The path status is updated periodically by the multipathd daemon based on the polling interval defined in the /etc/multipath.conf file. In terms of the kernel, the dm status is similar to the path status. The dm state will retain its current status until the path checker has completed.

Path status

ready, ghost

The path is up and ready for I/O.

faulty, shaky

The path is down.

i/o pending

The checker is actively checking this path, and the state will be updated shortly.

i/o timeout

The checker did not return success/failure before the timeout period. This is treated the same as faulty.

removed

The path has been removed from the system, and will shortly be removed from the multipath device. This is treated the same as faulty.

wild

multipathd was unable to run the path checker, because of an internal error or configuration issue. This is treated the same as faulty, except multipath will skip many actions on the path.

unchecked

The path checker has not run on this path, either because it has just been discovered, it does not have an assigned path checker, or the path checker encountered an error. This is treated the same as wild.

delayed

The path checker returns that the path is up, but multipath is delaying the reinstatement of the path because the path has recently failed multiple times and multipath has been configured to delay paths in this case. This is treated the same as faulty.

Dm status

Active

Maps to the ready and ghost path status.

Failed

Maps to all other path status, except i/o pending that does not have an equivalent dm state.

Online status

Running

The device is enabled.

Offline

The device has been disabled.