PACEMAKER(8)

💅 PACEMAKER (section 8, the System Administration Utilities manual, bestie) 🎀

okay so first things first: Pacemaker is part of the Pacemaker cluster resource manager, and this page is all about the fencing side of it. section 8 manual, system administration utilities, we're in the grown-up section of the man pages and honestly? slay.

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

stonith_admin <command> [<options>]

that's it. that's the whole shape of it. a command, then options. you got this 💖

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

stonith_admin — it gives you access to the Pacemaker fencing API. fencing! the thing that shuts a node down when it's misbehaving. iconic, scary, necessary. no cap. 🔥

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👑 OPTIONS 👑

🫶 Help Options:

• -?, --help — show help options
• --help-all — show all the help options
• --help-output — show output help
• --help-definition — show device definition help
• --help-queries — show query help
• --help-fence — show fence help
• --help-additional — show additional options

like, there's a help flag for every mood. pick your vibe 💅

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🎀 Output Options:

• --output-as=*FORMAT — specify output format as one of: text (default), html, xml
• --output-to=*DEST — specify file name for output (or - for stdout)
• --html-cgi — add CGI headers (requires --output-as=html)
• --html-stylesheet=*URI — link to an external stylesheet (requires --output-as=html)
• --html-title=*TITLE — specify a page title (requires --output-as=html)

✨ the three --html-* ones literally will not work unless you set --output-as=html. don't come for me, that's just the rules 🙈

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🦋 Device Definition Commands:

• -R, --register=*DEVICE — register the named fencing device. Requires: --agent. Optional: --option, --env-option.
• -D, --deregister=*DEVICE — de-register the named fencing device.
• -r, --register-level=*TARGET — register a fencing level for the named target, specified as one of NAME, @PATTERN, or ATTR=VALUE. Requires: --index and one or more --device entries.
• -d, --deregister-level=*TARGET — unregister a fencing level for the named target, specified as for --register-level. Requires: --index

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🧚 Queries:

• -l, --list=*HOST — list devices that can terminate the specified host. Optional: --timeout
• -L, --list-registered — list all registered devices. Optional: --timeout.
• -I, --list-installed — list all installed devices. Optional: --timeout.
• -s, --list-targets=*DEVICE — list the targets that can be fenced by the named device. Optional: --timeout.
• -M, --metadata — show agent metadata. Requires: --agent. Optional: --timeout.
• -Q, --query=*DEVICE — check the named device's status. Optional: --timeout.
• -H, --history=*NODE — show last successful fencing operation for named node (or * for all nodes). Optional: --timeout, --cleanup, --quiet (show only the operation's epoch timestamp), --verbose (show all recorded and pending operations), --broadcast (update history from all nodes available).
• -h, --last=*NODE — indicate when the named node was last fenced. Optional: --as-node-id.
• -K, --validate — validate a fence device configuration. Requires: --agent. Optional: --option, --env-option, --quiet (print no output, only return status).

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🔥 Fencing Commands:

• -F, --fence=*HOST — fence named host. Optional: --timeout, --tolerance, --delay.
• -U, --unfence=*HOST — unfence named host. Optional: --timeout, --tolerance, --delay.
• -B, --reboot=*HOST — reboot named host. Optional: --timeout, --tolerance, --delay.
• -C, --confirm=*HOST — tell cluster that named host is now safely down.

💀 these are the actually do the thing commands. --fence and --reboot are not a drill, bestie. main character energy but in a "please read twice" way.

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💜 Additional Options:

• -c, --cleanup — cleanup wherever appropriate. Requires --history.
• -b, --broadcast — broadcast wherever appropriate.
• -a, --agent=*AGENT — the agent to use (for example, fence_xvm; with --register, --metadata, --validate).
• -o, --option=*PARAM — specify a device configuration parameter as NAME=VALUE (may be specified multiple times; with --register, --validate).
• -e, --env-option=*PARAM — specify a device configuration parameter with the specified name, using the value of the environment variable of the same name prefixed with OCF_RESKEY_ (may be specified multiple times; with --register, --validate).
• -T, --tag=*TAG — identify fencing operations in logs with the specified tag; useful when multiple entities might invoke stonith_admin (used with most commands).
• -v, --device=*DEVICE — device ID (with --register-level, device to associate with a given host and level; may be specified multiple times) (with --validate, name to use to load CIB secrets).
• -i, --index=*LEVEL — the fencing level (1-9) (with --register-level, --deregister-level).
• -t, --timeout=*SECONDS — operation timeout in seconds (default 120; used with most commands).
• -y, --delay=*SECONDS — apply a fencing delay in seconds. Any static/random delays from pcmk_delay_base/max will be added, otherwise all disabled with the value -1 (default 0; with --fence, --reboot, --unfence).
• -n, --as-node-id — (Advanced) the supplied node is the corosync node ID (with --last).
• --tolerance=*SECONDS — (Advanced) do nothing if an equivalent --fence request succeeded less than this many seconds earlier (with --fence, --unfence, --reboot).

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⭐ Application Options:

• -$, --version — display software version and exit
• -V, --verbose — increase debug output (may be specified multiple times)
• -q, --quiet — be less descriptive in output.

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🌈 AUTHOR 🌈

written by Andrew Beekhof and the Pacemaker project contributors. legends, fr fr 🫶

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🍓 REPORTING BUGS 🍓

found a bug? report it here, they actually want to hear it:

https://bugs.clusterlabs.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Pacemaker

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🦋 random aside: some of these flags are marked (Advanced) and honestly that's your sign to read them twice before yeeting them into a production cluster. iykyk 💅

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and that's the page!! this whole thing is from Pacemaker 3.0.3+20260728.7052..., dated September 2026 — yes the version string is that long, she's got a lot going on 💖 mwah, go fence responsibly ✨👑