1 =head2 add-cdrom | cdrom
5 This function adds a virtual CD-ROM disk image to the guest.
7 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-cdrom filename>.
13 This function adds a virtual machine disk image C<filename> to the
14 guest. The first time you call this function, the disk appears as IDE
15 disk 0 (C</dev/sda>) in the guest, the second time as C</dev/sdb>, and
18 You don't necessarily need to be root when using libguestfs. However
19 you obviously do need sufficient permissions to access the filename
20 for whatever operations you want to perform (ie. read access if you
21 just want to read the image or write access if you want to modify the
24 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-drive file=filename>.
30 Close the current Augeas handle and free up any resources
31 used by it. After calling this, you have to call
32 C<aug-init> again before you can use any other
37 aug-defnode name expr val
39 Defines a variable C<name> whose value is the result of
42 If C<expr> evaluates to an empty nodeset, a node is created,
43 equivalent to calling C<aug-set> C<expr>, C<value>.
44 C<name> will be the nodeset containing that single node.
46 On success this returns a pair containing the
47 number of nodes in the nodeset, and a boolean flag
48 if a node was created.
54 Defines an Augeas variable C<name> whose value is the result
55 of evaluating C<expr>. If C<expr> is NULL, then C<name> is
58 On success this returns the number of nodes in C<expr>, or
59 C<0> if C<expr> evaluates to something which is not a nodeset.
65 Look up the value associated with C<path>. If C<path>
66 matches exactly one node, the C<value> is returned.
72 Create a new Augeas handle for editing configuration files.
73 If there was any previous Augeas handle associated with this
74 guestfs session, then it is closed.
76 You must call this before using any other C<aug-*>
79 C<root> is the filesystem root. C<root> must not be NULL,
82 The flags are the same as the flags defined in
83 E<lt>augeas.hE<gt>, the logical I<or> of the following
88 =item C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP> = 1
90 Keep the original file with a C<.augsave> extension.
92 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NEWFILE> = 2
94 Save changes into a file with extension C<.augnew>, and
95 do not overwrite original. Overrides C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP>.
97 =item C<AUG_TYPE_CHECK> = 4
99 Typecheck lenses (can be expensive).
101 =item C<AUG_NO_STDINC> = 8
103 Do not use standard load path for modules.
105 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NOOP> = 16
107 Make save a no-op, just record what would have been changed.
109 =item C<AUG_NO_LOAD> = 32
111 Do not load the tree in C<aug-init>.
115 To close the handle, you can call C<aug-close>.
117 To find out more about Augeas, see L<http://augeas.net/>.
121 aug-insert path label true|false
123 Create a new sibling C<label> for C<path>, inserting it into
124 the tree before or after C<path> (depending on the boolean
127 C<path> must match exactly one existing node in the tree, and
128 C<label> must be a label, ie. not contain C</>, C<*> or end
129 with a bracketed index C<[N]>.
135 Load files into the tree.
137 See C<aug_load> in the Augeas documentation for the full gory
144 This is just a shortcut for listing C<aug-match>
145 C<path/*> and sorting the resulting nodes into alphabetical order.
151 Returns a list of paths which match the path expression C<path>.
152 The returned paths are sufficiently qualified so that they match
153 exactly one node in the current tree.
159 Move the node C<src> to C<dest>. C<src> must match exactly
160 one node. C<dest> is overwritten if it exists.
166 Remove C<path> and all of its children.
168 On success this returns the number of entries which were removed.
174 This writes all pending changes to disk.
176 The flags which were passed to C<aug-init> affect exactly
183 Set the value associated with C<path> to C<value>.
185 =head2 blockdev-flushbufs
187 blockdev-flushbufs device
189 This tells the kernel to flush internal buffers associated
192 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
194 =head2 blockdev-getbsz
196 blockdev-getbsz device
198 This returns the block size of a device.
200 (Note this is different from both I<size in blocks> and
201 I<filesystem block size>).
203 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
205 =head2 blockdev-getro
207 blockdev-getro device
209 Returns a boolean indicating if the block device is read-only
210 (true if read-only, false if not).
212 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
214 =head2 blockdev-getsize64
216 blockdev-getsize64 device
218 This returns the size of the device in bytes.
220 See also C<blockdev-getsz>.
222 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
224 =head2 blockdev-getss
226 blockdev-getss device
228 This returns the size of sectors on a block device.
229 Usually 512, but can be larger for modern devices.
231 (Note, this is not the size in sectors, use C<blockdev-getsz>
234 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
236 =head2 blockdev-getsz
238 blockdev-getsz device
240 This returns the size of the device in units of 512-byte sectors
241 (even if the sectorsize isn't 512 bytes ... weird).
