vxconfigd(1M)															     vxconfigd(1M)

NAME

       vxconfigd - Veritas Volume Manager configuration daemon

SYNOPSIS

       vxconfigd [-dfk] [-D diag_portal] [-I inquiry_portal] [-m mode] [-r reset] [-R request_portal] [-x arg]

DESCRIPTION

       The  Veritas Volume Manager (VxVM) configuration daemon, vxconfigd, maintains disk configurations and disk groups in VxVM.  vxconfigd takes
       requests from other utilities for configuration changes, and communicates those changes to the kernel and modifies  configuration  informa-
       tion stored on disk.  vxconfigd also initializes VxVM when the system is booted.

OPTIONS

       -d	 Equivalent to -m disable, which starts vxconfigd in disabled mode.

       -D diag_portal
		 Specifies  a  rendezvous file path name for diagnostic operation connections to vxconfigd.  /etc/vx/vold_diag is the default path
		 name.	The diagnostic portal exists in both the enabled and disabled operating modes.

       -f	 Starts vxconfigd in the foreground.  This is often useful when debugging vxconfigd, or when tracing configuration changes.  If -f
		 is  not specified, vxconfigd forks a background daemon process.  The foreground process exits when the vxconfigd startup process-
		 ing completes.

       -I inquiry_portal
		 Specifies a rendezvous file path name for inquiry operation connections to vxconfigd.	/etc/vx/vold_inquiry is the  default  path
		 name.	 The  inquiry  portal  accepts	only  opcodes  for connection requests and query requests submitted by vxprint.  All other
		 requests are rejected.  The inquiry portal exists only when vxconfigd is operating in enabled mode.

       -k	 If a vxconfigd process is already running, -k kills it before any other startup processing.  This is useful for recovering from a
		 hung vxconfigd process.  Killing the old vxconfigd and starting a new one usually does not cause problems for volume devices that
		 are being used by applications, or that contain mounted file systems.

       -m mode	 Sets the initial operating mode for vxconfigd.  Possible modes are:

		 boot	   Handles boot-time startup of VxVM.  If the root disk is under VxVM control, the boot disk group (of which the root disk
			   must  be a member) is imported, and any required volumes on the root disk are started.  Boot mode is capable of operat-
			   ing before the root file system is remounted to read-write.	vxdctl enable is called later  in  the	boot  sequence	to
			   trigger vxconfigd to rebuild the /dev/vx/dsk and /dev/vx/rdsk directories.

		 disable   Starts  vxconfigd in disabled mode.	disable creates a rendezvous file for utilities that perform various diagnostic or
			   initialization operations.  disable can be used with the -r reset option as part of a command  sequence  to	completely
			   reinitialize Veritas Volume Manager configuration.  Use the vxdctl enable operation to enable vxconfigd.

		 enable    Starts vxconfigd fully enabled (default).  enable uses the volboot file to bootstrap and load in the boot disk group if
			   the root disk is under VxVM control.  It then scans all known disks for disk groups to import and  imports  those  disk
			   groups.   enable  also  sets up entries in the /dev/vx/dsk and /dev/vx/rdsk directories to define all of the accessible
			   Veritas Volume Manager devices.  If the volboot file cannot be read, or if the boot	disk  group  cannot  be  imported,
			   vxconfigd starts in disabled mode.

       -r reset  Resets  all Veritas Volume Manager configuration information stored in the kernel as part of startup processing.  The reset fails
		 if any volume devices are in use, or if an imported shared disk group exists.	This option is primarily  useful  for  testing	or
		 debugging.

       -R request_portal
		 Specifies  a  rendezvous  file path name for regular configuration and query requests.  /etc/vx/vold_request is the default.  The
		 regular request portal exists only when vxconfigd is operating in enabled mode.

       -x arg	 Turns on various parameters used for debugging or other aspects of vxconfigd operation.  The argument, arg, is a decimal  number,
		 1 through 9, or a string.  A number value sets the debug information output level and is required to obtain any debug messages.

		 The debugging level can also be changed while vxconfigd is running by using the vxdctl debug command.

