swapon(8)
Name
swapon − specify additional devices for paging and swapping
Syntax
/etc/swapon −a
/etc/swapon name ...
Description
The swapon command is used to specify additional devices on which paging and swapping can take place. The system begins by swapping and paging on only a single device so that only one disk is required at bootstrap time. Calls to swapon normally occur in the system multiuser initialization file /etc/rc, making all swap devices available, so that the paging and swapping activity is interleaved across several devices.
Normally, the −a option is used, causing all devices marked as sw (swap devices) in the /etc/fstab file to be made available for swapping. If a device is not marked as a swap device in the /etc/fstab file, the command returns an error. See the swapon() reference page for possible error returns.
The second form specifies individual block devices, as listed in the system swap configuration table. The call makes only this space available to the system for swap allocation.
Restrictions
There is no way to stop paging and swapping on a device. It is therefore not possible to use devices that can be dismounted during system operation.
Files
/dev/[ru][pk]?b Normal paging devices