vxfsconvert(1M)vxfsconvert(1M)NAMEvxfsconvert - convert a file system to a vxfs file system or upgrade a
VxFS disk layout version.
SYNOPSIS
logsize] size] special
DESCRIPTION
converts a file system of a supported type to a file system with a Ver‐
sion 4 disk layout. Currently only supports conversion of an file sys‐
tem to a file system. Conversion of all file system block and fragment
sizes is supported. After a file system is converted to its block size
is the value of the fragment size before conversion. also converts
VxFS Version 2 and Version 3 disk layouts to Version 4 disk layouts.
Do a full backup of the file system before running File system conver‐
sion is complex and while most file systems will convert without prob‐
lems, some may not. You could lose data if you don't have a backup.
See the WARNINGS section.
requires sufficient disk space to convert existing metadata to vxfs
metadata. The space is acquired from free space within the file system
or from the space available immediately after the end of the file sys‐
tem. In either case, the space must be available on the same device or
volume that contains the file system. requires approximately 12%-15%
of the total file system size as free space, depending on the number of
directories and files.
special is the character disk or volume manager device. Running on the
character device is usually faster than running it on a block device.
converts HFS access control list (ACL) entries to the respective VxFS
ACL entries with limitations. Only the entries that comply with the
VxFS ACL standard are converted. See the description of the conversion
process, below, for details.
takes approximately 2 to 3 times longer to convert a file system than
running a full on an file system.
Options
recognizes the following options:
Estimate the amount of space required to complete the conversion.
This option does not convert the file system to VxFS. No
data is written to the file system and the file system
remains clean.
generally overestimates the free space because it considers
the worst case scenario for allocating blocks (that is, fully
fragmented).
Display the list of supported file system types.
Currently only the VxFS Version 2 disk layout, and the VxFS
Version 3 disk layout.
Specifies the size of the file system intent log.
The minimum value for logsize is the number of blocks that
make the log no less than 256K. The maximum value for log‐
size is the number of blocks that make the log no greater
than 16384K. The default logsize is usually 1024 blocks; for
a small file system the default can be smaller to avoid wast‐
ing space.
Assume a response to all questions asked by This option implies that
the conversion is never committed and the file system is not
converted to VxFS.
Directs to use free disk space past the current end of the file sys‐
tem to store VxFS metadata (such as the intent log). size
specifies the amount of available disk space past the end of
the file system in kilobytes. uses the space past the cur‐
rent end of the file system for the conversion process. With
this option, all disk space required for the conversion
process is taken from the end of the file system; the exist‐
ing free space within the file system remains intact. If the
device is a raw partition, you can use only if there is suf‐
ficient space on the partition past the end of the file sys‐
tem.
If is not specified, uses free blocks from within the layout
of the file system being converted. File systems converted
with cannot be shrunk to a size smaller than their initial
post-conversion size.
Specify verbose mode. Verbose mode shows
the progress of the conversion process. For every inode con‐
verted, one of the following characters is displayed.
The inode is a regular file.
The inode is a block special file.
The inode is a character special file.
The inode is a directory.
The inode is a symbolic link.
The inode is a fifo.
The inode is a socket.
The inode type is unknown.
Assume a response to all questions asked by This option implies that
the conversion is committed unless fails to allocate the
required disk space. If an unknown inode type is detected
during the conversion, ignores it.
Operands
recognizes the following operand:
special Name of the character (raw) device that contains the file
system to convert.
Notes
To take full advantage of the VxFS file system, use to reorganize the
file system after the conversion. The online reorganization feature of
is available in only with the HP OnLineJFS product.
cannot convert a Version 4 disk layout to a Version 5 disk layout. Use
the online upgrade procedure instead.
Use the command to upgrade mounted file systems.
To take full advantage of the VxFS file system, use to reorganize the
file system after the conversion. The online reorganization feature of
is available in only with the HP OnLineJFS product.
The converted VxFS file system uses the Version 4 disk layout, which is
only recognized by JFS 3.3 and later versions. Do not convert a file
system which is shared by a system running HP-UX 10.x or HP-UX 11.00
without JFS 3.3.
The ability to shrink a VxFS file system after conversion depends on
the amount and location of free space in the original file system. If
an attempt to shrink a converted file system fails, try shrinking again
specifying a smaller shrink size. Shrinking is generally not possible
for conversions performed using the option. For VxFS file systems on a
Volume Manager volume, always shrink the file system before shrinking
the volume. Use the command to shrink a file system.
