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Introduce new option to specify pool data size.
This will be user to create i.e. cache & cachepool at once.
And possible for thin external origin snapshot.
This is only very basic patch to enable options, the
real working code will come later.
--splitcache
Splits only cached LV (also pool could be specified).
Detaches cachepool from cached LV.
--split
Should be univerzal command to split various complex targets.
At this moment it knows cache.
--uncache
Opposite command to --cache. Detaches and DELETES cachepool for
cached LV.
Note: we support thin pool cached metadata device for uncaching.
Also use may specify wither cached LV or association cachepool device
to request split of cache.
Currently, we have two modes of activation, an unnamed nominal mode
(which I will refer to as "complete") and "partial" mode. The
"complete" mode requires that a volume group be 'complete' - that
is, no missing PVs. If there are any missing PVs, no affected LVs
are allowed to activate - even RAID LVs which might be able to
tolerate a failure. The "partial" mode allows anything to be
activated (or at least attempted). If a non-redundant LV is
missing a portion of its addressable space due to a device failure,
it will be replaced with an error target. RAID LVs will either
activate or fail to activate depending on how badly their
redundancy is compromised.
This patch adds a third option, "degraded" mode. This mode can
be selected via the '--activationmode {complete|degraded|partial}'
option to lvchange/vgchange. It can also be set in lvm.conf.
The "degraded" activation mode allows RAID LVs with a sufficient
level of redundancy to activate (e.g. a RAID5 LV with one device
failure, a RAID6 with two device failures, or RAID1 with n-1
failures). RAID LVs with too many device failures are not allowed
to activate - nor are any non-redundant LVs that may have been
affected. This patch also makes the "degraded" mode the default
activation mode.
The degraded activation mode does not yet work in a cluster. A
new cluster lock flag (LCK_DEGRADED_MODE) will need to be created
to make that work. Currently, there is limited space for this
extra flag and I am looking for possible solutions. One possible
solution is to usurp LCK_CONVERT, as it is not used. When the
locking_type is 3, the degraded mode flag simply gets dropped and
the old ("complete") behavior is exhibited.
The --binary option, if used, causes all the binary values reported
in reporting commands to be displayed as "0" or "1" instead of descriptive
literal values (value "unknown" is still used for values that could not be
determined).
Also, add report/binary_values_as_numeric lvm.conf option with the same
functionality as the --binary option (the --binary option prevails
if both --binary cmd option and report/binary_values_as_numeric lvm.conf
option is used at the same time). The report/binary_values_as_numeric is
also profilable.
This makes it easier to use and check lvm reporting command output in scripts.
pvmove can be used to move single LVs by name or multiple LVs that
lie within the specified PV range (e.g. /dev/sdb1:0-1000). When
moving more than one LV, the portions of those LVs that are in the
range to be moved are added to a new temporary pvmove LV. The LVs
then point to the range in the pvmove LV, rather than the PV
range.
Example 1:
We have two LVs in this example. After they were
created, the first LV was grown, yeilding two segments
in LV1. So, there are two LVs with a total of three
segments.
Before pvmove:
--------- --------- ---------
| LV1s0 | | LV2s0 | | LV1s1 |
--------- --------- ---------
| | |
-------------------------------------
PV | 000 - 255 | 256 - 511 | 512 - 767 |
-------------------------------------
After pvmove inserts the temporary pvmove LV:
--------- --------- ---------
| LV1s0 | | LV2s0 | | LV1s1 |
--------- --------- ---------
| | |
-------------------------------------
pvmove0 | seg 0 | seg 1 | seg 2 |
-------------------------------------
| | |
-------------------------------------
PV | 000 - 255 | 256 - 511 | 512 - 767 |
-------------------------------------
Each of the affected LV segments now point to a
range of blocks in the pvmove LV, which purposefully
corresponds to the segments moved from the original
LVs into the temporary pvmove LV.
The current implementation goes on from here to mirror the temporary
pvmove LV by segment. Further, as the pvmove LV is activated, only
one of its segments is actually mirrored (i.e. "moving") at a time.
The rest are either complete or not addressed yet. If the pvmove
is aborted, those segments that are completed will remain on the
destination and those that are not yet addressed or in the process
of moving will stay on the source PV. Thus, it is possible to have
a partially completed move - some LVs (or certain segments of LVs)
on the source PV and some on the destination.
Example 2:
What 'example 1' might look if it was half-way
through the move.
