fsx(8) System Manager's Manual fsx(8)
Name
fsx - file system exerciser
Syntax
/usr/field/fsx [ -h ] [ -ofile ] [ -tn ] [ -fpath ] [ -pm ]
Description
The exerciser exercises a file system by spawning up to 250 (the default is 20) processes that create, open, write, close, open, read, val-
idate, close, and unlink a test file. These test files are created in (the default) unless the -fpath option is used. The exerciser will
run until or kill -15 pid is sent to the process.
A logfile is made in for you to examine and then remove. If there are errors in the logfile, make sure you check the file, because that is
where the driver and kernel error messages are saved.
Options
The options are:
-h Print the help messages for the command.
-ofile Save the output diagnostics in file.
-tn Run time in minutes (n). The default is to run until the process receives a or a kill -15 pid.
-pm Number (m) of processes to spawn. The maximum is 250; the default is 20.
-fpath Path name of directory on file system you wish to test. For example, or The default is
Examples
The following example runs 10 processes on until the process receives a or kill -15 pid:
% /usr/field/fsx -p10 -f/mnt
The following example runs 20 processes on for 120 minutes in the background:
% /usr/field/fsx -t120 &
Restrictions
If there is a need to run a system exerciser over an NFS link or on a diskless system there are some restrictions. For exercisers that
need to write into a file system, such as the target file system must be writable by root. Also the directory, in which any of the exer-
cisers are executed, must be writable by root because temporary files are written into the current directory. These latter restrictions
are sometimes difficult to overcome because often NFS file systems are mounted in a way that prevents root from writing into them. Some of
the restrictions may be overcome by copying the exerciser to another directory and then executing it. Avoid using the exerciser over an
NFS or diskless file system.
See Also
Guide to System Exercisers
fsx(8)