains the AdvFS agent,
(advfsd) which runs in the traditional
style of the UNIX daemon
AdvFS Japanese (OISJPXADVFS500) Localization files that must
Graphical User also be loaded when the
Interface Japanese version of the GUI
is run

Table 6–2: Disk Space Requirements for the AdvFS GUI

Utility /(root) /var /usr
Utilities Subset 0 0 300
GUI (dtadvfs) 30 20 7000
Agent (advfsd) 0 50 800
Japanese 0 1 661
localization files

6.2 Components of the GUI

There are two parts to the GUI: advfsd, the agent, and dtadvfs, the
actual graphical interface. The agent must be running for the GUI to
operate.

6.2.1 GUI Agent (advfsd)

The AdvFS GUI agent issues commands and obtains system information
for the GUI. The agent is automatically started at boot time and when the
OSFADVFSDAEMON xxx subset is installed. (For Version 5.0, xxx is 500.)
It runs unseen in the background.

Under normal conditions, advfsd does not need to be run manually. If you
wish to start or stop the agent, do so from the command line (see
advfsd(8)). Only one agent can be running on a system at a given time. If
you attempt to start a second copy of advfsd, it will fail.

6–2 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 The agent allows Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) clients
such as NetView® or Performance Manager (PM) to request AdvFS
information. This is not a two-way path: SNMP clients cannot issue system
configuration commands to advfsd.
If the agent is not running, the GUI cannot operate. The agent periodically
asks for information from the system on which it is running. It then
updates the file systems and the storage device information passed to the
GUI display. It also evaluates any free space alert conditions. The time
interval for when the agent scans the system disks is the agent state
monitor interval. To change the agent state monitor interval, see
Section 6.3.1. The interval is saved between restarts of the agent.

6.2.2 GUI (dtadvfs)

Only the root user can start dtadvfs. It can be started in a terminal
window or from a CDE icon. The file system operations that the GUI can
perform are described in Section 6.4.
To start the GUI from the command line, type:
# /usr/bin/X11/dtadvfs &
To start the GUI using Common Desktop Environment (CDE) icons:

1. Click the Application Manager on the CDE toolbar.

2. Double-click the System_Admin icon in the Application Manager
window.
3. Double-click the Storage_Management icon in the System_Admin
window.
4. Double-click the Advanced File System icon in the
Storage_Management window.
When the GUI is running, window displays are periodically updated to
reflect the changing characteristics of the file system. The GUI refresh
interval, the time interval between updates, is 15 minutes by default. To
change the GUI refresh interval when the GUI is running, see Section 6.3.1.
The GUI refresh interval is not saved between restarts of the GUI.

6.2.2.1 GUI Security

Each Tru64 UNIX system that the GUI will manage has two optional
security files associated with it: a password file and a file of allowable
hosts. The password file restricts the use of the GUI managing a particular
system to administrators who know the password. The allowable hosts file
allows only GUIs running on systems listed in the file to remotely manage

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–3
 it. These files are configured through an editor of your choice. They cannot
be accessed directly from the GUI.
The root user creates the password file,
/var/advfs/daemon/socket/gui.passwd, on the system for which the
password is to be used. There is one password file containing one password
per system. (It is not a good idea to use the root password.) The file
contains the password in plain text. Only users who enter the correct
password can run a GUI connected to the system. A user wishing to use the
GUI to manage the system from a remote location must know this
password in order to connect to the system.
The allowable hosts file, /var/advfs/daemon/socket/hosts.allow, is
also created by the root user. It contains a plain text list of all systems
(hosts) on which a GUI may operate to manage the system. The
hosts.allow file will automatically include the GUI running locally on the
system; that is, it will include itself. If you want to allow others to remotely
manage your system, you must include them in your hosts.allow file to
authorize the agent to send your file system information to their system. If
you have protected your system with a password in the system’s
gui.passwd file, remote users will also have to know that password.
See advfsd(8) and dtadvfs(8) for more information.

6.2.2.2 Ignoring Disks

Create the /var/advfs/daemon/disks.ignore file to specify a list of

disks that the agent will not examine. The disks.ignore file contains a
plain-text list of disk drives, one per line. This file is useful because
performance may be reduced when there are offline HSZ devices or
spun-down disk drives.
Since the agent processes the disks.ignore file every time the disks are
checked, disks that fail can be added to the file and disks listed in the file
that become available can be removed. It is not necessary to stop the agent.
See advfsd(8) for more information.
You cannot ignore an LSM volume by including the LSM volume name in
the disks.ignore file; you must list the disks from which the LSM volume
is built. To ignore a complete disk group, you must list all disks in it.
Because all partitions on the listed disks will be ignored, unexpected results
may occur if a disk has partitions belonging to more than one disk group.

6.2.2.3 Log Files

Entries are generated in the agent log file,

/var/advfs/daemon/logs/advfsd, and the GUI log file,

6–4 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 /var/advfs/gui/advfs_gui.log, as processing proceeds. It is a good
idea to periodically check these files. Both the agent and the GUI log files
are periodically renamed to prevent unrestricted consumption of disk space.

6.2.2.4 Help

The help system contains background information about the AdvFS file
system as well as specific information about the GUI. Each operation is
described. Detailed explanations of the dialog boxes used to perform file
system activities are provided.

6.2.2.5 Monitoring Remote File Systems

From your system you can remotely monitor file systems that have your
system listed in their hosts.allow file. You can attach to these systems
through the GUI:

1. Choose Host... from the AdvFS menu of the Main window.

2. The Select a Host dialog box appears in which you can select another
host system or choose to modify the host list to add or delete host
systems. This list is created by you and saved on your system to
identify the hosts you connect to regularly.
3. Select the host and click Connect.

If you try to connect to a host but are unsuccessful, you are no longer
connected to any host so you must repeat the connection process for
another system.
Note that the host list is for convenience only. It does not provide any
additional security. You can always type a host name in the Selection block
of the Select a Host dialog box.

6.2.2.6 Managing LSM Volumes

If you are using LSM volumes, it is important to know how the GUI treats
these volumes:
• An LSM volume will be listed as available if it is labeled unused.
• Do not use LSM to change the size of an LSM volume that is in use by
an AdvFS file domain. AdvFS is unable to accommodate this change.
• If you have added the LSM volume /dev/vol/volname to the file
domain from the command line, the AdvFS GUI does not recognize that
it is the same as /dev/vol/rootdg/volname. If the volume has
mounted filesets, it will appear as unknown in the Devices and Volumes
window; if it has no mounted filesets, it will appear as unavailable. If

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–5
 you try to add it to a file domain, you will get an error message saying
it is in use.
• If you encapsulate a volume in use by AdvFS into LSM while the GUI
is running, the volume name will not be updated in the GUI window.
You must exit and restart the GUI to display the correct name.

6.3 Displaying File System Information

The objects (components) that make up the file system (volumes, file
domains, filesets, and fileset clones) are viewed in the GUI windows in an
object tree that shows their hierarchical relationship to each other. If an
object contains other objects, a folder icon appears to its left. Clicking on
the folder icon expands or collapses the object tree; that is, displays or
hides the objects below it in the tree. For example, clicking on a file domain
folder icon displays or hides the filesets that belong to that file domain.
You can change your window views and look at critical information about
the objects in a number of ways. You can view:
• Main window information
The first window that appears, the Main window, provides a
comprehensive view of the file system. It is the starting point for all
GUI-managed tasks and the primary screen for monitoring file system
status. Use the items on the View menu to show the status of file
domains and filesets; file domains and volumes; and file domains,
filesets, and volumes. You can also use the View menu to change from
one of these views to viewing fileset quotas and back.
• Devices and volumes
Choose Devices and Volumes from the Configuration menu for a
different detailed view. The Devices and Volumes window displays all
the physical disks, disk groups, and logical volumes on the system and
can be used to determine volume type or partition availability.
• Object characteristics
Choose Show... from the Configuration menu to display more complete
information about the object that you have highlighted in the Main
window display.
You can usually select Show... as an alternate way of performing the
file system management tasks described in the following sections. For
example, highlight the file domain and choose Show... to see an object
dialog box that includes the creation date and number of log pages for
that domain.
Note that double-clicking a file domain, fileset, clone, or volume in the
object tree is the same as choosing Show... for that object. Double-clicking

6–6 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 does not work for hosts, devices, or partitions or for the volume icon in the
Devices and Volumes window. Single-clicking an object in an object tree
only highlights it. No new information is presented.
Clicking the right mouse button on an object brings up a list of commands
appropriate for that object.
If you attempt to access a menu item and find it unavailable (grayed out),
check that the appropriate object is highlighted. For example, you need to
select a fileset before you can create a clone for it.

6.3.1 Choosing Units for Displaying Information

You can customize the display of your file system information by choosing
Options from the AdvFS menu. All options except the agent state monitor
interval are reset each time the GUI is restarted.
• Units
Choose to display disk space usage in 512–kilobyte blocks, kilobytes,
megabytes, gigabytes, or terabytes.
• Update Interval
Choose the GUI refresh rate.
Choose the Agent state monitor interval.
• Free Space Alert
Choose between space used > and free space <.
Choose to display space available as a percent or in the units you have
chosen for the display.
• Fileset quotas
Choose to calculate quotas by percent of space or by the amount of
space used.

6.3.2 Main Window

When the Main window, as shown in Figure 6–1, is first displayed,
disk-space usage information is shown for the host and for file domains.
Options on the View menu let you display file domains, filesets, and
volumes in different combinations.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–7
 Figure 6–1: Main Window Showing Disk Usage Information

From the Main window you can also view fileset quota information, as
shown in Figure 6–2, by choosing Fileset Quotas from the View menu.
You can return to viewing file domain, fileset, and volume information by
selecting the items you wish to view from the same View menu.

Figure 6–2: Main Window Showing Fileset Quota Information

The Main window has menu selections to accomplish file system

management tasks for file domains, filesets, clones, and volumes. Menu
commands call up dialog boxes to accomplish these tasks.

6.3.3 Devices and Volumes Window

The Devices and Volumes window, as shown in Figure 6–3, shows disk
groups and logical volumes. It identifies the size and type of disks and what
each partition is used for. This view is particularly useful if you wish to
enlarge your file domain and need to locate a volume to use. From the View

6–8 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 menu of the Devices and Volumes window, you can sort your objects, choose
to show only available volumes, or choose to show overlapped volumes.

Figure 6–3: Devices and Volumes Window

6.4 Performing File System Operations

You can perform file system management tasks on file domains, filesets,
fileset clones, and volumes directly from the GUI. In general, you must
select the appropriate object before you can proceed. In the sections below,
menu selections are shown in bold face type.

6.4.1 Operations on a File Domain

File system management tasks for file domains are initiated from the Main
window by selecting Show or File Domain on the Configuration menu. In
addition, from the Devices and Volumes window you can create a new file
domain and add volumes to an existing file domain.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–9
6.4.1.1 Creating a File Domain

To create a file domain, you must assign a name and select an initial
volume. You can set a free space alert.

If your system predates DIGITAL UNIX 4.0D, you will have the option to
access Advanced options that modify the bitfile metadata table (BMT).
This will allow you to avoid out-of-space messages that may occur for file
systems that contain a very large number of files (over about 50,000), such
as file systems that support Usenet news servers. (Later versions of the
operating system do not have this problem and the option is not offered.)

A file domain is not completely defined until you have created at least one
fileset. A file domain is not active unless there is a mounted fileset. To
create a file domain using the Main window:

1. Choose File Domain from the Configuration menu.

2. Choose New from the File Domain menu.
3. In the New File Domain dialog box, enter the file domain name and
highlight an available volume in the object tree. You may need to
expand the device list by clicking on the folder to the left of the device
name. You can also set the free space alert.
If Advanced options is available, you can direct AdvFS to grow the
BMT. You can either enter the number of files you expect and have the
system estimate the extent size, or you can specify the number of
extent pages directly. You can set the extent size to any value, but it is
suggested that for every 100,000 files you increase the BMT extent size
by 256 pages.

If you are not certain what storage device to use for the new file domain,
work from the Devices and Volumes window (on the Configuration menu) to
get a complete view of the storage on your system:

1. Choose Devices and Volumes from the Configuration menu of the

Main window.
2. In the Devices and Volumes window, choose Show Available
Volumes Only from the View menu.
3. Choose a volume that is labeled as available.
4. Choose New File Domain from the Configuration menu.
5. In the New File Domain dialog box, create the file domain and set the
free space alert. If you a monitoring a file system prior to Version 4.0D,

6–10 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 see the Main window instructions above for directions on using the
Advanced button.

Creating a file domain automatically generates an entry in the

/etc/fdmns directory.

6.4.1.2 Setting a Free Space Alert for a File Domain

Set a free space alert to inform you when the free space threshold in the
file domain is reached or passed. When you set the alert, you can choose to
automatically run a script when the alert threshold is crossed. See
/usr/advfs/daemon/scripts for examples of scripts used by the agent
to execute commands.
To set the free space alert from the Main window:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain.

2. Choose File Domain from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Set free space alert from the File Domain menu.
4. In the File Domain dialog box, set the free space alert.

You must reset the free space alert when the size of a file domain has
changed. Free space alert values are evaluated using actual size (for
example, kilobytes), not percentage of space.

6.4.1.3 Enlarging a File Domain

Add volumes to transform a single-volume file domain (except the root file
domain, which can only have one volume) into a multivolume file domain or
to enlarge a multivolume file domain (see Section 2.3.6).
To add a volume to a file domain:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain.

2. Choose File Domain from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Add Volume from the File Domain menu.
4. In the Add Volume dialog box, highlight an available volume to add.
You may need to expand the view of the volumes by clicking the folder
icon to the left of the device name.

If you do not know which volume to add to your file domain, work from the
Devices and Volumes window to get a complete view of the storage on your
system:

1. Choose Devices and Volumes from the Configuration menu of the

Main window.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–11
 2. In the Devices and Volumes window, choose Show available volumes
only from the View menu.
3. Click a volume that is labeled available.
4. Choose Add to file domain from the Configuration menu.
5. In the Add Volume dialog box, choose the file domain to which the new
volume will be added.

It is a good idea to balance your file domain after you have added a volume.
This will distribute existing files to the new volume.

6.4.1.4 Removing a File Domain

You can delete a file domain only after all filesets and clone filesets in the
file domain are unmounted. You will get an error message if you try to
remove a domain with mounted filesets. When you remove a file domain as
a method of deleting all filesets, its entry in the /etc/fdmns directory is
removed. However, this may present a security hole since only pointers are
changed and no data on the volume is removed. It may be possible to
access the fileset data from the command line with the salvage utility (see
Section 7.5.8). If you need the increased security, remove each fileset
individually.
The deleted file domain name remains in the /etc/fstab file unless you
modify the file by choosing the Modify /etc/fstab option in the dialog box or
change it from the command line. If you do not update this file, you will get
error messages when you reboot the system or when you enter a mount -a
command from the command line. If you do not delete the file name from
the /etc/fstab file, you can do so at a later time from the command line.
To remove a file domain:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain.

2. Choose File Domain from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Delete from the File Domain menu.
4. In the Delete File Domain dialog box, delete the domain and back up
and modify the /etc/fstab file.

_______________________ Note _______________________

When you unmount your filesets and clone filesets, you must
choose to modify the /etc/fstab file. If you do not do so at that
time, you must manually edit the /etc/fstab file. Once you
delete the file domain you no longer have access to the fileset.

