ChangeLog

   1 Changes Prior to 1.10.0 release
   2     -   Fix bug with --config=partitions
   3     -   Open sub-devices with O_EXCL to detect if already in use
   4
   5 Changes Prior to 1.9.0 release
   6     -   Fix rpm build problem (stray %)
   7     -   Minor manpage updates
   8     -   Change "dirty" status to "active" as it was confusing people.
   9     -   --assemble --auto recognises 'standard' name and insists on using
  10         the appropriate major/minor number for them.
  11     -   Remove underscore from partition names, so partitions of
  12         "foo" are "foo1", "foo2" etc (unchanged) and partitions of
  13         "f00" are "f00p1", "f00p2" etc rather than "f00_p1"...
  14     -   Use "major", "minor", "makedev" macros instead of
  15         "MAJOR", "MINOR", "MKDEV" so that large device numbers work
  16         on 2.6 (providing you have glibc 2.3.3 or later).
  17     -   Add some missing closes of open file descriptors.
  18     -   Reread /proc/partition for every array assembled when using
  19         it to find devices, rather than only once.
  20     -   Make "mdadm -Ss" stop stacked devices properly, by reversing the
  21         order in which arrays are stopped.
  22     -   Improve some error messages.
  23     -   Allow device name to appear before first option, so e.g.
  24         mdadm /dev/md0 -A /dev/sd[ab]
  25         works.
  26     -   Assume '-Q' if just a device is given, rather than being silent.
  27
  28 Changes Prior to 1.8.0 release
  29     -   Makefile cleanup from  Luca Berra <bluca@comedia.it>
  30     -   --pid-file (-i) to set a pid file to use with --monitor --daemonise
  31     -   Fix typo in mdadm man page
  32     -   Fix coredump when "-s" used with no config file present.
  33     -   Support new "faulty" personality which can inject synthetic
  34         faults. (Not in kernel.org yet at 1Nov2004)
  35     -   Support raid0/linear on devices > 2 Terabytes
  36     -   Make sure raid6 resyncs when created with one missing device
  37
  38 Changes Prior to 1.7.0 release
  39     -   Support "--grow --add" to add a device to a linear array, if the
  40         kernel supports it.  Not documented yet.
  41     -   Restore support for uclibc which was broken recently.
  42     -   Several improvements to the output of --detail, including
  43         reporting "resyncing" or "recovering" in the state.
  44     -   Close filedescriptor at end of --detail (exit would have closed it
  45         anyway, so this isn't abig deal).
  46     -   Report "Sync checkpoint" in --examine output if appropriate.
  47     -   Add --update=resync for --assemble mode to for a resync when the
  48         array is assembled.
  49     -   Add support for "raid10", which is under development in 2.6.
  50         Not documented yet.
  51     -   --monitor now reads spare-group and spares info from config file
  52         even when names of arrays to scan are given on the command line
  53
  54 Changes Prior to 1.6.0 release
  55     -   Device name given in -Eb is determined by examining /dev rather
  56         than assuming /dev/md%d
  57     -   Fix bug in --monitor where an array could be held open an so
  58         could not be stopped without killing mdadm.
  59     -   Add --grow mode.  Currently only --size and --raid-disks can be
  60         changed. Both require kernel support which, at the time of
  61         writing, is not in a release kernel yet.
  62     -   Don't print out "errors" or "no-errors" in -D and -E, as the bit
  63         is never set or used.
  64     -   Use md event notification in 2.6.??? to make --monitor mode
  65         respond instantly to events.
  66     -   Add --auto= option and auto= configfile entry to tell mdadm to
  67         create device files as needed.  This is particularly useful
  68         with partitioned arrays where the major device number can change.
  69     -   When generating --brief listing, if the standard name doesn't
  70         exist, search /dev for one rather than using a temp name.
  71     -   Allow --build to build raid1 and multipath arrays.
  72     -   Add "--assume-clean" for Create and Build, particularly for raid1
  73         Note: this is dangerous. Only use it if you are certain.
  74     -   Fix bug so that Rebuild status monitoring works again.