You must call with its full pathname:
The vxfsconvert command does not have an option to convert from a VxFS
file system back to an HFS file system. To do this, you must recreate
the HFS file system and restore the data.
Quota conversion is not supported.
Conversion Process
To prepare a file system for conversion:
· Install VxFS 3.2 or higher release on your system. vxfsconvert
creates a Version 4 disk layout.
· Clean and unmount the file system to convert. vxfsconvert can‐
not convert a mounted or dirty file system.
· Unmount the filesystem and make sure it is clean (you may need
to use to clean the filesystem). cannot convert a mounted or
dirty file system.
· Do a full backup on the file system before starting the conver‐
sion process.
Now run does the following steps to convert a file system:
1. Examines the superblock to make sure it is marked CLEAN.
2. Based on information in the file system superblock, sets up
VxFS metadata. This includes initializing all metadata
required by the VxFS Version 4 disk layout (for example OLT,
log, structural fileset). At this time, the original file sys‐
tem superblock is marked DIRTY unless you specified the or
option.
3. Reads every inode in the file system and converts it to a VxFS
inode.
4. For every regular file inode, allocates and initializes enough
extent data to map all of the file's data blocks. This trans‐
lates only the representation of the file's data blocks from
the old format to that of VxFS. It never copies or relocates
user data blocks.
5. For every directory inode, allocates sufficient disk space to
hold all the directory entries. For every directory entry in
that directory, converts it to a VxFS directory entry and
writes all converted directory blocks.
6. Converts all symbolic link, character special, block special,
fifo, and socket inodes to VxFS.
7. Converts HFS ACL entries to the respective VxFS ACL entries.
Only the entries that comply with the VxFS ACL standard are
converted. The compliant entries are those that specify per‐
missions for either a user or a group, but not both. That is,
entries of format and will be converted, while entries of for‐
mat will be omitted. For files with both supported and unsup‐
ported entries all supported entries will be converted, but
unsupported entries will be omitted.
Up to this point, all metadata of the original file system is intact
and the conversion process can be stopped. The file system can be used
after you run the original file system-specific If you specified the or
option, running the file system-specific is not required.
8. If all above steps completed successfully asks whether to com‐
mit the conversion. It waits for the user response unless the
or option was specified.
9. replaces the original superblock with the VxFS superblock and
clears any alternate superblocks written by the original file
system. The VxFS superblock is never written if you have speci‐
fied the or option. After the superblock is overwritten, the
original file system is no longer accessible; it is now a VxFS
file system.
At this point, make appropriate changes to the and files to indicate
that the file system is now a VxFS file system.
Run the VxFS-specific full on the converted file system. During pass
4, displays several error messages that require a response to complete
the conversion process. These errors occur because does not create all
metadata files; you must run to complete the process. No error mes‐
sages display during passes zero through three. The following is sam‐
ple output after successful conversion.
EXAMPLES
The following example checks available free space in the file system,
unmounts the file system, and returns the amount of free space required
for conversion. Available free space must always be greater than or
equal to the required free space.
To convert the file system, enter:
Upon successful conversion, check file system sanity, mount, and reor‐
ganize the file system as in the following example:
If the conversion fails, due to I/O failure, for example, run to return
to the original file system.
To convert a file system on a volume manager (for example, LVM) volume,
using only disk space at the end of the file system (with the option),
you may need to increase the volume size to provide the additional
space to do the conversion. If LVM is used, you can do the following:
After the conversion completes, the increased volume space becomes a
part of the converted VxFS file system.
Note: DO NOT reduce the volume after the conversion.
If the conversion fails, continue using the original file system. You
do not need to run Reclaim the disk space by entering (on LVM):
WARNINGS
Do not run on the or whole-disk bootable file systems.
In the rare case of unsuccessful conversion, there is a risk of data
loss or corruption. Always do a full system backup before the conver‐
sion.
DIAGNOSTICS
All error messages, I/O failure, and exit messages display on standard
output.
FILES
Contains static information about file systems.
Table of mounted file systems.
SEE ALSOfsck(1M), fsck_vxfs(1M), fsck_hfs(1M), mkfs_vxfs(1M), fsadm_vxfs(1M),
vxupgrade(1M), fs_vxfs(4), fstab(4), mnttab(4)lvm(7).
vxfsconvert(1M)