6–12 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
6.4.1.5 Renaming a File Domain

You can assign a new name to an existing file domain (see Section 2.3.9).
The old name remains in the /etc/fstab file unless you modify the file by
choosing the Modify /etc/fstab option in the dialog box or change it from the
command line. If you do not update the /etc/fstab file, the filesets in this
domain will not mount when you reboot the system or when you enter the
mount -a command from the command line. If you must update the
/etc/fstab file at a later time, do so from the command line.

Unmount all filesets before renaming the file domain. An error will occur if
you try to rename a file domain with mounted filesets. You cannot rename
a file domain with the name of an existing file domain.

To rename a file domain:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain.

2. Choose File Domain from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Rename from the File Domain menu.
4. In the Rename File Domain dialog box, enter the new name and back
up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.2 Operations on a Fileset

File system management tasks for filesets are initiated from the Main
window by selecting Show or Fileset from the Configuration menu once
you have highlighted the fileset on which you wish to operate. It is
important that you choose to modify and back up the /etc/fstab file as
you perform fileset operations. If you do not, there is a chance that the
/etc/fstab file will not be correct for subsequent operations. If you must
update the /etc/fstab file at a later time, do so from the command line.

6.4.2.1 Creating a Fileset

You cannot create a fileset until you have a file domain with which to
associate it (see Section 6.4.1.1).

To create a fileset:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain for which the fileset will be
created.
2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–13
 3. Choose New from the Fileset menu.
4. In the New Fileset dialog box, create the fileset, mount the fileset, back
up and modify the /etc/fstab file, set a free space alert, and set
fileset quotas (as desired).

Note that when you create a fileset, you can set the free space alert only as
a percentage of the available space.

6.4.2.2 Mounting a Fileset

When you mount a fileset, you make its files available. The display in the
Main window indicates which filesets are mounted. A file domain is active
when at least one fileset is mounted.

To mount a fileset:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset.

2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Mount from the Fileset menu.
4. In the Mount Fileset dialog box, create a mount point if it does not
exist and back up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.2.3 Unmounting a Fileset

When you unmount a fileset, its files are no longer available. You must
unmount the fileset before you can remove it or remove the file domain to
which it belongs. The display in the Main window indicates which filesets
are not mounted.

To unmount a fileset:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset.

2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Unmount from the Fileset menu.
4. In the Unmount Fileset dialog box, unmount the fileset and back up
and modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.2.4 Setting a Free Space Alert for a Fileset

Set a free space alert to warn when the free space threshold in the fileset is
reached or passed. You must mount the fileset before you can set the alert.
After you set the alert, you can choose to automatically run a script when
the alert threshold is crossed.

6–14 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 To set the free space alert:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset.

2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Set free space alert from the Fileset menu.
4. In the Fileset dialog box, set the free space alert.

You must reset the free space alert when the size of a fileset has changed.
Free space alert values are evaluated using actual size (for example,
kilobytes), not percentage of space.

6.4.2.5 Setting Fileset Quotas

Set fileset quotas to limit the amount of space the fileset can consume. If
you do not set quotas, any fileset can use all the available space in the file
domain. You can only set quotas on mounted filesets.

To set fileset quotas:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset.

2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Set fileset quotas from the Fileset menu.
4. In the Fileset dialog box, set the fileset quotas.

You can view fileset quota information from the Main window by choosing
Fileset Quotas from the View menu. To return to viewing disk usage,
choose the items you wish to view from the View menu.

6.4.2.6 Removing a Fileset

You must unmount a fileset before you can delete it. You can do this as part
of the removal process. You cannot remove a fileset that has a clone. You
must remove the clone first. Removing a fileset removes all files in that
fileset.

To remove a fileset:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset.

2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Delete from the Fileset menu.
4. In the Delete Fileset dialog box, unmount the fileset, delete it, and
back up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–15
 If all the filesets are unmounted, the fastest way to remove all filesets is to
remove the file domain to which they belong. However, this may present a
security hole because it may be possible to access the data with the
salvage utility (see Section 7.5.8).

6.4.2.7 Renaming a Fileset

You must unmount a fileset before you can rename it. You can do this as
part of the renaming process. The new fileset name must be unique within
the file domain.

To rename a fileset:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset.

2. Choose Fileset from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Rename from the Fileset menu.
4. In the Rename Fileset dialog box, unmount the fileset, enter a new
name, and back up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

_______________________ Note _______________________

If you rename a fileset that has never been mounted (does not
already have an /etc/fstab file entry) and check the modify
/etc/fstab box, you do not get a new entry for the fileset
name. You must manually edit the /etc/fstab file to add the
new entry.

If you rename a fileset, its clone can no longer track it. You must delete the
old clone and create a new one because clones cannot be renamed.

6.4.3 Operations on a Clone Fileset

When you operate on a clone, it is important to modify and back up the

/etc/fstab file as you perform clone operations. If you do not, there is a
chance that the /etc/fstab file will not be correct in subsequent
operations. If you must update the /etc/fstab at a later time, do so from
the command line.

6.4.3.1 Creating a Clone Fileset

Creating a clone fileset allows you to back up files while the file system is
on line (see Section 4.2). You can create only one clone for a fileset.

6–16 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 To create a clone:

1. In the object tree, highlight the fileset that you want to clone.
2. Choose Clone from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose New from the Clone menu.
4. In the New Clone dialog box, enter a clone name, create a mount point,
and back up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.3.2 Mounting a Clone

You must mount a clone in order to access it. An unmounted clone tracks
changes to a fileset but cannot be read. Clones are mounted as read-only.

To mount a clone:

1. In the object tree, highlight the clone.

2. Choose Clone from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Mount from the Clone menu.
4. In the Mount Clone dialog box, create a mount point if it does not exist
and back up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.3.3 Unmounting a Clone

You cannot access an unmounted clone, but it still tracks fileset changes.

To unmount a clone:

1. In the object tree, highlight the clone.

2. Choose Clone from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Unmount from the Clone menu.
4. In the Unmount Clone dialog box, unmount the clone and back up and
modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.3.4 Removing a Clone

You must unmount a clone before you can remove it. You can do this as
part of the removal process.

To remove a clone:

1. In the object tree, highlight the clone.

2. Choose Clone from the Configuration menu.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–17
 3. Choose Delete from the Clone menu.
4. In the Delete Clone dialog box, unmount the clone, delete it, and back
up and modify the /etc/fstab file.

6.4.4 Operations on a Volume

File system management tasks for volumes are initiated from the Main
window by selecting Show or Volume from the Configuration menu once
you have highlighted the volume on which you wish to operate. (In order to
view volumes, the View menu must be set to File domains and volumes
or File domains, filesets, and volumes.)

6.4.4.1 Setting a Free Space Alert for a Volume

Set a free space alert to inform you when the free space threshold in the
volume is reached or passed.

To set the free space alert:

1. In the object tree, highlight the volume.

2. Choose Volume from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Set free space alert from the Volume menu.
4. In the Volume dialog box, set the free space alert.

When you set the alert, you can choose to automatically run a script when
the threshold is crossed.

6.4.4.2 Adding a Volume

Adding a volume is the same as enlarging a file domain (see

Section 6.4.1.3). See Section 2.2 for detailed information about volumes.

6.4.4.3 Removing a Volume

You can remove a volume from a file domain at any time without
interrupting the logical structure of the filesets in the file domain (see
Section 2.3.7). The data that was stored on that volume will be moved to
other volumes in the domain. In order to complete successfully, there must
be room for all domain data on the remaining volumes.

Before you can remove a volume from a file domain, all filesets in that file
domain must be mounted. You cannot remove a volume while you are
balancing or defragmenting a file domain associated with that volume.

6–18 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 To remove a volume:

1. In the object tree, highlight the volume.

2. Choose Volume from the Configuration menu.
3. Choose Remove from the Volume menu.
4. In the Remove Volume dialog box, confirm the removal.

6.4.5 Maintaining AdvFS

File system maintenance tasks are initiated from the Main window
through the Maintenance menu. The maintenance tools improve read/write
performance by altering the way files are mapped on the disk. They can be
run while the system is on line, and their operation is transparent to
system users and to applications. The maintenance tasks can be stopped
without harm to the file domain. The activity that has already taken place
will remain.

6.4.5.1 Balancing a Multivolume File Domain

You can use the GUI to initiate the balance process to evenly distribute
files among volumes (see Section 5.2.3). You cannot balance a file domain
while you are defragmenting, adding or removing volumes, or removing
filesets on the same file domain. You can choose to abort the operation at
any time. The file domain you want to balance must have all filesets
mounted. If you try to balance a file domain that includes unmounted
filesets, you will get an error message.

To balance a file domain:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain.

2. Choose Balance from the Maintenance menu.
3. In the Balance dialog box, start the balance process.

6.4.5.2 Defragmenting a File Domain

You can make files in a file domain more contiguous by defragmenting the
file domain. Defragmenting also consolidates free space so files created
later are also less fragmented (see Section 5.2.2). You cannot defragment a
file domain while you are balancing, adding or removing volumes, or
removing filesets on the same file domain. You can choose to abort the
defragment operation at any time. The file domain you want to defragment
must have all filesets mounted. If you try to defragment a file domain that
includes unmounted filesets, you will get an error message.

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–19
 To defragment a file domain:

1. In the object tree, highlight the file domain.

2. Choose Defragment from the Maintenance menu.
3. In the Defragment dialog box, start the defragment process and specify
how long it is to operate.

6.5 Troubleshooting GUI Operation

Table 6–3 presents some GUI problems and solutions. Check dtadvfs(8)
and advfsd(8) for additional information.

Table 6–3: GUI Troubleshooting

Problem Cause/Solution
GUI starts slowly Mount at least one fileset from the command line.
Advanced File System icon Installation is not complete.
not in the Application
Manager - Storage
Management window
Permission denied You are not the root user.
message when entering
dtadvfs from the command
line
Password Error dialog when You have entered an incorrect root password. Do not
starting dtadvfs from CDE reenter. Cancel the dialog and try again.
icon
Object key is invalid or GUI sometimes cannot track several actions
Can’t get the object simultaneously. Restart the GUI.
data error message
Slow performance or Network overload (the GUI cannot get configuration
unexplained error messages data in a reasonable number of attempts) or system
appear overload (the agent gets few or no CPU cycles).
If there are several offline HSZ devices, unmounted
filesets, or spun down disk devices, add them to the
disks.ignore file.
If none of the above appears to be the problem, the
agent is probably hung. Exit the GUI and stop the
agent:

# /sbin/init.d/advfsd stop
Then restart the agent and the GUI:

# /sbin/init.d/advfsd start
# /usr/bin/X11/dtadvfs

6–20 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
Table 6–3: GUI Troubleshooting (cont.)
Incorrect error message Configuration tasks are running simultaneously and
more than one task failed.
Free space alert value Reset. Alert values are evaluated using actual size
incorrect (for example, in kilobytes), not percentage of space.
File domain deleted but Manually change the disk label on the device; use
associated volumes shown as the command line disklabel command or the CDE
in use Disk Configuration utility.
Volume removed but shown Manually change the disklabel on the device; use
the command line disklabel command or the CDE
Disk Configuration utility.
advfsd consuming high Change the agent state monitor interval to reduce
CPU and I/O resources the polling frequency (see Section 6.2.1).
Decrease the number of LSM disk groups and
volumes.
Decrease the number of unmounted filesets. Inactive
domains are particularly slow. Use the
disks.ignore file (see Section 6.2.2.2 ).
If Performance Manager (PM) is not running, exit
the GUI and stop the agent:

# /sbin/init.d/advfsd stop
Then restart the agent and the GUI:

# /sbin/init.d/advfsd start
# /usr/bin/X11/dtadvfs
System panics at boot time Check for a bad file domain. Panic will occur even if
the domain has been removed from the /etc/fstab
file. Do one of the following in single-user mode,
then reboot to multiuser mode:
- Repair the file domain.
- Move the bad file domain from the /etc/fdmns
directory to another directory. (This will make
repair difficult.)
Sort gives incorrect results Check that no data fields to be sorted are marked
unavailable. Mount filesets if needed.
Volume in use message, Check that this is not an unrecognized LSM volume
when adding a volume (see Section 6.2.2.6).

Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI 6–21
 Table 6–3: GUI Troubleshooting (cont.)
PM metrics incorrect To use PM 5.0 to monitor Version 4.0x operating
systems, the Version 4.0x systems must have the
appropriate PM 4.0x kit with the cluster subset
installed.
X or Motif® problems Failures related to these can be ignored. Full
keyboard support as defined in the Motif style guide
is not implemented.

6–22 Managing the Advanced File System with the AdvFS GUI
 7
Troubleshooting

This chapter examines problems that, while universal for file systems, may
have unique solutions for AdvFS. See System Configuration and Tuning for
related information about diagnosing performance problems.

7.1 Managing Disk Space

The first step in managing excessive disk space consumption is to request
that users delete unnecessary files. There are a number of utilities that
look at file usage. You can also limit disk space consumption by imposing
quotas on users and groups or on the filesets in a file domain.

7.1.1 Checking Free Space and Disk Usage

You can look at the way space is allocated on a disk by file, fileset, or file
domain. The AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) displays a hierarchical view of
disk objects and the space they use. Table 7–1 shows command-line
commands that examine disk space usage.

Troubleshooting 7–1
 Table 7–1: Disk Space Usage Information Commands
Command Description
du Displays information about block allocation for files; use
the -a option to display information for individual files.
df Displays disk space usage by fileset; available space for a
fileset is limited by the fileset quota if it is set
showfdmn Displays the attributes and block usage for each volume
in an active file domain; for multivolume file domains,
additional volume information is displayed.
showfile Displays block usage and volume information for a file or
for the contents of a directory.
showfsets Displays information about the filesets in a file domain;
use to display fileset quota limits.
vdf Displays disk space used and available disk space for a
fileset or a file domain.

See the reference pages for the commands for more complete information.
Under certain conditions, the disk usage information for AdvFS may
become corrupt. To correct this, change the entry in the /etc/fstab file to
enable the quotacheck command to run. The quotacheck command only
checks filesets that have the userquota and groupquota options
specified. For example, for the fileset usr_domain#usr:
usr_domain#usr /usr advfs rw,userquota,groupquota 0 2
Then run the quotacheck command for the fileset:
# quotacheck usr_domain#usr
This should correct the disk usage information.

7.1.2 Limiting Disk Space Usage

If your system has been running without any limits on resource usage, you
can add quotas to limit the amount of disk space your users can access.
AdvFS quotas provide a layer of control beyond that available with UFS.
You can limit the number of files or blocks used by a fileset as well as the
number of files or blocks used by individual users and by groups.
You can set two types of quota limits: hard limits that cannot be exceeded
and soft limits that can be exceeded for a period of time called the grace
period. You can turn quota enforcement on and off. See Chapter 3 for
complete information.

7–2 Troubleshooting
7.1.2.1 Setting User and Group Quotas

User and group quotas limit the amount of space a user or group can
allocate for a fileset (see Section 3.2). Table 7–2 shows the command-line
commands that operate on user and group quotas.

Table 7–2: User and Group Quotas Commands

Command Description
edquota Edits quotas and grace periods.
ncheck Displays a list of pairs (tag and path name) for all files in
a specified fileset. Use the sorted output as input for the
quot command.
quot Displays the number of blocks in the named filesets
currently owned by each user.
quota For files or filesets that have quotas enabled, displays
disk space usage and limits for users and groups.
quotacheck Checks file system quota consistency and corrects it if
necessary.
quotaon, quotaoff Turn quota enforcement on and off.
repquota Prints a summary of the disk usage and quotas by user,
group, or fileset.

