metassist(1M)															     metassist(1M)

NAME

       metassist - automated volume creation utility to support Solaris Volume Manager

SYNOPSIS

       metassist -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 -?

       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 Volume 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 command 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 component 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 com-
		       plete detail, naming all their components.

		       The input file given on the command line can take one of the following forms:

			 o  a  volume request, which specifies a request for a volume with explicit attributes and components, or matching a given
			    quality of service

			 o  a volume configuration, produced by a previous execution of the command

       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 configuration 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  executed,
	   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 cre-
	   ated 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 specifying 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 redundancy
	   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 volume. 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.

       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 satisfying 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
       without 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

       The following exit values are returned:

       0	Successful completion.

       >0	An error occurred.

       /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-request.dtd

       /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-defaults.dtd

       /usr/share/lib/xml/dtd/volume-config.dtd

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |      ATTRIBUTE TYPE	     |	    ATTRIBUTE VALUE	   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability		     |SUNWmdr			   |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

       mdmonitord(1M), metaclear(1M),  metadb(1M),  metadetach(1M),  metahs(1M),  metainit(1M),  metaoffline(1M),  metaonline(1M),  metaparam(1M),
       metarecover(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)

       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.

								    22 Feb 2005 						     metassist(1M)