Linux NVM Library

This is src/tools/pmempool/README.

This file contains the high-level description of pmempool utility.

	1. Introduction
	2. Subcommands
	   2.1. info
	   2.2. check
	   2.3. create
	   2.4. dump
	   2.5. rm
	3. Source code
	4. Packaging
	5. Versioning

1. Introduction
---------------

The main purpose of pmempool is to provide a user with set of utilities for
off-line analysis and manipulation of pools created by pmem libraries. The
pmempool is a generic command which consists of subcommands for specific
purposes. Some of commands are required to work without any impact on processed
pool, but some of them may create new or modify existing one.

The pmempool may be useful for troubleshooting and may be used by system
administrators and by software developers work on applications based on
NVML library. The latter may find these tools useful for testing and debugging
purposes also.

Currently there is a following set of commands available:

	* info		- Prints information and statistics in human-readable
			  format about specified pool.

	* check		- Checks pool's consistency and repairs pool if it is
			  not consistent.

	* create	- Creates a pool of specified type with additional
			  properties specific for this type of pool.

	* dump		- Dumps usable data from pool in hexadecimal or binary
			  format.

	* rm		- Removes pool file or all pool files listed in poolset
			  configuration file.

This file contains high-level description of available commands and their
features. For details about usage and available command line arguments please
refer to specific manual pages. There is one common manual page with description
of all commands - pmempool(1) and manual pages which describe all commands
in detail:
	pmempool-info(1)
	pmempool-check(1)
	pmempool-create(1)
	pmempool-dump(1)
	pmempool-rm(1)

Subsequent sections contain detailed description of each command, information
about the source code, packaging and versioning scheme.

2. Subcommands
--------------

The pmempool application contains number of commands which perform specific
operations on pool. The following subsections contain detailed description of
existing commands.

2.1. info
---------

The pmempool invoked with *info* command analyzes the existing pool created
by NVML libraries. The main task of this command is to print all usable
information from pool headers and user data in human readable format. It
automatically recognizes pool type by parsing and analyzing pool header. The
recognition is done by checking the signature in pool header. The main
intention of *info* command is to present internal data structures as they are
stored in file - not for checking consistency. For this purpose there is *check*
command available.

The pmempool with *info* command analyzes a pool file as long as it is possible
regarding correctness of internal meta-data (correct offsets, sizes etc.). If it
is not possible to analyze rest of file, pmempool exits with an error code and
prints an appropriate error message.

Currently there is lack of interprocess synchronization for pool files, so the
pmempool with *info* command should be invoked off-line. Using pmempool on
pool file which may be modified by another process may lead to stopping
processing the file.

There is a set of common features for all pool types and a set of features
specific for particular pool type.
All features are described below.


** Common features

 * The basic function of *info* command is to print information about the
   most important internal data structures from specific pool. By default this
   is done by invoking pmempool with *info* command and one or more files.

 * It is possible to print basic statistics about the pool by passing
   appropriate command line argument.

 * The type of pool is recognized automatically. The exact list of headers and
   internal meta-data depends on pool's type. All information is displayed in
   human-readable format.

 * The pool header may be corrupted and automatic recognition of pool's type
   will fail. In order to analyze a pool file as a pool of specific type it is
   possible to force that by specifying the desired pool type using appropriate
   command line argument.

 * Headers and internal meta-data are displayed in human-readable format by
   default. However it is possible to display them in mixed format which
   consists of hexadecimal dump of headers and parsed data in human-readable
   format.

 * By default only non-volatile fields from internal structures are displayed.
   In order to display volatile fields you should increase the verbosity level.

 * By default all sizes are displayed in bytes unit. It is possible to print
   them in more human-readable formats with appropriate units
   (e.g. 4k, 8M, 16G).

** Features for *log* pool type

 * By default pmempool with *info* command displays the pool header, log pool
   type specific header and statistics. It is possible to print data in
   hexadecimal format by passing appropriate command line option.

 * It is possible to walk through the usable data using fixed data chunk size.
   This feature uses similar approach as pmemlog_walk() function. For details
   please refer to libpmemlog(3).