See the command reference pages for more complete information.

7.1.2.2 Setting Fileset Quotas

Fileset quotas restrain a fileset from grabbing all of the available space in a
file domain (see Section 3.3). Without them, any fileset can use it all. The
AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) displays a hierarchical view of disk objects
from which you can view fileset quota information. Table 7–3 shows the
command-line commands that display and manage fileset quotas.

Troubleshooting 7–3
 Table 7–3: Fileset Quota Commands
Command Description
chfsets Sets limits (quotas) for block usage and number of files
in a fileset.
df Displays the limits and actual number of blocks used in
a fileset.
showfdmn Displays disk space usage for a file domain.
showfile Displays block usage and volume location of a file.
showfsets Displays files and block usage for a fileset.
vdf Displays disk space used and available disk space for a
fileset or a file domain.

See the command reference pages for more complete information.

7.1.2.3 Running into Quota Limits

If you are working in an editor and realize that the information you need to
save will put you over your quota limit, do not abort the editor or write the
file because data may be lost. Instead, remove files to make room for the
edited file prior to writing it. You can also write the file to another fileset,
such as tmp, remove files from the fileset whose quota you exceeded, and
then move the file back to that fileset.
AdvFS will impose quota limits in the rare case that you are 8 kilobytes
below the user, group, or fileset quota and are attempting to use some or all
of the space you have left. This is because AdvFS allocates storage in units
of 8 kilobytes. If adding 8 kilobytes to a file would exceed the quota limit,
then that file cannot be extended.

7.2 Disk File Structure Incompatibility

If you install your Version 5 operating system as an update to your Version
4 system (not a full installation), your /root, /usr, and /var files will
retain a DVN of 3 (see Section 2.3.3.1).
By default, file domains created on Version 5.0 and later have a new format
that is incompatible with earlier versions (see Section 2.3.3). The newer
operating system recognizes the older disk structure, but the older does not
recognize the newer. To access a fileset with the new format (a DVN of 4)
from an older operating system, NFS mount the fileset from a Version 5.0
system or upgrade your operating system to Version 5.

7–4 Troubleshooting
 If you try to mount a fileset belonging to a file domain with a DVN of 4
when you are running a version of the operating system earlier than
Version 5.0, you will get an error message.

There is no tool that upgrades all file domains with a DVN of 3 to domains
with DVN of 4. You must upgrade each file domain (see Section 2.3.3.2).

7.2.1 Utility Incompatibility

Older versions of AdvFS utilities should not be run on Version 5.0. Using
utilities from earlier operating system releases may appear to run on file
domains created in Version 5.0 or later but have potential to corrupt the
domains.

7.2.2 Transaction log Incompatiblity

The structure of the transaction log has been modified over different
releases of the operating system. This is normally not a problem to users.
However, after a system crash, it is important to recover any domains that
had mounted filesets at the time of the crash on the same version of
operating system that crashed (see Section 7.7.4).

7.3 Memory Mapping and Data Logging Incompatibility

Attempts to memory map an AdvFS file using the mmap() system call will
fail if the file has atomic write data logging activated. Enter the chfile
command to determine the type of logging in effect:

chfile file_name

If the I/O mode indicates atomic write data logging and you want to turn it
off to allow memory mapping to occur, use the following command format:

chfile -L off file_name

See Section 2.7 for more information.

7.4 Handling Poor Performance

The performance of a disk depends upon the I/O demands upon it. If your
file domain is structured so that heavy access is focused on one volume, it is
likely that system performance will degrade. Once you have determined the
load balance on your system, there are a number of ways to equalize the
activity and increase throughput. See System Configuration and Tuning,
command reference pages, and Chapter 5 for more complete information.

Troubleshooting 7–5
 To discover the causes of poor performance:
• Check disk activity
There are a number of ways to gather this information:
– The iostat utility reports I/O statistics for terminals, disks, and
the CPU. It displays the number of transfers per second (tps) and
bytes per second in kilobytes (bps). From this you can determine
where I/O bottlenecks are occurring. That is, if one device shows
sustained high throughput, this device is being utilized more than
others. Then you can decide what action might increase throughput:
moving files, obtaining faster volumes, striping files, etc. See
iostat(1) for more information.
– The advfsstat utility displays detailed information about the
activity of filesets and file domains over time. You can examine, for
example, the activity of the buffer cache, volume reads/writes, and
the BMT record. See advfsstat(8) for more information.
– Performance Manager has three performance analysis scripts
related to AdvFS. AdvFS domain examines disk space used on each
volume to identify uneven usage that can be corrected with the
balance command. AdvFSIO determines whether there are
excessive I/O problems that can be alleviated by changing
system-tunable parameters. AdvFSTuner looks at the percentage of
volumes used and the buffer cache hit ratio. It checks whether the
log needs to be moved to a less-used volume and whether the cache
needs tuning.
PM documentation is available online at
http://www.unix.digital.com/unix/sysman/perf_mgr and
in the distribution kit on the CD-ROM labeled Version 5.0 Associated
Products Volume 2 in the /Performance_Manager/doc/ directory.
• Upgrade file domains
Files belonging to file domains created under Version 5.0 and later are
accessed through an improved directory structure that is faster than
earlier versions. However, the increased speed of operation will only be
seen in cases where there are thousands of files in the same directory
(see Section 2.4.5).
• Eliminate disk access incompatibility
If you have initiated direct I/O (which turns off caching) to read and
write data to a file, any application that accesses the same file will also
have direct I/O. This may prove inefficient (see Section 5.1.4).

7–6 Troubleshooting
• Defragment file domains
As files grow, contiguous space on disk often is not available to
accommodate new data, so files become fragmented. File fragmentation
can reduce system performance because more I/O is required to read or
write a file. Use the AdvFS GUI (see Chapter 6) or run the
defragment utility from the command line (see Section 5.2.2).
If you have AdvFS Utilities, you can also:
• Balance a multivolume file domain
System performance improves if you distribute files evenly over all your
volumes. Files that are distributed unevenly can degrade system
performance. Use the balance command to redistribute the files (see
Section 5.2.3).
When a volume is added to a domain with the addvol command, all
the files of the file domain remain on the previously existing volume(s)
and the new one is empty. To even the file distribution, use the AdvFS
GUI (see Chapter 6) or run the balance utility from the command line.
• Stripe individual files
AdvFS allows you to stripe individual files across multiple volumes (see
Section 5.2.5). If your system has very large files with heavy I/O
requirements, consider striping these files across volumes so that I/O
will be directed to more than one disk. It is not advisable to do both
LSM and AdvFS striping because this may degrade system performance
(see Section 2.8.3),2
• Migrate individual files
You can use the migrate utility to move a heavily accessed file or
selected pages of a file to another volume in the file domain. You can
move the file to a specific volume or you can let the system choose (see
Section 5.2.4).
• Change AdvFS resources
You can change your file system size in the following ways:
– Increase the size of a file domain by adding a volume with the
addvol command (see Section 2.3.6). For optimum performance,
each volume you add should consist of the entire disk (typically,
partition c). Do not add a volume containing any data you want to
keep. When you run the addvol command, data on the added disk
is destroyed.
– Shrink a file domain by removing a volume with the rmvol
command (see Section 2.3.7). You can interrupt the rmvol process

Troubleshooting 7–7
 without damaging your file domain. Files already removed from the
volume will remain in their new location. Striped file segments will
be moved to a volume that does not contain a stripe. If this is not
possible, the system requests confirmation before doubling up on
stripes (see Section 5.2.5).
If the volume that has had the files removed does not allow new file
allocations after an aborted rmvol operation, use the chvol
command with the -A option to reactivate the volume.
– Change the size of a file domain by changing volumes. Add a new
one, move your files to it, then remove the old (see Section 5.2.4).

7.5 Handling Disk Problems

Back up your data regularly and frequently and watch for signs of
impending disk failure. Removing files from a problem disk before it fails
can prevent a lot of trouble. See the Event Management information in
System Administration for more information.

7.5.1 Recovering from Disk Failure

There is no particular message that will tell you that your disk is about to
fail, but some warning messages may indicate potential problems. Run the
uerf utility, the event report formatter, to print out the hardware-detected
events. This report provides information that may help you identify some
hardware-related problems.

Hardware problems cannot be repaired by your file system. If you start

seeing unexplained errors for a volume, remove that volume from the file
domain as soon as possible:

1. If you can read data from your disk, you can remove the volume with
the rmvol utility (see Section 2.3.7).
2. If you cannot remove the volume, try to back it up.

a. If you are successful, remove the file domain containing the bad
disk, recreate the file domain and filesets on another volume, and
restore the data from the backup.
Remember that if you are recreating your file domain under
Version 5.0, your file domains will have a DVN of 4 by default (see
Section 2.3.3).
b. If a disk error prevents you from performing the backup, use the
salvage command to extract information from the file domain and
send the retrieved files to a new file domain (see Section 7.5.8).

7–8 Troubleshooting
7.5.2 Errors Restoring from Disk
If you have used the dump or rvdump command to write to a disk partition
that contains a valid disk label, the device driver has not written over the
label. The restore or vrestore command will interpret the disk label as
part of the saveset, returning an error message (see Section 4.1.4).

7.5.3 Recovering from a Domain Panic

When a metadata write error occurs, or if corruption is detected in a single
AdvFS file domain, the system initiates a domain panic (rather than a
system panic) on the file domain. This isolates the failed domain and allows
a system to continue to serve all other domains. After a domain panic
AdvFS no longer issues I/O requests to the disk controller for the affected
domain. Although the file domain cannot be accessed, the filesets in the file
domain can be unmounted.

When a domain panic occurs, an EVM event is logged (see EVM(5)) and the
following message is printed to the system log and the console:

AdvFS Domain Panic; Domain name Id domain_Id

For example:
AdvFS Domain Panic; Domain staffb_domain Id 2dad7c28.0000dfbb
An AdvFS domain panic has occurred due to either a
metadata write error or an internal inconsistency.
This domain is being rendered inaccessible.

To recover from a domain panic, perform the following steps. If you cannot
successfully complete steps 1 through 8, go to step 10.

1. Run the mount command with the -t option and look for all mounted
filesets in the file domain. For example:
# mount -t advfs
staffb_dmn#staff3_fs on /usr/staff3 type advfs (rw)
staffb_dmn#staff4_fs on /usr/staff4 type advfs (rw)
2. Use the umount command to unmount all filesets in the file domain
affected by the domain panic. For example:
# umount /usr/staff3
# umount /usr/staff4

Troubleshooting 7–9
 3. Use the ls command with the -l option to examine the /etc/fdmns
directory to obtain a list of the AdvFS volumes in the domain that
panicked. For example:
# ls -l /etc/fdmns/staffb_dmn

!
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root system 10 Aug 25 16:46
dsk35c /dev/disk/dsk3c

!
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root system 10 Aug 25 16:50
dsk36c /dev/disk/dsk6c

!
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root system 10 Aug 25 17:00
dsk37c /dev/disk/dsk1c
4. Use the savemeta command (see savemeta(8)) to collect information
about the metadata files for each volume in the domain. The savemeta
command will save information about the BMT and the storage bitmap
for each volume in the domain. It will save the transaction log and the
root tag file for the domain. These saved files will be written in the
dirctory specified. For example, to save the metadata for the domain
staffb_dmn in the directory, /tmp/saved_dmn:
# /sbin/advfs/savemeta staffb_dmn /tmp/saved_dmn

5. Use the dia utility, the DECevent report formatter, to extract

information about the domain panic from the binary error log. See
dia(8) for more information.
6. If the problem is a hardware problem, fix it before continuing (see
Section 7.5.1).
7. Run the verify utility on the domain (see Section 7.7.1). For example:
# verify staffb_dmn
8. If there are no errors, mount all the filesets you had unmounted and
resume normal operations.
9. If the verify command was able to run but showed errors, mount the
filesets, do a backup, and recreate the file domain. Note that the
backup may be incomplete and that earlier backup resources may be
needed.
10. If the failure prevents complete recovery, recreate the file domain with
the mkfdmn command and restore the domain’s data from backup. If
this does not provide enough information, you may need to run the
salvage utility (see Section 7.5.8). Please file a problem report
containing the information you have collected with your software
support organization.

You do not need to reboot after a domain panic.

7–10 Troubleshooting
 If you have recurring domain panics, it may be helpful to adjust the
AdvfsDomainPanicLevel attribute (see Section 5.2.7) in order to facilitate
debugging.

7.5.4 Recovering from Filesets Mounted Read-Only

If there is a problem with a volume, AdvFS may mount a fileset read-only
when you did not specify this option. When a fileset is mounted, AdvFS
verifies that all the data in all volumes in a file domain can be accessed.
The size recorded in the domain’s metadata for each volume must match
the size of the volume. If the sizes match, the mount proceeds. If a volume
is smaller than the recorded size, AdvFS attempts to read the last block
marked in use for the fileset. If this block can be read, the mount will
succeed, but the fileset will be marked as read-only. If the last in-use block
for any volume in the domain cannot be read, the mount will fail. See
mount(8) for more information.
If you find your fileset is mounted read-only, check the labels of the flagged
volumes in the error message. There are two common reasons the mount
will fail:
• A disk is mislabeled on a RAID array.
• An LSM volume upon which an AdvFS domain resides has been shrunk
from its original size (see Section 2.8).
If you have AdvFS Utilities and if the domain consists of multiple volumes
and has enough free space to remove the offending volume, you do not need
to remove your filesets. However, it is a good idea to back them up before
proceeding:

1. Remove the volume from the domain using the rmvol command. (This
will automatically migrate the data to the remaining volumes.)
2. Correct the disk label of the volume with the disklabel command.
3. Add the corrected volume back to the domain with the addvol
command.
4. Run the balance command to distribute the data across the new
volumes.

For example, if /dev/disk/dsk2c (an rz29 disk) within the data5 file
domain is mislabeled, you can migrate your files on that volume (automatic
with the rmvol command), then move them back when you have restored
the volume:

Troubleshooting 7–11
 # rmvol /dev/disk/dsk2c data5
# disklabel -z dsk2
# disklabel -rw dsk2 rz29
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk2c data5
# balance data5

If you do not have AdvFS Utilities or if there is not enough free space in
the domain to transfer the data from the offending volume:

1. Back up all filesets in the domain.

2. Remove the domain with the rmfdmn command.
3. Correct the disk label of the volume with the disklabel command.
4. Make the new domain.
5. If you have AdvFS Utilities and if the original domain was
multivolume, add the corrected volume back to the domain with the
addvol command.
6. Restore the filesets from the backup.

For example, if /dev/disk/dsk1c (an rz28 disk) containing the data3

file domain is mislabeled:
# vdump -0f -u /data3
# rmfdmn data3
# disklabel -z dsk1 rz28
# disklabel -w dsk1 rz28
# mkfdmn data3

If you are recreating a multivolume file domain, include the necessary

addvol commands to add the additional volumes. For example to add
/dev/disk/dsk5c to the file domain:
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk5c data3
# mkfset data3 data3fset
# mount data3#data3fset /data3
# vrestore -xf - /data3

7.5.5 Possible Data Problems Prior to Version 4.0D

In operating systems prior to version 4.0D, under some circumstances
AdvFS stored two different versions of a particular page (an 8-kilobyte
segment) in a file. One version of the page was hidden and not readable
while the other was read when the file was read. The readable version of
the page was not necessarily the most recent or complete version.

