Alternatively, a
.B device
-line can contain the word
+line can contain either of both of the words
+.B containers
+and
.BR partitions .
-This will cause
+The word
+.B containers
+will cause
+.I mdadm
+to look for assembled CONTAINER arrays and included them as a source
+for assembling further arrays.
+.PP
+The word
+.I partitions
+will cause
.I mdadm
to read
.I /proc/partitions
.I /dev
to find the name that matches the numbers.
-If no DEVICE line is present, then "DEVICE partitions" is assumed.
+If no DEVICE line is present, then "DEVICE partitions containers" is assumed.
For example:
.IP
.TP
.B ARRAY
The ARRAY lines identify actual arrays. The second word on the line
-should be the name of the device where the array is normally
+may be the name of the device where the array is normally
assembled, such as
.BR /dev/md1 .
+If no device name is given,
+.I mdadm
+will use various heuristic to determine an appropriate name.
+.PP
Subsequent words identify the array, or identify the array as a member
of a group. If multiple identities are given,
then a component device must match ALL identities to be considered a
recognised for comparability with the output of
.BR "mdadm \-Es" .
+.TP
+.B container=
+Specify that this array is a member array of some container. The
+value given can be either a path name in /dev, or a UUID of the
+container array.
+
+.IP
+.B member=
+Specify that this array is a member array of some container. Each
+type of container has some way to enumerate member arrays, often a
+simple sequence number. The value identifies which member of a
+container the array is. It will usually accompany a 'container=' word.
.RE
.TP
.br
DEVICE /dev/hda1 /dev/hdb1
-# /dev/md0 is known by its UID.
+# /dev/md0 is known by its UUID.
.br
ARRAY /dev/md0 UUID=3aaa0122:29827cfa:5331ad66:ca767371
.br