		 String arguments include:

		 boot=volboot_path
		      Specifies the path name to use for the volboot file.  This is primarily useful with the stub debug option.  The volboot file
		      contains the name of the boot disk group if the root disk is under VxVM control.	It also contains a host ID that is  stored
		      on disks in imported disk groups to define ownership of disks as a sanity check for disks that might be accessible from more
		      than one host.

		 cleartempdir
		      Removes and recreates the /etc/vx/tempdb directory.  This directory stores configuration information that is  cleared  after
		      system reboots (or cleared for specific disk groups on import and deport operations).  If the contents of this directory are
		      corrupted, due to a disk I/O failure for example, vxconfigd will not start up if it is killed and restarted.  Such a  situa-
		      tion  can  be  cleared by starting vxconfigd with -x cleartempdir.  This option has no effect if vxconfigd is not started in
		      enabled mode.

		      Note: It is advisable to kill any running operational commands (vxvol, vxsd, or vxmend) before  using  the  -x  cleartempdir
		      option.  Failure to do so may cause these commands to fail, or may cause disastrous but unchecked interactions between those
		      commands and the issuance of new commands.  It is safe to use this option while running the  graphical  user  interface,	or
		      while Veritas Volume Manager background daemons are running (vxsparecheck, vxnotify, or vxrelocd).

		 darecs=darecs_path
		      Specifies the pathname to the file that contains persistent disk access records. This file contains a list of disks that are
		      scanned and configured by VxVM.

		 devprefix=prefixdir
		      Specifies a directory path name to prefix for any disk device accessed by vxconfigd.  For example, with devprefix=/tmp,  any
		      access  to  a  raw  disk	device named c2t1d0 would actually be directed to the file /tmp/dev/rdsk/c2t1d0.  In stubbed mode,
		      vxconfigd can operate with such files being regular files.  vxconfigd only  requires  entries  in  the  prefixdir  /dev/rdsk
		      directory in stubbed mode.  See stub below for more information.

		 exclude_enable
		      Causes  device  discovery  to  ignore  controllers  and  devices	that have been excluded from the view of VxVM by using the
		      vxdiskadm command to add entries to the /etc/vx/cntrls.exclude or /etc/vx/disks.exclude files.  This is useful for  prevent-
		      ing  certain  unwanted  LUNs (for example, EMC Business Continuity Volumes (BCVs) that are being synchronized) from delaying
		      the start up of the system.  The vxdiskadm command can be used to reinclude a LUN in the view of VxVM when required.

		 log | nolog
		      Logs all vxconfigd console output directly to a file.  This method of logging is very reliable in that any  messages  output
		      before  a  system crash are available in the log file (if the crash did not corrupt the file system).  You can enable direct
		      vxconfigd logging with the -x log argument, and turn it off with the -x nolog argument.  Logging is disabled by default.

		      If direct logging is enabled, the default log file is /var/adm/vxconfigd.log.  This option can be used in  conjunction  with
		      syslog | nosyslog.  See syslog | nosyslog below for more information.

		      The following command logs all debug and error messages to the specified log file:

			   vxconfigd -x9 -x log

		 logfile=logfilename
		      Specifies an alternate vxconfigd direct log file.  This option requires using the -x log argument.

		 noautoconfig
		      vxconfigd  usually  configures  disk  devices  that  can	be  found  by inspecting kernel disk drivers automatically.  These
		      auto_configured disk devices are not stored in persistent configurations, but are regenerated from kernel tables after every
		      reboot.	Invoking  vxconfigd with -x noautoconfig prevents the automatic configuration of disk devices, forcing VxVM to use
		      only those disk devices configured explicitly using vxdisk define or vxdisk init.

		 nothreads
		      Runs vxconfigd single-threaded.

		 stub Specifies not to communicate configuration changes to the kernel.  stub is typically used as a demonstration mode of  opera-
		      tion  for vxconfigd.  In most aspects, a stubbed vxconfigd behaves like a regular vxconfigd, except that disk devices can be
		      regular files and volume nodes are not created.  A stubbed vxconfigd can run concurrently with a regular vxconfigd, or  con-
		      currently  with any other stubbed vxconfigd processes, as long as different rendezvous, volboot, and disk files are used for
		      each concurrent process.