This defect is now fixed, but file domains created using older versions may
still contain corrupted files. It is a good idea to locate and correct these

7–12 Troubleshooting
files. You do not need to recreate the file domain. To locate and fix files, do
the following:

1. Run the verify utility to identify the corrupted files (see

Section 7.7.1).
2. Run the verify utility with the -f option set to capture the two
versions of the page for each corrupted file.
3. Mount the affected fileset and, if necessary, edit the pages of the file to
create a single page with the correct data.
4. Merge the correct page into the file.

The following example detects the corrupted file 526.file.4 in the fileset
test_fileset in the file domain test_domain and fixes it:

1. Run the verify utility on the file domain:

# verify test_domain
+++ Domain verification
+++ Domain Id 32d3e638.000a46a0
Checking disks ...
Checking storage allocated on disk /dev/disk/dsk1a
Checking mcell list ...
Checking that all in-use mcells are
attached to a file’s mcell chain...
Checking tag directories ...
+++ Fileset verification +++
+++ Fileset test_fileset +++
Checking frag file headers ...
Checking frag file type lists ...
Scanning directories and files ...
Overlapping frag data corruption detected in:
File: <mount point>/526.file.4
Page: 1
Run verify -f on this domain to enable recovery of this data.
Scanning tags ...
Searching for lost files ...
The verify utility has detected a corrupted file in fileset
test_fileset. The name of the file is 526.file.4 and it is located
in the highest directory of the fileset when it is mounted. The page
that is corrupted is page 1.
2. Run the verify command with the -f option set. This captures the
readable page in a file with the .frag extension and the hidden page
in a file with the .ext extension.

Troubleshooting 7–13
 # verify -f test_domain
+++ Domain verification
+++ Domain Id 32d3e638.000a46a0
Checking disks ...
Checking storage allocated on disk /dev/disk/dsk1a
Checking mcell list ...
Checking that all in-use mcells are
attached to a file’s mcell chain...
Checking tag directories ...
+++ Fileset verification +++
+++ Fileset test_fileset +++
Checking frag file headers ...
Checking frag file type lists ...
Scanning directories and files ...
Overlapping frag data corruption detected in:
File: <mount point>/526.file.4
Page: 1
Temporary files created representing the two versions of
page 1 of file <mount point>/526.file.4
The temporary file with the .frag extension contains the
hidden page. Refer to the AdvFS documentation for a
description of how to use these temporary files to recover
from this overlapping frag corruption problem.
Scanning tags ...
Searching for lost files ...
3. Mount the fileset containing the corrupted file. The .ext and .frag
files contain information from the corrupted pages.
# mount test_domain#test_fileset /test
#ls -l /test
total 169
drwx------ 2 root system 8192 Jan3 13:23 .tags
-rw-r--r-- 1 root system 24576 Jan4 12:27 526.file.1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root system 40960 Jan4 12:27 526.file.2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root system 32768 Jan4 12:27 526.file.3
-rw-r--r-- 1 root system 24576 Jan9 12:27 526.file.4
-rw------- 1 root system 8192 Jan9 14:32
526.file.4.page_1.ext
-rw------- 1 root system 8192 Jan3 14:32
526.file.4.page_1.frag
-rw-r----- 1 root operator 8192 Jan8 13:23 quota.group
-rw-r----- 1 root operator 8192 Jan8 13:23 quota.user
In the example above 526.file.4 is the original corrupted file. The
file containing the hidden page 1 is 526.file.4.page_1.ext. The
file containing the page of the same data as the original file is
526.file.4.page_1.frag.

7–14 Troubleshooting
 To fix the corrupted file, view the .ext and .frag files to decide what
to do:
• If the file 526.file.4.page_1.ext contains the desired data,
enter:
# ln -s 526.file.4.page_1.ext the_page_1
• If the file 526.file.4.page_1.frag contains the desired data,
enter:
# ln -s 526.file.4.page_1.frag the_page_1
• If data from the two pages is needed, edit the files, and save the
result in a new file called the_page_1.
4. Create a new fixed version of the corrupted file using the corrupted file
and new file (the_page_1 in this example).

a. Copy page 0 from the corrupted file into a new file:

# dd if=526.file.4 of=newfile bs=8192 count=1 > /dev/null 2>&1

b. Append the desired page 1 to the new file:

# dd if=the_page_1 of=newfile bs=8192 count=1 seek=1 > = /dev/null 2>&1

c. Append the remainder of the original file to the end of the new file:
# dd if=526.file.4 of=newfile bs=8192 seek=2 skip=2 > = /dev/null 2>&1

d. Run the diff command on the new and the original file to
confirm that only page 1 has changed and to confirm that the
difference is what is desired:
# diff 526.file.4 newfile

e. Rename the new file and remove the temporary files:

# mv newfile 526.file.4
# rm 526.file.4.page_1.ext 526.file.4.page_1.frag the_page_1

7.5.6 Reusing AdvFS Volumes

All volumes (disks, disk partitions, LSM volumes, etc.) are labeled either
unused or with the file system for which they were last used. You can only
add a volume labeled unused to your file domain (see Section 2.2).
If the volume you wish to add is part of an existing file domain (the
/etc/fdmns directory entry exists), the easiest way to return the volume
label to unused status is to remove the volume with the rmvol command or
to remove the file domain with the rmfdmn command (which labels all
volumes that were in the file domain unused).

Troubleshooting 7–15
 For example, if your volume is /dev/disk/dsk5c, your original file
domain is old_domain, and the file domain you want to add the volume to
is new_domain:
# rmvol /dev/disk/dsk5c old_domain
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk5c new_domain

If the volume you want to add is not part of an existing file domain but is
giving you a warning message because it is labeled, reset the disk label. If
you answer yes to the prompt on the addvol or mkfdmn command, the
disk label will be reset. You will lose all information that was on the
volume that you are adding.

7.5.7 Checking AdvFS Disk Structure

The verify command checks the AdvFS metadata structure. It is a good
idea to run this command:

1. When problems are evident (corruptions, domain panic, lost data, I/O
errors).
2. Before an update installation.
3. If your files have not been accessed in three to six months or longer
and you plan to run utilities such as balance, defragment, migrate,
quotacheck, repquota, rmfset, rmvol, or vdump that access every
file in a domain.

7.5.8 Salvaging File Data from a Damaged AdvFS File Domain

How you recover file data from a damaged file domain depends on the
severity of the damage. Pick the simplest recovery path for the information
you have.

1. Run the verify utility to try to repair the domain (see Section 7.7.1
and verify(8)). The verify utility can only fix a limited set of
problems.
2. Recreate the domain from your most recent backup.
3. If your backup is not recent enough, use your most recent backup with
the salvage utility to obtain more current copies of files.
The amount of data you are able to recover will depend upon the
damage to your domain. You must be root user to run the salvage
utility. See salvage(8) for more information.

Running the salvage utility does not guarantee that you will recover all of
your domain. You may be missing files, directories, file names, or parts of

7–16 Troubleshooting
files. The utility generates a log file that contains the status of files that
were recovered. Use the -l option to list in the log file the status of all files
that are encountered.
The salvage utility places recovered files in directories named after the
filesets. There is a lost+found directory for each fileset that contains files
for which no parent directory can be found. You can specify the path name
of the directory that is to contain the fileset directories. If you do not
specify a directory, the utility writes recovered filesets under the current
working directory. You cannot mount the directories in which the files are
recovered. You must move the recovered files to new filesets.
The best way to recover your domain is to use your daily backup tapes. If
files have changed since the last backup, you can use the tapes along with
the salvage utility as follows:

1. Create a new file domain and filesets to hold the recovered

information. Mount the filesets.
2. Restore from your backup tape(s) to the new domain.
3. Run the salvage utility with the -d option set to recover files that
have changed since the backup. If you have no backups, you can run
the salvage utility without the -d option to recover all the files in the
domain.

The fastest salvage process is to recover file information to another location

on disk. The following example recovers data to disk:
# /sbin/advfs/salvage -d 199812071330 corrupt3_domain
salvage: Domain to be recovered ’corrupt3_domain’
salvage: Volume(s) to be used ’/dev/disk/dsk12a’
’/dev/disk/dsk12g’ ’/dev/disk/dsk12h’
salvage: Files will be restored to ’.’
salvage: Logfile will be placed in ’./salvage.log’
salvage: Starting search of all filesets: 08-Dec-1998 11:53:40
salvage: Starting search of all volumes: 08-Dec-1998 11:55:41
salvage: Loading file names for all filesets: 08-Dec-
1998 11:56:42
salvage: Starting recovery of all filesets:
08-Dec-1998 11:57:02

If not enough room is available on disk for the recovered information, you
can recover data to tape and then write it back on to your original disk
location. However, since this process destroys the original damaged data on
disk, once you have created a new file domain, there is no way to rerun the
salvage command if problems arise.

1. Run the salvage command with the -d option set and use the -F and
-f options to specify tar format and tape drive. If you have no

Troubleshooting 7–17
 backups, you can run the salvage utility without the -d option to
recover all the files in the domain.
2. Remove the corrupt domain.
3. Create a new file domain and filesets to hold the recovered
information. Mount the filesets.
4. Restore from your backup tape(s) to the new domain.
5. Extract the tar archive from the tape that the salvage utility created
(see tar(1)) to the new filesets.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

Writing over the corrupt data on the disk is an irreversible
process. If there is an error, you can no longer recover any more
data from the corrupt domain. Therefore, look at the salvage
log file or the files on the tar tape to make sure you have gotten
all the files you need. If you have not recovered a significant
number of files, you can use the salvage command with the -S
option described below.

The following example recovers data to tape and restores the data to a
newly created domain:
# /sbin/advfs/salvage -F tar -d 9810280930 corrupt_domain
salvage: Domain to be recovered ’corrupt_domain’
salvage: Volume(s) to be used ’/dev/disk/dsk8c’’/dev/disk/dsk5c’
salvage: Files will archived to ’/dev/tape/tape0_d1’
in TAR format
salvage: Logfile will be placed in ’./salvage.log’
salvage: Starting search of all filesets: 08-Dec-1998 10:28:13
salvage: Starting search of all volumes: 08-Dec-1998 10:31:41

# rmfdmn corrupt_domain
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk5c good_domain
# addvol /dev/disk/dsk8c good_domain
# mkfset good_domain fset1
# mkfset good_domain fset2
# mount good_domain#fset1 /fset1
# mount good_domain#fset2 /fset2

Then restore filesets from tape(s) created by the salvage command.

# cd /fset1
# tar -xpf /dev/tape/tape0_d1 fset1
# cd /fset2
# tar -xpf /dev/tape/tape0_d1 fset2

7–18 Troubleshooting
 If you have run the salvage utility and have been unable to recover a
large number of files, run salvage with the -S option set. This process is
very slow because the utility reads every disk block at least once.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

The salvage utility with the -S option set opens and reads
block devices directly. This could present a security problem. It
may be possible to recover data from older, deleted AdvFS file
domains while attempting to recover data from current AdvFS
file domains.

Note that if you have chosen recovery to tape and have already created a
new file domain on the disks containing the corrupted domain, you cannot
use the -S option because your original information has been lost.

_______________________ Note _______________________

If you have accidentally used the mkfdmn command on a good

domain, running the salvage utility with the -S option set is
the only way to recover files.

For example:
# salvage -S corrupt3_domain
salvage: Domain to be recovered ’corrupt3_domain’
salvage: Volume(s) to be used ’/dev/disk/dsk2a’’/dev/disk/dsk2g’
’/dev/disk/dsk2h’
salvage: Files will be restored to ’.’
salvage: Logfile will be placed in ’./salvage.log’
salvage: Starting sequential search of all volumes:
08-Sep-1998 14:45:39
salvage: Loading file names for all filesets:
08-Sep-1998 15:00:38
salvage: Starting recovery of all filesets: 08-Sep-1998 15:00:40

7.6 Restoring an AdvFS File System

Use the vrestore command to restore your AdvFS files that have been
backed up with the vdump command.

7.6.1 Restoring the /etc/fdmns Directory

AdvFS must have a current /etc/fdmns directory in order to mount
filesets (see Section 2.3.2). A missing or damaged /etc/fdmns directory

Troubleshooting 7–19
 prevents access to a file domain, but the data within the file domain
remains intact. You can restore the /etc/fdmns directory from backup or
you can recreate it.
If you have a current backup copy of the directory, it is preferable to restore
the /etc/fdmns directory from backup. Any standard backup facility
(vdump, tar, or cpio) can back up the /etc/fdmns directory. To restore
the directory, use the recovery procedure that is compatible with your
backup process.

You can reconstruct the /etc/fdmns directory manually or with the

advscan command. The procedure for reconstructing the /etc/fdmns
directory is similar for both single-volume and multivolume file domains.
You can construct the directory for a missing file domain, missing links, or
the whole directory.

If you choose to reconstruct the directory manually, you must know the
name of each file domain on your system and its associated volumes.

7.6.1.1 Reconstructing the /etc/fdmns Directory Manually

If you accidentally lose all or part of your /etc/fdmns directory, and you
know which file domains and links are missing, you can reconstruct it
manually.

The following example reconstructs the /etc/fdmns directory and two file
domains where the file domains exist and their names are known. Each
contains a single volume (or special device). Note that the order of creating
the links in these examples does not matter. The file domains are:

domain1 on /dev/disk/dsk1c
domain2 on /dev/disk/dsk2c

To reconstruct the two single-volume file domains, enter:

# mkdir /etc/fdmns
# mkdir /etc/fdmns/domain1
# cd /etc/fdmns/domain1
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk1c
# mkdir /etc/fdmns/domain2
# cd /etc/fdmns/domain2
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk2c

The following example reconstructs one multivolume file domain. The

domain1 file domain contains the following three volumes:

7–20 Troubleshooting
 /dev/disk/dsk1c

/dev/disk/dsk2c

/dev/disk/dsk3c

To reconstruct the multivolume file domain, enter the following:

# mkdir /etc/fdmns
# mkdir /etc/fdmns/domain1
# cd /etc/fdmns/domain1
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk1c
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk2c
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk3c

7.6.1.2 Reconstructing the /etc/fdmns Directory Using advscan

You can use the advscan command to determine which partitions on a disk
or Logical Storage Manager (LSM) disk group are part of an AdvFS file
domain. Then you can use the command to rebuild all or part of your
/etc/fdmns directory. This command is useful:
• When disks have moved to a new system, device numbers have
changed, or you have lost track of a file domain location.
• For repair, if you delete the /etc/fdmns directory, delete a file domain
from the /etc/fdmns directory, or delete links from a file domain’s
subdirectory in the /etc/fdmns directory.

The advscan command can:

• Determine if a partition is an AdvFS partition.
• List partitions in the order they are found on disk.
• Read the disk label to determine which partitions are in the file domain
and if any are overlapping.
• Scan all disks found in any /etc/fdmns domain.
• Recreate missing domain directories. The domain name is created from
the device name.
• Fix the domain count and links for a file domain.

For each domain there are three numbers that must match for the AdvFS
file system to operate properly:
• The number of physical partitions found by the advscan command that
have the same domain ID
• The domain volume count (the number stored in the AdvFS metadata
that specifies how many partitions the domain has)

Troubleshooting 7–21
 • The number of /etc/fdmns links to the partitions, because each
partition must be represented by a link
See advscan(8) for more information.
Inconsistencies can occur in these numbers in a number of ways and for a
number of reasons. In general, the advscan command treats the domain
volume count as more reliable than the number of partitions or
/etc/fdmns links. The following tables list anomalies, possible causes, and
corrective actions that advscan can take. In the table, the letter N
represents the value that is expected to be consistent for the number of
partitions, domain volume count, and number of links.
Table 7–4 shows possible cause and corrective action if the expected value,
N, for the number of partitions and for the domain value count do not
equal the number of links in /etc/fdmns/<dmn>.

