DRBD�Quick�Command�Reference

Martin Loschwitz <martin.loschwitz@linbit.com>

Edited by Florian Haas
v1.0, Sep 2010
Copyright © 2010, 2011 LINBIT HA-Solutions GmbH

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1. Initializing a DRBD resource ....................................................................................... 1

2. Frequently used drbdadm commands ........................................................................ 1
3. Advanced use of drbdadm ....................................................................................... 2
4. Gathering information on DRBD resources .................................................................. 2
5. DRBD Configuration ................................................................................................. 2
6. Manually resolving a split brain situation ..................................................................... 3
7. Interrupting the resynchronisation process .................................................................. 3
8. DRBD Proxy ............................................................................................................ 3

The following command reference aims to give you an overview over some of the most important
shell commands for manipulating DRBD resources.

1. Initializing�a�DRBD�resource
In order to create the DRBD meta-data for a given resource, use:

drbdadm create-md <resource>

In order to define the Primary node for a freshly created DRBD resource, and at the same time
kick off the initial full synchronization, use the following command:

drbdadm primary --force <resource>

Warning
This will cause DRBD to overwrite any data for this resource on the peer node.

2. Frequently�used�drbdadm�commands
To enable a DRBD resource on a host, use:

drbdadm up <resource>

To disable a DRBD resource, use the following command:

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 DRBD Quick Command Reference

drbdadm down <resource>

To switch a DRBD resource into primary mode, use:

drbdadm primary <resource>

To switch a DRBD resource into secondary mode, use:

drbdadm secondary <resource>

3. Advanced�use�of�drbdadm
To attach a resource to its backing device, use:

drbdadm attach <resource>

To detach DRBD from its backing device, use:

drbdadm detach <resource>

To enable a DRBD resource’s network connection, use:

drbdadm connect <resource>

To disable a DRBD resource’s network connection, use:

drbdadm disconnect <resource>

To resize a DRBD resource, use:

drbdadm --size=new-size <resource>

Warning
Shrinking requires you to follow the right order! See the Resizing resources chapter
in the DRBD User’s Guide.

4. Gathering�information�on�DRBD�resources
To gather information about existing DRBD resources via the /proc pseudo filesystem, use:

cat /proc/drbd

Table 1. Important acronyms in /proc/drbd

acronym meaning
cs connection state
ro role
ds disk state

A more concise overview is provided by drbd-overview.

5. DRBD�Configuration
To set the syncer rate for a specific DRBD resource on the fly, use:

drbdsetup <DRBD device> syncer -r <rate>

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 DRBD Quick Command Reference

To see the current live configuration of a resource, use:

drbdsetup <DRBD device> show

To adjust the configuration of a resource after having changed the configuration file, use:

drbdadm adjust <resource>

6. Manually�resolving�a�split�brain�situation
On the split brain victim, issue this command:

drbdadm connect --discard-my-data <resource>

Afterwards, issue the following command on the split brain survivor:

drbdadm connect <resource>

7. Interrupting�the�resynchronisation�process
To pause a currently running resynchronisation process, use:

drbdadm pause-sync <resource>

To resume that resynchronisation process later on, use:

drbdadm resume-sync <resource>

8. DRBD�Proxy
To list connections:

drbd-proxy-ctl -c "list hconnections"

To watch the proxy buffers (run on the Primary node):

watch -n1 'drbd-proxy-ctl -c "show memusage"'

Show currently configured communication paths:

drbd-proxy-ctl -c show