Volume Analysis and Search

analyze.flexfs and find.flexfs query the metadata server directly, providing fast volume-wide analysis without traversing the FUSE layer. Both tools work with Enterprise and Community editions.

analyze.flexfs

Top Files by Cost

Identify the most expensive files in a volume:

analyze.flexfs files --orderBy cost --limit 20 --header /mnt/flexfs

Output (tab-separated):

path    size    blocks  size_bin    cost
/data/genome/sample1.bam    52428800000    12500    62    15.23
/data/genome/sample2.bam    48318382080    11520    61    14.02

Directory Size Breakdown

See which directories consume the most storage:

analyze.flexfs folders --maxDepth 2 --header /mnt/flexfs

Per-User Storage Usage

Identify which users are consuming the most space:

analyze.flexfs users --orderBy size --header /mnt/flexfs

Output includes UID, resolved username, size, and cost.

Direct Connection (Without Mount)

All analyze.flexfs subcommands can connect directly to a metadata server without requiring a local mount:

analyze.flexfs files \
  --metaAddr meta.example.com:443 \
  --volume my-volume \
  --orderBy size --limit 50 /data

Both --metaAddr and --volume must be provided together. The volume can be specified by name or UUID.

Saving Output

Write results to a file:

analyze.flexfs files --outputFile /tmp/top-files.tsv --header /mnt/flexfs

find.flexfs

Find Files by Name Pattern

find.flexfs --name *.bam --type f /mnt/flexfs

Find Large Files

find.flexfs --minSize 1073741824 --type f --fields path,size,cost --header /mnt/flexfs

Find Files by Owner

find.flexfs --uid 1001 --type f --fields path,size,uid /mnt/flexfs

Find Old Files (by Access Time)

Find files not accessed since a specific timestamp (nanoseconds since epoch):

# Files not accessed since 2025-01-01
find.flexfs --maxAtime 1735689600000000000 --type f /mnt/flexfs

Find Empty Directories

find.flexfs --type d --empty /mnt/flexfs

Find Files with Specific Permissions

find.flexfs --perm 0777 --type f --fields path,perm /mnt/flexfs

Use --permMask to match a subset of permission bits:

# Files that are world-writable (check only the "other write" bit)
find.flexfs --perm 2 --permMask 2 --type f /mnt/flexfs

Full Metadata Export

Export all files with all metadata fields:

find.flexfs --fields all --header --type f \
  --outputFile /tmp/full-inventory.tsv /mnt/flexfs

Direct Connection

Like analyze.flexfs, find.flexfs supports direct metadata server connections:

find.flexfs --metaAddr meta.example.com:443 --volume my-volume \
  --name *.log --type f /

Available Output Fields

The find.flexfs tool supports this field set for --fields:

Field	Description
path	File path (default)
ino	Inode number
mode	Raw mode bits
type	Inode type (f, d, l, p, s, b, c)
perm	Permission bits (octal)
blocks	Block count
size	Size in bytes
size_bin	Access-time age bin (30-day increments)
cost	Estimated monthly storage cost
nlink	Hard link count
uid	Owner user ID
gid	Owner group ID
ctime	Change time (nanoseconds since epoch)
mtime	Modification time (nanoseconds since epoch)
atime	Access time (nanoseconds since epoch)
btime	Birth (creation) time (nanoseconds since epoch)
xattrs	Extended attributes

Use Cases

• Cost optimization: Use analyze.flexfs files --orderBy cost to find the most expensive files and schedule archival or deletion.
• Compliance auditing: Use find.flexfs --fields all --header to generate a complete filesystem inventory.
• Stale data identification: Use find.flexfs --maxAtime <cutoff> to find files not accessed within a retention window.
• Permissions audit: Use find.flexfs --perm --permMask to find files with overly permissive access.
• Capacity planning: Use analyze.flexfs folders --maxDepth 3 to understand storage distribution across the directory tree.