Component

Description

dm_multipath kernel module

Reroutes I/O and supports failover for paths and path groups.

multipath command

Lists and configures multipath devices. Normally started up with /etc/ rc.sysinit, it can also be started up by a udev program whenever a block device is added or it can be run by the initramfs file system.

multipathd daemon

Monitors paths; as paths fail and come back, it may initiate path group switches. Provides for interactive changes to multipath devices. This daemon must be restarted for any changes to the /etc/multipath.conf file to take effect.

kpartx command

Creates device mapper devices for the partitions on a device It is necessary to use this command for DOS-based partitions with DM-Multipath. The kpartx is provided in its own package, but the multipath-tools package depends on it.