fio.1

.TH fio 1 "September 2007" "User Manual"
.SH NAME
fio \- flexible I/O tester
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B fio
[\fIoptions\fR] [\fIjobfile\fR]...
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B fio
is a tool that will spawn a number of threads or processes doing a
particular type of I/O action as specified by the user.
The typical use of fio is to write a job file matching the I/O load
one wants to simulate.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.BI \-\-output \fR=\fPfilename
Write output to \fIfilename\fR.
.TP
.BI \-\-timeout \fR=\fPtimeout
Limit run time to \fItimeout\fR seconds.
.TP
.B \-\-latency\-log
Generate per-job latency logs.
.TP
.B \-\-bandwidth\-log
Generate per-job bandwidth logs.
.TP
.B \-\-minimal
Print statistics in a terse, semicolon-delimited format.
.TP
.BI \-\-showcmd \fR=\fPjobfile
Convert \fIjobfile\fR to a set of command-line options.
.TP
.B \-\-readonly
Enable read-only safety checks.
.TP
.BI \-\-eta \fR=\fPwhen
Specifies when real-time ETA estimate should be printed.  \fIwhen\fR may
be one of `always', `never' or `auto'.
.TP
.BI \-\-cmdhelp \fR=\fPcommand
Print help information for \fIcommand\fR.  May be `all' for all commands.
.TP
.B \-\-help
Display usage information and exit.
.TP
.B \-\-version
Display version information and exit.
.SH "JOB FILE FORMAT"
Job files are in `ini' format. They consist of one or more
job definitions, which begin with a job name in square brackets and
extend to the next job name.  The job name can be any ASCII string
except `global', which has a special meaning.  Following the job name is
a sequence of zero or more parameters, one per line, that define the
behavior of the job.  Any line starting with a `;' or `#' character is
considered a comment and ignored.
job files.
.SS "Global Section"
The global section contains default parameters for jobs specified in the
job file.  A job is only affected by global sections residing above it,
and there may be any number of global sections.  Specific job definitions
may override any parameter set in global sections.
.SH "JOB PARAMETERS"
.SS Types
Some parameters may take arguments of a specific type.  The types used are:
.TP
.I str
String: a sequence of alphanumeric characters.
.TP
.I int
Integer: a whole number, possibly negative.  If prefixed with `0x', the value
is assumed to be base 16 (hexadecimal).
.TP
.I siint
SI integer: a whole number, possibly containing a suffix denoting the base unit
of the value.  Accepted suffixes are `k', 'M' and 'G', denoting kilo (1024),
mega (1024*1024) and giga (1024*1024*1024) respectively.
.TP
.I bool
Boolean: a true or false value. `0' denotes false, `1' denotes true.
.TP
.I irange
Integer range: a range of integers specified in the format
\fIlower\fR:\fIupper\fR or \fIlower\fR\-\fIupper\fR. \fIlower\fR and
\fIupper\fR may contain a suffix as described above.  If an option allows two
sets of ranges, they are separated with a `,' or `/' character. For example:
`8\-8k/8M\-4G'.
.SS "Parameter List"
.TP
.BI name \fR=\fPstr
May be used to override the job name.  On the command line, this paramter
has the special purpose of signalling the start of a new job.
.TP
.BI description \fR=\fPstr
Human-readable description of the job. It is printed when the job is run, but
otherwise has no special purpose.
.TP
.BI directory \fR=\fPstr
Prefix filenames with this directory.  Used to place files in a location other
than `./'.
.TP
.BI filename \fR=\fPstr
.B fio
normally makes up a file name based on the job name, thread number, and file
number. If you want to share files between threads in a job or several jobs,
specify a \fIfilename\fR for each of them to override the default. If the I/O
engine used is `net', \fIfilename\fR is the host and port to connect to in the
format \fIhost\fR/\fIport\fR. If the I/O engine is file-based, you can specify
a number of files by separating the names with a `:' character. `\-' is a
reserved name, meaning stdin or stdout, depending on the read/write direction
set.
.TP
.BI opendir \fR=\fPstr
Recursively open any files below directory \fIstr\fR.