--------- --------- ---------
| LV1s0 | | LV2s0 | | LV1s1 |
--------- --------- ---------
| | |
-------------------------------------
pvmove0 | seg 0 | seg 1 | seg 2 |
-------------------------------------
| | |
| -------------------------
source PV | | 256 - 511 | 512 - 767 |
| -------------------------
| ||
-------------------------
dest PV | 000 - 255 | 256 - 511 |
-------------------------
This update allows the user to specify that they would like the
pvmove mirror created "by LV" rather than "by segment". That is,
the pvmove LV becomes an image in an encapsulating mirror along
with the allocated copy image.
Example 3:
A pvmove that is performed "by LV" rather than "by segment".
--------- ---------
| LV1s0 | | LV2s0 |
--------- ---------
| |
-------------------------
pvmove0 | * LV-level mirror * |
-------------------------
/ \
pvmove_mimage0 / pvmove_mimage1
------------------------- -------------------------
| seg 0 | seg 1 | | seg 0 | seg 1 |
------------------------- -------------------------
| | | |
------------------------- -------------------------
| 000 - 255 | 256 - 511 | | 000 - 255 | 256 - 511 |
------------------------- -------------------------
source PV dest PV
The thing that differentiates a pvmove done in this way and a simple
"up-convert" from linear to mirror is the preservation of the
distinct segments. A normal up-convert would simply allocate the
necessary space with no regard for segment boundaries. The pvmove
operation must preserve the segments because they are the critical
boundary between the segments of the LVs being moved. So, when the
pvmove copy image is allocated, all corresponding segments must be
allocated. The code that merges ajoining segments that are part of
the same LV when the metadata is written must also be avoided in
this case. This method of mirroring is unique enough to warrant its
own definitional macro, MIRROR_BY_SEGMENTED_LV. This joins the two
existing macros: MIRROR_BY_SEG (for original pvmove) and MIRROR_BY_LV
(for user created mirrors).
The advantages of performing pvmove in this way is that all of the
LVs affected can be moved together. It is an all-or-nothing approach
that leaves all LV segments on the source PV if the move is aborted.
Additionally, a mirror log can be used (in the future) to provide tracking
of progress; allowing the copy to continue where it left off in the event
there is a deactivation.
- When defining configuration source, the code now uses separate
CONFIG_PROFILE_COMMAND and CONFIG_PROFILE_METADATA markers
(before, it was just CONFIG_PROFILE that did not make the
difference between the two). This helps when checking the
configuration if it contains correct set of options which
are all in either command-profilable or metadata-profilable
group without mixing these groups together - so it's a firm
distinction. The "command profile" can't contain
"metadata profile" and vice versa! This is strictly checked
and if the settings are mixed, such profile is rejected and
it's not used. So in the end, the CONFIG_PROFILE_COMMAND
set of options and CONFIG_PROFILE_METADATA are mutually exclusive
sets.
- Marking configuration with one or the other marker will also
determine the way these configuration sources are positioned
in the configuration cascade which is now:
CONFIG_STRING -> CONFIG_PROFILE_COMMAND -> CONFIG_PROFILE_METADATA -> CONFIG_FILE/CONFIG_MERGED_FILES
- Marking configuration with one or the other marker will also make
it possible to issue a command context refresh (will be probably
a part of a future patch) if needed for settings in global profile
set. For settings in metadata profile set this is impossible since
we can't refresh cmd context in the middle of reading VG/LV metadata
and for each VG/LV separately because each VG/LV can have a different
metadata profile assinged and it's not possible to change these
settings at this level.
- When command profile is incorrect, it's rejected *and also* the
command exits immediately - the profile *must* be correct for the
command that was run with a profile to be executed. Before this
patch, when the profile was found incorrect, there was just the
warning message and the command continued without profile applied.
But it's more correct to exit immediately in this case.
- When metadata profile is incorrect, we reject it during command
runtime (as we know the profile name from metadata and not early
from command line as it is in case of command profiles) and we
*do continue* with the command as we're in the middle of operation.
Also, the metadata profile is applied directly and on the fly on
find_config_tree_* fn call and even if the metadata profile is
found incorrect, we still need to return the non-profiled value
as found in the other configuration provided or default value.
To exit immediately even in this case, we'd need to refactor
existing find_config_tree_* fns so they can return error. Currently,
these fns return only config values (which end up with default
values in the end if the config is not found).