243 See also C<blockdev-getss> for the real sector size of
244 the device, and C<blockdev-getsize64> for the more
245 useful I<size in bytes>.
247 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
249 =head2 blockdev-rereadpt
251 blockdev-rereadpt device
253 Reread the partition table on C<device>.
255 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
257 =head2 blockdev-setbsz
259 blockdev-setbsz device blocksize
261 This sets the block size of a device.
263 (Note this is different from both I<size in blocks> and
264 I<filesystem block size>).
266 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
268 =head2 blockdev-setro
270 blockdev-setro device
272 Sets the block device named C<device> to read-only.
274 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
276 =head2 blockdev-setrw
278 blockdev-setrw device
280 Sets the block device named C<device> to read-write.
282 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
288 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
290 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
291 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
292 as end of string). For those you need to use the C<download>
293 function which has a more complex interface.
295 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
296 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
301 checksum csumtype path
303 This call computes the MD5, SHAx or CRC checksum of the
306 The type of checksum to compute is given by the C<csumtype>
307 parameter which must have one of the following values:
313 Compute the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) specified by POSIX
314 for the C<cksum> command.
318 Compute the MD5 hash (using the C<md5sum> program).
322 Compute the SHA1 hash (using the C<sha1sum> program).
326 Compute the SHA224 hash (using the C<sha224sum> program).
330 Compute the SHA256 hash (using the C<sha256sum> program).
334 Compute the SHA384 hash (using the C<sha384sum> program).
338 Compute the SHA512 hash (using the C<sha512sum> program).
342 The checksum is returned as a printable string.
348 Change the mode (permissions) of C<path> to C<mode>. Only
349 numeric modes are supported.
353 chown owner group path
355 Change the file owner to C<owner> and group to C<group>.
357 Only numeric uid and gid are supported. If you want to use
358 names, you will need to locate and parse the password file
359 yourself (Augeas support makes this relatively easy).
363 command 'arguments ...'
365 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem. The
366 filesystem must be mounted, and must contain a compatible
367 operating system (ie. something Linux, with the same
368 or compatible processor architecture).
370 The single parameter is an argv-style list of arguments.
371 The first element is the name of the program to run.
372 Subsequent elements are parameters. The list must be
373 non-empty (ie. must contain a program name).
375 The return value is anything printed to I<stdout> by
378 If the command returns a non-zero exit status, then
379 this function returns an error message. The error message
380 string is the content of I<stderr> from the command.
382 The C<$PATH> environment variable will contain at least
383 C</usr/bin> and C</bin>. If you require a program from
384 another location, you should provide the full path in the
387 Shared libraries and data files required by the program
388 must be available on filesystems which are mounted in the
389 correct places. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure
390 all filesystems that are needed are mounted at the right
393 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
394 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
399 command-lines 'arguments ...'
401 This is the same as C<command>, but splits the
402 result into a list of lines.
404 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
405 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
410 config qemuparam qemuvalue
412 This can be used to add arbitrary qemu command line parameters
413 of the form C<-param value>. Actually it's not quite arbitrary - we
414 prevent you from setting some parameters which would interfere with
415 parameters that we use.
417 The first character of C<param> string must be a C<-> (dash).
419 C<value> can be NULL.
425 This copies a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
426 either a destination filename or destination directory.
432 This copies a file or directory from C<src> to C<dest>
433 recursively using the C<cp -a> command.
437 debug subcmd 'extraargs ...'
439 The C<debug> command exposes some internals of
440 C<guestfsd> (the guestfs daemon) that runs inside the
443 There is no comprehensive help for this command. You have
444 to look at the file C<daemon/debug.c> in the libguestfs source
445 to find out what you can do.
451 This returns the kernel messages (C<dmesg> output) from
452 the guest kernel. This is sometimes useful for extended
453 debugging of problems.
455 Another way to get the same information is to enable
456 verbose messages with C<set-verbose> or by setting
457 the environment variable C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG=1> before
462 download remotefilename (filename|-)
464 Download file C<remotefilename> and save it as C<filename>
465 on the local machine.
467 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
469 See also C<upload>, C<cat>.
471 Use C<-> instead of a filename to read/write from stdin/stdout.
475 drop-caches whattodrop
477 This instructs the guest kernel to drop its page cache,
478 and/or dentries and inode caches. The parameter C<whattodrop>
479 tells the kernel what precisely to drop, see
480 L<http://linux-mm.org/Drop_Caches>
482 Setting C<whattodrop> to 3 should drop everything.
484 This automatically calls L<sync(2)> before the operation,
485 so that the maximum guest memory is freed.
491 This compares the two files C<file1> and C<file2> and returns
492 true if their content is exactly equal, or false otherwise.
