ChangeLog

   1
   2 Changes Prior to 0.6 release
   3
   4         -   Remove the limit on the number of device names that can be
   5         given on the command line.
   6     -   Fix bug in --assemble --force where it would only update a
   7         single superblock.
   8     -   Fix bogus printing of big numbers not being block devices
   9         when given names of devices that don't exist.
  10     -   When --assemble --force, consider superblocks with an event
  11         count that is 1 behind as out-of-date.  Normally they are
  12         considered up-to-date (as the kernel assumes this too).
  13     -   When marking drives as not-failed in the superblock,
  14         we also mark them as ACTIVE and SYNC.
  15     -   Don't start arrays for which not all drives are available unless:
  16          --scan   which implies that all drives were found automatically
  17          --run    which means the user knows what they want
  18          --force  which means that we are fixing something broken
  19     -   Make sure all device numbers passed as 3rd arg of ioctl
  20         are passed as unsigned lock, so that it works on SPARC
  21     -   If HOT_ADD_DISK failes for -a, then only try ADD_NEW_DISK
  22         if we cannot read from the array, i.e. if the array is
  23         not started yet.
  24     -   man page update
  25     -   Taught Examine to handle --scan. It examines all devices listed
  26         on DEVICE lines in the config file.
  27     -   Added --brief (-b) flag for Examine and Detail to print out
  28         and mdctl.conf compatible description with uuid=, level=,
  29         disks= and  - for Examine - devices=
  30         --examine --brief collects all devices the make the one array and
  31         list them as one entry.
  32     -   Added level= and disks= options to ARRAY lines in config files
  33         so --brief output could be used as-is.
  34     -   Make parity style ({left,right}-{,a}symmetric) consistantly use -,
  35         never _.
  36     -   Add "Array Size" to --detail output
  37     -   Change "Size" to "Device Size" and exclude from Detail of arrays
  38         that do not have a consistent device size.
  39     -   Add Human readable MiB or GiB value on size lines of Detail and Examine
  40     -   --assemble --scan  doesn't complain about active drives
  41     -   require number of spares given in -x to be listed.
  42     -   Made --build actually work.
  43 Changes Prior to 0.5 release
  44
  45   --assemble:
  46      spare drives are handled properly.
  47
  48      --force can be used to recover from 2-drive failures on RAID5
  49      If you belive that /dev/hda1 /dev/hdb1 /dev/hdc1 /dev/hdd1 should
  50      make a raid5 array, but it has experienced multiple failures and
  51      wont start, then
  52
  53        mdctl --assemble --force /dev/md0 /dev/hd[abcd]1
  54
  55      Should update the superblock on the newest failed drive and
  56      restart the array in degraded mode.  You should then remove the
  57      remaining failed drive and re-add it (if you are happy that it
  58      might work).
  59
  60      Ofcourse whenever you have a 2-drive failure, you have a risk
  61      of corruption in data that hasn't be changed for a long time.  So
  62      this doesn't give you your array back all nice and happy, but it
  63      does allow you to recover data that might not be corrupt.
  64
  65      More flexibility in identifying a RAID array in the mdctl.conf
  66      e.g.
  67          array /dev/md4  super-minor=4
  68
  69       assembles /dev/md4 from all devices found that have a raid
  70       superblock that says the minor number of the array is 4.
  71       If the blocks with the right minor number do not all have the
  72       same UUID, an error is flags and no assembly happens.
  73
  74         array /dev/md3  devices=/dev/hd[abc]2
  75
  76       Assembles /dev/md3 drom /dev/hda2 /dev/hdb2 and/dev/hdc2.  All
  77       devices must exist and have raid superblock with the same uuid.
  78
  79       If two identity specifiers are used, only devices that match all
  80       of them are considered, so
  81
  82         array /dev/md2 devices=/dev/hd?2 super-minor=2
  83
  84       will assemble /dev/md2 using all /dev/hd?2 devices which have a
  85       raid superblock with minor number 2.
  86
  87   --create:
  88       When listing devices for --create, the word "missing" can be
  89       used to indicate that the respective slot does not have a
  90       working drive currently.  This is similar to the "failed-disk"
  91       directive in mkraid/raidtab.
  92       e.g.
  93          mdctl --create --level=5 -raid-disks=4 --spare-disks=2
  94                  /dev/md0 /dev/sda /dev/sdb missing /dev/sdc /dev/sdd  /dev/sde
  95
  96       will create a raid5 array with the third slot empty, and two
  97       spares.
  98
  99       By default, raid5 arrays are created with the last slot empty
 100       and drive listed for the last slot added as a spare.  If a
 101       "missing" slot is given, or if --force is given, then --create
 102       does exactly what you ask and doesn't try to be clever.
 103
 104
 105    --follow / --monitor:
 106
 107       This is a new mode.  I couldn't stop my self from picking a name
 108       starting with F (as current modes start A,B,C,D,E) but I
 109       relented and provided an alternate name that is somewhat more
 110       meaningful.
 111
 112       In this mode, mdctl does not exit, but runs continuously and
 113       periodically polls all the md devices to see if they have had
 114       any interested state change.
 115       The changes that it currently notices are:
 116            Fail      -  an active disc fails
 117            FailSpare -  a spare, that was presumably being build, fails
 118            ActiveSpare - a spare becomes active, presumably after a rebuild.
 119
 120       Options:
 121          --mail mailaddress  - send Email on any Fail* event
 122          --program program   - run the program on any event.
 123                    Args are: eventname mddevice subdevice(if-known)
 124          --delay  seconds    - change from the default 60second pause
 125                                between polls.
 126
 127       I plan to add functionality to this mode to allow sharing of
 128       spare drives. If an array is marks "spare-group=fred", and it
 129       has a failed drive and no spares, and if some other array is
 130       also "spare-group=fred" and it has no failed drives, but does
 131       have a spare drive that is big enough, the spare will be moved
 132       to the first array.
 133
 134   I also have the idea of adding a --grow mode which will re-organise
 135   the data on an N disk raid0/4/5 array to be on an N+M disk array.
 136   I have no concrete plans for this though.
 137
 138   I got rid of the "v" in the archive file name, and include the
 139   version number in the directory created by the archive.
 140
 141   There is now a man page and mdctl.spec (for rpm) thanks to
 142   Danilo Godec <danci@agenda.si>.
 143
 144   Ofcourse, the man page is now out of date and despite being based on
 145   the --help output, is not wholy correct.  After I get --follow
 146   working properly, I plan to revise the various documentation and/or
 147   the code to make sure the two match.
 148