  75     -   Add "degraded" and "recovering" options to the "Status:"
  76         entry for --detail
  77
  78 Changes Prior to 1.5.0 release
  79     -   new commands "mdassemble" which is a stripped-down equivalent of
  80         "mdadm -As", that can be compiled with dietlibc.
  81         Thanks to Luca Berra <bluca@comedia.it>.
  82         It can be using in an initramfs or initrd.
  83     -   Fix compiling error with BLKGETSIZE64 and some signed/unsigned
  84         comparison warnings.
  85     -   Add Rebuild Status (% complete) to --detail output.
  86     -   Support "--monitor --test" which will generate a test alert
  87         for each array once, to test notification paths.
  88     -   Generate RebuildFinished event when rebuild finishes.
  89     -   Support for raid6 as found in 2.6.2 - thanks to
  90         H. Peter Anvin  <hpa@zytor.com>
  91     -   Support partitioned md arrays with a different major number and
  92         naming scheme (md_dX in /proc/mdstat, /dev/md/dXpY in /dev).
  93
  94 Changes Prior to 1.4.0 release
  95     -   Document fact that creating a raid5 array really creates a
  96         degraded array with a spare.
  97     -   Add "spares=" tag to config file and generate it wit --detail and
  98         --examine
  99     -   Add "SparesMissing" event when --monitor first sees an array and
 100         it doesn't have the enough spare devices.
 101     -   Add --update=summaries for --assemble to update summary
 102         information in superblock, and correct other inconsistancies in
 103         the superblock.
 104     -   Add --test option to --detail to set a meaningful exit status.
 105
 106 Changes Prior to 1.3.0 release
 107     -   Make 'size' and unsigned long in Create to allow creation of
 108         larger arrays.
 109     -   Explicitly flag spare devices as 'spare' in --detail and --examine
 110         output.  Previously they simply had no flags lists.
 111     -   Make MailCmd (for monitor) configurable in Makefile, and default
 112         to "/usr/sbin/sendmail -t". Also split out the warning related
 113         flags into CWFLAGS for easier build configurability.
 114     -   Minor bugfix in Manage code.
 115     -   --monitor now notices and reports degraded arrays at startup using
 116         "DegradedArray" event, and also has a --oneshot option to only
 117         report DegradedArrays, and then exit.
 118     -   Small man-page clarification w.r.t. raid levels and raid4 in
 119         particular.
 120     -   Disallow creation of arrays with only one device as this is
 121         probably a mistake.  --force will override this check.
 122     -   Correct some misleading documentation in the "mdadm --create --help"
 123         message.
 124     -   Ignore chunksize if raid1 or multipath.
 125     -   Explicit statement in man page that raid-disks cannot be changed
 126         after array is created.
 127     -   Improve message when attempting to start an array with
 128         insufficient devices.  Instead of required the array to be full,
 129         we only require it has as many active devices as last time.
 130
 131 Changes Prior to 1.2.0 release
 132     -   Fix bug where --daemonise required an argument.
 133     -   In --assemble --verbose, print appropriate message if device is
 134         not in devices= list
 135     -   Updated mdadm.conf.5 to reflect fact that device= takes wildcards
 136     -   Typos:  componenet -> component
 137     -   Reduce size of "--help" message put excess into "--help-options"
 138     -   Fix bug introduced when MD_SB_DISKS dependancy removed, and which
 139         caused spares not be assembled properly.
 140     -   Print appropriate message if --monitor --scan decides not to
 141         monitor anything.
 142 Changes Prior to 1.1.0 release
 143     -   add --deamonise flag for --monitor - forks and prints pid to stdout
 144     -   Fix bug so we REALLY clear dirty flag with -Af
 145     -   -Db now prints a 'devices=' word for each array.
 146     -   "mdadm -A /dev/md0" will get info from configfile, even without scan
 147     -   When assembling multipath arrays, ignore devices which are flagged
 148         as having errors.
 149     -   take --super-minor=dev  to mean "use the minor number of the mddev
 150         being assembled.