.TP
.BI readwrite \fR=\fPstr "\fR,\fP rw" \fR=\fPstr
Type of I/O pattern.  Accepted values are:
.RS
.RS
.TP
.B read
Sequential reads.
.TP
.B write
Sequential writes.
.TP
.B randread
Random reads.
.TP
.B randwrite
Random writes.
.TP
.B rw
Mixed sequential reads and writes.
.TP
.B randrw 
Mixed random reads and writes.
.RE
.P
For mixed I/O, the default split is 50/50.  For random I/O, the number of I/Os
to perform before getting a new offset can be specified by appending
`:\fIint\fR' to the pattern type.  The default is 1.
.RE
.TP
.BI randrepeat \fR=\fPbool
Seed the random number generator in a predictable way so results are repeatable
across runs.  Default: true.
.TP
.BI fadvise_hint \fR=\fPbool
Disable use of \fIposix_fadvise\fR\|(2) to advise the kernel what I/O patterns
are likely to be issued. Default: true.
.TP
.BI size \fR=\fPsiint
Total size of I/O for this job.  \fBfio\fR will run until this many bytes have
been transfered, unless limited by other options (\fBruntime\fR, for instance).
Unless \fBnr_files\fR and \fBfilesize\fR options are given, this amount will be
divided between the available files for the job.
.TP
.BI filesize \fR=\fPirange
Individual file sizes. May be a range, in which case \fBfio\fR will select sizes
for files at random within the given range, limited to \fBsize\fR in total (if
that is given). If \fBfilesize\fR is not specified, each created file is the
same size.
.TP
.BI blocksize \fR=\fPsiint "\fR,\fB bs" \fR=\fPsiint
Block size for I/O units.  Default: 4k.  Values for reads and writes can be
specified seperately in the format \fIread\fR,\fIwrite\fR, either of
which may be empty to leave that value at its default.
.TP
.BI blocksize_range \fR=\fPirange "\fR,\fB bsrange" \fR=\fPirange
Specify a range of I/O block sizes.  The issued I/O unit will always be a
multiple of the minimum size, unless \fBblocksize_unaligned\fR is set.  Applies
to both reads and writes, but can be specified seperately (see \fBblocksize\fR).
.TP
.B blocksize_unaligned\fR,\fP bs_unaligned
If set, any size in \fBblocksize_range\fR may be used.  This typically won't
work with direct I/O, as that normally requires sector alignment.
.TP
.B zero_buffers
Initialise buffers with all zeros. Default: fill buffers with random data.
.TP
.BI nrfiles \fR=\fPint
Number of files to use for this job.  Default: 1.
.TP
.BI openfiles \fR=\fPint
Number of files to keep open at the same time.  Default: \fBnrfiles\fR.
.TP
.BI file_service_type \fR=\fPstr
Defines how files to service are selected.  The following types are defined:
.RS
.RS
.TP
.B random
Choose a file at random
.TP
.B roundrobin
Round robin over open files (default).
.RE
.P
The number of I/Os to issue before switching a new file can be specified by
appending `:\fIint\fR' to the service type.
.RE
.TP
.BI ioengine \fR=\fPstr
Defines how the job issues I/O.  The following types are defined:
.RS
.RS
.TP
.B sync
Basic \fIread\fR\|(2) or \fIwrite\fR\|(2) I/O.  \fIfseek\fR\|(2) is used to
position the I/O location.
.TP
.B libaio
Linux native asynchronous I/O.
.TP
.B posixaio
glibc POSIX asynchronous I/O using \fIaio_read\fR\|(3) and \fIaio_write\fR\|(3).
.TP
.B mmap
File is memory mapped with \fImmap\fR\|(2) and data copied using
\fImemcpy\fR\|(3).
.TP
.B splice
\fIsplice\fR\|(2) is used to transfer the data and \fIvmsplice\fR\|(2) to
transfer data from user-space to the kernel.
.TP
.B syslet-rw
Use the syslet system calls to make regular read/write asynchronous.
.TP
.B sg
SCSI generic sg v3 I/O. May be either synchronous using the SG_IO ioctl, or if
the target is an sg character device, we use \fIread\fR\|(2) and
\fIwrite\fR\|(2) for asynchronous I/O.