- To check the profile validity before use to be sure it's correct,
one can use :
lvm dumpconfig --commandprofile/--metadataprofile ProfileName --validate
(the --commandprofile/--metadataprofile for dumpconfig will come
as part of the subsequent patch)
- This patch also adds a reference to --commandprofile and
--metadataprofile in the cmd help string (which was missing before
for the --profile for some commands). We do not mention --profile
now as people should use --commandprofile or --metadataprofile
directly. However, the --profile is still supported for backward
compatibility and it's translated as:
--profile == --metadataprofile for lvcreate, vgcreate, lvchange and vgchange
(as these commands are able to attach profile to metadata)
--profile == --commandprofile for all the other commands
(--metadataprofile is not allowed there as it makes no sense)
- This patch also contains some cleanups to make the code handling
the profiles more readable...
Users now have the ability to convert their existing logical volumes
into cached logical volumes. A cache pool LV must be specified using
the '--cachepool' argument. The cachepool is the small, fast LV used
to cache the large, slow LV that is being converted.
This patch allows the creation and removal of cache pools. Users are not
yet able to create cache LVs. They are only able to define the space used
for the cache and its characteristics (chunk_size and cache mode ATM) by
creating the cache pool.
Accept --ignoreskippedcluster with pvs, vgs, lvs, pvdisplay, vgdisplay,
lvdisplay, vgchange and lvchange to avoid the 'Skipping clustered
VG' errors when requesting information about a clustered VG
without using clustered locking and still exit with success.
The messages can still be seen with -v.
Also add -k/--setactivationskip y/n and -K/--ignoreactivationskip
options to lvcreate.
The --setactivationskip y sets the flag in metadata for an LV to
skip the LV during activation. Also, the newly created LV is not
activated.
Thin snapsots have this flag set automatically if not specified
directly by the --setactivationskip y/n option.
The --ignoreactivationskip overrides the activation skip flag set
in metadata for an LV (just for the run of the command - the flag
is not changed in metadata!)
A few examples for the lvcreate with the new options:
(non-thin snap LV => skip flag not set in MDA + LV activated)
raw/~ $ lvcreate -l1 vg
Logical volume "lvol0" created
raw/~ $ lvs -o lv_name,attr vg/lvol0
LV Attr
lvol0 -wi-a----
(non-thin snap LV + -ky => skip flag set in MDA + LV not activated)
raw/~ $ lvcreate -l1 -ky vg
Logical volume "lvol1" created
raw/~ $ lvs -o lv_name,attr vg/lvol1
LV Attr
lvol1 -wi------
(non-thin snap LV + -ky + -K => skip flag set in MDA + LV activated)
raw/~ $ lvcreate -l1 -ky -K vg
Logical volume "lvol2" created
raw/~ $ lvs -o lv_name,attr vg/lvol2
LV Attr
lvol2 -wi-a----
(thin snap LV => skip flag set in MDA (default behaviour) + LV not activated)
raw/~ $ lvcreate -L100M -T vg/pool -V 1T -n thin_lv
Logical volume "thin_lv" created
raw/~ $ lvcreate -s vg/thin_lv -n thin_snap
Logical volume "thin_snap" created
raw/~ $ lvs -o name,attr vg
LV Attr
pool twi-a-tz-
thin_lv Vwi-a-tz-
thin_snap Vwi---tz-
(thin snap LV + -K => skip flag set in MDA (default behaviour) + LV activated)
raw/~ $ lvcreate -s vg/thin_lv -n thin_snap -K
Logical volume "thin_snap" created
raw/~ $ lvs -o name,attr vg/thin_lv
LV Attr
thin_lv Vwi-a-tz-
(thins snap LV + -kn => no skip flag in MDA (default behaviour overridden) + LV activated)
[0] raw/~ # lvcreate -s vg/thin_lv -n thin_snap -kn
Logical volume "thin_snap" created
[0] raw/~ # lvs -o name,attr vg/thin_snap
LV Attr
thin_snap Vwi-a-tz-
Normally, the lvm dumpconfig processes only the configuration tree
that is at the top of the cascade. Considering the cascade is:
CONFIG_STRING -> CONFIG_PROFILE -> CONFIG_MERGED_FILES/CONFIG_FILE
...then:
(dumpconfig of lvm.conf only)
raw/~ $ lvm dumpconfig allocation
allocation {
maximise_cling=1
mirror_logs_require_separate_pvs=0
thin_pool_metadata_require_separate_pvs=0
thin_pool_chunk_size=64
}
