mdadm / software raid

create raid

raid 1:

mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid=devices=2 /dev/sda /dev/sdb

if you get an error like mdadm: invalid number of raid devices: devices=2 run the command like so (with -l for level and -n for devices):

mdadm --verbose --create /dev/md0 -l 1 -n 2 /dev/sdc /dev/sdb

create a file system:

mkfs.ext4 /dev/md0

or whatever filesystem you want.

check raid status

mdadm --detail /dev/md0

check also: /proc/mdstat

save raid config

well, that’s somewhat important, right?

mdadm --detail --scan --verbose | sudo tee -a /etc/mdadm/mdadm.conf

Run update-initramfs -u after updating this file.

also, back up the mdadm.conf file to restore it onto a new system

add and remove devices to/from raid

if they’re in a faulty state for example

mdadm --remove /dev/md0 /dev/nvme0n1
mdadm --add /dev/md0 /dev/nvme0n1

replace disk

check how to backup and copy your partition table

remove disk:

mdadm /dev/md0 -r /dev/sdb

copy partition table from backup or primary drive:

sfdisk -d /dev/sda | sfdisk /dev/sdb

add disk:

mdadm /dev/md0 -a /dev/sdb

convert single disk to raid 1

… hopefully without losing data!

1. create raid from 2nd disk with one missing disk
2. copy data from 1st disk to 2nd disk (now in raid)
3. add 1st (original) disk to raid config
4. rebuild raid
5. profit (took 5 steps, I’m sorry)

create raid:

notice the missing bit?

mdadm --create /dev/md0 --level=1 --raid-devices=2 missing /dev/sdb

now copy the data from the original disk to the newly created raid, so create and mount your filesystem on /dev/md0

[…]

prepare original disk:

let’s dump (-d the disk layout from the raid disk to the original disk):

sfdisk -d /dev/sdb | sfdisk /dev/sda

add original disk to raid:

mdadm /dev/md0 -a /dev/sda

check raid rebuild status:

…in minutes

grep -oP 'finish\=\d+\.\d+' /proc/mdstat | cut -d'=' -f2

increase mdadm rebuild / resync speed

you can check the current speed limits with:

sysctl dev.raid.speed_limit_min
sysctl dev.raid.speed_limit_max

and, now just increase that number to make it faster (it’s displayed in kb)

sysctl -w dev.raid.speed_limit_min=500000

debugging things

if you messed things up, you can try and restore things with testdisk