---
name: "aoe-mkdevs"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "aoetools"
version: "36-6"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/aoe-mkdevs"
---

# aoe-mkdevs(8)

create special device files for aoe driver

## NAME

aoe-mkdevs - create special device files for aoe driver

## SYNOPSIS

```
aoe-mkdevs {device-dir}
env n_partitions=1 aoe-mkdevs {device-dir}
```

## DESCRIPTION

The *aoe-mkdevs* command is deprecated in favor of udev.  Systems with udev do not need to use the *aoe-mkdevs* or *aoe-mkshelf* commands, because udev will create device nodes as needed.

Systems without udev use *aoe-mkdevs* to create the character special files necessary to  control the aoe driver.  The *aoe-mkdevs* command uses  *aoe-mkshelf* to also create block special files.

The aoe drivers after version 49 support dynamic minor device numbers so that a greater number of devices can be supported.  The *aoe-mkdevs* command is incompatible with dynamic device numbers. If your system lacks udev, and you are using an aoe driver version 50 or above, use the aoe\_dyndevs=0 module option to force the aoe driver to use static device numbers.

If you are not using dynamic device numbers, and you built your aoe driver to support only one partition per device  (whole-disk  partitions), then the device files must match, and you should use the  *n\_partitions* environment variable described below.

### Arguments

- **device-dir**

  This should be the name of the directory where the special device files will be created.

## ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

If the *n\_partitions* variable is set in the environment, it will override the default number of partitions per aoe disk, namely 16.

## EXAMPLE

In this example, the root user on a host named *nai* creates special files for using the aoe disks in shelf 7.  After remembering that the driver doesn't have partition support, this sysadmin gets rid of the mismatching device nodes and calls *aoe-mkdevs* again with *n\_partitions* set to 1.

-

  ```
  nai:~# rm -rf /dev/etherd
  nai:~# aoe-mkdevs /dev/etherd
  nai:~# ls /dev/etherd | wc -l
  1603
  nai:~# rm -rf /dev/etherd
  nai:~# n_partitions=1 aoe-mkdevs /dev/etherd
  nai:~# ls /dev/etherd | wc -l
  103
  ```

## SEE ALSO

[*aoe-discover*(8)](/aoe-discover/8.md), [*aoe-interfaces*(8)](/aoe-interfaces/8.md), [*aoe-mkshelf*(8)](/aoe-mkshelf/8.md), [*aoe-stat*(8)](/aoe-stat/8.md), *aoetools*(8), [*udev*(7)](/udev/7.md).

## AUTHOR

Ed L. Cashin (ecashin@coraid.com)