(dumpconfig of selected profile configuration only)
raw/~ $ lvm dumpconfig --profile test allocation
allocation {
thin_pool_chunk_size=8
thin_pool_discards="passdown"
thin_pool_zero=1
}
(dumpconfig of given --config configuration only)
raw/~ $ lvm dumpconfig --config 'allocation{thin_pool_chunk_size=16}' allocation
allocation {
thin_pool_chunk_size=16
}
The --mergedconfig option causes the configuration cascade to be
merged before processing it with dumpconfig:
(dumpconfig of merged selected profile and lvm.conf)
raw/~ $ lvm dumpconfig --profile test allocation --mergedconfig
allocation {
maximise_cling=1
thin_pool_zero=1
thin_pool_discards="passdown"
mirror_logs_require_separate_pvs=0
thin_pool_metadata_require_separate_pvs=0
thin_pool_chunk_size=8
}
(dumpconfig merged given --config and selected profile and lvm.conf)
raw/~ $ lvm dumpconfig --profile test --config 'allocation{thin_pool_chunk_size=16}' allocation --mergedconfig
allocation {
maximise_cling=1
thin_pool_zero=1
thin_pool_discards="passdown"
mirror_logs_require_separate_pvs=0
thin_pool_metadata_require_separate_pvs=0
thin_pool_chunk_size=16
}
Hence with the --mergedconfig, we are able to see the
configuration that is actually used when processing any
LVM command while using any combination of --config/--profile
options together with lvm.conf file.
The command to change the profile for existing VG/LV:
"vgchange/lvchange --profile <profile_name>"
The command to detach any existing profile from VG/LV:
"vgchange/lvchange --detachprofile"
This patch adds --profile arg to lvm cmds and adds config/profile_dir
configuration setting to select the directory where profiles are stored
By default it's /etc/lvm/profile.
The profiles are added by using new "add_profile" fn and then loaded
using the "load_profile" fn. All profiles are stored in a cmd context
within the new "struct profile_params":
struct profile_params {
const char *dir;
struct profile *global_profile;
struct dm_list profiles_to_load;
struct dm_list profiles;
};
...where "dir" is the directory with profiles, "global_profile" is
the profile that is set globally via the --profile arg (IOW, not
set per VG/LV basis based on metadata record) and the "profiles"
is the list with loaded profiles.
This patch adds the ability to set the minimum and maximum I/O rate for
sync operations in RAID LVs. The options are available for 'lvcreate' and
'lvchange' and are as follows:
--minrecoveryrate <Rate> [bBsSkKmMgG]
--maxrecoveryrate <Rate> [bBsSkKmMgG]
The rate is specified in size/sec/device. If a suffix is not given,
kiB/sec/device is assumed. Setting the rate to 0 removes the preference.
'lvchange' is used to alter a RAID 1 logical volume's write-mostly and
write-behind characteristics. The '--writemostly' parameter takes a
PV as an argument with an optional trailing character to specify whether
to set ('y'), unset ('n'), or toggle ('t') the value. If no trailing
character is given, it will set the flag.
Synopsis:
lvchange [--writemostly <PV>:{t|y|n}] [--writebehind <count>] vg/lv
Example:
lvchange --writemostly /dev/sdb1:y --writebehind 512 vg/raid1_lv
The last character in the 'lv_attr' field is used to show whether a device
has the WriteMostly flag set. It is signified with a 'w'. If the device
has failed, the 'p'artial flag has priority.
Example ("nosync" raid1 with mismatch_cnt and writemostly):
[~]# lvs -a --segment vg
LV VG Attr #Str Type SSize
raid1 vg Rwi---r-m 2 raid1 500.00m
[raid1_rimage_0] vg Iwi---r-- 1 linear 500.00m
[raid1_rimage_1] vg Iwi---r-w 1 linear 500.00m
[raid1_rmeta_0] vg ewi---r-- 1 linear 4.00m
[raid1_rmeta_1] vg ewi---r-- 1 linear 4.00m
Example (raid1 with mismatch_cnt, writemostly - but failed drive):
[~]# lvs -a --segment vg
LV VG Attr #Str Type SSize
raid1 vg rwi---r-p 2 raid1 500.00m
[raid1_rimage_0] vg Iwi---r-- 1 linear 500.00m
[raid1_rimage_1] vg Iwi---r-p 1 linear 500.00m
[raid1_rmeta_0] vg ewi---r-- 1 linear 4.00m
[raid1_rmeta_1] vg ewi---r-p 1 linear 4.00m
A new reportable field has been added for writebehind as well. If
write-behind has not been set or the LV is not RAID1, the field will
be blank.
