xfs_metadump(8) manual page
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xfs_metadump - copy XFS filesystem metadata to a file
xfs_metadump
[ -efFgow ] [ -m max_extents ] ] [ -l logdev ] source target
xfs_metadump -V
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 target
image is a contiguous (non-sparse) file containing all the filesystem’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 obfuscated.
xfs_metadump should not be used for any purposes other than for debugging
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.
- -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.
xfs_metadump returns an exit code of 0 if all readable
metadata is successfully copied or 1 if a write error occurs or a read
error occurs and the -e option used.
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 external log, it is not copied. Internal
logs are copied and any outstanding log transactions are not obfuscated
if they contain names.
xfs_metadump is a shell wrapper around the xfs_db(8)
metadump command.
xfs_repair(8)
, xfs_mdrestore(8)
, xfs_freeze(8)
,
xfs_db(8)
, xfs_copy(8)
, xfs(5)
Email bug reports to xfs@oss.sgi.com.
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