 151     -   take --config=none to mean "completely ignore config file"
 152     -   Make --monitor require --scan or a device list.
 153 Changes Prior to 1.0.9 release
 154     -   Documentation updates including kernel parameters documented
 155         in md.4
 156     -   --assemble --force for raid4/5 will mark clean, needed for 2.5
 157     -   --detail prints out the events counter as well
 158     -   flush device before reading superblock to be sure to get
 159         current data
 160     -   added mdadm.static target to makefile for static linking
 161     -   --monitor was ignoring  /dev/md0 due to off-by-one error
 162     -   Fix assorted typos
 163     -   Fix printing of Gibibytes - calc was wrong.
 164     -   Fix printing of Array Size in --detail when very big.
 165     -   --monitor no longer tries to work for raid0 or linear as these
 166         have nothing to be monitored.
 167     -   The word 'partitions' on a DEVICE line will cause all partitions
 168         listed in /proc/partitions to be considered
 169     -   If the config file is called 'partitions' then it will be treated
 170         as though it contained exactly 'device partitions' so e.g.
 171           mdadm -Ebsc partitions
 172         will find all raid partitions easily.
 173     -   successfully assemble multipath devices by ignoring raid_disk
 174         value from superblock (it is always the same).
 175     -   --assemble not tied to MD_SB_DISKS limit quite so much
 176     -   Support compiling with tcc
 177     -   Support compiling with uclibc - just skip scan of /dev
 178     -   Add --update= option for Assemble mode.  Either sparc2.2
 179         or super-minor updates are possible.  See mdadm.8
 180
 181 Changes Prior to 1.0.1 release
 182     -   Round off MB/GiB etc values instead of round down.
 183     -   Add --sparc2.2 option to examine to shift superblock around
 184         and --sparc2.2update to rewrite the superblock
 185     -   Fix assorted typos in online help
 186
 187 Changes Prior to 1.0.0 release
 188     -   Allow --config with Misc mode (for --examine --scan)
 189     -   Add $(CXFLAGS) to end of CFLAGS in makefile
 190     -   When making an N disk raid5 array, the Nth drive
 191         is moved to the end of the array as a spare rather than
 192         being shifted up one place.  This means that when the
 193         kernel builds onto the last spare and inserts it,
 194         the devices will be in the expected order.
 195     -   Man page improvements
 196 Changes Prior to 0.8.2 release
 197     -   Correct spelling of persist[ae]nce/persist[ae]nt.
 198     -   Change "disk" to "device" in options and config file
 199     -   convert array size to "long long" *before* shift-left in -D and -Q
 200
 201 Changes Prior to 0.8.1 release
 202     -   Add "INSTALL" file.
 203     -   Fix some "i" variables that were not being set properly
 204     -   Initialise minsize and maxsize so that compilers don't complain.
 205     -   Tidy up Makefile and mdadm.spec installations
 206     -   Add "multipath" to documentation of valid levels
 207
 208 Changes Prior to 0.8 release
 209     -   Fix another bug in Assemble.c due to confusing 'i' with 'j'
 210     -   Minimal, untested, support for multipath
 211     -   re-write of argument parsing to have more coherent modes,
 212     -   add --query,-Q option
 213     -   Update mdadm.8 to reflect arg processing change and --query
 214     -   Change "long" to "unsigned long" for device sizes
 215     -   Handle "mailaddr" and "program" lines in config file for follow/scan mode.
 216     -   --follow --scan will exit if no program or mail found
 217     -   Add MAILADDR and PROGRAM to mdadm.conf-example
 218     -   Spell check man pages
 219     -   consistently use "component devices" instead of "subdevices"
 220     -   Make -Wall -Werror really work and fix lots of errors.
 221     -   --detail and --stop can have --scan which chooses devices from /proc/mdstat
 222     -   --monitor detects 20% changes in resync, failed spares,
 223         disappearing arrays,
 224     -   --monitor --scan will automatically add any devices found in /proc/mdstat
 225     -   --monitor will move spares between arrays with same spare-group if necessary
 226     -   Documentation for Monitor Mode
 227     -   --query notes if the array containing the given device is active or not
 228     -   Finished md.4 man page.