.TP
.B null
Doesn't transfer any data, just pretends to.  Mainly used to exercise \fBfio\fR
itself and for debugging and testing purposes.
.TP
.B net
Transfer over the network.  \fBfilename\fR must be set appropriately to
`\fIhost\fR/\fIport\fR' regardless of data direction.  If receiving, only the
\fIport\fR argument is used.
.TP
.B netsplice
Like \fBnet\fR, but uses \fIsplice\fR\|(2) and \fIvmsplice\fR\|(2) to map data
and send/receive.
.TP
.B cpuio
Doesn't transfer any data, but burns CPU cycles according to \fBcpuload\fR and
\fBcpucycles\fR parameters.
.TP
.B guasi
The GUASI I/O engine is the Generic Userspace Asynchronous Syscall Interface
approach to asycnronous I/O.
.br
See <http://www.xmailserver.org/guasi\-lib.html>.
.TP
.B external
Loads an external I/O engine object file.  Append the engine filename as
`:\fIenginepath\fR'.
.RE
.RE
.TP
.BI iodepth \fR=\fPint
Number of I/O units to keep in flight against the file.  Default: 1.
.TP
.BI iodepth_batch \fR=\fPint
Number of I/Os to submit at once.  Default: \fBiodepth\fR.
.TP
.BI iodepth_low \fR=\fPint
Low watermark indicating when to start filling the queue again.  Default:
\fBiodepth\fR. 
.TP
.BI direct \fR=\fPbool
If true, use non-buffered I/O (usually O_DIRECT).  Default: false.
.TP
.BI buffered \fR=\fPbool
If true, use buffered I/O.  This is the opposite of the \fBdirect\fR parameter.
Default: true.
.TP
.BI offset \fR=\fPsiint
Offset in the file to start I/O. Data before the offset will not be touched.
.TP
.BI fsync \fR=\fPint
How many I/Os to perform before issuing an \fBfsync\fR\|(2) of dirty data.  If
0, don't sync.  Default: 0.
.TP
.BI overwrite \fR=\fPbool
If writing, setup the file first and do overwrites.  Default: false.
.TP
.BI end_fsync \fR=\fPbool
Sync file contents when job exits.  Default: false.
.TP
.BI fsync_on_close \fR=\fPbool
If true, sync file contents on close.  This differs from \fBend_fsync\fR in that
it will happen on every close, not just at the end of the job.  Default: false.
.TP
.BI rwmixcycle \fR=\fPint
How many milliseconds before switching between reads and writes for a mixed
workload. Default: 500ms.
.TP
.BI rwmixread \fR=\fPint
Percentage of a mixed workload that should be reads. Default: 50.
.TP
.BI rwmixwrite \fR=\fPint
Percentage of a mixed workload that should be writes.  If \fBrwmixread\fR and
\fBwrmixwrite\fR are given and do not sum to 100%, the latter of the two
overrides the first.  Default: 50.
.TP
.B norandommap
Normally \fBfio\fR will cover every block of the file when doing random I/O. If
this parameter is given, a new offset will be chosen without looking at past
I/O history.  This parameter is mutually exclusive with \fBverify\fR.
.TP
.BI nice \fR=\fPint
Run job with given nice value.  See \fInice\fR\|(2).
.TP
.BI prio \fR=\fPint
Set I/O priority value of this job between 0 (highest) and 7 (lowest).  See
\fIionice\fR\|(1).
.TP
.BI prioclass \fR=\fPint
Set I/O priority class.  See \fIionice\fR\|(1).
.TP
.BI thinktime \fR=\fPint
Stall job for given number of microseconds between issuing I/Os.
.TP
.BI thinktime_spin \fR=\fPint
Pretend to spend CPU time for given number of microseconds, sleeping the rest
of the time specified by \fBthinktime\fR.  Only valid if \fBthinktime\fR is set.
.TP
.BI thinktime_blocks \fR=\fPint
Number of blocks to issue before waiting \fBthinktime\fR microseconds.
Default: 1.
.TP
.BI rate \fR=\fPint
Cap bandwidth used by this job to this number of KiB/s.
.TP
.BI ratemin \fR=\fPint
Tell \fBfio\fR to do whatever it can to maintain at least the given bandwidth.