Example (writebehind is set):
[~]# lvs -a -o name,attr,writebehind vg
LV Attr WBehind
lv rwi-a-r-- 512
[lv_rimage_0] iwi-aor-w
[lv_rimage_1] iwi-aor--
[lv_rmeta_0] ewi-aor--
[lv_rmeta_1] ewi-aor--
Example (writebehind is not set):
[~]# lvs -a -o name,attr,writebehind vg
LV Attr WBehind
lv rwi-a-r--
[lv_rimage_0] iwi-aor-w
[lv_rimage_1] iwi-aor--
[lv_rmeta_0] ewi-aor--
[lv_rmeta_1] ewi-aor--
New options to 'lvchange' allow users to scrub their RAID LVs.
Synopsis:
lvchange --syncaction {check|repair} vg/raid_lv
RAID scrubbing is the process of reading all the data and parity blocks in
an array and checking to see whether they are coherent. 'lvchange' can
now initaite the two scrubbing operations: "check" and "repair". "check"
will go over the array and recored the number of discrepancies but not
repair them. "repair" will correct the discrepancies as it finds them.
'lvchange --syncaction repair vg/raid_lv' is not to be confused with
'lvconvert --repair vg/raid_lv'. The former initiates a background
synchronization operation on the array, while the latter is designed to
repair/replace failed devices in a mirror or RAID logical volume.
Additional reporting has been added for 'lvs' to support the new
operations. Two new printable fields (which are not printed by
default) have been added: "syncaction" and "mismatches". These
can be accessed using the '-o' option to 'lvs', like:
lvs -o +syncaction,mismatches vg/lv
"syncaction" will print the current synchronization operation that the
RAID volume is performing. It can be one of the following:
- idle: All sync operations complete (doing nothing)
- resync: Initializing an array or recovering after a machine failure
- recover: Replacing a device in the array
- check: Looking for array inconsistencies
- repair: Looking for and repairing inconsistencies
The "mismatches" field with print the number of descrepancies found during
a check or repair operation.
The 'Cpy%Sync' field already available to 'lvs' will print the progress
of any of the above syncactions, including check and repair.
Finally, the lv_attr field has changed to accomadate the scrubbing operations
as well. The role of the 'p'artial character in the lv_attr report field
as expanded. "Partial" is really an indicator for the health of a
logical volume and it makes sense to extend this include other health
indicators as well, specifically:
'm'ismatches: Indicates that there are discrepancies in a RAID
LV. This character is shown after a scrubbing
operation has detected that portions of the RAID
are not coherent.
'r'efresh : Indicates that a device in a RAID array has suffered
a failure and the kernel regards it as failed -
even though LVM can read the device label and
considers the device to be ok. The LV should be
'r'efreshed to notify the kernel that the device is
now available, or the device should be 'r'eplaced
if it is suspected of failing.
lvm dumpconfig [--ignoreadvanced] [--ignoreunsupported]
--ignoreadvanced causes the advanced configuration options to be left
out on dumpconfig output
--ignoreunsupported causes the options that are not officially supported
to be lef out on dumpconfig output
lvm dumpconfig [--withcomments] [--withversions]
The --withcomments causes the comments to appear on output before each
config node (if they were defined in config_settings.h).
The --withversions causes a one line extra comment to appear on output
before each config node with the version information in which the
configuration setting first appeared.
lvm dumpconfig [--type {current|default|missing|new}] [--atversion] [--validate]
This patch adds above-mentioned args to lvm dumpconfig and it maps them
to creation and writing out a configuration tree of a specific type
(see also previous commit):
- current maps to CFG_TYPE_CURRENT
- default maps to CFG_TYPE_DEFAULT
- missing maps to CFG_TYPE_MISSING
- new maps to CFG_TYPE_NEW
If --type is not defined, dumpconfig defaults to "--type current"
which is the original behaviour of dumpconfig before all these changes.
The --validate option just validates current configuration tree
(lvm.conf/--config) and it writes a simple status message:
"LVM configuration valid" or "LVM configuration invalid"
To create an Embedding Area during PV creation (pvcreate or as part of
the vgconvert operation), we need to define the Embedding Area size.
The Embedding Area start will be calculated automatically by the tools.
This patch adds --embeddingareasize argument to pvcreate and vgconvert.
