Manual Pages  — NVMECONTROL

nvmecontrol – NVM Express control utility

SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION devlist identify logpage ns ns active ns allocated ns attach ns attached ns controllers ns create ns delete ns detach ns identify nsid resv acquire resv register resv release resv report format sanitize power selftest wdc passthru DEVICE NAMES EXAMPLES DYNAMIC LOADING SEE ALSO HISTORY AUTHORS

nvmecontrol devlist [-h]
nvmecontrol identify [-v] [-x] [-n nsid] <device-id | namespace-id>
nvmecontrol perftest <-n num_threads> <-o read|write> [-p] <-s size_in_bytes> <-t time_in_sec> <namespace-id>
nvmecontrol reset <device-id>
nvmecontrol logpage <-p page_id> [-x] [-v vendor-string] [-b] [-f LSP] [-i LSI] [-r] <device-id | namespace-id>
nvmecontrol ns active <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns allocated <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns attach <-n nsid> <-c cntid> <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns attached <-n nsid> <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns controllers <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns create <-s nsze> [-c ncap] [-f lbaf] [-m mset] [-n nmic] [-p pi] [-l pil] [-L flbas] [-d dps] <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns delete <-n nsid> <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns detach <-n nsid> <-c cntid> <device-id>
nvmecontrol ns identify [-v] [-x] <-n nsid> <device-id>
nvmecontrol nsid <device-id | namespace-id>
nvmecontrol resv acquire <-c crkey> [-p prkey] <-t rtype> <-a racqa> <namespace-id>
nvmecontrol resv register [-i] [-c crkey] <-k nrkey> <-r rrega> [-p cptpl] <namespace-id>
nvmecontrol resv release <-c crkey> <-t rtype> <-a rrela> <namespace-id>
nvmecontrol resv report [-e] [-v] [-x] <namespace-id>
nvmecontrol firmware [-s slot] [-f path_to_firmware] [-a] <device-id>
nvmecontrol format [-f fmt] [-m mset] [-p pi] [-l pil] [-E] [-C] <device-id | namespace-id>
nvmecontrol sanitize <-a sanact> [-c owpass] [-d] [-p ovrpat] [-r] [-I] [-U] <device-id>
nvmecontrol power [-l] [-p -power_state] [-w -workload_hint]
nvmecontrol selftest <-c code> <device-id | namespace-id>
nvmecontrol wdc cap-diag [-o -path_template] <device-id>
nvmecontrol wdc drive-log [-o -path_template] <device-id>
nvmecontrol wdc get-crash-dump [-o -path_template] <device-id>
nvmecontrol admin-passthru [args] <device-id>
nvmecontrol io-passthru [args] <namespace-id>

NVM Express (NVMe) is a storage protocol standard, for SSDs and other high-speed storage devices over PCI Express.

List all NVMe controllers and namespaces along with their device nodes. With the -h argument, use unit suffixes: Byte, Kibibyte, Mebibyte, Gibibyte, Tebibyte and Pebibyte (based on powers of 1024) when showing the disk space. By default, uses Mebibyte.

The identify commands reports information from the drive's IDENTIFY_CONTROLLER if a device-id is specified. It reports IDENTIFY_NAMESPACE data if a namespace-id is specified. When used with disk names, the IDENTIFY_NAMESPACE data is reported, unless the namespace nsid is overridden with the -n flag. Then that namespace's data is reported, if it exists. The command accepts the following parameters:

-n
	The namespace <nsid> to use instead of the namespace associated with the device. A nsid of "0" is used to retrieve the IDENTIFY_CONTROLLER data associated with that drive.

The logpage command knows how to print log pages of various types. It also knows about vendor specific log pages from hgst/wdc, samsung and intel. Note that some vendors use the same log page numbers for different data.

Page 0x01	Drive Error Log
Page 0x02	Health/SMART Data
Page 0x03	Firmware Information
Page 0x04	Changed Namespace List
Page 0x05	Commands Supported and Effects
Page 0x06	Device Self-test
Page 0x80	Reservation Notification
Page 0x81	Sanitize Status
Page 0xc1	Advanced SMART information (WDC/HGST)
Page 0xc1	Read latency stats (Intel)
Page 0xc2	Wite latency stats (Intel)
Page 0xc5	Temperature stats (Intel)
Page 0xca	Advanced SMART information (Intel)
Page 0xca	Extended SMART information (Samsung)

Specifying -v help will list all valid vendors and pages. -x will print the page as hex. -b will print the binary data for the page. -s will set Log Specific Field. -i will set Log Specific Identifier. -r will set Retain Asynchronous Event.