Table 7–4: Fileset Anomalies and Corrections

Number of Links in Possible Cause Corrective Action
/etc/fdmns/<dmn>
<N addvol terminated If the domain is activated before
early or a link in running advscan with the -f option
/etc/fdmns/<dmn> and the cause of the mismatch was an
was manually interrupted addvol, the situation will
removed. be corrected automatically. Otherwise,
advscan will add the partition to the
/etc/fdmns/<dmn> directory.
>N rmvol terminated If the domain is activated and the
early or a link in cause of the mismatch was an
/etc/fdmns/<dmn> interrupted rmvol, the situation will
was manually added. be corrected automatically. Otherwise,
if the cause was a manually added link
in /etc/fdmns/<dmn>, systematically
try removing different links in the
/etc/fdmns/<dmn> directory and try
activating the domain. The number of
links to remove is the number of links
in the /etc/fdmns/<dmn> directory
minus the domain volume count
displayed by advscan.

7–22 Troubleshooting
Table 7–5 shows possible cause and corrective action if the expected value,
N, for the number of partitions and for the number of links in
/etc/fdmns/<dmn> do not equal the domain volume count:

Table 7–5: Fileset Anomalies and Corrections

Domain Volume Possible Cause Corrective Action
Count
<N Cause unknown Cannot correct; run salvage to recover as
much data as possible from the domain.
>N addvol Cannot correct; run salvage to recover as
terminated much data as possible from the remaining
early and volumes in the domain.
partition being
added is
missing or has
been reused.

Table 7–6 shows possible cause and corrective action if the expected value,
N, for the domain volume count and for the number of links in
/etc/fdmns/<dmn> do not equal the number of partitions:

Table 7–6: Fileset Anomalies and Corrections

Number of Possible Cause Corrective Action
Partitions
<N Partition Cannot correct; run salvage to recover as
missing. much data as possible from the remaining
volumes in the domain.
>N addvol None; domain will mount with N volumes;
terminated rerun addvol
early.

To locate AdvFS partitions, enter the advscan command:

advscan [options] disks

In the following example there are no missing file domains. The advscan
command scans devices dsk0 and dsk5 for AdvFS partitions and finds
nothing amiss. There are two partitions found (dsk0c and dsk5c), the
domain volume count reports two, and there are two links entered in the
/etc/fdmns directory.

Troubleshooting 7–23
 # advscan dsk0 dsk5
Scanning disks dsk0 dsk5
Found domains:
usr_domain
Domain Id 2e09be37.0002eb40
Created Thu Jun 24 09:54:15 1999
Domain volumes 2
/etc/fdmns links 2
Actual partitions found:
dsk0c
dsk5c

In the following example, directories that define the file domains that
include dsk6 were removed from the /etc/fdmns directory. This means
that the number of /etc/fdmns links, the number of partitions, and the
domain volume counts are no longer equal.
The advscan command scans device dsk6 and recreates the missing file
domains as follows:

1. A partition is found containing an AdvFS file domain. The domain

volume count reports one, but there is no file domain directory in the
/etc/fdmns directory that contains this partition.
2. Another partition is found containing a different AdvFS file domain.
The file domain volume count is also one. There is no file domain
directory that contains this partition.
3. No other AdvFS partitions are found. The domain volume counts and
the number of partitions found match for the two discovered domains.
4. The advscan command creates directories for the two file domains in
the /etc/fdmns directory.
5. The advscan command creates symbolic links for the devices in the
/etc/fdmns file domain directories.

7–24 Troubleshooting
 The command and output are as follows:
# advscan -r dsk6
Scanning disks dsk6
Found domains:
*unknown*
Domain Id 2f2421ba.0008c1c0
Created Wed Jan 20 13:38:02 1999

Domain volumes 1
/etc/fdmns links 0

Actual partitions found:

dsk6a*
*unknown*
Domain Id 2f535f8c.000b6860
Created Thu Feb 25 09:38:20 1999

Domain volumes 1
/etc/fdmns links 0

Actual partitions found:

dsk6b*
Creating /etc/fdmns/domain_dsk6a/
linking dsk6a

Creating /etc/fdmns/domain_dsk6b/
linking dsk6b

7.6.2 Recovering from Failure of the root Domain

A catastrophic failure of the disk containing your AdvFS root file domain
requires that you recreate your root file domain and then restore the root
file domain contents from your backup media.

The following example assumes that you are booting from the CD-ROM
device DKA500, which is the installation Stand Alone System (SAS). The
tape drive is /dev/tape/tape0. The root is being restored to device
/dev/disk/dsk1, which is an rz28 disk.

1. Boot your system as stand-alone:

>>> b DKA500
2. Pick option:
3) UNIX Shell
You will now be at the default root user prompt (#) in single-user mode.

Troubleshooting 7–25
 3. Examine the devices available:
# ls /dev/disk
# ls /dev/tape/tape0
4. Make the disk label:
# disklabel -rw -t advfs /dev/rdisk/dsk1 rz28
5. Create the root file domain and fileset. Note that if you have changed
the root file domain name or fileset name, use the new name:
# mkfdmn -r /dev/disk/dsk1a root_domain
# mkfset root_domain root
6. Mount the newly created root domain and restore from tape using a
restore utility compatible with your dump utility:
# mount root_domain#root /mnt
# cd /mnt
# vrestore -x -D .

You can now boot your restored root domain.

7.6.3 Restoring a Multivolume usr Domain

To restore a multivolume /usr file system, the usr_domain file domain
must first be reconstructed with all of its volumes before you restore the
files. However, creating a multivolume file domain requires the addvol
utility, and the addvol command will not run unless the License
Management Facility (LMF) database, which resides in the /usr/sbin
directory, is available. See lmf(8) for information.

On some systems the /var directory, where the LMF database resides, and
the /usr directory are both located in the usr fileset. So the directory
containing the license database must be recovered from the usr fileset
before the addvol command can be accessed. On some systems the /var
directory is in a separate fileset. If this is the case, the addvol command
can be recovered first and then can be used to add the volumes.

The following example restores a multivolume file domain where the /var
directory and the /usr directory are both in the usr fileset in the
usr_domain file domain consisting of the dsk1g, dsk2c, and dsk3c
volumes. The procedure assumes that the root file system has already been
restored.

1. Mount the root fileset as read/write:

# mount -u /
2. Remove the links for the old usr_domain and create a new
usr_domain using the initial volume:

7–26 Troubleshooting
 # rm -rf /etc/fdmns/usr_domain
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk1g usr_domain
3. Create and mount the /usr and /var filesets:
# mkfset usr_domain usr# mount -t advfs usr_domain#usr /usr
4. Create a soft link in /usr because that is where the lmf command
looks for its database:
# ln -s /var /usr/var
5. Insert the /usr backup tape:
# cd /usr
# vrestore -vi
(/) add sbin/addvol
(/) add sbin/lmf
(/) add var/adm/lmf
(/) extract
(/) quit
6. Reset the license database:
# /usr/sbin/lmf reset
7. Add the extra volumes to usr_domain:
# /usr/sbin/addvol /dev/disk/dsk2c usr_domain
# /usr/sbin/addvol /dev/disk/dsk3c usr_domain
8. Do a full restore of the /usr backup:
# cd /usr
# vrestore -xv

The following example restores a multivolume file domain where the /usr
and /var directories are in separate filesets in the same multivolume
domain, usr_domain, consisting of dsk1g, dsk2c, and dsk3c. This means
that you must mount both the /var and the /usr backup tapes. The
procedure assumes that the root file system has already been restored.

1. Mount the root fileset as read/write:

# mount -u /
2. Remove the links for the old usr_domain and create a new
usr_domain using the initial volume:
# rm -rf /etc/fdmns/usr_domain
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk1g usr_domain
3. Create and mount the /usr and /var filesets:
# mkfset usr_domain usr
# mkfset usr_domain var
# mount -t advfs usr_domain#usr /usr
# mount -t advfs usr_domain#var /var

Troubleshooting 7–27
 4. Insert the /var backup tape and restore from it:
# cd /var
# vrestore -vi
(/) add adm/lmf
(/) extract
(/) quit
5. Insert the /usr backup tape:
# cd /usr
# vrestore -vi
(/) add sbin/addvol
(/) add sbin/lmf
(/) extract
(/) quit
6. Reset the license database:
# /usr/sbin/lmf reset
7. Add the extra volumes to usr_domain:
# /usr/sbin/addvol /dev/disk/dsk2c usr_domain
# /usr/sbin/addvol /dev/disk/dsk3c usr_domain
8. Do a full restore of /usr backup:
# cd /usr
# vrestore -xv
9. Insert the /var backup tape and do a full restore of /var backup:
# cd /var
# vrestore -xv

7.7 Recovering from a System Crash

As each domain is mounted after a crash, it automatically runs recovery
code that checks through the transaction log to ensure that any file system
operations that were occurring when the system crashed are either
completed or backed out. This ensures that AdvFS metadata is in a
consistent state after a crash.

7.7.1 Verifying File System Consistency

If you want to be sure that the metadata is consistent, you can run the
verify command to verify the file system structure. This utility checks
disk structures such as the bitfile metadata table (BMT), the storage
bitmaps, the tag directory, and the frag file for each fileset. It verifies that
the directory structure is correct and that all directory entries reference a
valid file and that all files have a directory entry. See verify(8) for a full

7–28 Troubleshooting
description of command capabilities and Section 7.5.7 for suggestions on
when to run the command.
The verify command mounts filesets in special directories as it proceeds.
If the command is unable to mount a fileset due to the failure of a file
domain, as a last resort run the command with the -F option. This will
cause the fileset to be mounted using the -d option of the mount command,
which mounts the fileset without running recovery on the file domain. This
will cause your file domain to be inconsistent because the disk structure
will not have been checked and made consistent. Under some
circumstances the verify command may fail to unmount the filesets. If
this occurs, you must unmount the affected filesets manually.
The following example verifies the domainx file domain, which contains the
filesets setx and sety:
# verify domainx
+++Domain verification+++
Domain Id 2f03b70a.000f1db0
Checking disks ...
Checking storage allocated on disk /dev/disk/dsk10g
Checking storage allocated on disk /dev/disk/dsk10a
Checking mcell list ...
Checking mcell position field ...
Checking tag directories ...

+++ Fileset verification +++

+++ Fileset setx +++
Checking frag file headers ...
Checking frag file type lists ...
Scanning directories and files ...
1100
Scanning tags ...
1100
Searching for lost files ...
1100

+++ Fileset sety +++

Checking frag file headers ...
Checking frag file type lists ...
Scanning directories and files ...
5100
Scanning tags ...
5100
Searching for lost files ...
5100

In this example, the verify command finds no problems with the file
domain. For an example of output where the verify command has
detected a corrupted file, see Section 7.5.5.

Troubleshooting 7–29
7.7.2 Displaying Disk Structures
Table 7–7 lists the disk structure dumping utilities that enable you to
examine a file domain with suspected metadata corruption. The commands
display raw data from the disk in a number of formats.

Table 7–7: Disk Structure Dumping Utilities

Command Description
nvbmtpg Displays a formatted page of the bitfile metadata
table (BMT)
nvfragpg Displays file fragment information
nvlogpg Displays a formatted page of the log
nvtagpg Displays a formatted page of the tag directory
savemeta Saves on-disk metadata
shblock Displays unformatted disk blocks
vfilepg Displays a page of an AdvFS file
vsbmpg Displays a page of the storage bitmap

See the command reference pages for more information.

7.7.3 Moving an AdvFS Disk to Another Machine

If a machine has failed, it is possible to move disks containing AdvFS file
domains to another computer running AdvFS. Connect the disk(s) to the
new machine and modify the /etc/fdmns directory so the new system will
recognize the transferred volume(s). You must be root user to complete this
process.
You cannot move file domains that have a DVN of 4 to systems running a
Version 4 operating system. Doing so will generate an error message (see
Section 7.2). You can move file domains with a DVN of 3 to a machine
running Version 5. The newer operating system will recognize the file
domains created earlier.

7–30 Troubleshooting
 _____________________ Caution _____________________
Do not use either the addvol command or the mkfdmn command
to add the volumes to the new machine. Doing so will delete all
data on the disk you are moving. See Section 7.5.8 if you have
already done so.

If you do not know what partitions your domains were on, you can add the
disks on the new machine and run the advscan command, which may be
able to recreate this information. You can also look at the disk label on the
disk to see which partitions in the past have been made into AdvFS
partitions. This will not tell you which partitions belong to which file
domains.
For example, if the motherboard of your machine fails, you need to move
the disks to another system. You may need to reassign the disk SCSI IDs to
avoid conflicts. (See your disk manufacturer instructions for more
information.) For this example, assume the IDs are assigned to disks 6 and
8. Assume also that the system has a file domain, testing_domain, on
two disks, dsk3 and dsk4. This domain contains two filesets:
sample1_fset and sample2_fset. These filesets are mounted on
/data/sample1 and /data/sample2.
Assume you know that the file domain that you are moving had partitions
dsk3c, dsk4a, dsk4b, and dsk4g. The moving process would take the
following steps:

1. Shut down the working machine to which you are moving the disks.
2. Connect the disks from the bad machine to the good one.
3. Reboot. You do not need to reboot to SAS; multiuser mode works
because you can complete the following steps while the system is
running.
4. Figure out the device nodes created for the new disks:
# /sbin/hwmgr -show scsi -full
The output is a detailed list of information about all the disks on your
machine. The DEVICE FILE column shows the name that the system
uses to refer to each disk. Determine the listing for the disk you just
added, for example, disk6. Use this name to set up symbolic links in
step 5 below.
5. Modify your /etc/fdmns directory to include the information from the
transferred domains:

Troubleshooting 7–31
 # mkdir -p /etc/fdmns/testing_domain
# cd /etc/fdmns/testing_domain
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk6c dsk6c
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk8a dsk8a
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk8b dsk8b
# ln -s /dev/disk/dsk8g dsk8g
# mkdir /data/sample1
# mkdir /data/sample2
6. Edit the /etc/fstab file to add the fileset mount-point information:
testing_domain#sample1_fset /data/sample1 advfs rw 1 0
testing_domain#sample2_fset /data/sample2 advfs rw 1 0
7. Mount the volumes:
# mount /data/sample1
# mount /data/sample2
Note that if you run the mkfdmn command or the addvol command on
partition dsk6c, dsk8a, dsk8b, or dsk8g, or an overlapping partition,
you will destroy the data on the disk. See Section 7.5.8 if you have
accidently done so.

7.7.4 Changing Operating Systems

If a system crashes, AdvFS will perform recovery at reboot. Filesets that
were mounted at the time of the crash will be recovered when they are
remounted. This recovery keeps the AdvFS metatdata consistent and
makes use of the AdvFS transaction log.

Since different versions of the operating system use different transaction

log structures, it is important that you recover your filesets on the version
of the operating system that was running at the time of the crash. If you do
not, you risk corrupting the domain metadata and/or panicking the domain.

If the system crash has occurred because you have set the
AdvfsDomainPanicLevel attribute (see Section 5.2.6) to promote a
domain panic to a system panic, it is also good idea to run the verify
command on the panicked file domain to insure that it is not damaged. If
your filesets were unmounted at the time of the crash, or if you have
remounted them successfully and have run the verify command (if
needed), you can mount the filesets on a different version of the operating
system, if appropriate.

