NAME

       ndctl-write-infoblock - generate and write an infoblock

SYNOPSIS

       ndctl write-infoblock [<namespaceX.Y> | -o <file> | --stdout] [<options>]

DESCRIPTION

       As described in the theory of operation section of ndctl-create-namespace(1), the raw
       capacity of a namespace may encapsulate a personality, or mode of operation. Specifically,
       the mode may be set to one of "sector", "fsdax", and "devdax". Each of those modes is
       defined by an info-block format that uniquely identifies the mode of operation. The
       write-infoblock command knows how to generate an "fsdax" or "devdax" info-block relative
       to the specified image size.

       The generated block can be written to an existing namespace (provided that namespace is
       not presently active), written to a file, or piped to standard-out.

           Warning
           This command is a debug facility that can generate image files with valid infoblocks,
           but also invalid infoblocks for testing the kernel. Use the --offset and --align
           options with care. Namely --offset must match the actual physical address offset of
           the namespace it is applied to, and --align must be one of the architectures supported
           page sizes.

EXAMPLE

       ndctl write-infoblock -s 1T -c | ndctl read-infoblock -j
       wrote 1 infoblock
       [
         {
           "file":"<stdin>",
           "signature":"NVDIMM_PFN_INFO",
           "uuid":"42e1d574-76ac-402c-9132-5436e31528c0",
           "parent_uuid":"ef83e49c-4c4a-4fae-b908-72e94675b1b7",
           "flags":0,
           "version":"1.4",
           "dataoff":17196646400,
           "npfns":264237056,
           "mode":2,
           "start_pad":0,
           "end_trunc":0,
           "align":16777216,
           "page_size":4096,
           "page_struct_size":64
         }
       ]
       read 1 infoblock

OPTIONS

       <namespace(s)>
           One or more namespaceX.Y device names. The keyword all can be specified to operate on
           every namespace in the system, optionally filtered by bus id (see --bus= option), or
           region id (see --region= option).

       -c, --stdout
           Write the infoblock to stdout

       -o, --output=
           Write the infoblock to the given file (mutually exclusive with --stdout).

       -m, --mode=
           Select the infoblock mode between fsdax and devdax. See ndctl-create-namespace(1) for
           details on --mode.

       -s, --size=
           Override the default size determined from the size of the file specified to --output.
           In the --stdout case, this option is required.

       -a, --align=
           Specify the "align" value in the infoblock. In the --mode=devdax case "align"
           designates a page mapping size. There is no validation of this value relative to the
           page mapping capabilities of the platform.

       -u, --uuid=
           Override the default autogenerated UUID with the given value.

       -M, --map=
           Select whether the page map array is allocated from the device or from "System RAM".
           Defaults to the device. See ndctl-create-namespace(1) for more details.

       -p, --parent-uuid=
           When the infoblock is stored on a labelled namespace the UUID of the namespace must
           match the "parent uuid" attribute in the infoblock. This option defaults to the UUID
           of the namespace when --output and --stdout are not used, otherwise it defaults to a
           NULL UUID (all zeroes).

       -O, --offset=
           By default the assumption is that the infoblock is being written to a namespace or
           namespace-image that is aligned to its size. Specify this EXPERT/DEBUG option to
           experiment / test the kernel’s handling of namespaces that violate that assumption.

       -r, --region=
           A regionX device name, or a region id number. Restrict the operation to the specified
           region(s). The keyword all can be specified to indicate the lack of any restriction,
           however this is the same as not supplying a --region option at all.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2016 - 2022, Intel Corporation. License GPLv2: GNU GPL version 2
       http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html. This is free software: you are free to change and
       redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

       ndctl-create-namespace(1), UEFI NVDIMM Label Protocol
       <http://www.uefi.org/sites/default/files/resources/UEFI_Spec_2_7.pdf>