Increasing the max number of files does not immediately cause additional disk space to be used. Instead, as more files are created on a volume, the system dynamically increases the number of blocks that are used to store inodes. The number of inodes that can fit within those blocks is called the volume's inode capacity. The node will not increase a volume's inode capacity beyond the max number of files.
A volume's inode capacity is never decreased; once additional disk space is assigned to store inodes, that space is never freed. However, the max number of files for a volume can be raised or lowered to any value above the volume's current inode capacity.
The max number of files cannot be changed for a FlexCache volume.
If Data ONTAP identifies a new value of max as unreasonably large, it queries the user to verify that the new value is correct. This query can be suppressed by using the -f option.
If no argument is specified, the maxfiles command displays the current value of max for all volumes in the system. If only the vol_name argument is given, the current value of max for the specified volume is displayed. For a FlexCache volume, the origin volume's value of max is displayed.
The df command (see na_df(1)) can be used to determine how many files currently exist in each volume.
