From 7d93d5917e7309ccff418dcbe448b19b1e6f495b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Antonio SJ Musumeci Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2017 16:39:25 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] add explination in FAQ about what mergerfs is / is not --- README.md | 10 ++++++++++ man/mergerfs.1 | 15 +++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 25 insertions(+) diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 257f9fdf..743129b7 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -603,6 +603,16 @@ There is a bug in the kernel. A work around appears to be turning off `splice`. # FAQ +#### Can mergerfs be used with drives which already have data / are in use? + +Yes. MergerFS is a proxy and does **NOT** interfere with the normal form or function of the drives / mounts / paths it manages. + +MergerFS is **not** an actual filesystem. MergerFS is **not** RAID. It does **not** manipulate the data that passes through it. It does **not** shard data across drives. It merely shards some **behavior** and aggregates others. + +#### Can mergerfs be removed without affecting the data? + +See the previous question's answer. + #### Why can't I see my files / directories? It's almost always a permissions issue. Unlike mhddfs, which runs as root and attempts to access content as such, mergerfs always changes it's credentials to that of the caller. This means that if the user doesn't have access to a file or directory than neither will mergerfs. However, because mergerfs is creating a union of paths it may be able to read some files and directories on one drive but not another resulting in an incomplete set. diff --git a/man/mergerfs.1 b/man/mergerfs.1 index 1714ed9f..47e80e8b 100644 --- a/man/mergerfs.1 +++ b/man/mergerfs.1 @@ -1286,6 +1286,21 @@ Should be placed after \f[C]defaults\f[] if it is used since it will turn them on. This however is not guaranteed to work. .SH FAQ +.SS Can mergerfs be used with drives which already have data / are in +use? +.PP +Yes. +MergerFS is a proxy and does \f[B]NOT\f[] interfere with the normal form +or function of the drives / mounts / paths it manages. +.PP +MergerFS is \f[B]not\f[] an actual filesystem. +MergerFS is \f[B]not\f[] RAID. +It does \f[B]not\f[] manipulate the data that passes through it. +It does \f[B]not\f[] shard data across drives. +It merely shards some \f[B]behavior\f[] and aggregates others. +.SS Can mergerfs be removed without affecting the data? +.PP +See the previous question\[aq]s answer. .SS Why can\[aq]t I see my files / directories? .PP It\[aq]s almost always a permissions issue.