** Features for *blk* pool type

 * By default pmempool with *info* command displays the pool header, blk pool
   type specific header, BTT Info header and statistics.

 * It is possible to print more headers and internal data by passing specific
   command line options. It is possible to print the following sections:
   BTT Map entries, BTT FLOG, BTT Info backup and data blocks.

 * It is possible to print specific range of blocks in both absolute or relative
   manner (e.g. display blocks from 10 to 1000, display 10 blocks starting from
   block number 1000)

 * By default when displaying data blocks all blocks are displayed. However it
   is possible to skip blocks marked with zero or error flags, or to skip blocks
   which are not marked by any flag. Skipping blocks has impact on blocks ranges
   (e.g. display 10 blocks marked with error flag in the range from 0 to 10000)

2.2. check
----------

The pmempool invoked with *check* command checks existing pool's consistency.
If the pool is consistent pmempool exits with exit code 0. Otherwise nonzero
error code is returned and appropriate message is displayed.

In addition it may also try to fix some common known errors upon explicit demand
of user. In this case a pool file will be opened in read-write mode so the user
should be aware of modifications made by pmempool application.

Below is the description of available features:

 * By default pmempool with *check* command prints brief description about
   encountered error(s) and proper error value is returned. If there is no error
   nothing is printed and exit code is 0.

 * If an error is encountered while checking a consistency of a pool it is
   possible to try to fix all errors. In this case the pool file will be opened
   in read-write mode.

 * User may request to _not_ modify pool's file when trying to repair it but
   just to report what would be done if the repair was performed.

 * When repairing a pool user may request to create backup before any
   modification is made. If it is not possible to create full backup of existing
   pool, the process will terminate.

2.3. create
-----------

The pmempool invoked with *create* command creates a pool file of specific
type and size. Depending on pool's type it is possible to provide more desired
properties of a pool.

Below is the description of available features:

 * The main feature is to create pool of specified type and size. Therefore
   it is required to pass at least two command line arguments.

 * User may want to create a pool file with size of the whole partition. This is
   possible by passing proper command line argument.

 * It is possible to create a pool with the same parameters as another pool
   passed in command line arguments - it may be considered as cloning the pool.

2.4. dump
---------

The pmempool invoked with *dump* command dumps usable data from specified
pool. This may be dumped either in hexadecimal or binary format.

Below is the description of available features:

 * The main feature is to dump all data from a pool file. In case of dumping
   data to terminal by default data is dumped in hexadecimal format. In case
   of redirecting standard output to a file data will be dumped in binary format.

 * It is possible to specify the format of dumped data to either hexadecimal or
   binary.

 * By default data is dumped to standard output. However it is possible to
   specify a file name to dump data into.

 * In case of pmem blk pool type it is possible to set range of blocks in either
   absolute or relative manner.

 * In case of pmem log pool type it is possible to set size of chunk and range
   of chunks to dump in either absolute or relative manner.

2.5. rm
-------

The pmempool *rm* command is a simple helper utility which removes pool files
created using either NVML libraries or pmempool *create* command.

 * The main feature is to parse the poolset configuration file and remove all
   listed pool files.

 * It is possible to run the pmempool *rm* command in interactive mode, where
   before removing each file the user must confirm the removal operation.

 * The command line interface is similar to interface provided by standard,
   system *rm* command.

3. Source code
--------------

The source code of pmempool is located in pmempool directory.

By default pmempool is installed in $(DESTDIR)/usr/bin directory.
You can change it by passing $(TOOLSDIR) variable to "make install".
For example, the following command will install pmempool in ~/bin directory:
	$ make install DESTDIR=~ TOOLSDIR=/bin

See the top-level README file for detailed information about building and
installation.

4. Packaging
------------

The pmempool application is provided in separate packages. Both rpm and dpkg
packages are built automatically with other packages.

See the top-level README file for detailed information about building packages.

5. Versioning
-------------

The versioning of pmempool application is the same as all NVML libraries.
