Increasing the maximum number of files in a volume

About increasing the maximum number of files

The storage system automatically sets the maximum number of files for a newly created volume based on the amount of disk space in the volume. The storage system increases the maximum number of files when you add a disk to a volume. The number set by the storage system never exceeds 33,554,432 unless you set a higher number with the maxfiles command. This prevents a storage system with terabytes of storage from creating a larger than necessary inode file.

If you get an error message telling you that you are out of inodes (data structures containing information about files), you can use the maxfiles command to increase the number. This should only be necessary if you are using an unusually large number of small files, or if your volume is extremely large.

Attention
Use caution when increasing the maximum number of files, because after you increase this number, you can never decrease it. As new files are created, the file system consumes the additional disk space required to hold the inodes for the additional files; there is no way for the storage system to release that disk space.

Increasing the maximum number of files allowed on a volume

To increase the maximum number of files allowed on a volume, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Enter the following command: maxfiles vol_name max vol_name is the volume whose maximum number of files you are increasing. max is the maximum number of files. Note Inodes are added in blocks, and five percent of the total number of inodes is reserved for internal use. If the requested increase in the number of files is too small to require a full inode block to be added, the `maxfiles` value is not increased. If this happens, repeat the command with a larger value for max.

Step

Action

Enter the following command:

maxfiles vol_name max

vol_name is the volume whose maximum number of files you are increasing.

max is the maximum number of files.

Note
Inodes are added in blocks, and five percent of the total number of inodes is reserved for internal use. If the requested increase in the number of files is too small to require a full inode block to be added, the maxfiles value is not increased. If this happens, repeat the command with a larger value for max.

Displaying the number of files in a volume

To see how many files are in a volume and the maximum number of files allowed on the volume, complete the following step.

Step	Action
1	Enter the following command: maxfiles vol_name vol_name is the volume whose maximum number of files you are increasing. Result A display like the following appears: Volume home: maximum number of files is currently 120962 (2872 used) Note The value returned reflects only the number of files that can be created by users; the inodes reserved for internal use are not included in this number.

Step

Action

Enter the following command:

maxfiles vol_name

vol_name is the volume whose maximum number of files you are increasing.

Result

A display like the following appears:

Volume home: maximum number of files is currently 
120962 (2872 used)

Note
The value returned reflects only the number of files that can be created by users; the inodes reserved for internal use are not included in this number.