Creating a Volume Configuration File with the metassist Command

By running the metassist command with the -d argument, you can generate an XML-based volume configuration file that specifies the volumes and their components in detail, including all options and relevant information about the volumes. Reviewing this file helps you understand the configuration that the metassist command recommends. Making careful changes to this file can also allow you to fine-tune the configuration, then to use the volume configuration file as input to the metassist command to actually create volumes.

To Create a Volume Configuration File with the metassist Command

1. Make sure that you have the necessary prerequisites for using top down volume creation (the metassist command).

2. Identify available storage on which to create the volume.

3. Use the following form of the metassist command to create a stripe and specify that the volume should not actually be created, but that a volume configuration file describing the proposed volumes should be sent to standard output:

   metassist create -s diskset-name -S size [-d]
   

   • create is the subcommand to create volumes.

   • -s diskset-name specifies the name of the disk set to use for the volumes.

   • -S size specifies the size of the volume to create in KB, MB, GB, or TB, for kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes, respectively.

   • -d specifies that the volume should not actually be created. Instead, an XML-based volume configuration file that can eventually be used to create the specified configuration will be sent to standard output.

   See the following examples and the metassist(1M) man page for more information.

   Note that the XML-based volume configuration file required by the -d argument will be sent to standard output, while the rest of the output from the metassist command goes to standard error, so you can redirect the output streams as you choose.

Example—Creating a Volume Configuration File with the metassist Command

# metassist create -s myset -f -r 2 -S 10mb -d 
 

This example shows how to use the metassist command to create a two-way mirror, 10Mb in size, with a hot spare to provide additional fault tolerance (the -f option specifies fault tolerance). The final argument (-d) specifies that the volume should not actually be created, but rather that a volume configuration file that could eventually be used to create the specified configuration should be sent to standard output.

Example—Saving a Volume Configuration File from the metassist Command

# metassist create -s myset -f -r 2 -S 10mb -d > /tmp/metassist-volume-config.xml
 

This example shows how to use the metassist command to create a two-way mirror, 10Mb in size, with a hot spare to provide additional fault tolerance (the -f option specifies fault tolerance). The final argument (-d) specifies that the volume should not actually be created, but rather that a volume configuration file that could eventually be used to create the specified configuration should be sent to standard output. The end of the command redirects standard output to create the /tmp/metassist-volume-config.xml shell script that can later be used to create the specified volume.