meta.flexfs

meta.flexfs is the metadata server that stores inodes, directory entries, attributes, extended attributes, and ACLs for one or more flexFS volumes. Mount clients communicate with it over an RPC protocol, and utilities like analyze.flexfs and find.flexfs use its REST API.

Subcommands

Subcommand	Description
start	Start the metadata server
init creds	Initialize the credentials file
init systemd	Create and enable a systemd service unit
deinit creds	Remove the credentials file
deinit systemd	Remove the systemd service unit
version	Print the build version
license	Print license information
verify	Verify database integrity
migrate	Run database migrations

Caution

The verify and migrate subcommands are internal and should only be used under guidance from Paradigm4 support.

Usage

meta.flexfs start [flags]

Persistent Flags

These flags apply to all subcommands:

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--credsFile	string	~/.flexfs/meta/creds	Credentials file path
--dbFolder	string	~/.flexfs/meta/data	Database folder path

Start Flags

Flag	Type	Default	Description	Visibility
--bindAddr	string	0.0.0.0:443	Address and port to bind	Public
--noSSL	bool	false	Disable SSL for the REST API	Public
--sslCert	string	~/.flexfs/ssl/cert	SSL certificate file path	Public
--sslKey	string	~/.flexfs/ssl/key	SSL private key file path	Public
--sync	bool	false	Fsync every write for full crash durability	Public
--verbose, -v	bool	false	Enable verbose logging	Public
--adminAddr	string		Admin server address (overrides creds file)	Internal
--blockPass	string		Block storage password (overrides creds file)	Internal
--blockUser	string		Block storage username (overrides creds file)	Internal
--dbMemCapacity	string	40%	Database memory cache capacity (e.g. 5%, 64M)	Internal
--fallback	string		Fallback RPC version for old clients (e.g. v1.4)	Internal
--noAdminSSL	bool	false	Disable SSL for admin server connections	Internal
--pprof	bool	false	Enable pprof profiler	Internal
--sizeBins	bool	false	Group volume size stats into atime bins	Internal
--token	string		Metadata server auth token (overrides creds file)	Internal

Init Creds

meta.flexfs init creds [flags]

Initializes a credentials file for the metadata server. If --token is omitted, the command prompts for a metadata server token interactively.

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--adminAddr	string	""	Admin server address
--blockPass	string	""	Block storage password
--blockUser	string	""	Block storage username
--token	string	""	Metadata server auth token (will prompt if omitted)
--force	bool	false	Overwrite existing creds file

Init Systemd

sudo meta.flexfs init systemd [flags]

Creates and enables a systemd service unit (flexfs-meta.service) for the metadata server. Requires root.

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--now	bool	false	Start the service immediately after enabling
--startFlags	string	""	Additional flags to pass to the start command
--force	bool	false	Overwrite existing systemd unit file

Deinit Creds

meta.flexfs deinit creds [flags]

Removes the credentials file for the metadata server. If the credentials file is referenced by a systemd unit, the command refuses unless --force is passed, in which case it removes the references too.

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--force	bool	false	Remove creds even if referenced by systemd (removes references too)

Deinit Systemd

sudo meta.flexfs deinit systemd

Removes the systemd service unit (flexfs-meta.service) for the metadata server. Requires root.

Verify (Internal)

Caution

This subcommand is internal and should only be used under guidance from Paradigm4 support.

meta.flexfs verify [volume-id] [flags]

Verifies the integrity of the metadata database by comparing stored counters, dentries, and size bins against actual data. If a volume ID is provided, only that volume is verified; otherwise all volumes are checked.

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--fix	bool	false	Fix mismatched counts by recomputing from actual data

Migrate (Internal)

Caution

This subcommand is internal and should only be used under guidance from Paradigm4 support.

meta.flexfs migrate [flags]

Migrates volume data from the legacy snapshot format to the current database format.

Flag	Type	Default	Description
--srcFolder	string	~/.flexfs/meta/data	Source data folder

Credentials File

The credentials file is a TOML file with connection details populated during init creds:

adminAddr = "admin.example.com:443"
token = "$TOKEN"
blockUser = "$USERNAME"
blockPass = "$PASSWORD"

REST Endpoints

The metadata server exposes the following REST endpoints for utilities and monitoring:

Endpoint	Method	Description
/analyze/files	GET	Top files by size or cost
/analyze/folders	GET	Per-directory recursive size and cost
/analyze/users	GET	Per-user size and cost
/duplicates	GET	Duplicate file candidates
/find	GET	Filesystem search
/metrics	GET	Prometheus metrics
/status	GET	Server health status