 229
 230 Changes Prior to 0.7.2 release
 231     -   mdadm.spec updates and ifdef BLKGETSIZE64 from  Luca Berra -- bluca@comedia.it
 232     -   more mdadm.spec updates from  Gregory Leblanc <gleblanc@linuxweasel.com>
 233     -   make directory for mdadm.conf configurable in Makefile
 234     -   Finished mdadm.conf.5.  Removed details of conf file from
 235         mdadm.8 leaving a reference to mdadm.conf.5.
 236     -   Fix bug in Assemble.c, thanks to Junaid Rizvi <domdev@sat.net.pk>
 237     -   Get --assemble --force to make sure old major/minor numbers are
 238         consistant, as md.c worries about this :-(
 239
 240
 241 Changes Prior to 0.7.1 release
 242     -   update mdadm.spec
 243     -   use BLKGETSIZE64 if available for array size
 244     -   give human readable as GiB/MiB and GB and MB, with 2 decimal point precision
 245     -   Only warn about size variation for raid1/4/5.
 246     -   Started md.4 man page
 247     -   Started mdadm.conf.5 man page
 248
 249 Changes Prior to 0.7 release
 250
 251     -   Fix makefile to install binary at /sbin and not /sbin/sbin
 252         Also install man page.
 253     -   Add --zero-superblock based on --destroywithextremeprejudice
 254         from Dale Stephenson <steph@snapserver.com>
 255     -   change name to mdadm.  It is palandromic, and much nicer to pronouce.
 256
 257 Changes Prior to 0.6 release
 258
 259     -   Remove the limit on the number of device names that can be
 260         given on the command line.
 261     -   Fix bug in --assemble --force where it would only update a
 262         single superblock.
 263     -   Fix bogus printing of big numbers not being block devices
 264         when given names of devices that don't exist.
 265     -   When --assemble --force, consider superblocks with an event
 266         count that is 1 behind as out-of-date.  Normally they are
 267         considered up-to-date (as the kernel assumes this too).
 268     -   When marking drives as not-failed in the superblock,
 269         we also mark them as ACTIVE and SYNC.
 270     -   Don't start arrays for which not all drives are available unless:
 271          --scan   which implies that all drives were found automatically
 272          --run    which means the user knows what they want
 273          --force  which means that we are fixing something broken
 274     -   Make sure all device numbers passed as 3rd arg of ioctl
 275         are passed as unsigned lock, so that it works on SPARC
 276     -   If HOT_ADD_DISK failes for -a, then only try ADD_NEW_DISK
 277         if we cannot read from the array, i.e. if the array is
 278         not started yet.
 279     -   man page update
 280     -   Taught Examine to handle --scan. It examines all devices listed
 281         on DEVICE lines in the config file.
 282     -   Added --brief (-b) flag for Examine and Detail to print out
 283         and mdctl.conf compatible description with uuid=, level=,
 284         disks= and  - for Examine - devices=
 285         --examine --brief collects all devices the make the one array and
 286         list them as one entry.
 287     -   Added level= and disks= options to ARRAY lines in config files
 288         so --brief output could be used as-is.
 289     -   Make parity style ({left,right}-{,a}symmetric) consistantly use -,
 290         never _.
 291     -   Add "Array Size" to --detail output
 292     -   Change "Size" to "Device Size" and exclude from Detail of arrays
 293         that do not have a consistent device size.
 294     -   Add Human readable MiB or GiB value on size lines of Detail and Examine
 295     -   --assemble --scan  doesn't complain about active drives
 296     -   require number of spares given in -x to be listed.
 297     -   Made --build actually work.
 298 Changes Prior to 0.5 release
 299
 300   --assemble:
 301      spare drives are handled properly.
 302
 303      --force can be used to recover from 2-drive failures on RAID5
 304      If you belive that /dev/hda1 /dev/hdb1 /dev/hdc1 /dev/hdd1 should
 305      make a raid5 array, but it has experienced multiple failures and
 306      wont start, then
 307
 308        mdctl --assemble --force /dev/md0 /dev/hd[abcd]1
 309
 310      Should update the superblock on the newest failed drive and
 311      restart the array in degraded mode.  You should then remove the
 312      remaining failed drive and re-add it (if you are happy that it
 313      might work).
