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xfs_metadump(8)		    System Manager's Manual	       xfs_metadump(8)

NAME
       xfs_metadump - copy XFS filesystem metadata to a	file

SYNOPSIS
       xfs_metadump  [	-aefFgow  ]  [ -m max_extents ]	] [ -l logdev ]	source
       target
       xfs_metadump -V

DESCRIPTION
       xfs_metadump is a debugging tool	that copies the	metadata from  an  XFS
       filesystem  to a	file.  The source argument must	be the pathname	of the
       device or file containing the XFS filesystem and	 the  target  argument
       specifies  the  destination file	name.  If target is -, then the	output
       is sent to stdout. This allows the output to be redirected  to  another
       program such as a compression application.

       xfs_metadump  may  only be used to copy unmounted filesystems, or read-
       only mounted filesystems.

       xfs_metadump does not alter the source filesystem in any	way. The  tar-
       get image is a contiguous (non-sparse) file containing all the filesys-
       tem's metadata and indexes to where the blocks were copied from.

       By  default, xfs_metadump obfuscates most file (regular file, directory
       and symbolic link) names	and extended  attribute	 names	to  allow  the
       dumps  to  be sent without revealing confidential information. Extended
       attribute values	are zeroed and no data is copied. The only  exceptions
       are  file  or  attribute	names that are 4 or less characters in length.
       Also file names that  span  extents  (this  can	only  occur  with  the
       mkfs.xfs(8)  options where -n size > -b size) are not obfuscated. Names
       between 5 and 8 characters in length inclusively	are  partially	obfus-
       cated.

       xfs_metadump  should not	be used	for any	purposes other than for	debug-
       ging and	reporting filesystem problems. The most	common usage  scenario
       for  this tool is when xfs_repair(8) fails to repair a filesystem and a
       metadump	image can be sent for analysis.

       The file	generated by xfs_metadump can be restored to filesystem	 image
       (minus the data)	using the xfs_mdrestore(8) tool.

OPTIONS
       -a     Copies entire metadata blocks.  Normally,	xfs_metadump will zero
	      any stale	bytes interspersed with	in-use metadata.  Use this op-
	      tion to copy full	metadata blocks, to provide more debugging in-
	      formation	 for a corrupted filesystem.  Note that	the extra data
	      will be unobfuscated.

       -e     Stops the	dump on	a read error. Normally,	it  will  ignore  read
	      errors and copy all the metadata that is accessible.

       -f     Specifies	that the filesystem image to be	processed is stored in
	      a	 regular file (see the mkfs.xfs	-d file	option). This can also
	      happen if	an image copy of a filesystem has been	made  into  an
	      ordinary file with xfs_copy(8).

       -F     Specifies	 that we want to continue even if the superblock magic
	      is not correct.  If the source is	truly not an  XFS  filesystem,
	      the resulting image will be useless, and xfs_metadump may	crash.

       -g     Shows  dump  progress. This is sent to stdout if the target is a
	      file or to stderr	if the target is stdout.

       -l logdev
	      For filesystems which use	an external log,  this	specifies  the
	      device  where  the external log resides. The external log	is not
	      copied, only internal logs are copied.

       -m     Set the maximum size of an allowed metadata  extent.   Extremely
	      large  metadata  extents	are  likely to be corrupt, and will be
	      skipped if they exceed this value.  The  default	size  is  1000
	      blocks.

       -o     Disables obfuscation of file names and extended attributes.

       -w     Prints  warnings of inconsistent metadata	encountered to stderr.
	      Bad metadata is still copied.

       -V     Prints the version number	and exits.

DIAGNOSTICS
       xfs_metadump returns an exit code of 0 if all readable metadata is suc-
       cessfully copied	or 1 if	a write	error occurs or	a  read	 error	occurs
       and the -e option used.

NOTES
       As  xfs_metadump	copies metadata	only, it does not matter if the	source
       filesystem has a	realtime section or not. If the	filesystem has an  ex-
       ternal  log,  it	 is  not copied. Internal logs are copied and any out-
       standing	log transactions are not obfuscated if they contain names.

       xfs_metadump is a shell wrapper around the xfs_db(8) metadump command.

SEE ALSO
       xfs_repair(8), xfs_mdrestore(8),	xfs_freeze(8), xfs_db(8), xfs_copy(8),
       xfs(5)

BUGS
       Email bug reports to xfs@oss.sgi.com.

							       xfs_metadump(8)

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