7–32 Troubleshooting
 A
AdvFS Commands

This appendix summarizes the AdvFS commands. The reference pages

provide detailed information.

A.1 AdvFS Base System Commands

The following tables list and describe each of the AdvFS commands
available in the base portion of AdvFS. These commands are included with
the basic license; they do not require a layered product license. If you
installed the reference page subset, you can access reference pages for each
of these commands by issuing the man command. Commands marked with
an asterisk (*) are functions for which the AdvFS Graphical User Interface
(GUI) has equivalent capability.

Table A–1: AdvFS Configuration Commands

Command Description
chfile Changes the attributes of a file
chvol Changes the attributes of a volume
defragment* Makes the files in a file domain more contiguous
mkfdmn* Creates a file domain
mkfset* Creates a fileset within a file domain
renamefset* Renames an existing fileset
rmfdmn* Removes a file domain
rmfset* Removes a fileset from a file domain
switchlog Moves the AdvFS log file to a different volume in a file
domain

AdvFS Commands A–1

 Table A–2: AdvFS Information Display Commands
Command Description
advfsstat* Displays file system statistics
ncheck Displays the tag and full path name for each file in the
file system
showfdmn* Displays the attributes of a file domain
showfile Displays the attributes of a file
showfsets* Displays the attributes of filesets in a file domain
vdf* Displays disk space used and available disk space for a
fileset or a file domain

Table A–3: AdvFS Backup Commands

Command Description
rvdump Remotely performs full and incremental fileset backup
rvrestore Remotely restores files from backup media
vdump Performs full and incremental fileset backup
vrestore Restores files from backup media

Table A–4: AdvFS Check and Repair Commands

Command Description
advscan Locates AdvFS partitions on disks
mountlist Checks for mounted AdvFS filesets
tag2name Prints the path name of a file given the tag number
salvage Recovers file data from damaged AdvFS file domains
verify Checks for and repairs file system inconsistencies

A–2 AdvFS Commands

Table A–5: AdvFS Quota Commands
Command Description
chfsets Changes file and block quotas
edquota Edits user and group quotas
quot Summarizes file and block information
quota Displays disk usage and limits by user or group
quotacheck Checks file system quota consistency
quotaoff Turns quotas off
quotaon Turns quotas on
repquota* Summarizes quotas for a file system

Table A–6: AdvFS Disk Structure Commands

Command Description
nvbmtpg Displays a formatted page of the bitfile metadata table
(BMT)
nvfragpg Displays file fragment information
nvlogpg Displays a formatted page of the log
nvtagpg Displays a formatted page of the tag directory
savemeta Saves on-disk metadata
shblock Displays unformatted disk blocks
shfragbf Displays file fragment information
vfilepg Displays a page of an AdvFS file
vsbmpg Displays a page of the storage bitmap

AdvFS Commands A–3

A.2 AdvFS Utilities Commands
The following table lists and describes AdvFS Utilities commands. These
commands require the optional AdvFS Utilities product license. If you
installed the AdvFS Utilities reference page subset, you can access
reference pages for each of these commands by entering the man command.
The commands marked with an asterisk (*) are functions for which the
AdvFS GUI has equivalent capability.

Table A–7: AdvFS Utilities Commands

Command Description
addvol* Adds a volume to an existing file domain
advfsd Starts the AdvFS GUI agent (daemon)
balance* Balances the percentage of used space between volumes
clonefset* Creates a read-only copy of a fileset
dtadvfs Starts the AdvFS GUI
migrate Moves a file to another volume in the file domain
mktrashcan Attaches directories to a trashcan directory, which stores
deleted files
rmtrashcan Detaches a specified directory from a trashcan directory
rmvol* Removes a volume from an existing file domain
shtrashcan Shows the trashcan directory, if any, that is attached to a
specified directory
stripe Interleaves storage allocation of a file across two or more
volumes within a file domain

A–4 AdvFS Commands

 B
Converting File Systems

This appendix contains procedures to convert a /usr file system, the root
file system, and a data file system to AdvFS. Also included are instructions
for converting your entire system from AdvFS to UFS.

The methods provided here are guidelines; that is, they are suggestions
that illustrate the process of conversion. Specific file names, tape drives,
and disk partitions depend on your system.

The vdump and vrestore file formats are compatible for Version 4 and
Version 5.0 operating systems. If you upgrade to Version 5.0, recreate the
file domains, and restore the data from backup (see Chapter 4), your AdvFS
filesets and file domains will have the updated structure (see Section 2.3.3).

B.1 Converting a /usr File System to AdvFS

During the initial installation of AdvFS, you can install /usr on AdvFS.
Converting the /usr (UFS) file system to AdvFS reduces the amount of
time your system is down after a system failure. If you have not installed
/usr on AdvFS, you can do so with:
• A backup tape
• An intermediate file
• A second disk

B.1.1 Using a Backup Tape

You can convert the /usr (UFS) file system to an equivalent AdvFS file
system by backing up the existing file system to tape and restoring it to an
AdvFS environment.

The following are required:

• Root user privilege
• Backup device and media
• Five percent more disk space for the converted file system
• The Advanced File System installed on your system

Converting File Systems B–1

 Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /usr
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /usr
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
File domain usr_domain
Fileset usr

Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the file system:

1. Log in as root on the system containing the /usr file system.

2. Use the AdvFS vdump command to back up the /usr file system to
/dev/tape/tape0:

# mt rewind
# cd /usr
# vdump -0 .
3. Edit the /etc/fstab file.

a. Search for the entry that mounts /usr as a UFS file system, such
as:

/dev/disk/dsk3g /usr ufs rw 1 2

b. Replace it with one that mounts /usr as an AdvFS file system:

usr_domain#usr /usr advfs rw 1 0

4. Shut down the system:

# shutdown -h now
5. Reboot the system in single-user mode. See System Administration for
instructions on invoking single-user mode.
6. In single-user mode, mount the root file system as rw. Create the
usr_domain file domain, and create the usr fileset. Use the -F option
with the mkfdmn command to force the partition label to change from
UFS to AdvFS and to avoid a warning message.

# mount -u /
# mkfdmn -F /dev/disk/dsk3g usr_domain
# mkfset usr_domain usr

B–2 Converting File Systems

 7. Mount the usr fileset on the /usr directory:
# mount -t advfs usr_domain#usr /usr
8. Restore the /usr file system from tape to the usr fileset:
# vrestore -x -D /usr
9. Boot the system to multiuser mode. When the system prompt returns,
the converted /usr file system is ready to use.

B.1.2 Using an Intermediate File

You can convert the /usr (UFS) file system to the equivalent AdvFS file
system by backing up the existing file system to a file and restoring it to an
AdvFS environment.
The following are required:
• Root user privilege.
• Disk space (on a different file system) for an intermediate file. (The file
system containing the intermediate file can be on the same disk or a
different disk.)
• Five percent more disk space for the converted file system.
• The Advanced File System installed on your system.
Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /usr
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
Intermediate file /tmp/usr_bck
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /usr
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
File domain usr_domain
Fileset usr
Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the /usr file system:

1. Log in as root on the system containing the /usr file system.

2. Use the AdvFS vdump command to back up the /usr file system to
/tmp/usr_bck, the intermediate file:
# cd /usr
# vdump -0f /tmp/usr_bck /usr

Converting File Systems B–3

 3. Edit the /etc/fstab file.

a. Search for the entry that mounts /usr as a UFS file system:
/dev/disk/dsk3g /usr ufs rw 1 2
b. Replace it with one that mounts /usr as an AdvFS file system:
usr_domain#usr /usr advfs rw 1 0

4. Shut down the system:

# shutdown -h now
5. Reboot the system in single-user mode. See System Administration for
instructions on invoking single-user mode.
6. In single-user mode, mount the root file system as rw, create the
usr_domain file domain, and create the usr fileset. Use the -F option
with the mkfdmn command to force the partition label to change from
UFS to AdvFS and to avoid a warning message.
# mount -u /
# mkfdmn -F /dev/disk/dsk3g usr_domain
# mkfset usr_domain usr
7. Mount the usr fileset on the /usr directory:
# mount -t advfs usr_domain#usr /usr
8. Restore the /usr file system from the intermediate file to the usr
fileset:
# vrestore -xf /tmp/usr_bck -D /usr
9. Boot the system to multiuser mode. When the system prompt returns,
the converted /usr file system is ready to use.

B.1.3 Using a Second Disk

You can convert the /usr (UFS) file system on one disk to the equivalent
/usr (AdvFS) file system on a different target disk.
The following are required:
• Root user privilege
• A second disk labeled unused with 5% more disk space for the
converted file system
• The Advanced File System installed on your system

B–4 Converting File Systems

Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /usr
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /usr
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2c
Mount directory /usr.advfs
File domain usr_domain
Fileset usr
Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the /usr file system:

1. Log in as root on the system containing the /usr file system.

2. Create a file domain and fileset:
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk2c usr_domain
# mkfset usr_domain usr
3. Create a mount-point directory and mount the new fileset on the
directory:
# mkdir /usr.advfs
# mount -t advfs usr_domain#usr /usr.advfs
4. Change to the /usr directory:
# cd /usr
5. Be certain there is no activity on the system. (You can do this by
bringing the system to single-user mode.) Copy the contents of the
UFS file system to the AdvFS file system:
# vdump -0f - -D . | vrestore -xf - -D /usr.advfs
6. Edit the /etc/fstab file.

a. Search for the entry that mounts /usr as a UFS file system, such
as:
/dev/disk/dsk3g /usr ufs rw 1 2
b. Replace it with one that mounts /usr as an AdvFS file system:
usr_domain#usr /usr advfs rw 1 0

Converting File Systems B–5

 7. Remove the temporary directory.
# umount /usr.advfs
# rmdir /usr.advfs
8. Shut down and reboot the system. When the system prompt returns,
the converted /usr file system is ready to use.

B.2 Converting the root File System to AdvFS

By converting the root file system to AdvFS, you can boot your system from
an AdvFS file domain and use AdvFS as the root (/) file system. The AdvFS
root file domain must reside on a single disk. During initial installation you
can install root on AdvFS. If you do not, you can use the following method.

_______________________ Note _______________________

Before you begin the conversion, check the size of the existing
UFS root partition. The target AdvFS root file domain can
contain only one volume and must be large enough to
accommodate the converted root file system.

The following are required:

• Root user privilege.
• A second bootable disk. (You must use partition a or c.)
• The Advanced File System installed on your system.
Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system root
Mount directory /newroot
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk1a
Disk type rz28
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system root
Mount directory /newroot
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2a
Disk Type rz28
File domain root_domain
Fileset root

B–6 Converting File Systems

Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the root file system.
This example assumes an rz28 disk.

1. Log in as root on the system containing the root file system.

2. Create a file domain and fileset:
# mkfdmn -r -t rz28 /dev/disk/dsk2a root_domain
# mkfset root_domain root
3. Create a mount-point directory and mount the new fileset on the
directory:
# mkdir /newroot
# mount -t advfs root_domain#root /newroot
4. Be certain there is no activity on the system. (You can do this by
bringing the system to single-user mode.) Restore the UFS root file
system to the root fileset:
# vdump 0f - / | (cd /newroot; vrestore -xf -)
5. Make the disk with the root file domain a bootable disk:
# disklabel -r /dev/rdisk/dsk2a > /tmp/dsk2label
# disklabel -t advfs -r -
R /dev/rdisk/dsk2a /tmp/dsk2label rz28
6. Edit the /etc/fstab file on the AdvFS root fileset to indicate the new
root entry.

a. Search /newroot/etc/fstab for the entry that mounts root as a

UFS file system, such as:
/dev/disk/dsk1a / ufs rw 1 1
b. Replace it with one that mounts root as an AdvFS file system:
root_domain#root / advfs rw 1 0

7. After editing is complete, shut down the system:

# shutdown -h now
8. Reset the boot default device, BOOTDEF_DEV, to point to the disk with
the new root file domain. This procedure is hardware-specific. Refer to
your hardware manual for instructions.
9. Reboot the system to enable the AdvFS root file system.

The converted root file system is ready to use.

Because the AdvFS root file domain is limited to one disk, you cannot use
the addvol command to extend the root file domain.

Converting File Systems B–7

B.3 Converting a Data File System to AdvFS
By converting your data file systems to AdvFS, you can eliminate lengthy
reboots. Moreover, you can easily modify your file system configurations to
meet changing system requirements.
You can convert data file systems from UFS to AdvFS with:
• A backup tape
• An intermediate file
• A second disk
• A second system

B.3.1 Using a Backup Tape

You can convert a data (UFS) file system to the equivalent data (AdvFS)
file system by backing up the existing file system to tape with the vdump
command and restoring it with the vrestore command to an AdvFS
environment.
The following are required:
• Root user privilege
• Backup device and media
• Five percent more disk space for the converted file system
• The Advanced File System installed on your system
Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /staff2
Mount directory /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2c
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2c
File domain staff_domain
Fileset staff2

B–8 Converting File Systems

 Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the /staff2 file
system:

1. Log in as root on the system containing the /staff2 file system.

2. Use the AdvFS vdump command to back up the /staff2 file system to
/dev/tape/tape0, the default tape drive:
# mt rewind
# mount /staff2
# vdump -0f /dev/tape/tape0 /staff2
# umount /staff2
3. Create the staff_domain file domain and the staff2 fileset. Use the
-F option with the mkfdmn command to force the partition label to
change from UFS to AdvFS and to avoid a warning message.
# mkfdmn -F /dev/disk/dsk2c staff_domain
# mkfset staff_domain staff2
4. Mount the new fileset on the directory:
# mount -t advfs staff_domain#staff2 /staff2
5. Restore the /staff2 file system from tape to the staff2 fileset:
# vrestore -xvf /dev/tape/tape0 -D /staff2
6. Edit the /etc/fstab file.

a. Search for the entry that mounted /staff2 as a UFS file system:
/dev/disk/dsk2c /staff2 ufs rw 1 2
b. Replace it with one that mounts /staff2 as an AdvFS file system:
staff_domain#staff2 /staff2 advfs rw 1 0

The converted /staff2 file system is ready to use.

B.3.2 Using an Intermediate File

You can convert a data (UFS) file system to the equivalent data (AdvFS)
file system by backing up the existing file system to a file and restoring it
to an AdvFS environment.

The following are required:

• Root user privilege.
• Disk space (on a different file system) for an intermediate file. (The file
system containing the intermediate file can be on the same disk or a
different disk.)

Converting File Systems B–9

 • Five percent more disk space for the converted file system.
• The Advanced File System installed on your system.
Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
Intermediate file /tmp/staff_bck
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
File domain staff_domain
Fileset staff2
Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the /staff2 file
system:

1. Log in as root on the system containing the /usr file system.

2. Use the AdvFS vdump command to back up the /staff2 file system to
/tmp/staff_bck, the intermediate file:
# vdump -0f /tmp/staff_bck /staff2
3. Create the staff_domain file domain and the staff2 fileset. Use the
-F option with the mkfdmn command to force the partition label to
change from UFS to AdvFS and to avoid a warning message.
# mkfdmn -F /dev/disk/dsk3g staff_domain
# mkfset staff2
4. Edit the /etc/fstab file:

a. Search for the entry that mounts /staff2 as a UFS file system:
/dev/disk/dsk3g /staff2 ufs rw 1 2
b. Replace it with one that mounts /staff2 as an AdvFS file system:
/staff_domain#staff2 /staff2 advfs rw 1 0

5. Mount the staff2 fileset on the /staff2 directory by entering the

following command:
# mount -t advfs staff_domain#staff2 /staff2

B–10 Converting File Systems

 6. Restore the /staff2 file system from the intermediate file to the
staff2 fileset:

# vrestore -xf /tmp/staff_bck -D /staff2

The converted /staff2 file system is ready to use.

