vnd(4) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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VND(4)                  NetBSD Kernel Interfaces Manual                 VND(4)


NAME

     vnd -- vnode disk driver


SYNOPSIS

     pseudo-device vnd
     options VND_COMPRESSION


DESCRIPTION

     The vnd driver provides a disk-like interface to a file.  This is useful
     for a variety of applications, including swap files and building miniroot
     or floppy disk images.

     This document assumes that you're familiar with how to generate kernels,
     how to properly configure disks and pseudo-devices in a kernel configura-
     tion file.

     In order to compile in support for the vnd, you must add a line similar
     to the following to your kernel configuration file:

           pseudo-device  vnd       # vnode disk driver

     To also compile in support for reading compressed disk images, add the
     following option to your kernel config file:

           options        VND_COMPRESSION    # compressed vnd(4)

     Compressed disk images are expected in the cloop2 format, they can be
     created from "normal" disk images by the vndcompress(1) program.

     There is a run-time utility that is used for configuring both compressed
     and uncompressed vnds.  See vnconfig(8) for more information.


FILES

     /dev/{,r}vnd*  vnd device special files.


SEE ALSO

     config(1), vndcompress(1), MAKEDEV(8), fsck(8), mount(8), newfs(8),
     vnconfig(8)


HISTORY

     The vnode disk driver was originally written at the University of Utah.
     The compression handling is based on code by Cliff Wright
     <cliff@snipe444.org>.


BUGS

     The vnd driver does not work if the file does not reside in a local
     filesystem.

NetBSD 5.0.2                   February 1, 2006                   NetBSD 5.0.2