Creates or destroys a virtual client.
>>-stfsclient-- -create--+-------------+------------------------> '-client_name-' >--+-server_name-------+--+---------+---------------------------> '-server_IP_address-' '-:--port-' >---- -kmname--kernel_ext_name---- -converter--8859-1-----------> >--+---------+------------------------------------------------->< '- -quiet-'
or
>>-stfsclient-- -destroy--+-------------+-----------------------> '-client_name-' >-- -kmname--kernel_ext_name--+---------+---------------------->< '- -quiet-'
This parameter is not required if this is not the first mount for a particular virtual client.
The file-system driver is loaded as a kernel extension. To identify the instance of the file-system driver, you identify the kernel extension. The kernel-extension name is the same as name and location of the file-system driver that was used to load the driver (for example, /usr/tank/client/bin/stfs for AIX®).
In addition to creating the virtual client, this command discovers which disks, or candidates, are available to the virtual client as volumes and transmits the candidate list to the virtual client. The –devices parameter controls the candidates list.
The easiest way to mount the global namespace is to specify –devices=pat=/dev/rhdisk* , which looks at every SCSI-disk-like device in the system and whatever looks like a SAN File System disk is accessed when the metadata server refers to that disk's SAN File System disk identifier.
If you want the client to be more selective about what disks it considers available, you can create a /dev/stfsdisk directory, put device-special files (or symbolic links) for your candidates in it, and use –devices=dir=/dev/stfsdisk.
This command creates or destroys a virtual client. A virtual client is an entity that communicates with a metadata server and, indirectly, with other SAN File System clients. In this release, only one virtual client is supported per client machine. The terms virtual client and client can be used interchangeably.
A virtual client is associated with exactly one SAN File System. There is one file cache and one set of disk candidates per virtual client. Each virtual client running on the same system is as separate as if it were running on a different system. They share nothing except the file-system drive code that they execute.
A SAN File System virtual client is uniquely identified in the context of its file-system driver, and in the context of its SAN File System, by its client name.
To use the files in a global namespace, the virtual client must have a global namespace image. Creating a global namespace image makes the directory structure in the global namespace appear in the client's file structure. To create a global namespace image, use the stfsmount command.
A client can access and create data that is stored in a global namespace. Each virtual client can access data on multiple images in the same global namespace. It might be useful to have different mounts, where each mount has different options, for example, one mount might be read-only. Also, it might be useful to have multiple clients, where each client is communicating with a different SAN File System server cluster.
stfsclient -create MDS1:1700 -kmname /usr/tank/client/bin/stfs -converter 8859-1
Parent topic: AIX-client commands
Related tasks
Starting an AIX client
Stopping an AIX client
Related reference
rmstclient
stfsdriver
stfsdisk
stfsmount
stfsumount