GGATEL(8)

💅 GGATEL(8) — like, the local GEOM Gate control utility, bestie

okay so real talk: this is ggatel, and you're reading it in section 8 of the System Manager's Manual. she's a system manager girlie. let's get into it ✨

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🌸 NAME

ggatel — the GEOM Gate local control utility. local as in she's right here with you, no network nonsense 💖

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🎀 SYNOPSIS

ggatel create [-v] [-o -option] ... [-s sectorsize] [-t timeout]
       [-u unit] path
ggatel destroy [-f] -u unit
ggatel list [-v] [-u unit]
ggatel rescue [-v] [-o -option] ... -u unit path

like yes, four whole modes. pick your fighter 👑

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✨ DESCRIPTION

ggatel is a local GEOM Gate class consumer. no cap.

she can absolutely serve as a glow-up replacement for md(4) devices, and she's also that girl as a "GEOMificator" for devices that aren't GEOM-aware (they just haven't been introduced to GEOM yet, it's fine, we're working on them 🫶).

but real talk — her main character origin story? she was mainly created as an example on how to use the GEOM Gate kernel subsystem and how to communicate with it. she's a tutorial and a tool. iconic behaviour honestly.

🌈 Available commands

• create — creates a ggate provider related to the given regular file or device. new provider just dropped 💅
• destroy — destroys the given ggate provider. it's giving closure 😭
• list — lists ggate providers. inventory check, we love a spreadsheet moment 🍓
• rescue — takes over a previously created provider and handles pending and future requests. this is the one you call when the initial ggatel process died and you're like "girl get UP". super useful. and to prevent data loss, the given path must lead to the regular file or device that was used to create the provider — do not freestyle this one, bestie, the vibes must match exactly ⭐

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🔥 Available options

• -f — forcibly destroys the ggate provider. and by "forcibly" we mean it cancels all pending requests. dramatic, effective, use with intention 💀
• -o option — specifies permissions and options to use when opening the file or device. the menu:
  • ro — read-only
  • wo — write-only
  • rw — read-write
  • direct — opens with the O_DIRECT option on the file
  • default is rw 🌸
• -s sectorsize — sector size for the ggate provider. if you don't specify it, it's taken from the device — or set to 512 bytes for files. she'll figure it out 🧚
• -t timeout — number of seconds to wait before an I/O request will be canceled. 0 means no timeout (live your truth). default is 30 ⏳
• -u unit — unit number to use. you pick the number, you get the provider 🎀
• -v — do not fork, run in foreground, and print debug information on standard output. she stays right there in your terminal and tells you everything, iykyk 👀
• path — path to a regular file or device. that's the whole vibe.

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💜 EXIT STATUS

exit status is 0 on success, or 1 if the command fails.

and to get details about the failure? call ggatel with the -v option. she'll spill the whole teaaa 😭☕

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🦋 SEE ALSO

geom(4), ggatec(8), ggated(8), mount(8), newfs(8)

the whole friend group fr fr 🫶

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👑 HISTORY

the ggatel utility appeared in FreeBSD 5.3. a legacy queen. she's been slaying since day one ✨

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🌟 AUTHORS

the ggatel utility, as well as this manual page, was written by Pawel Jakub Dawidek <pjd@FreeBSD.org>. we stan an author who writes the manpage too, that's main character energy 💖

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ok that's the whole page, nothing skipped, every flag accounted for. vibe check: passed 🌈

and finally, the cute little sign-off bit: this page is the Debian build, dated September 8, 2016 — so yeah, she's got a vintage moment going on, but the info is timeless bestie 💅🎀