lspath

Print the contents of the system PATH variable, with one element per line

$ lspath

$ lspath --page

lspath [ -H ] [ -l DeviceName ] [ -P ParentName ] [ -s Status ] [ -a Attribute=Value ] [ -p PathID ]

-H
    Displays a header row above the output columns, providing descriptive labels for each field such as path_id, path_status, parent, and child.

-l DeviceName
    Specifies the logical device name (e.g., hdisk0, cd0) for which to list paths. This option filters the output to show paths only for the specified device.

-P ParentName
    Specifies the parent device name (e.g., a host bus adapter like fscsi0 or vhost0) for which to list paths. This filters paths based on the adapter they are connected through.

-s Status
    Filters the output to display only paths with a specific status. Common statuses include enabled, disabled, active, passive, and failed.

-a Attribute=Value
    Filters paths based on a specific attribute and its corresponding value (e.g., connection=0000000000000000). This allows for highly granular filtering based on various path properties.

-p PathID
    Displays detailed information for a specific path ID. Each path is assigned a unique identifier, and this option allows querying details for that specific path.

The lspath command displays detailed information about the configured paths to devices on IBM Power Systems (AIX and Linux on Power). This is particularly important in environments where devices, such as disk LUNs, are accessible via multiple physical paths, a common setup in Storage Area Network (SAN) configurations. It provides insights into the status of each path (e.g., enabled, disabled, failed), the parent adapter through which the path is established, and other path-specific attributes. By listing these paths, lspath helps system administrators monitor the health, redundancy, and overall connectivity of storage devices, which is essential for ensuring high availability and optimal performance in enterprise IT infrastructures.

The lspath command is primarily associated with IBM Power Systems, specifically AIX and Linux on Power distributions. It is not a standard command found on generic x86 Linux distributions.
It typically requires root privileges or appropriate sudo permissions to execute effectively and retrieve comprehensive device path information.
The exact output format and available options might vary slightly depending on the specific Power Linux distribution and the installed version of the powerpc-utils or devices.mpio package.

lspath is frequently used to diagnose connectivity issues to SAN-attached storage, verify multipathing configurations, and monitor the health of redundant paths. For instance, running lspath -l hdisk0 -s failed can quickly identify any failed paths leading to a specific disk, aiding in proactive problem resolution.
Another common use case is to inspect all paths associated with a particular Fibre Channel adapter using lspath -P fscsi0.

Understanding the various path states displayed by lspath is crucial for proper system administration. Common states include:
enabled: The path is configured and ready for use.
disabled: The path is configured but has been intentionally taken offline or is not currently in use.
active: The path is currently being used to transmit I/O operations.
passive: The path is a standby path, ready to take over if an active path fails.
failed: The path is unreachable, broken, or otherwise unusable for I/O operations.

The lspath command originated within IBM's AIX operating system, where it was developed to manage and display information about multiple paths to devices, a crucial capability with the widespread adoption of Storage Area Networks (SANs). As Linux gained prominence on IBM Power Systems, utilities with similar functionalities, including lspath, were developed and integrated into packages like powerpc-utils and devices.mpio. This porting effort ensured that administrators could leverage comparable device path management capabilities in the Linux on Power environment, maintaining consistent administration paradigms across IBM's enterprise server platforms.

lsdev(8), cfgmgr(8), chpath(8), mkpath(8), rmpath(8), multipath(8)