NVME-CONFIG-CREATE(1) NVMe Manual NVME-CONFIG-CREATE(1)

nvme-config-create - Add an NVMe-oF connection entry to the INI configuration

nvme [<global-options>] config create
                        [--discovery]
                        [--persistent[=<no|auto|force>] ]
                        [--host-symname=<name>]
                        [--output=<file>]
                        [<fabrics-options>]

Build one NVMe-oF connection entry from command-line options and add it to the INI configuration used by nvme connect, nvme discover, and nvme connect-all. The format is documented at https://github.com/linux-nvme/nvme-cli/blob/master/libnvme/design/CONFIG.md

If the target file exists, its connections are kept and the new entry is merged in alongside them. Running the same command again is a no-op. Unlike nvme config convert, this is not a one-shot migration; it is the ongoing way to build an INI configuration from the command line.

The entry is an I/O controller (subsystem) entry by default, and --nqn is required. Use --discovery for a discovery controller entry instead; --nqn is then optional.

A connection with an explicit --hostnqn or --hostid is written to a drop-in under <file>.d/. One without either goes into the main file.

--discovery

Create a discovery controller entry instead of an I/O controller entry. Without this, --nqn is required.

--persistent[=<no|auto|force>]

Record this discovery controller’s persistence mode. Requires --discovery. Because the value is optional, it must be attached directly to the option (--persistent=force). A value given as a separate argument (--persistent force) is silently NOT applied — it’s dropped, and --persistent is treated as if given bare (mode "auto"), with no error.
•auto (the default when --persistent is given with no value): persist the connection only where the target’s own EPCSD (Explicit Persistent Connection Support for Discovery) flag reports support for it.
•force: persist regardless of what EPCSD reports, for a target whose self-reported EPCSD cannot be trusted.
•no: explicitly record that this discovery controller is not persistent, overriding any default that would otherwise apply.

--host-symname=<name>

Name this host persona. Puts it in its own configuration drop-in.

--output=<file>

Write to this file instead of the default /etc/nvme/nvme-fabrics.conf.

The following options are common to NVMe over Fabrics commands such as nvme connect:

-a <traddr>, --traddr=<traddr>

Specify the network address of the controller. For transports using IP addressing (e.g. rdma, tcp), this should be an IP address.

--concat

Enable secure concatenation (TCP).

-c <#>, --reconnect-delay=<#>

Set the delay in seconds before reconnect is attempted after a connection loss.

-C <secret>, --kxchap-ctrl-secret=<secret>

Controller authentication secret for bi-directional authentication. If not specified, bi-directional authentication is not attempted.

-S <secret>, --kxchap-secret=<secret>

Host authentication secret (KX-HMAC-CHAP). Must be provided in ASCII format as defined in the NVMe specification.

-C <secret>, --dhchap-ctrl-secret=<secret>

Controller authentication secret for bi-directional authentication. If not specified, bi-directional authentication is not attempted. (deprecated, see --kxchap-ctrl-secret)

-S <secret>, --dhchap-secret=<secret>

Host authentication secret (DH-HMAC-CHAP). Must be provided in ASCII format as defined in the NVMe specification. (deprecated, see --kxchap-secret)

--disable-sqflow

Disable submission queue flow control.

-G, --data-digest

Enable data digest generation/verification (TCP).

-D, --duplicate-connect

Allow duplicate connections to the same subsystem.

-g, --hdr-digest

Enable header digest generation/verification (TCP).

-f <iface>, --host-iface=<iface>

Specify the network interface to use for the connection.

-I <hostid>, --hostid=<hostid>

Specify the host UUID.

-q <hostnqn>, --hostnqn=<hostnqn>

Override the default host NQN.

-w <traddr>, --host-traddr=<traddr>

Specify the source address on the host side of the connection.

-k <#>, --keep-alive-tmo=<#>

Set the keep-alive timeout in seconds.

--keyring=<keyring>

Keyring to use for TLS key lookup.

-n <subnqn>, --nqn=<subnqn>

Specify the NVMe subsystem NQN to connect to.

-i <#>, --nr-io-queues=<#>

Number of I/O queues to create.

-P <#>, --nr-poll-queues=<#>

Number of polling queues to create.

-W <#>, --nr-write-queues=<#>

Number of write queues to create.

-Q <#>, --queue-size=<#>

Queue depth for I/O queues.

-l <#>, --ctrl-loss-tmo=<#>

Maximum time in seconds to retry reconnect attempts after controller loss.

-s <trsvcid>, --trsvcid=<trsvcid>

Transport service identifier (e.g. TCP/rdma port). Default is 4420 for RDMA.

-T <#>, --tos=<#>

Type of service value for the connection (TCP).

-t <trtype>, --transport=<trtype>

Specify the transport type. Supported values include:

+

Value Description
rdma RDMA (RoCE, iWARP, InfiniBand)
tcp TCP/IP
fc Fibre Channel (experimental)
loop Local loopback transport

--tls

Enable TLS encryption (TCP).

--tls-key=<tls-key>

TLS key for the connection. It is recommended to preload keys into the system keyring instead of passing them via the command line.

--tls-key-identity=<identity>

Identity associated with the TLS key.

The following options are defined at the top-level nvme command and are available to this subcommand:

--dry-run

Print the command that would be executed, but do not actually execute it.

--no-ioctl-probing

Disable probing for 64-bit IOCTL support.

--no-retries

Disable retry logic on transient errors.

-o <fmt>, --output-format=<fmt>

Set the reporting format to normal, tabular, 'json, or binary. Only one output format may be used at a time.

--output-format-version=<version>

Select the output format version. Version 1 uses the original field naming, while version 2 (default) provides more consistent and script-friendly field names.

--timeout=<ms>

Set the timeout for the command in milliseconds.

-v, --verbose

Increase the level of detail in the output. May be specified multiple times to further increase verbosity.

These options can also be set as machine-wide defaults in nvme-cli.conf(5). A command-line flag always overrides the file.

•Add a discovery controller entry for an FC discovery controller: 
# nvme config create --transport fc \
    --traddr=nn-0x58ccf090c92006da:pn-0x58ccf091492806da \
    --host-traddr=nn-0x20000024ff7fa448:pn-0x21000024ff7fa448 \
    --hostnqn=nqn.2014-08.org.nvmexpress:uuid:62a4ab74-1e18-11f1-8bb7-6c1ff71ba506 \
    --discovery
•Add an I/O controller entry to a test configuration file: 
# nvme config create --transport tcp --traddr=192.168.1.20 --trsvcid=4420 \
    --nqn=nqn.2024-01.com.example:data.vol1 \
    --output=/tmp/nvme-fabrics.conf

nvme-config-convert(1) nvme-config-validate(1) nvme-config-show(1) nvme-connect-all(1) nvme-discover(1)

Part of the nvme-user suite

09/07/2026 NVMe