metassist(1M) System Administration Commands metassist(1M)NAMEmetassist - automated volume creation utility to support Solaris Volume
Manager
SYNOPSISmetassist-V
metassist -?
metassist create [-v n] [-c] -F config_file
metassist create [-v n] [-c | -d] -F request_file
metassist create [-v n] [-c | -d] [-f] [-n name] [-p datapaths] [-r
redundancy] [-a available [,available,...]] [-u unavailable [,unavail‐
able,...]] -s setname -S size
metassist create -?
DESCRIPTION
The metassist command provides assistance, through automation, with
common Solaris Volume Manager tasks.
SUBCOMMANDS
The following subcommands are supported:
create The create subcommand creates one or more Solaris Vol‐
ume Manager volumes. You can specify this request on
the command line or in a file specified on the command
line.
If you create a volume using the command line, you can
specify the characteristics of the volume in terms of
the desired quality of service it will provide - its
size, the number of redundant copies of the data it
contains, the number of data paths by which it is
accessible, and whether faulty components are replaced
automatically. The diskset in which the volume will
reside and the volume's size must be specified on the
command line in this form of the command.
If you create a volume using a request in a file, you
can specify the characteristics of the volume in terms
of the quality of service they provide, as on the com‐
mand line. Alternatively, the file can specify the
types and component parts of the volume, (for example,
mirrors, stripes, concatenations, and their component
slices). The file may also specify volumes partly in
terms of their types and partly in terms of their com‐
ponent parts, and may specify the characteristics of
more than one volume. All volumes specified in a file
must reside in the same diskset, whose name must be
specified in the file.
If you specify the -c or -d option on the command line,
the command runs without creating an actual volume or
volumes. Instead, it outputs either a a Bourne shell
command script (-c option) or a volume configuration
(-d option). The command script, when run, creates the
specified volume or volumes. The volume configuration
specifies the volume or volumes in complete detail,
naming all their components.
The input file given on the command line can take one
of the following forms:
· a volume request, which specifies a request for a
volume with explicit attributes and components, or
matching a given quality of service
· a volume configuration, produced by a previous
execution of the command
OPTIONS
The following option is mandatory if you specify a volume request or
volume configuration in a file:
-F config_file| request_file
Specify the volume request or volume configuration file to process.
If config_file or request_file is -, it is read from standard
input.
The -d option cannot be specified when inputfile is a volume con‐
figuration file.
The following options are mandatory if you specify a volume request on
the command line:
-s set
Specify the disk set to use when creating volumes. All the volumes
and hot spare pools are created in this disk set. If necessary,
disks are moved into the diskset for use in the volumes and hot
spare pools. If the diskset doesn't exist the command creates it.
This option is required. metassist works entirely within a named
disk set. Use of the local, or unnamed disk set, is not allowed.
-S size
Specify the size of the volume to be created. The size argument
consists of a numeric value (a decimal can be specified) followed
by KB, MB, GB, or TB, indicating kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes,
or terabytes, respectively.
Case is ignored when interpreting this option. This option is
required.
The following options are optional command line parameters:
-a device1,device2,...
Explicitly specify the devices that can be used in the creation of
this volume. Named devices may be controllers or disks. Only used
when specifying a volume on the command line.
-c
Output the command script that would implement the specified or
generated volume configuration. The command script is not run, and
processing stops at this stage.
-d
Output the volume configuration that satisfies the specified or
generated volume request. No command script is generated or exe‐
cuted, and processing stops at this stage.
-f
Specify whether the volume should support automatic component
replacement after a fault. If this option is specified, a mirror is
created and its submirrors are associated with a hot spare.
-n name
Specify the name of the new volume. See metainit(1M) for naming
guidelines.
-p n
Specify the number of required paths to the storage volume. The
value of n cannot be greater than the number of different physical
paths and logical paths to attached storage. Only used when speci‐
fying a volume on the command line.
-r n
Specify the redundancy level (0-4) of the data. The default is 0.