B.3.3 Using a Second Disk

You can convert a data (UFS) file system on one disk to the equivalent data
(AdvFS) file system on a different target disk.

The following are required:

• Root user privilege
• A second disk with 5% more disk space for the converted file system
• The Advanced File System installed on your system

Assumed system configurations are as follows:

• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk3g
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2c
Mount directory /staff2
File domain staff_domain
Fileset staff2

Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the /staff2 file
system:

1. Log in as root on the system containing the /staff2 file system.

2. Create the staff_domain file domain and staff2 fileset:

# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk2c staff_domain

# mkfset staff_domain staff2
3. Create a mount-point directory and mount the new fileset on the
directory:

# mkdir /new_staff2
# mount -t advfs staff_domain#staff2 /new_staff2

Converting File Systems B–11

 4. Be certain there is no activity on the system. Copy the contents of the
UFS file system to the AdvFS file system:
# vdump -0f - -D /staff2 | vrestore -xf - -D /new_staff2
5. Edit the /etc/fstab file:

a. Search for the entry that mounts /staff2 as a UFS file system,
such as:
/dev/disk/dsk3g /staff2 ufs rw 1 2
b. Replace it with one that mounts /staff2 as an AdvFS file system:
staff_domain#staff2 /staff2 advfs rw 1 0

6. Unmount /new_staff2:
# umount /new_staff2
7. Unmount /staff2:
# umount /staff2
8. Remove the old directory:
# rmdir /staff2
9. Mount the new fileset.
# mount /staff2

B.3.4 Using a Second System

You can transfer an existing data file system to a new system, then you can
convert the file system to AdvFS.
The following are required:
• Two systems and a common facility for transferring the files such as the
tar utility (see tar(1))
• Root user privilege on the target system
• Five percent more disk space for the converted file system
• The Advanced File System installed on the target system

B–12 Converting File Systems

Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing UFS configuration:
File system /staff4
• New AdvFS configuration:
File system /staff4
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2c
Mount directory /staff4
File domain staff_domain
Fileset staff4
Use the following procedure as a guide for converting the staff4 file
system:

1. Log in to the system containing the /staff4 file system and back up
the file system to tape:
# tar c /staff4
2. Log in as root user on the target system.
3. Create the staff_domain file domain and the staff4 fileset:
# mkfdmn /dev/disk/dsk2c staff_domain
# mkfset staff_domain staff4
4. Create a mount-point directory and mount the new fileset on the
directory:
# mkdir /staff4
# mount -t advfs staff_domain#staff4 /staff4
5. Restore the /staff4 file system from the default tape drive,
/dev/tape/tape0:
# mt rewind
# tar x /staff4
6. Edit the /etc/fstab file to add an entry that mounts /staff4 as a
UFS file system:
staff_domain#staff4 /staff4 advfs rw 1 0

The staff_domain file domain now includes the staff4 fileset, which is
ready to use.

Converting File Systems B–13

B.4 Converting from AdvFS to UFS
Converting your entire system from AdvFS to UFS is a multistep process.
You first convert the AdvFS root file system to UFS. Then you convert each
AdvFS fileset to a UFS file system.

B.4.1 Converting the root File System to UFS

To convert the root file system, you must mount a UFS disk while your
AdvFS root fileset is mounted.
The following are required:
• Root user privilege.
• A second bootable disk. (You must use partition a.)
Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing AdvFS configuration:
File system root
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk1a
Disk Type rz28
File domain root_domain
Fileset root
• New UFS configuration:
File system root
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2a
Disk type rz28
Use the following procedure as a guideline for converting your file system:

1. Log in as root user.

2. Create a UFS file system:
# newfs /dev/disk/dsk2a rz28
3. Create a mount-point directory and mount the UFS file system:
# mkdir /newroot
# mount -t ufs /dev/disk/dsk2a /newroot

B–14 Converting File Systems

 4. Restore the AdvFS root file system to the /dev/disk/dsk2a UFS file
system:
# vdump -0f - / | (cd /newroot; vrestore -xf -)
5. Make the disk containing the UFS file system a bootable disk:
# disklabel -r /dev/rdisk/dsk2a > /tmp/dsk21abel
# disklabel -t ufs -r -R /dev/rdisk/dsk2a /tmp/dsk2label rz28
6. Edit the /etc/fstab file on the UFS file system to refer to the new
root entry.

a. Search /newroot/etc/fstab for the entry previously mounted

as root for the AdvFS file system:
root_domain#root / advfs rw 1 0
b. Replace with one that mounts root as a UFS file system:
/dev/disk/dsk2a / ufs rw 1 1

7. Shut down the system by entering the following command:

# shutdown -h now
8. Reset the boot default device, BOOTDEF_DEV, to the new root disk.
(Refer to your hardware manual for specific information.)
9. Reboot the system to enable the UFS root file system.

B.4.2 Converting a Fileset to UFS

Once the root file system is converted to UFS, you can convert your filesets.
The following are required:
• Root user privilege.
• A tape or disk for back up
Assumed system configurations are as follows:
• Existing AdvFS configuration:
Mount directory /staff2
File domain staff_domain
Fileset staff2
• New UFS configuration:
Mount directory /staff2
Disk partition /dev/disk/dsk2c
Disk type rz28

Converting File Systems B–15

 The following example assumes your AdvFS file domain contains one
volume and only one fileset. If the AdvFS file domain contains multiple
filesets, then you must create a separate UFS file system for each fileset.

_____________________ Caution _____________________

Be sure to perform a full backup on all AdvFS filesets before you
start the conversion.

1. Make a backup of the AdvFS fileset:

# vdump -0f /dev/tape/tape0 /staff2
2. Unmount the fileset:
# umount /staff2
3. Delete the fileset:
# rmfset staff_domain staff2
4. Remove the file domain:
# rmfdmn staff_domain
5. Create the UFS file system for the specified disk type. (If the partition
you are creating is currently labeled AdvFS, you will get a warning
message. Respond yes to override the AdvFS designation.)
# newfs /dev/disk/dsk2c rz28
6. Edit your /etc/fstab file.

a. Search for the entry that mounts /staff2 as an AdvFS fileset,

such as:
staff_domain#staff2 /staff2 advfs rw 1 0
b. Replace it with one that mounts /staff2 as a UFS file system:
/dev/disk/dsk2c /staff2 ufs rw 1 2

7. Mount the UFS file system:

# mount -t ufs /dev/disk/dsk2c /staff2
8. Use the vrestore command to load the files from the backup into the
UFS file system:
# vrestore -xvf /dev/tape/tape0 -D /staff2

If your file domain contains multiple volumes, you must verify that the
disk space allocated to a fileset will not exceed the limit of the UFS file
system disk partition. You may need to create multiple UFS file systems to
hold the filesets in the file domain.

B–16 Converting File Systems

 C
Accessing File System Information with
the SysMan Menu

You must be root to use the SysMan Menu. There are two ways to open the
menu:
• From the command line enter:
# /usr/sbin/sysman
• From the Common Desktop Environment (CDE) front panel if your
system is running in a graphics environment with CDE:

1. Select the SysMan Application from the front panel.

2. Select the SysMan Menu icon.

See sysman(8) for more information.

Accessing File System Information with the SysMan Menu C–1

 Glossary

This glossary defines some of the terms and acronyms used in the AdvFS
documentation.
advfsd
The agent that issues commands and obtains system information for the
AdvFS GUI.
agent
See advfsd. The agent runs in the traditional style of the UNIX daemon.
agent state monitor interval
The time interval between agent scans of the system disk.
atomic write data logging
Guarantees that all data in a write system call (up to 8192 bytes) is either
written to the disk or none of the data is written to the disk.
balance
To even the distribution of files between volumes of a file domain.
bitfile metadata table (BMT)
See BMT.
block
A 512-byte unit of disk storage. Sixteen blocks comprise a page.
BMT
Bitfile Metadata Table. An array of 8-kilobyte pages, each with a header
and an array of mcells located on each volume. A BMT contains all
metadata for all files that have storage on the volume.
buffer cache
The area of memory that contains the blocks of data waiting to be written
to disk.
checksum
Blocks created during tape backup for error recovery.

Glossary–1
 clone fileset
A read-only copy of a fileset that is created to capture fileset data at a
particular time. The contents of the clone fileset can be backed up while the
original fileset remains available to users.

contiguous
Storage that is physically adjacent on a disk volume.

copy-on-write
The process by which original information is saved in a clone fileset when
data in the original file is changed.

defragment
To make files and free space in a file domain more contiguous.

dirty data
Data that has been written by the application, but the file system has
cached it in memory so it has not yet been written to disk.

domain panic
A condition that prevents further access to the file domain when corruption
in the domain is detected. AdvFS allows the filesets in the file domain to be
unmounted after a domain panic.

DVN
Domain Version Number. A number in the disk metadata that specifies file
structure. Version 5.0 and later file domains contain a DVN of 4, while file
domains created under earlier operating systems have a DVN of 3.

dtadvfs
The AdvFS Graphical User Interface (GUI).

/etc/fdmns directory
A directory that defines the file domains by providing a subdirectory for
each file domain created on the system.

/etc/fstab file
A file that identifies filesets that are to be mounted at system reboot.

extent
Contiguous area of disk space allocated to a file. Simple files have one
extent map; striped files have an extent map for every stripe segment.

file domain
A named pool of storage that contains one or more volumes. Each file
domain must have at least one fileset.

Glossary–2
file domain ID
A set of numbers that identify the file domain to the system.

file extent
See extent.

file fragment
Created when a file uses only part of the last page (less than 8 kilobytes) of
file storage allocated or has a total size of less than 8 kilobytes.
fileset
A hierarchy of directory and file names. A fileset represents a mountable
portion of the directory hierarchy of the AdvFS file system.

fileset quota
A quota that limits the amount of disk storage that a fileset can consume
or the number of files a fileset can contain.

frag file
A file that is used to allocate storage for files or file segments that are less
than 8 kilobytes (one page). Using fragments reduces the amount of wasted
disk space.

grace period
The period of time a quota’s soft limit can be exceeded as long as the hard
limit is not exceeded.

GUI
A graphical user interface.
GUI refresh interval
The time interval between updates of the GUI window information.
hard limit
The quota limit for disk block usage or number of files that cannot be
exceeded.

inode
An identifier for a UFS file; similar to an AdvFS file domain tag.

Logical Storage Manager (LSM)

Logical Storage Manage is a volume management system that mirrors
volumes and provides volume-level striping.
metadata
File structure information such as file attributes, extent maps, and fileset
attributes.

Glossary–3
 migrate
To move files from one volume to another within a file domain.

mirror
To maintain identical copies of data on different disks, thus providing high
data availability and improved disk read performance.

miscellaneous metadata bitfile

Maps areas of the volume that do not represent AdvFS metadata, such as
the disk label and boot blocks.

NetWorker
NetWorker for Tru64 UNIX provides scheduled, online automated backup.

object
A volume, file domain, fileset, or clone fileset managed by the AdvFS GUI.

object tree
The AdvFS GUI hierarchical display of objects.

page
An allocation of 8 ilobytes of contiguous disk space (16 blocks).

Performance Manager (PM)

A real-time performance monitoring, analysis and management application.

product authorization key (PAK)

License to access Compaq Computer Corporation software.

quota file
A file that keeps track of number of files, disk block usage, and grace
period per user ID or per group ID. Fileset quota information is stored
within the fileset.

root tag directory

A directory that defines the location of all filesets in a file domain. Each file
domain has one.

saveset
A collection of blocks created to save AdvFS backup information.

segment
See stripe segment.

soft limit
The quota value beyond which disk block usage or number of files is
allowed only during the grace period.

Glossary–4
sparse file
A file whose pages do not all have allocated disk space.

storage bitmap
Tracks free and allocated disk space. Each volume in a file domain contains
one.

stripe
To distribute data across multiple disks in a disk array, thus improving I/O
performance by allowing parallel access.

stripe segment
The portion of a striped file that resides on an AdvFS volume. A file striped
across four volumes has four stripe segments. Segments can be migrated
from one volume to another.

transaction log
The log that records changes to metadata before the changes are written to
disk. At regular intervals these changes are written to disk. The log is
circular and is eventually overwritten.

trashcan
The directory that contains the most recently deleted files from an attached
directory. The trashcan directory is set up by each user for user files.

Unified Buffer Cache (UBC)

The dynamically allocated system buffer cache that holds file data and
AdvFS metadata.

volume
Anything that behaves like a UNIX block device. This can be a disk, disk
partition, or logical volume.

write-ahead logging
The process by which the modifications to the file-structure information are
completely written to a transaction log before the actual changes are
written to disk. This process is used to ensure file system consistency in the
event of a system failure.

Glossary–5
 Index

A bitfile metadata table

( See BMT )
adding bitfile, miscellaneous metadata,
volume, 2–10, 2–11, 6–18 2–3
addvol command, 2–10, 2–11 bitmap, storage, 2–3
AdvFS GUI BMT, 2–3
( See GUI )
AdvfsAccessMaxPercent attribute,
5–18 C
AdvfsCacheHashSize attribute, 5–18
advfsd command, 6–2 chfile, 7–5
AdvfsMaxDevQLen attribute, 5–18 chfile command, 2–29
AdvfsMaxFreeAccessPercent chfsets command, 3–17, 3–24, 7–4
attribute, 5–18 chvol command, 2–3, 5–18
AdvfsMinFreeAccess attribute, 5–18 clone, 2–22
AdvfsReadyQLim attribute, 5–17 creating, 2–25, 6–16
advfsstat command, 7–6 deleting, 2–26, 6–17
AdvfsSyncMmapPages attribute, in backup, 4–6
5–18 mounting, 2–25, 6–17
advscan command, 7–21 removing, 2–26, 6–17
agent, 6–2 renaming, 2–26
allocation unmounting, 2–25, 6–17
file, 7–2 clonefset command, 2–25
atomic write data logging, 2–29, commands
7–5 addvol, 2–10, 2–11
attributes, 5–17 advfsd, 6–2
advfsstat, 7–6
advscan, 7–21
B balance, 5–8
base system, A–1
backup chfile, 2–29, 7–5
cloning, 4–6 chfsets, 3–17, 3–24, 7–4
data, 4–2 chvol, 2–3, 5–18
database, 4–6 clonefset, 2–25
error protection, 4–4 defragment, 5–4
incremental, 4–5 df, 7–2, 7–4
remote, 4–5 dtadvfs, 6–3
balance command, 5–8 du, 7–2
balancing, 5–8, 6–19, 7–7 edquota, 3–5, 3–9, 3–19, 7–3