Various namespace management commands. If namespace management is supported by device, allow list, create and delete namespaces, list, attach and detach controllers to namespaces. Each NVM device consists of one or more NVM subsystems. Each NVM subsystem has one or more NVM ports. Each NVM port is attached to one or more NVM controllers (though typically 1). Each NVM controller is attached to one or more namespaces.

After a namespace is created, it is considered "allocated". All namespaces that have not been created are unallocated. An allocated namespace may be active or inactive. An active namespace is attached to the controller and may be interacted with. A namespace can move from active to inactive when detached. An allocated namespace may be deleted to become unallocated. For more details on the nuances of NVM namespaces, please see section 2 Theory of Operation and section 3 NVM Express Architecture of the latest NVM standard.

Provide a list of active namespace identifiers for the givne NVM controller.

Provide a list of allocated namespace identifiers for the givne NVM controller.

Attach an nsid to a controller. The primary controller is used if one is not specified.

Provide a list of controllers attached to a nsid. If only a nvme controller argument is provided, a nsid must also be specified.

Provide a list of all controllers in the NVM subsystem.

Creates a new namespace.

Delete a namespace. It must be currently inactive.

Detach a namespace from a controller. The namespace will become inaccessible, but its contents will remain if it is activated again.

Print detailed information about the namespace.

Reports the namespace id and controller device associated with the <namespace-id> or <device-id> argument.

Acquire or preempt namespace reservation, using specified parameters:

-a
	Acquire action:
0	Acquire
1	Preempt
2	Preempt and abort

-c	Current reservation key.
-p	Preempt reservation key.
-t	Reservation type:
1	Write Exclusive
2	Exclusive Access
3	Write Exclusive - Registrants Only
4	Exclusive Access - Registrants Only
5	Write Exclusive - All Registrants
6	Exclusive Access - All Registrants

Register, unregister or replace reservation key, using specified parameters:

-c
	Current reservation key.
-k
	New reservation key.
-r
	Register action:
0	Register
1	Unregister
2	Replace

-i	Ignore Existing Key
-p	Change Persist Through Power Loss State:
0	No change to PTPL state
2	Set PTPL state to ‘0’. Reservations are released and registrants are cleared on a power on.
3	Set PTPL state to ‘1’. Reservations and registrants persist across a power loss.

Release or clear reservation, using specified parameters:

-c
	Current reservation key.
-t
	Reservation type.
-a
	Release action:
0	Release
1	Clean

Print reservation status, using specified parameters:

-x
	Print reservation status in hex.
-e
	Use Extended Data Structure.

Sanitize NVM subsystem of specified controller, using specified parameters:

-a operation
	Specify the sanitize operation to perform.
overwrite
	Perform an overwrite operation by writing a user supplied data pattern to the device one or more times. The pattern is given by the -p argument. The number of times is given by the -c argument.
block	Perform a block erase operation. All the device's blocks are set to a vendor defined value, typically zero.
crypto
	Perform a cryptographic erase operation. The encryption keys are changed to prevent the decryption of the data.
exitfailure
	Exits a previously failed sanitize operation. A failed sanitize operation can only be exited if it was run in the unrestricted completion mode, as provided by the -U argument.

-c passes
	The number of passes when performing an 'overwrite' operation. Valid values are between 1 and 16. The default is 1.
-d
	No Deallocate After Sanitize.
-I
	When performing an 'overwrite' operation, the pattern is inverted between consecutive passes.
-p pattern
	32 bits of pattern to use when performing an 'overwrite' operation. The pattern is repeated as needed to fill each block.
-U
	Perform the sanitize in the unrestricted completion mode. If the operation fails, it can later be exited with the 'exitfailure' operation.
-r
	Run in "report only" mode. This will report status on a sanitize that is already running on the drive.

Manage the power modes of the NVMe controller.

-l
	List all supported power modes.
-p mode
	Set the power mode to mode. This must be a mode listed with the     nvmecontrol power -l command.
-w hint
	Set the workload hint for automatic power mode control.
0	No workload hint is provided.
1	Extended idle period workload. The device is often idle for minutes at a time. A burst of write commands comes in over a period of seconds. Then the device returns to being idle.
2	Heavy sequential writes. A huge number of sequential writes will be submitted, filling the submission queues.
Other	All other values are reserved and have no standard meaning.

Please see the "NVM Subsystem Workloads" section of the relevant NVM Express Base Standard for details.

