File Systems

A volume is raw storage — before it can serve NAS shares (SMB/NFS) or object storage, it needs a file system on it. Creating a file system is the step that turns a bare volume into something that can be shared out; it's the file/object counterpart to mapping a block volume to a host. A volume is used one way or the other, never both — a volume that already has a file system can't also be mapped to a host, and vice versa.

Creating a file system

You can put a file system on one or more volumes in an application at once. If you don't name specific volumes, StorONE creates one on every volume in the application that isn't already connected as block storage or file/object storage.

Two file-system profiles are available:

• Ordered (the default) — the standard, better-performing choice for most workloads.
• Journal — additionally journals file data itself, not just metadata, trading some performance for extra crash protection.

Two optional add-ons:

• SnapONE lets users browse and restore earlier versions of individual files and folders straight from the share, without an administrator needing to restore a whole volume snapshot.
• Quota support lets you enforce per-user/per-directory space quotas on the file system once it exists.

If you're planning to replicate this file system's volume later, add continuous replication metadata now — doing it later requires temporarily disrupting the volume, whereas creating it up front doesn't.

Using the web interface

1. Open Application Volumes > Applications, select the application, and choose to create a file system (or open Application Volumes > File Systems > Create).
2. Under Volume Selection, choose the application and the volume(s) to create a file system on — leave volumes unselected to cover every eligible volume in the application.
3. Choose the profile (Ordered or Journal), and optionally enable SnapONE, quota support, or continuous replication metadata.
4. Confirm to create the file system(s).

Using the CLI

applications filesystems add --application=<name> [--volumes=<name...>] [--profile=<name>] [--addContinuousReplicationMetadata] [--enableSnapone] [--enableQuotaSupport] [--force]

Option	Description
--application=<name>	The name of the application.
--volumes=<name...>	The volumes to create a file system on. If omitted, every eligible volume in the application is used.
--profile=<name>	The file-system profile: Journal or Ordered (default: Ordered).
--addContinuousReplicationMetadata	Add replication metadata to the file system, so starting replication later will not be disruptive.
--enableSnapone	Enable SnapONE on this file system.
--enableQuotaSupport	Enable quota support for this file system.
--force	Skip the confirmation prompt.

Examples

Create a file system on a specific volume:

applications filesystems add --application marketing --volumes assets

Create file systems on every eligible volume in an application, with SnapONE and quota support enabled:

applications filesystems add --application marketing --enableSnapone --enableQuotaSupport

Create a Journal-profile file system, pre-adding replication metadata since this volume will be replicated soon:

applications filesystems add --application marketing --volumes assets --profile Journal --addContinuousReplicationMetadata

Editing a file system

Once a file system exists, you can turn SnapONE and continuous replication metadata on or off. Removing continuous replication metadata (or adding it after the fact) temporarily disrupts the volume's activity, so you'll be asked to confirm.

Using the web interface

1. Open Application Volumes > File Systems, select the volume, and click Edit.
2. Toggle SnapONE and/or continuous replication metadata as needed.
3. Confirm the change.

Using the CLI

applications filesystems edit --application=<name> --volume=<name> [--addContinuousReplicationMetadata|--removeContinuousReplicationMetadata] [--enableSnapone|--disableSnapone] [--force]

Option	Description
--application=<name>	The name of the application.
--volume=<name>	The volume to edit.
--addContinuousReplicationMetadata	Add replication metadata to the file system, so starting replication later will not be disruptive.
--removeContinuousReplicationMetadata	Remove replication metadata from the file system. Without it, starting replication will be disruptive.
--enableSnapone	Enable SnapONE on this file system.
--disableSnapone	Disable SnapONE on this file system.
--force	Skip the confirmation prompt.

Examples

Turn on SnapONE for an existing file system:

applications filesystems edit --application marketing --volume assets --enableSnapone

Add continuous replication metadata ahead of setting up replication (disruptive — confirmation required):

applications filesystems edit --application marketing --volume assets --addContinuousReplicationMetadata

Mounting file systems

A file system can end up unmounted — for example, after certain maintenance operations. This command (re)mounts any unmounted file system matching the filter you give it.

Using the web interface

1. Open Application Volumes > File Systems.
2. Select the unmounted volume(s) and click Mount.

Using the CLI

applications filesystems mount [--application=<name> --volume=<name>]

Option	Description
--application=<name>	Filter by application name.
--volume=<name>	Filter by volume name.

Examples

Mount every unmounted file system in the system:

applications filesystems mount

Mount only the unmounted file systems in the marketing application:

applications filesystems mount --application marketing

Listing file-system assignments

Using the web interface

Open Application Volumes > File Systems. Use the toolbar to filter by application/volume.

Using the CLI

applications filesystems list [--application=<name> --volume=<name>]

Option	Description
--application=<name>	Filter by application name.
--volume=<name>	Filter by volume name.

Example

applications filesystems list --application marketing

Reclaiming space (fstrim)

Volumes normally reclaim freed space automatically as the host reports blocks as free (UNMAP). If a volume was created with space reclamation disabled, or you just want to reclaim space on demand, run fstrim against its file system — this asks the file system to report every block it currently considers free back to the pool.

Running fstrim

Using the web interface

1. Open Application Volumes > File Systems, select the volume, and click Trim.

Using the CLI

applications filesystems fstrim run --application=<name> --volume=<name>

Option	Description
--application=<name>	The application the volume belongs to.
--volume=<name>	The volume to run fstrim on (must have a file system).

Example

applications filesystems fstrim run --application marketing --volume assets

Checking fstrim status

Using the web interface

Open Application Volumes > File Systems. Volumes currently running fstrim are shown as such in the list.

Using the CLI

applications filesystems fstrim status [--application=<name> --volume=<name>]

Option	Description
--application=<name>	Filter by application name.
--volume=<name>	Filter by volume name.

Example

applications filesystems fstrim status --application marketing

---

See also: Volumes · Mappings (the equivalent step for block volumes)