Index–1
 iostat, 7–6 file domain, 2–4, 5–1
migrate, 5–12 file system, 2–1
mkfdmn, 2–8 fileset, 2–17
mkfset, 2–19 converting
mount, 2–20 AdvFS fileset to UFS, B–15
mountlist, A–2 AdvFS root to UFS, B–14
ncheck, 3–12, 7–3 to AdvFS
nvbmtpg, 7–30 data, B–8
nvfragpg, 7–30 UFS to AdvFS
nvlogpg, 7–30 root, B–6
nvtagpg, 7–30 /usr, B–1
quot, 3–12, 7–3 copy-on-write, 2–22
quota, 3–12, 7–3 corruption
quotacheck, 3–13, 7–3 due to old utilities, 7–5
quotaoff, 7–3 crash
quotaon, 7–3 recover system, 7–28
renamefset, 2–21 creating
repquota, 3–14, 7–3 clone, 2–25, 6–16
rmfdmn, 2–15 file domain, 2–8, 6–10
rmfset, 2–21, 2–26 fileset, 2–19, 6–13
rmvol, 2–10, 2–13
rvdump, 4–1
rvrestore, 4–1 D
salvage, 7–16 data
savemeta, 7–30 backup, 4–2
shblock, 7–30 converting to AdvFS, B–8
shfragbf, A–3 logging, 2–29, 7–5
showfdmn, 2–7, 7–2, 7–4 problems on pre4.0D systems,
showfile, 5–6, 5–13, 7–4 7–12
showfsets, 2–18, 3–23, 7–4 restoring, 4–7
stripe, 5–14 database
switchlog, 5–2 backup, 4–6
tag2name, A–2 decreasing
umount, 2–20 file domain, 2–10
utilities, A–4 defragment command, 5–4
vdf, 3–22, 7–4 defragmenting, 5–4, 6–19, 7–7
vdump, 4–1 deleting
verify, 7–16, 7–28 clone, 2–26, 6–17
vfile, 7–30 file domain, 2–15, 6–12
vrestore, 4–1 fileset, 2–21, 6–15
vsbmpg, 7–30 fileset quotas, 3–24
compressing user and group quotas, 3–17
filesets, 4–4 volume, 2–10, 2–13, 6–18
configuring Devices and Volumes window, 6–8
AdvFS root, 2–26 df command, 7–2, 7–4

Index–2
direct I/O, 5–3 /etc/fstab, 2–17
directory, root tag, 2–3 changing fileset name, 2–28
disk quotas, 3–4, 3–15
access incompatibility, 7–6 extent, 1–6
bad usage information, 7–2
checking activity, 7–6
checking usage, 3–11 F
damaged, 7–30 file
domain panic, 7–9 allocation, 7–2
failure recovery, 7–8 data problems on pre4.0D
file domains, 7–4 systems, 7–12
limiting usage, 7–2 deleting
moving, 7–30 trashcan, 5–19
partitions, dumping to, 4–3 disks.ignore, 6–4
structure, 7–30 extent, 1–6
usage, 7–1 fragments, 1–7
disk partitions GUI log, 6–4
dumping, 7–9 gui.passwd, 6–4
disk structure hosts.allow, 6–4
examining, 7–30 moving, 5–10
disks.ignore file, 6–4 preallocation, 1–6
domain quotas, 3–3, 3–17
( See file domain ) restoring, 4–8
domain panic, 7–9 sparse, 1–7
domain version number, 2–6 storage allocation, 1–6
dtadvfs command, 6–3 striping, 5–14, 7–7
du command, 7–2 structure, new, 2–6, 7–4
dumping file domain, 2–4
error protection, 4–4 adding volumes, 6–11, 7–7
incremental, 4–5 balancing, 5–8, 6–19, 7–7
remote, 4–5 changing name of root, 2–27
subdirectories, 4–3 configuring, 2–4, 5–1
to disk partitions, 4–3 creating, 2–8, 6–10
to partitions, 7–9 damaged, 7–16
to tape, 4–3 defragmenting, 5–4, 6–19, 7–7
DVN, 2–6 deleting, 2–15, 6–12
description, 1–4
E displaying information, 2–7
enlarging, 2–10, 2–11, 6–11
edquota command, 3–5, 3–9, exchanging volumes, 7–8
3–19, 7–3 migrating, 7–7
enlarging multivolume setup, 2–11
file domain, 2–10, 2–11, 6–11 panic, 7–9
/etc/fdmns directory, 2–5, 2–27
restoring, 7–19

Index–3
 recovering, 7–16 creating, 2–19, 6–13
multivolume domain, 7–26 deleting, 2–21, 6–15
root domain, 7–25 description, 1–4
reducing, 2–10 displaying information, 2–18
removing, 2–15, 6–12 mounting, 2–20, 6–14, 7–32
removing volumes, 7–7 quotas , 6–15, 7–3
renaming, 2–15, 6–13 read-only recovery, 7–11
repairing, 7–21 removing, 2–21, 6–15
root, 2–26 renaming, 2–21, 6–16
security, 2–15, 6–12 security, 2–21, 6–15
setting free space alert, 6–11 setting free space alert, 6–14
shrinking, 2–13 space usage, 7–2
single volume set up, 2–8 unmounting, 2–20, 6–14
space usage, 7–2 upgrading, 2–19
striping, 5–14 fragments, 1–7
upgrading, 2–6, 7–6 free space alert, 6–7
Version 5.0, 7–4 file domain, 6–11
Version 5.0 changes, 2–6 fileset, 6–14
version incompatibility , 7–4 volume, 6–18
file quotas
( See quotas )
file system G
AdvFS root, 2–26 grace period, 3–2
configuring, 2–1 setting fileset, 3–19
converting /usr UFS to AdvFS, setting user and group, 3–4
B–1 turning off, 3–17
converting data to AdvFS, B–8 graphical user interface
converting from AdvFS to UFS, ( See GUI )
B–14 group quotas, 3–3
converting root UFS to AdvFS, GUI
B–6 agent, 6–2
design, 1–3 allowed hosts, 6–4
improving performance, 7–5 and LSM volumes, 6–5
monitoring remotely with GUI, clone
6–5 creating, 6–16
recovering, 7–28 deleting, 6–17
tuning, 5–4 mounting, 6–17
verifying, 7–28 removing, 6–17
viewing with GUI, 6–6 unmounting, 6–17
fileset, 2–16 Devices and Volumes window,
changing name of root, 2–28 6–8
clone, 2–22
compressing, 4–4
configuring, 2–17
converting AdvFS to UFS, B–15

Index–4
 file domain installing AdvFS GUI, 6–1
adding volumes, 6–11 iostat command, 7–6
balancing, 6–19
creating, 6–10
defragmenting, 6–19 L
deleting, 6–12 limits
enlarging, 6–11 quota, 3–2
free space alert, 6–11 log, transaction, 1–5, 2–3, 5–2,
removing, 6–12 7–5, 7–32
renaming, 6–13 Logical Storage Manager
fileset ( See LSM )
creating, 6–13 LSM
deleting, 6–15 and AdvFS, 2–30
free space alert, 6–14 mirror, 2–33
mounting, 6–14 striping, 2–33
removing, 6–15 and GUI, 6–5
renaming, 6–16
setting quotas, 6–15
unmounting, 6–14 M
ignoring disks, 6–4
memory mapping, 7–5
installing, 6–1
metadata, 2–3
log files, 6–4
metadata, displaying, 7–30
Main window, 6–7
migrate command, 5–12
monitoring remote file systems,
migrating, 5–12, 7–7
6–5
mirror, 2–33
password file, 6–4
miscellaneous metadata bitfile, 2–3
security, 6–3
mkfdmn command, 2–8
software subsets, 6–1
file recovery, 7–17
troubleshooting, 6–20
mkfset command, 2–19
volume
mount command, 2–20
adding, 6–18
mounting
removing, 6–18
clone, 2–25, 6–17
setting free space alert, 6–18
fileset, 2–20, 6–14
GUI refresh interval, 6–3
mountlist command, A–2
gui.passwd file, 6–4
moving
disk, 7–30
H
hosts.allow file, 6–4 N
naming conventions, 1–5
I ncheck command, 3–12, 7–3
NetWorker, 4–9
install nvbmtpg command, 7–30
Version 5 upgrade, 2–6, 7–4 nvfragpg command, 7–30

Index–5
 nvlogpg command, 7–30 enabling user and group
nvtagpg command, 7–30 at startup, 3–15
manually, 3–16
/etc/fstab, 3–4, 3–15
P file, 3–3, 3–17
panic fileset, 3–17, 6–7, 6–15, 7–3
domain, 7–9 grace period, 3–2
partition hard limits, 3–2
finding AdvFS, 7–21 relocating files, 3–4
overlapping removing fileset, 3–24
mounted, 2–12 removing user and group, 3–17
unmounted, 2–13 restoring, 4–8
reusing, 7–15 running into limits, 7–4
performance setting fileset, 3–17, 6–15
improving, 7–5 setting for multiple filesets, 3–20
Performance Manager, 7–6 setting for multiple users and
groups, 3–9
setting user and group, 3–4
Q soft limits, 3–2
starting fileset, 3–24
quot command, 3–12, 7–3
starting user and group
quota command, 3–12, 7–3
at startup, 3–15
quotacheck command, 3–13, 7–3
manually, 3–16
quotaoff command, 7–3
summarizing by fileset, 3–14
quotaon command, 7–3
turning off fileset, 3–24
quotas, 3–1, 7–2
turning off user and group, 3–17
activating fileset, 3–24
user and group, 7–3
activating user and group
users and group, 3–4
at startup, 3–15
viewing with GUI, 6–7
manually, 3–16
changing GUI view, 6–7
checking disk usage, 3–11 R
checking disk usage for filesets,
3–21 read-only
checking fileset ownership, 3–12 fileset, 7–11
deactivating fileset, 3–24 recovering
deactivating user and group, 3–17 file domain, 7–16
deleting fileset, 3–24 multivolume domain, 7–26
deleting user and group, 3–17 root domain, 7–25
disabling fileset, 3–24 system crash, 7–28
disabling user and group, 3–17 reducing
displaying disk usage, 3–12 file domain, 2–10
enabling fileset, 3–24 removing
clone, 2–26, 6–17
file domain, 2–15, 6–12
fileset, 2–21, 6–15

Index–6
 fileset quotas, 3–24 single-volume file domain, 2–8
striping, 5–17 shblock, 7–30
user and group quotas, 3–17 shfragbf, A–3
volume, 2–10, 2–13, 6–18 showfdmn command, 2–7, 7–2, 7–4
renamefset command, 2–21 showfile command, 5–6, 5–13, 7–4
renaming showfsets command, 2–18, 3–23,
clone, 2–26 7–4
file domain, 2–15, 6–13 shrinking
fileset, 2–21, 6–16 file domain, 2–13
repairing smooth sync, 5–18
file domain, 7–21 space
repquota command, 3–14, 7–3 corrupt disk usage output, 7–2
restoring file domain, 7–2
data, 4–7 fileset, 7–2
/etc/fdmns directory, 7–19 sparse file, 1–7
files, 4–8 storage bitmap, 2–3
quotas, 4–8 stripe command, 5–14
saveset, 4–8 striping, 5–14
rmfdmn command, 2–15 choosing AdvFS or LSM, 2–33
rmfset command, 2–21, 2–26 file, 5–14, 7–7
rmvol command, 2–10, 2–13 removing, 5–17
root switchlog command, 5–2
changing file domain name, 2–27 Sysman menu, C–1
changing fileset name, 2–28
converting AdvFS to UFS, B–14
converting UFS to AdvFS, B–6 T
file domain, 2–26 tag2name command, A–2
recovering, 7–25 transaction log, 1–5, 2–3, 5–2,
root tag directory, 2–3 7–5, 7–32
rvdump command, 4–1 trashcan, 5–19
rvrestore command, 4–1 tuning
file system, 5–4
S
salvage command, 7–16 U
savemeta, 7–30 UFS
saveset, 4–2 converting file system to, B–14
errors in, 7–9 converting fileset to, B–15
restoring, 4–8 umount command, 2–20
security units
file domain, 2–15, 6–12 GUI display, 6–7
fileset, 2–21, 6–15 unmounting
setting up clone, 2–25, 6–17
AdvFS, 2–1 fileset, 2–20, 6–14
multivolume file domain, 2–11

Index–7
 upgrading file system, 7–28
file domain, 2–6 version number, domain, 2–6
fileset, 2–19 vfile command, 7–30
user quotas, 3–3 volume, 2–2
/usr adding, 2–10, 2–11, 6–18, 7–7
converting UFS to AdvFS attributes, 2–3
/usr, B–1 deleting, 2–10, 2–13, 6–18
utility description, 1–4
corruption, 7–5 exchanging, 7–8
removing, 2–10, 2–13, 6–18, 7–7
setting free space alert, 6–18
V structure, 2–3
vdf command, 3–22, 7–4 volumes
vdump command, 4–1 reusing, 7–15
verify command, 7–16, 7–28 vrestore command, 4–1
verifying vsbmpg command, 7–30

Index–8
How to Order Tru64 UNIX Documentation

You can order documentation for the Tru64 UNIX operating system and related
products at the following Web site:
http://www.businesslink.digital.com/
If you need help deciding which documentation best meets your needs, see the Tru64
UNIX Documentation Overview or call 800-344-4825 in the United States and
Canada. In Puerto Rico, call 787-781-0505. In other countries, contact your local
Compaq subsidiary.
If you have access to Compaq’s intranet, you can place an order at the following Web
site:
http://asmorder.nqo.dec.com/
The following table provides the order numbers for the Tru64 UNIX operating
system documentation kits. For additional information about ordering this and
related documentation, see the Documentation Overview or contact Compaq.

Name Order Number

Tru64 UNIX Documentation CD-ROM QA-6ADAA-G8

Tru64 UNIX Documentation Kit QA-6ADAA-GZ
End User Documentation Kit QA-6ADAB-GZ
Startup Documentation Kit QA-6ADAC-GZ
General User Documentation Kit QA-6ADAD-GZ
System and Network Management Documentation Kit QA-6ADAE-GZ
Developer’s Documentation Kit QA-6ADAG-GZ
Reference Pages Documentation Kit QA-6ADAF-GZ
 Reader’s Comments

Tru64 UNIX
AdvFS Administration
AA-RH96A-TE
Compaq welcomes your comments and suggestions on this manual. Your input will help us to write
documentation that meets your needs. Please send your suggestions using one of the following methods:
• This postage-paid form
• Internet electronic mail: readers_comment@zk3.dec.com
• Fax: (603) 884-0120, Attn: UBPG Publications, ZKO3-3/Y32
If you are not using this form, please be sure you include the name of the document, the page number,
and the product name and version.
Please rate this manual:
Excellent Good Fair Poor
Accuracy (software works as manual says) 3 3 3 3
Clarity (easy to understand) 3 3 3 3
Organization (structure of subject matter) 3 3 3 3
Figures (useful) 3 3 3 3
Examples (useful) 3 3 3 3
Index (ability to find topic) 3 3 3 3
Usability (ability to access information quickly) 3 3 3 3
Please list errors you have found in this manual:
Page Description
_________ _______________________________________________________________________________________
_________ _______________________________________________________________________________________
_________ _______________________________________________________________________________________
_________ _______________________________________________________________________________________
Additional comments or suggestions to improve this manual:
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
What version of the software described by this manual are you using? ______________________
Name, title, department __________________________________________________________________________
Mailing address __________________________________________________________________________________
Electronic mail ___________________________________________________________________________________
Telephone ________________________________________________________________________________________
Date _____________________________________________________________________________________________
 .
.
Do Not Cut or Tear - Fold Here and Tape .
.
.
NO POSTAGE .
NECESSARY IF .
MAILED IN THE .
UNITED STATES .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
FIRST CLASS MAIL PERMIT NO. 33 MAYNARD MA .
.
POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE .
.
.
COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION .
UBPG PUBLICATIONS MANAGER .
.
ZKO3-3/Y32 .
110 SPIT BROOK RD .
NASHUA NH 03062-9987 .
.
.
.
.
.
.
Do Not Cut or Tear - Fold Here .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cut on Dotted Line

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.