 314
 315      Ofcourse whenever you have a 2-drive failure, you have a risk
 316      of corruption in data that hasn't be changed for a long time.  So
 317      this doesn't give you your array back all nice and happy, but it
 318      does allow you to recover data that might not be corrupt.
 319
 320      More flexibility in identifying a RAID array in the mdctl.conf
 321      e.g.
 322          array /dev/md4  super-minor=4
 323
 324       assembles /dev/md4 from all devices found that have a raid
 325       superblock that says the minor number of the array is 4.
 326       If the blocks with the right minor number do not all have the
 327       same UUID, an error is flags and no assembly happens.
 328
 329         array /dev/md3  devices=/dev/hd[abc]2
 330
 331       Assembles /dev/md3 drom /dev/hda2 /dev/hdb2 and/dev/hdc2.  All
 332       devices must exist and have raid superblock with the same uuid.
 333
 334       If two identity specifiers are used, only devices that match all
 335       of them are considered, so
 336
 337         array /dev/md2 devices=/dev/hd?2 super-minor=2
 338
 339       will assemble /dev/md2 using all /dev/hd?2 devices which have a
 340       raid superblock with minor number 2.
 341
 342   --create:
 343       When listing devices for --create, the word "missing" can be
 344       used to indicate that the respective slot does not have a
 345       working drive currently.  This is similar to the "failed-disk"
 346       directive in mkraid/raidtab.
 347       e.g.
 348          mdctl --create --level=5 -raid-disks=4 --spare-disks=2
 349                  /dev/md0 /dev/sda /dev/sdb missing /dev/sdc /dev/sdd  /dev/sde
 350
 351       will create a raid5 array with the third slot empty, and two
 352       spares.
 353
 354       By default, raid5 arrays are created with the last slot empty
 355       and drive listed for the last slot added as a spare.  If a
 356       "missing" slot is given, or if --force is given, then --create
 357       does exactly what you ask and doesn't try to be clever.
 358
 359
 360    --follow / --monitor:
 361
 362       This is a new mode.  I couldn't stop my self from picking a name
 363       starting with F (as current modes start A,B,C,D,E) but I
 364       relented and provided an alternate name that is somewhat more
 365       meaningful.
 366
 367       In this mode, mdctl does not exit, but runs continuously and
 368       periodically polls all the md devices to see if they have had
 369       any interested state change.
 370       The changes that it currently notices are:
 371            Fail      -  an active disc fails
 372            FailSpare -  a spare, that was presumably being build, fails
 373            ActiveSpare - a spare becomes active, presumably after a rebuild.
 374
 375       Options:
 376          --mail mailaddress  - send Email on any Fail* event
 377          --program program   - run the program on any event.
 378                    Args are: eventname mddevice subdevice(if-known)
 379          --delay  seconds    - change from the default 60second pause
 380                                between polls.
 381
 382       I plan to add functionality to this mode to allow sharing of
 383       spare drives. If an array is marks "spare-group=fred", and it
 384       has a failed drive and no spares, and if some other array is
 385       also "spare-group=fred" and it has no failed drives, but does
 386       have a spare drive that is big enough, the spare will be moved
 387       to the first array.
 388
 389   I also have the idea of adding a --grow mode which will re-organise
 390   the data on an N disk raid0/4/5 array to be on an N+M disk array.
 391   I have no concrete plans for this though.
 392
 393   I got rid of the "v" in the archive file name, and include the
 394   version number in the directory created by the archive.
 395
 396   There is now a man page and mdctl.spec (for rpm) thanks to
 397   Danilo Godec <danci@agenda.si>.
 398
 399   Ofcourse, the man page is now out of date and despite being based on
 400   the --help output, is not wholy correct.  After I get --follow
 401   working properly, I plan to revise the various documentation and/or
 402   the code to make sure the two match.