manage.flexfs

manage.flexfs is the host management utility for flexFS. It manages systemd services, downloads and installs binary updates, and provides log monitoring. All subcommands except version and license require root.

It works with both Enterprise and Community editions.

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
start	Start flexFS systemd services
stop	Stop flexFS systemd services
restart	Stop, clean, and start services
status	Show status of flexFS services
clean	Remove temporary files and caches
download	Download flexFS binaries to /tmp
install	Install binaries from /tmp to /usr/sbin
deploy	Deploy mount client binaries to staging/production channels
upgrade	Full upgrade: download, install, stop, clean, start
watch	Follow journal logs for a service
version	Print the build version
license	Print license information

Service Management

Service Order

manage.flexfs manages five flexFS systemd services. Services are started in this order and stopped in reverse order, ensuring that dependents are torn down before the services they depend on:

1. stat (flexfs-stat.service)
2. admin (flexfs-admin.service)
3. free (flexfs-free.service)
4. proxy (flexfs-proxy.service)
5. meta (flexfs-meta.service)

When no service names are specified, commands operate on all services that have unit files installed. Only services with existing systemd units are acted upon.

start

Start flexFS systemd services.

sudo manage.flexfs start              # Start all installed services
sudo manage.flexfs start meta proxy   # Start specific services

stop

Stop flexFS systemd services. Services are stopped in reverse order.

sudo manage.flexfs stop               # Stop all installed services
sudo manage.flexfs stop proxy         # Stop a specific service

restart

Stop services, clean temporary state, and start services again.

sudo manage.flexfs restart
sudo manage.flexfs restart --vacuum   # Also vacuum journal logs
sudo manage.flexfs restart meta       # Restart a specific service

Flag	Default	Description
--vacuum	false	Vacuum system journal logs during the clean step

status

Show the status and uptime of flexFS services.

sudo manage.flexfs status

Output shows each installed service with its systemd active state and uptime:

  admin    active       2d 14h
  meta     active       2d 14h
  proxy    active       2d 14h

clean

Remove flexFS temporary files (/tmp/*.flexfs) and optionally vacuum journal logs.

sudo manage.flexfs clean
sudo manage.flexfs clean --vacuum

Flag	Default	Description
--vacuum	false	Also vacuum system journal logs

When --vacuum is used, the command runs journalctl --rotate followed by journalctl --vacuum-time=1s to reclaim journal disk space.

Binary Management

download

Download flexFS binaries from get.flexfs.io to /tmp.

sudo manage.flexfs download admin meta proxy mount
sudo manage.flexfs download mount --version v1.9.x --arch amd64
sudo manage.flexfs download mount --install   # Download and install in one step

Flag	Default	Description
--version	(build version)	Version branch to download (e.g., v1.9.x)
--arch	(host architecture)	Architecture to download (amd64 or aarch64)
--install	false	Install binaries to /usr/sbin after downloading

Valid binary names: admin, analyze, configure, dedup, find, free, license, manage, meta, mount, proxy, stat, update.

install

Install flexFS binaries from /tmp to /usr/sbin. When binary names are given as arguments, any that are missing from /tmp are downloaded automatically.

sudo manage.flexfs install                    # Install all /tmp/*.flexfs
sudo manage.flexfs install mount meta proxy   # Install specific binaries (downloads missing ones)

Flag	Default	Description
--version	(build version)	Version branch for auto-download of missing binaries
--arch	(host architecture)	Architecture for auto-download

Only binaries owned by root are installed. The install process removes the existing binary at /usr/sbin before replacing it to avoid “text file busy” errors on running processes. SELinux contexts are set automatically where chcon is available.

deploy

Deploy the latest mount.flexfs binaries to staging and/or production channels within the admin server’s deploy folder. Mount clients poll the admin server for updates from these channels.

sudo manage.flexfs deploy                           # Deploy to both channels
sudo manage.flexfs deploy --channel staging         # Deploy to staging only
sudo manage.flexfs deploy --channel production      # Deploy to production only

Flag	Default	Description
--channel	all	Deployment channel: staging, production, or all
--version	(build version)	Version branch to deploy (e.g., v1.9.x)
--adminPath	~/.flexfs/admin	Admin folder path

The deploy process downloads both amd64 and aarch64 mount client binaries along with the version file, and atomically swaps them into the channel directory.

upgrade

Full upgrade sequence: download binaries, install to /usr/sbin, stop all services, clean state, and start all services.

sudo manage.flexfs upgrade                     # Upgrade all installed binaries
sudo manage.flexfs upgrade mount meta proxy    # Upgrade specific binaries

Flag	Default	Description
--version	(build version)	Version branch to download
--arch	(host architecture)	Architecture to download
--vacuum	false	Vacuum journal logs during the clean step

When no binary names are specified, upgrade scans /usr/sbin for existing flexFS binaries and upgrades all of them.

Log Monitoring

watch

Follow the systemd journal logs for a flexFS service in real time.

sudo manage.flexfs watch meta
sudo manage.flexfs watch admin --lines 50 --cat

Flag	Default	Description
--lines	100	Number of recent log lines to display
--cat	false	Use plain text output (journalctl -o cat)

Valid service names: admin, free, meta, proxy, stat.

version

Print the build version.

manage.flexfs version