Only used when specifying a volume on the command line. If redun‐
dancy is 0, a stripe is created. If redundancy is 1 or greater, a
mirror with this number of submirrors is created. In this case, the
volume can suffer a disk failure on n-1 copies without data loss.
With the use of hot spares (see the -f option), a volume can suffer
a disk failure on n+hsps-1 volumes without data loss, assuming non-
concurrent failures.
-u device1,device2,...
Explicitly specify devices to exclude in the creation of this vol‐
ume. Named devices can be controllers or disks. You can use this
option alone, or to exclude some of the devices listed as available
with the -a option, Only used when specifying a volume on the com‐
mand line.
-v value
Specify the level of verbosity. Values from 0 to 2 are available,
with higher numbers specifying more verbose output when the command
is run. -v 0 indicates silent output, except for errors or other
critical messages. The default level is 1.
-V
Display program version information.
-?
Display help information. This option can follow a subcommand for
subcommand-specific help.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Creating a Mirror
The following example creates a two-way, 36Gb mirror on available
devices from controller 1 and controller 2. It places the volume in
diskset mirrorset.
# metassist create -r 2 -a c1,c2 -s mirrorset -S 36G
Example 2: Creating a Mirror with Additional Fault Tolerance
The following example creates a two-way, 36Gb mirror on available
devices from controller 1 and controller 2. It provides additional
fault tolerance in the form of a hot spare. It places the volume in
diskset mirrorset.
# metassist create -f -r 2 -a c1,c2 -s mirrorset -S 36GB
Example 3: Creating a Three-way Mirror and Excluding Devices
The following example creates a three-way, 180Gb mirror from storage
devices on controller 1 or controller 2. It excludes the disks c1t2d0
and c2t2d1 from the volume. It places the volume in diskset mirrorset.
metassist create -r 3 -a c1,c2 -u c1t2d0, c2t2d1 \
-s mirrorset -S 180GB
Example 4: Determining and Implementing a Configuration
The following example determines and implements a configuration satis‐
fying the request specified in a request file:
# metassist create -F request.xml
Example 5: Determining a Configuration and Saving It in a volume-config
File
The following example determines a configuration which satisfies the
given request. It saves the configuration in a volume-config file with‐
out implementing it:
# metassist create -d -F request.xml > volume-config
Example 6: Determining a Configuration and Saving It in a Shell Script
The following example determines a configuration which satisfies the
given request. It saves the configuration in a shell script without
implementing it:
# metassist create -c -F request.xml > setupvols.sh
Example 7: Implementing the Given volume-config
The following example implements the given volume-config:
# metassist create -F config.xml
Example 8: Converting the Given volume-config to a Shell Script
The following example converts the given volume-config to a shell
script that you can run later:
# metassist create -c -F config.xml > setupvols.sh
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
FILES
/usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-request.dtd
/usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-defaults.dtd
/usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-config.dtd
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWmdr │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOmdmonitord(1M), metaclear(1M), metadb(1M), metadetach(1M), metahs(1M),
metainit(1M), metaoffline(1M), metaonline(1M), metaparam(1M), metare‐
cover(1M), metarename(1M), metareplace(1M), metaroot(1M), metaset(1M),
metastat(1M), metasync(1M), metattach(1M), md.tab(4), md.cf(4),
mddb.cf(4), md.tab(4), volume-config(4), volume-request(4),
attributes(5), md(7D)NOTES
The quality of service arguments are mutually exclusive with the -F
inputfile argument.
When specifying a request file or quality of service arguments on the
command line, the /etc/default/metassist.xml file is read for global
and per-disk set defaults.
Characteristics of this file are specified in the DTD, in
/usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-defaults.dtd.
Characteristics of the XML request file are specified in the DTD, in
/usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-request.dtd.
Characteristics of the XML configuration file are specified in the DTD,
in /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-config.dtd.
This command must be run as root.
This command requires a functional Solaris Volume Manager configuration
before it runs.
SunOS 5.10 22 Feb 2005 metassist(1M)
