DMSETUP(8)

NAME
dmsetup - low level logical volume management

SYNOPSIS
dmsetup create device_name [-u uuid] [--notable] [table_file]
dmsetup remove device_name
dmsetup remove_all
dmsetup suspend device_name
dmsetup resume device_name
dmsetup load device_name [table_file]
dmsetup clear device_name
dmsetup reload device_name [table_file]
dmsetup rename device_name new_name
dmsetup ls
dmsetup info [device_name]
dmsetup deps [device_name]
dmsetup status [device_name]
dmsetup table [device_name]
dmsetup wait device_name [event_nr]
dmsetup mknodes [device_name]
dmsetup targets
dmsetup version

DESCRIPTION
dmsetup manages logical devices that use the device-mapper driver. Devices are created by loading a table that specifies a target for each sector (512 bytes) in the logical device. The first argument to dmsetup is a command. The second argument is the logical device name or uuid.

OPTIONS

-j|--major major
    Specify the major number to use on creation.

-j|--minor minor
    Specify the minor number to use on creation.

-r|--readonly
    Set the table being loaded read-only.

-v|--verbose
    Produce additional output.

--version
    Display the library and kernel driver version.

COMMANDS

create
    device_name [-u uuid] [--notable] [table_file]
    Creates a device with the given name. If table_file is supplied, the table is loaded and made live. Otherwise a table is read from standard input unless --notable is used. The optional uuid can be used in place of device_name in subsequent dmsetup commands. If successful a device will appear as /dev/device-mapper/<device-name>. See below for information on the table format.

deps
    [device_name]
    Outputs a list of (major, minor) pairs for devices referenced by the live table for the specified device.

info
    [device_name]
    Outputs some brief information about the device in the form:
        State: SUSPENDED|ACTIVE, READ-ONLY
        Tables present: LIVE and/or INACTIVE
        Open reference count
        Last event sequence number (used by wait)
        Major and minor device number
        Number of targets in the live table
        UUID

ls
    List device names.

load|reload
    device_name [table_file]
    Loads table_file into the inactive table slot for device_name. If table_file is not supplied, reads a table from standard input.

remove
    device_name
    Removes a device. It will no longer be visible to dmsetup and will be deleted when its open_count is zero.

remove_all
    Attempts to remove all device definitions i.e. reset the driver. Use with care!

rename
    device_name new_name
    Renames a device.

resume
    device_name
    Un-suspends a device. If an inactive table has been loaded, it becomes live. Postponed I/O then gets re-queued for processing.

status
    [device_name]
    Outputs status information for each of the device's targets.

suspend
    device_name
    Suspends a device. Any I/O that has already been mapped by the device but has not yet completed will be flushed. Any further I/O to that device will be postponed for as long as the device is suspended.

table
    [device_name]
    Outputs the current table for the device in a format that can be fed back in using the create or load commands.

targets
    Displays the names and versions of the currently-loaded targets.

version
    Outputs version information.

wait
    device_name [event_nr]
    Sleeps until the event counter for device_name exceeds event_nr. Use -v to see the event number returned. To wait until the next event is triggered, use info to find the last event number.

TABLE FORMAT
Each line of the table specifies a single target and is of the form:
    logical_start_sector num_sectors target_type target_args
There are currently three simple target types available together with more complex optional ones that implement snapshots and mirrors.

linear
    destination_device start_sector
    The traditional linear mapping.

striped
    num_stripes chunk_size [destination start_sector]+
    Creates a striped area.
    e.g. striped 2 32 /dev/hda1 0 /dev/hdb1 0 will map the first chunk (16k) as follows:
        LV chunk 1 -> hda1, chunk 1
        LV chunk 2 -> hdb1, chunk 1
        LV chunk 3 -> hda1, chunk 2
        LV chunk 4 -> hdb1, chunk 2
        etc.

error
    Errors any I/O that goes to this area. Useful for testing or for creating devices with holes in them.

EXAMPLES
# A table to join two disks together
0 1028160 linear /dev/hda 0
1028160 3903762 linear /dev/hdb 0 # A table to stripe across the two disks,
# and add the spare space from
# hdb to the back of the volume 0 2056320 striped 2 32 /dev/hda 0 /dev/hdb 0
2056320 2875602 linear /dev/hdb 1028160

AUTHORS
Original version: Joe Thornber (thornber@sistina.com)

SEE ALSO
Device-mapper resource page: http://sources.redhat.com/dm/