Failing to meet this requirement will cause the job to exit.
.TP
.BI rate_iops \fR=\fPint
Cap the bandwidth to this number of IOPS.  If \fBblocksize\fR is a range, the
smallest block size is used as the metric.
.TP
.BI rate_iops_min \fR=\fPint
If this rate of I/O is not met, the job will exit.
.TP
.BI ratecycle \fR=\fPint
Average bandwidth for \fBrate\fR and \fBratemin\fR over this number of
milliseconds.  Default: 1000ms.
.TP
.BI cpumask \fR=\fPint
Set CPU affinity for this job. \fIint\fR is a bitmask of allowed CPUs the job
may run on.  See \fBsched_setaffinity\fR\|(2).
.TP
.BI cpus_allowed \fR=\fPstr
Same as \fBcpumask\fR, but allows a comma-delimited list of CPU numbers.
.TP
.BI startdelay \fR=\fPint
Delay start of job for the specified number of seconds.
.TP
.BI runtime \fR=\fPint
Terminate processing after the specified number of seconds.
.TP
.B time_based
If given, run for the specified \fBruntime\fR duration even if the files are
completely read or written. The same workload will be repeated as many times
as \fBruntime\fR allows.
.TP
.BI invalidate \fR=\fPbool
Invalidate buffer-cache for the file prior to starting I/O.  Default: true.
.TP
.BI sync \fR=\fPbool
Use synchronous I/O for buffered writes.  For the majority of I/O engines,
this means using O_SYNC.  Default: false.
.TP
.BI iomem \fR=\fPstr "\fR,\fP mem" \fR=\fPstr
Allocation method for I/O unit buffer.  Allowed values are:
.RS
.RS
.TP
.B malloc
Allocate memory with \fImalloc\fR\|(3).
.TP
.B shm
Use shared memory buffers allocated through \fIshmget\fR\|(2).
.TP
.B shmhuge
Same as \fBshm\fR, but use huge pages as backing.
.TP
.B mmap
Use \fImmap\fR\|(2) for allocation.  Uses anonymous memory unless a filename
is given after the option in the format `:\fIfile\fR'.
.TP
.B mmaphuge
Same as \fBmmap\fR, but use huge files as backing.
.RE
.P
The amount of memory allocated is the maximum allowed \fBblocksize\fR for the
job multiplied by \fBiodepth\fR.  For \fBshmhuge\fR or \fBmmaphuge\fR to work,
the system must have free huge pages allocated.  \fBmmaphuge\fR also needs to
have hugetlbfs mounted, and \fIfile\fR must point there.
.RE
.TP
.BI hugepage\-size \fR=\fPsiint
Defines the size of a huge page.  Must be at least equal to the system setting.
Should be a multiple of 1MiB. Default: 4MiB.
.TP
.B exitall
Terminate all jobs when one finishes.  Default: wait for each job to finish.
.TP
.BI bwavgtime \fR=\fPint
Average bandwidth calculations over the given time in milliseconds.  Default:
500ms.
.TP
.BI create_serialize \fR=\fPbool
If true, serialize file creation for the jobs.  Default: true.
.TP
.BI create_fsync \fR=\fPbool
\fIfsync\fR\|(2) data file after creation.  Default: true.
.TP
.BI unlink \fR=\fPbool
Unlink job files when done.  Default: false.
.TP
.BI loops \fR=\fPint
Specifies the number of iterations (runs of the same workload) of this job.
Default: 1.
.TP
.BI do_verify \fR=\fPbool
Run the verify phase after a write phase.  Only valid if \fBverify\fR is set.
Default: true.
.TP
.BI verify \fR=\fPstr
Method of verifying file contents after each iteration of the job.  Allowed
values are:
.RS
.RS
.TP
.B md5 crc16 crc32 crc64 crc7 sha256 sha512
Store appropriate checksum in the header of each block.
.TP
.B meta
Write extra information about each I/O (timestamp, block number, etc.). The
block number is verified.
.TP
.B pattern
Fill I/O buffers with a specific pattern that is used to verify.  The pattern is
specified by appending `:\fIint\fR' to the parameter. \fIint\fR cannot be larger
than 32-bits. 