		      Other Veritas Volume Manager utilities can detect when they are connected to a vxconfigd that is running	in  stubbed  mode.
		      When  a  VM  utility  detects  a stubbed-mode vxconfigd, the utility typically stubs out any direct use of volumes or plexes
		      itself.  This allows utilities to make configuration changes in a testing environment that runs  without	any  communication
		      with the kernel or creation of real volumes or plexes.

		 syslog | nosyslog
		      vxconfigd  supports  using  the  syslog() library call to log all of its console messages (this includes error, warning, and
		      notice messages, but not debug messages).  By default, vxconfigd redirects console messages to syslog()  when  it  is  first
		      started.	 You can disable syslog() logging using the -x nosyslog argument, and turn it on with the -x syslog argument.  You
		      can also enable or disable syslog() logging at boot-time by editing the Veritas Volume Manager startup scripts.

		      syslog can be specified along with log (described above) to obtain more reliable logging.  For example, the  following  com-
		      mand logs all debug messages to the specified log file, and logs all error messages to both the direct log file and the sys-
		      log.log file:

			   vxconfigd -x9 -x log -x syslog

		      Note: syslog() logging works only on systems where vxconfigd is compiled with support for the syslog() library calls.

		 synctrace
		      Flushes tracefile data to disk, invoking fsync, to ensure that the last entry is included in the file  even  if  the  system
		      crashes.

		 timestamp | mstimestamp
		      Attaches	a  date  and time-of-day timestamp to all messages written by vxconfigd to the console.  If mstimestamp is used, a
		      millisecond value is also displayed, allowing detailed timing of vxconfigd's operation.

		 tracefile=file
		      Logs all possible tracing information to the specified file.

EXIT CODES

       If errors are encountered, vxconfigd writes diagnostic messages to the standard error output.  vxconfigd exits if it encounters some  seri-
       ous  errors.   If  an error is encountered when importing the boot disk group during a normal startup, vxconfigd enters disabled mode.  See
       the Veritas Volume Manager Troubleshooting Guide for a list of error messages and how to respond to them.

       Defined exit codes for vxconfigd are:

	    0	 The requested startup mode completed successfully.  This is returned if -f is not used  to  startup  vxconfigd  as  a	foreground
		 process.  If vxconfigd is started as a foreground process, it exits with a zero status if vxdctl stop is used to exit vxconfigd.

	    1	 The command line usage is incorrect.

	    2	 Enabled-mode  operation  was  requested, but an error caused vxconfigd to enter disabled mode instead.  This is also returned for
		 boot-mode operation if startup failed.  However, with boot-mode operation, the background vxconfigd process exits as well.

	    3	 The -k option was specified, but the existing vxconfigd could not be killed.

	    4	 A system error was encountered that vxconfigd cannot recover from.  The specific operation that failed is printed on the standard
		 error output.

	    5	 The background vxconfigd process was killed by a signal before startup completed.  The specific signal is printed on the standard
		 error output.

	    6	 A serious inconsistency was found in the kernel, preventing sane operation.  This can also happen  because  of  version  mismatch
		 between the kernel and vxconfigd.

	    7	 The  -r reset	option	was specified, but the Veritas Volume Manager kernel cannot be reset.  Usually this means that a volume is
		 open or mounted.

	    8	 An interprocess communications failure (usually a STREAMS failure).  Has made it impossible for vxconfigd to take  requests  from
		 other utilities.

	    9	 Volumes  that must be started early by vxconfigd could not be started.  The reasons, and possible recovery solutions, are printed
		 to the standard error output.

FILES

       /dev/vx/dsk		     Directory containing block device nodes for volumes.

       /dev/vx/rdsk		     Directory containing raw device nodes for volumes.

       /etc/vx/darecs		     File containing a list of disks to be scanned and configured.

       /etc/vx/tempdb		     Directory containing miscellaneous temporary files.  Files in this directory are recreated after reboot.

       /etc/vx/volboot		     File containing miscellaneous boot information.  See vxdctl(1M) for more information on this file.

       /var/adm/vxconfigd.log	     Default log file.

NOTES

       By default, vxconfigd is started at boot time with the -x syslog option.  This redirects vxconfigd console messages to  syslog().   If  you
       want  to retain this behavior when restarting vxconfigd from the command line, include the -x syslog argument, as restarting vxconfigd does
       not preserve the option settings with which it was previously running.  Similarly, any  Veritas	Volume	Manager  operations  that  require
       vxconfigd to be restarted may not retain the behavior that was previously specified by option settings.

SEE ALSO

       syslogd(1M),  vxdctl(1M),  vxdiskadm(1M),  vxintro(1M),	vxmend(1M),  vxnotify(1M),  vxrelocd(1M),  vxsd(1M),  vxsparecheck(1M), vxvol(1M),
       fsync(2), syslog(3C),

       Veritas Volume Manager Troubleshooting Guide

VxVM 5.0.31.1							    24 Mar 2008 						     vxconfigd(1M)