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

NAME
       gconcat -- disk concatenation control utility

SYNOPSIS
       gconcat create [-v] name	prov ...
       gconcat destroy [-fv] name ...
       gconcat label [-hv] name	prov ...
       gconcat append [-hv] name prov
       gconcat stop [-fv] name ...
       gconcat clear [-v] prov ...
       gconcat dump prov ...
       gconcat list
       gconcat status
       gconcat load
       gconcat unload

DESCRIPTION
       The  gconcat  utility  is  used for device concatenation	configuration.
       The concatenation  can  be  configured  using  two  different  methods:
       "manual"	 or  "automatic".  When	using the "manual" method, no metadata
       are stored on the devices, so the concatenated device has to be config-
       ured by hand every time it is needed.  The "automatic" method uses  on-
       disk  metadata  to detect devices.  Once	devices	are labeled, they will
       be automatically	detected and configured.

       The first argument to gconcat indicates an action to be performed:

       create	Concatenate the	given devices with specified  name.   This  is
		the "manual" method.  The kernel module	geom_concat.ko will be
		loaded if it is	not loaded already.

       label	Concatenate  the  given	devices	with the specified name.  This
		is the "automatic" method, where metadata are stored in	 every
		device's  last	sector.	 The kernel module geom_concat.ko will
		be loaded if it	is not loaded already.

		Additional options include:

		-h  Hardcode providers'	names in metadata.

       append	Append a new device to the end of an existing concatenate  de-
		vice with the specified	name.

		If  the	 existing device is using the "manual" method, the new
		device is simply appended as-is.

		If the existing	device is using	the  "automatic"  method,  the
		device	is  appended  persistently.   New  gconcat metadata is
		written	to all existing	components, as well as	to  the	 newly
		added one.

		Additional options include:

		-h  Hardcode providers'	names in metadata.

       stop	Turn  off  existing concatenate	device by its name.  This com-
		mand does not touch on-disk metadata!

		Additional options include:

		-f  Stop the given device even if it is	opened.

       destroy	Same as	stop.

       clear	Clear metadata on the given devices.

       dump	Dump metadata stored on	the given devices.

       list	See geom(8).

       status	See geom(8).

       load	See geom(8).

       unload	See geom(8).

       Additional options:

       -v      Be more verbose.

SYSCTL VARIABLES
       The following sysctl(8) variables can be	used to	control	 the  behavior
       of  the	CONCAT	GEOM  class.   The default value is shown next to each
       variable.

       kern.geom.concat.debug: 0
	       Debug level of the CONCAT GEOM class.  This can	be  set	 to  a
	       number  between	0  and 3 inclusive.  If	set to 0 minimal debug
	       information is printed, and if set to 3 the maximum  amount  of
	       debug information is printed.

EXIT STATUS
       Exit status is 0	on success, and	1 if the command fails.

EXAMPLES
       The  following  example shows how to configure four disks for automatic
       concatenation, create a file system on it, and mount it:

	     gconcat label -v data /dev/da0 /dev/da1 /dev/da2 /dev/da3
	     newfs /dev/concat/data
	     mount /dev/concat/data /mnt
	     [...]
	     umount /mnt
	     gconcat stop data
	     gconcat unload

       Configure concatenated provider on one disk only.  Create file  system.
       Add two more disks and extend existing file system.

	     gconcat label data	/dev/da0
	     newfs /dev/concat/data
	     gconcat label data	/dev/da0 /dev/da1 /dev/da2
	     growfs /dev/concat/data

SEE ALSO
       geom(4),	  loader.conf(5),  geom(8),  growfs(8),	 gvinum(8),  mount(8),
       newfs(8), sysctl(8), umount(8)

HISTORY
       The gconcat utility appeared in FreeBSD 5.3.

AUTHORS
       Pawel Jakub Dawidek <pjd@FreeBSD.org>

FreeBSD	13.2			 June 14, 2021			    GCONCAT(8)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | SYSCTL VARIABLES | EXIT STATUS | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | HISTORY | AUTHORS

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