Add basic support for converting LV into an external origin volume.
Syntax:
lvconvert --thinpool vg/pool --originname renamed_origin -T origin
It will convert volume 'origin' into a thin volume, which will
use 'renamed_origin' as an external read-only origin.
All read/write into origin will go via 'pool'.
renamed_origin volume is read-only volume, that could be activated
only in read-only mode, and cannot be modified.
Allow restoring metadata with thin pool volumes.
No validation is done for this case within vgcfgrestore tool -
thus incorrect metadata may lead to destruction of pool content.
Update code for lvconvert.
Change the lvconvert user interface a bit - now we require 2 specifiers
--thinpool takes LV name for data device (and makes the name)
--poolmetadata takes LV name for metadata device.
Fix type in thin help text -z -> -Z.
Supported is also new flag --discards for thinpools.
Accept -q as the short form of --quiet.
Suppress non-essential standard output if -q is given twice.
Treat log/silent in lvm.conf as equivalent to -qq.
Review all log_print messages and change some to
log_print_unless_silent.
When silent, the following commands still produce output:
dumpconfig, lvdisplay, lvmdiskscan, lvs, pvck, pvdisplay,
pvs, version, vgcfgrestore -l, vgdisplay, vgs.
[Needs checking.]
Non-essential messages are shifted from log level 4 to log level 5
for syslog and lvm2_log_fn purposes.
Remove the limit for major and minor number arguments used while specifying
persistent numbers via -My --major <major> --minor <minor> option which
was set to 255 before. Follow the kernel limit instead which is 12 bits
for major and 20 bits for minor number (kernel >= 2.6 and LVM formats
that does not have FMT_RESTRICTED_LVIDS - so still keep the old limit
of 255 for lvm1 format).
Add arg support for discard.
Add discard ignore, nopassdown, passdown (=default) support.
Flags could be set per pool.
lvcreate [--discard {ignore|no_passdown|passdown}] vg/thinlv
We're refererring to 'activation' all over the code and we're talking
about 'LVs being activated' all the time so let's use 'activation/activate'
everywhere for clarity and consistency (still providing the old
'available' keyword as a synonym for backward compatibility with
existing environments).
RAID is not like traditional LVM mirroring. LVM mirroring required failed
devices to be removed or the logical volume would simply hang. RAID arrays can
keep on running with failed devices. In fact, for RAID types other than RAID1,
removing a device would mean substituting an error target or converting to a
lower level RAID (e.g. RAID6 -> RAID5, or RAID4/5 to RAID0). Therefore, rather
than removing a failed device unconditionally and potentially allocating a
replacement, RAID allows the user to "replace" a device with a new one. This
approach is a 1-step solution vs the current 2-step solution.
example> lvconvert --replace <dev_to_remove> vg/lv [possible_replacement_PVs]
'--replace' can be specified more than once.
example> lvconvert --replace /dev/sdb1 --replace /dev/sdc1 vg/lv
~> lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --trackchanges vg/lv
The '--trackchanges' option allows a user the ability to use an image of
a RAID1 array for the purposes of temporary read-only access. The image
can be merged back into the array at a later time and only the blocks that
have changed in the array since the split will be resync'ed. This
operation can be thought of as a partial split. The image is never completely
extracted from the array, in that the array reserves the position the device
occupied and tracks the differences between the array and the split image via
a bitmap. The image itself is rendered read-only and the name (<LV>_rimage_*)
cannot be changed. The user can complete the split (permanently splitting the
image from the array) by re-issuing the 'lvconvert' command without the
'--trackchanges' argument and specifying the '--name' argument.
~> lvconvert --splitmirrors 1 --name my_split vg/lv
Merging the tracked image back into the array is done with the '--merge'
option (included in a follow-on patch).
~> lvconvert --merge vg/lv_rimage_<n>
The internal mechanics of this are relatively simple. The 'raid' device-
mapper target allows for the specification of an empty slot in an array
via '- -'. This is what will be used if a partial activation of an array
is ever required. (It would also be possible to use 'error' targets in
place of the '- -'.) If a RAID image is found to be both read-only and
visible, then it is considered separate from the array and '- -' is used
to hold it's position in the array. So, all that needs to be done to
temporarily split an image from the array /and/ cause the kernel target's
bitmap to track (aka "mark") changes made is to make the specified image
visible and read-only. To merge the device back into the array, the image
needs to be returned to the read/write state of the top-level LV and made
invisible.
