Creates or destroys a virtual client.
>>-stfsclient-- -create--+-------------+------------------------> '-client_name-' >--+-server_name-------+--+---------+--+----------------+-------> '-server_IP_address-' '-:--port-' '- -fstype--name-' >--+---------+--+--------------------+--------------------------> '- -quiet-' '- -nettype--+-tcp-+-' '-udp-' >--+---------------------------------------------+--------------> '- -devices--=--+-dir--=--directory---------+-' | .-/dev/sd*[a-z]-. | '-pat--=--+-pattern-------+-' >-- -converter--8859-1-----------------------------------------><
or
>>-stfsclient-- -destroy--+-------------+--+----------------+-->< '-client_name-' '- -fstype--name-'
This parameter is not required if this is not the first mount for a particular virtual client.
Use this parameter when you load multiple instances of the file-system driver on the same client system. The file-system type name connects the file-system driver instance with a global namespace image.
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/sd*[a-z], where * represents any alphanumeric character (a-z, A-Z, 0-9). Specifying the parameter in this way causes the client to look at every SCSI-disk-like device in the system. Whatever looks like a SAN File System disk is accessed when the metadata server refers to that disk's SAN File System disk identifier. For SDD devices, specify –devices=pat=/dev/vpath*[a-z].
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.
You must have root privileges to use this command.
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 can be used 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 that is 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.
The client considers a file to be one file even if it appears with two different file names in two different global namespace images.
For Linux™ clients, to view the existing SAN File System virtual clients, look in the proc/fs file system, in the directory named after the file-system type (usually stfs). In that directory, there is a subdirectory for each virtual client. The name of the subdirectory is the same as the client name.
stfsclient -create MDS1:1700 -devices=pat=/dev/sd*[a-z] -converter 8859-1
Parent topic: Linux-client commands
Related tasks
Starting a Linux client
Stopping a Linux client