Start the specified device self-test:

-c code
	Specify the device self-test command code. Common codes are:
0x1	Start a short device self-test operation
0x2	Start an extended device self-test operation
0xe	Start a vendor specific device self-test operation
0xf	Abort the device self-test operation

The various wdc command retrieve log data from the wdc/hgst drives. The -o flag specifies a path template to use to output the files. Each file takes the path template (which defaults to nothing), appends the drive's serial number and the type of dump it is followed by .bin. These logs must be sent to the vendor for analysis. This tool only provides a way to extract them.

Where <namespace-id> is required, you can use either the nvmeXnsY device, or the disk device such as ndaZ or nvdZ. The leading /dev/ may be omitted. Where <device-id> is required, you can use either the nvmeX device, or the disk device such as ndaZ or nvdZ. For commands that take an optional <nsid> you can use it to get information on other namespaces, or to query the drive itself. A <nsid> of "0" means query the drive itself.

    nvmecontrol devlist

Display a list of NVMe controllers and namespaces along with their device nodes.

    nvmecontrol identify nvme0

    nvmecontrol identify -n 0 nvd0

Display a human-readable summary of the nvme0 IDENTIFY_CONTROLLER data. In this example, nvd0 is connected to nvme0.

    nvmecontrol identify -x -v nvme0ns1

    nvmecontrol identify -x -v -n 1 nvme0

Display an hexadecimal dump of the nvme0 IDENTIFY_NAMESPACE data for namespace 1.

    nvmecontrol perftest -n 32 -o read -s 512 -t 30 nvme0ns1

Run a performance test on nvme0ns1 using 32 kernel threads for 30 seconds. Each thread will issue a single 512 byte read command. Results are printed to stdout when 30 seconds expires.

    nvmecontrol reset nvme0

    nvmecontrol reset nda4

Perform a controller-level reset of the nvme0 controller. In this example, nda4 is wired to nvme0.

    nvmecontrol logpage -p 1 nvme0

Display a human-readable summary of the nvme0 controller's Error Information Log. Log pages defined by the NVMe specification include Error Information Log (ID=1), SMART/Health Information Log (ID=2), and Firmware Slot Log (ID=3).

    nvmecontrol logpage -p 0xc1 -v wdc nvme0

Display a human-readable summary of the nvme0's wdc-specific advanced SMART data.

    nvmecontrol logpage -p 1 -x nvme0

Display a hexadecimal dump of the nvme0 controller's Error Information Log.

    nvmecontrol logpage -p 0xcb -b nvme0 > /tmp/page-cb.bin

Print the contents of vendor specific page 0xcb as binary data on standard out. Redirect it to a temporary file.

    nvmecontrol firmware -s 2 -f /tmp/nvme_firmware nvme0

Download the firmware image contained in "/tmp/nvme_firmware" to slot 2 of the nvme0 controller, but do not activate the image.

    nvmecontrol firmware -s 4 -a nvme0

Activate the firmware in slot 4 of the nvme0 controller on the next reset.

    nvmecontrol firmware -s 7 -f /tmp/nvme_firmware -a nvme0

Download the firmware image contained in "/tmp/nvme_firmware" to slot 7 of the nvme0 controller and activate it on the next reset.

    nvmecontrol power -l nvme0

List all the current power modes.

    nvmecontrol power -p 3 nvme0

Set the current power mode.

    nvmecontrol power nvme0

Get the current power mode.

    nvmecontrol identify -n 0 nda0

Identify the drive data associated with the nda0 device. The corresponding nvmeX devices is used automatically.

    nvmecontrol identify nda0

Get the namespace parameters associated with the nda0 device. The corresponding nvmeXnsY device is used automatically.

    nvmecontrol format -f 2 -m 0 -p 0 -l 0 -C nvme2

Format all the name spaces on nvme2 using parameters from "LBA Format #2" with no metadata or protection data using cryptographic erase. If the "nvmecontrol identify -n 1 nvme2" command ended with

LBA Format #00: Data Size: 512 Metadata Size: 0 Performance: Good LBA Format #01: Data Size: 512 Metadata Size: 8 Performance: Good LBA Format #02: Data Size: 4096 Metadata Size: 0 Performance: Good LBA Format #03: Data Size: 4096 Metadata Size: 8 Performance: Good LBA Format #04: Data Size: 4096 Metadata Size: 64 Performance: Good

then this would give a 4k data format for at least namespace 1, with no metadata.

The directories /lib/nvmecontrol and /usr/local/lib/nvmecontrol are scanned for any .so files. These files are loaded. The members of the top linker set are added to the top-level commands. The members of the logpage linker set are added to the logpage parsers.

The nvmecontrol utility appeared in FreeBSD 9.2 .

nvmecontrol was developed by Intel and originally written by Jim Harris <Mt jimharris@FreeBSD.org>.

This man page was written by Jim Harris <Mt jimharris@FreeBSD.org>.