.TP
.B null
Pretend to verify.  Used for testing internals.
.RE
.RE
.TP
.BI verify_sort \fR=\fPbool
If true, written verify blocks are sorted if \fBfio\fR deems it to be faster to
read them back in a sorted manner.  Default: true.
.TP
.BI verify_offset \fR=\fPsiint
Swap the verification header with data somewhere else in the block before
writing.  It is swapped back before verifying.
.TP
.BI verify_interval \fR=\fPsiint
Write the verification header for this number of bytes, which should divide
\fBblocksize\fR.  Default: \fBblocksize\fR.
.TP
.BI verify_fatal \fR=\fPbool
If true, exit the job on the first observed verification failure.  Default:
false.
.TP
.B stonewall
Wait for preceeding jobs in the job file to exit before starting this one.
\fBstonewall\fR implies \fBnew_group\fR.
.TP
.B new_group
Start a new reporting group.  If not given, all jobs in a file will be part
of the same reporting group, unless separated by a stonewall.
.TP
.BI numjobs \fR=\fPint
Number of clones (processes/threads performing the same workload) of this job.  
Default: 1.
.TP
.B group_reporting
If set, display per-group reports instead of per-job when \fBnumjobs\fR is
specified.
.TP
.B thread
Use threads created with \fBpthread_create\fR\|(3) instead of processes created
with \fBfork\fR\|(2).
.TP
.BI zonesize \fR=\fPsiint
Divide file into zones of the specified size in bytes.  See \fBzoneskip\fR.
.TP
.BI zoneskip \fR=\fPsiint
Skip the specified number of bytes when \fBzonesize\fR bytes of data have been
read.
.TP
.BI write_iolog \fR=\fPstr
Write the issued I/O patterns to the specified file.
.TP
.BI read_iolog \fR=\fPstr
Replay the I/O patterns contained in the specified file generated by
\fBwrite_iolog\fR, or may be a \fBblktrace\fR binary file.
.TP
.B write_bw_log
If given, write bandwidth logs of the jobs in this file.
.TP
.B write_lat_log
Same as \fBwrite_bw_log\fR, but writes I/O completion latencies.
.TP
.BI lockmem \fR=\fPsiint
Pin the specified amount of memory with \fBmlock\fR\|(2).  Can be used to
simulate a smaller amount of memory.
.TP
.BI exec_prerun \fR=\fPstr
Before running the job, execute the specified command with \fBsystem\fR\|(3).
.TP
.BI exec_postrun \fR=\fPstr
Same as \fBexec_prerun\fR, but the command is executed after the job completes.
.TP
.BI ioscheduler \fR=\fPstr
Attempt to switch the device hosting the file to the specified I/O scheduler.
.TP
.BI cpuload \fR=\fPint
If the job is a CPU cycle-eater, attempt to use the specified percentage of
CPU cycles.
.TP
.BI cpuchunks \fR=\fPint
If the job is a CPU cycle-eater, split the load into cycles of the
given time in milliseconds.
.TP
.BI disk_util \fR=\fPbool
Generate disk utilization statistics if the platform supports it. Default: true.
.SH OUTPUT
While running, \fBfio\fR will display the status of the created jobs.  For
example:
.RS
.P
Threads: 1: [_r] [24.8% done] [ 13509/  8334 kb/s] [eta 00h:01m:31s]
.RE
.P
The characters in the first set of brackets denote the current status of each
threads.  The possible values are:
.P
.PD 0
.RS
.TP
.B P
Setup but not started.
.TP
.B C
Thread created.
.TP
.B I
Initialized, waiting.
.TP
.B R
Running, doing sequential reads.
.TP
.B r
Running, doing random reads.
.TP
.B W
Running, doing sequential writes.
.TP
.B w
Running, doing random writes.
.TP
.B M
Running, doing mixed sequential reads/writes.
.TP
.B m
Running, doing mixed random reads/writes.
.TP
.B F
Running, currently waiting for \fBfsync\fR\|(2).
.TP
.B V
Running, verifying written data.
.TP
.B E
Exited, not reaped by main thread.
.TP
.B \-
Exited, thread reaped.
.RE
.PD
.P
The second set of brackets shows the estimated completion percentage of
the current group.  The third set shows the read and write I/O rate,
respectively. Finally, the estimated run time of the job is displayed.
.P
When \fBfio\fR completes (or is interrupted by Ctrl-C), it will show data
for each thread, each group of threads, and each disk, in that order.
.P
Per-thread statistics first show the threads client number, group-id, and
error code.  The remaining figures are as follows:
.RS
.TP
.B io
Number of megabytes of I/O performed.
.TP
.B bw
Average data rate (bandwidth).
.TP
.B runt
Threads run time.
.TP
.B slat
Submission latency minimum, maximum, average and standard deviation. This is
the time it took to submit the I/O.
.TP
.B clat
Completion latency minimum, maximum, average and standard deviation.  This
is the time between submission and completion.
.TP
.B bw
Bandwidth minimum, maximum, percentage of aggregate bandwidth received, average
and standard deviation.
.TP
.B cpu
CPU usage statistics. Includes user and system time, number of context switches
this thread went through and number of major and minor page faults.
.TP
.B IO depths
Distribution of I/O depths.  Each depth includes everything less than (or equal)
to it, but greater than the previous depth.
.TP
.B IO issued
Number of read/write requests issued, and number of short read/write requests.
.TP
.B IO latencies
Distribution of I/O completion latencies.  The numbers follow the same pattern
as \fBIO depths\fR.
.RE
.P
The group statistics show:
.PD 0
.RS
.TP
.B io
Number of megabytes I/O performed.
.TP
.B aggrb
Aggregate bandwidth of threads in the group.
.TP
.B minb
Minimum average bandwidth a thread saw.
.TP
.B maxb
Maximum average bandwidth a thread saw.
.TP
.B mint
Shortest runtime of threads in the group.
.TP
.B maxt
Longest runtime of threads in the group.
.RE
.PD
.P
Finally, disk statistics are printed with reads first:
.PD 0
.RS
.TP
.B ios
Number of I/Os performed by all groups.
.TP
.B merge
Number of merges in the I/O scheduler.
.TP
.B ticks
Number of ticks we kept the disk busy.
.TP
.B io_queue
Total time spent in the disk queue.
.TP
.B util
Disk utilization.
.RE
.PD
.SH TERSE OUTPUT
If the \fB\-\-minimal\fR option is given, the results will be printed in a
semicolon-delimited format suitable for scripted use.  The fields are:
.P
.RS
.B jobname, groupid, error
.P
Read status:
.RS
.B KiB I/O, bandwidth \fR(KiB/s)\fP, runtime \fR(ms)\fP
.P
Submission latency:
.RS
.B min, max, mean, standard deviation
.RE
Completion latency:
.RS
.B min, max, mean, standard deviation
.RE
Bandwidth:
.RS
.B min, max, aggregate percentage of total, mean, standard deviation
.RE
.RE
.P
Write status:
.RS
.B KiB I/O, bandwidth \fR(KiB/s)\fP, runtime \fR(ms)\fP
.P
Submission latency:
.RS
.B min, max, mean, standard deviation
.RE
Completion latency:
.RS
.B min, max, mean, standard deviation
.RE
Bandwidth:
.RS
.B min, max, aggregate percentage of total, mean, standard deviation
.RE
.RE
.P
CPU usage:
.RS
.B user, system, context switches
.RE
.P
IO depth distribution:
.RS
.B <=1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, >=64
.RE
.P
IO latency distribution (ms):
.RS
.B <=2, 4, 10, 20, 50, 100, 250, 500, 750, 1000, >=2000
.RE
.P
.B text description
.RE
.SH AUTHORS
.B fio
was written by Jens Axboe <jens.axboe@oracle.com>.
.br
This man page was written by Aaron Carroll <aaronc@cse.unsw.edu.au> based
on documentation by Jens Axboe.
.SH "REPORTING BUGS"
Report bugs to the \fBfio\fR mailing list <fio-devel@kernel.dk>.
See \fBREADME\fR.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
For further documentation see \fBHOWTO\fR and \fBREADME\fR.
.br
Sample jobfiles are available in the \fBexamples\fR directory.