494 The external L<cmp(1)> program is used for the comparison.
500 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file, directory
501 (or anything) with the given C<path> name.
503 See also C<is-file>, C<is-dir>, C<stat>.
509 This call uses the standard L<file(1)> command to determine
510 the type or contents of the file. This also works on devices,
511 for example to find out whether a partition contains a filesystem.
513 The exact command which runs is C<file -bsL path>. Note in
514 particular that the filename is not prepended to the output
521 This runs the filesystem checker (fsck) on C<device> which
522 should have filesystem type C<fstype>.
524 The returned integer is the status. See L<fsck(8)> for the
525 list of status codes from C<fsck>.
533 Multiple status codes can be summed together.
537 A non-zero return code can mean "success", for example if
538 errors have been corrected on the filesystem.
542 Checking or repairing NTFS volumes is not supported
547 This command is entirely equivalent to running C<fsck -a -t fstype device>.
553 Return the additional kernel options which are added to the
554 guest kernel command line.
556 If C<NULL> then no options are added.
562 Get the autosync flag.
568 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
575 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
582 Return the current search path.
584 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
585 return the default path.
591 Return the current qemu binary.
593 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
594 return the default qemu binary name.
600 This returns the current state as an opaque integer. This is
601 only useful for printing debug and internal error messages.
603 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
609 This returns the verbose messages flag.
613 grub-install root device
615 This command installs GRUB (the Grand Unified Bootloader) on
616 C<device>, with the root directory being C<root>.
622 This runs C<hexdump -C> on the given C<path>. The result is
623 the human-readable, canonical hex dump of the file.
625 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
626 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
633 This returns true iff this handle is busy processing a command
634 (in the C<BUSY> state).
636 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
642 This returns true iff this handle is being configured
643 (in the C<CONFIG> state).
645 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
651 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a directory
652 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
653 other objects like files.
661 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file
662 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
663 other objects like directories.
671 This returns true iff this handle is launching the subprocess
672 (in the C<LAUNCHING> state).
674 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
680 This returns true iff this handle is ready to accept commands
681 (in the C<READY> state).
683 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
685 =head2 kill-subprocess
689 This kills the qemu subprocess. You should never need to call this.
695 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
698 You should call this after configuring the handle
699 (eg. adding drives) but before performing any actions.
705 List all the block devices.
707 The full block device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda>
709 =head2 list-partitions
713 List all the partitions detected on all block devices.
715 The full partition device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda1>
717 This does not return logical volumes. For that you will need to
724 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
725 there is no cwd) in the format of 'ls -la'.
727 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
728 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
734 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
735 there is no cwd). The '.' and '..' entries are not returned, but
736 hidden files are shown.
738 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. Programs
739 should probably use C<readdir> instead.
745 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
747 This is the same as C<stat> except that if C<path>
748 is a symbolic link, then the link is stat-ed, not the file it
751 This is the same as the C<lstat(2)> system call.
755 lvcreate logvol volgroup mbytes
757 This creates an LVM volume group called C<logvol>
758 on the volume group C<volgroup>, with C<size> megabytes.
760 =head2 lvm-remove-all
764 This command removes all LVM logical volumes, volume groups
765 and physical volumes.
767 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
768 can easily destroy all your data>.
774 Remove an LVM logical volume C<device>, where C<device> is
775 the path to the LV, such as C</dev/VG/LV>.
777 You can also remove all LVs in a volume group by specifying
778 the VG name, C</dev/VG>.
782 lvresize device mbytes
784 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM logical
785 volume to C<mbytes>. When reducing, data in the reduced part
792 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
793 of the L<lvs(8)> command.
795 This returns a list of the logical volume device names
796 (eg. C</dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00>).
798 See also C<lvs-full>.
804 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
805 of the L<lvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
811 Create a directory named C<path>.
817 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
818 as necessary. This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
824 This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
825 or LVM logical volume). The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
830 mount device mountpoint
832 Mount a guest disk at a position in the filesystem. Block devices
833 are named C</dev/sda>, C</dev/sdb> and so on, as they were added to
834 the guest. If those block devices contain partitions, they will have
835 the usual names (eg. C</dev/sda1>). Also LVM C</dev/VG/LV>-style
838 The rules are the same as for L<mount(2)>: A filesystem must
839 first be mounted on C</> before others can be mounted. Other
840 filesystems can only be mounted on directories which already
843 The mounted filesystem is writable, if we have sufficient permissions
844 on the underlying device.
846 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
847 call, in order to improve reliability.
851 mount-options options device mountpoint
853 This is the same as the C<mount> command, but it
854 allows you to set the mount options as for the
855 L<mount(8)> I<-o> flag.
859 mount-ro device mountpoint
861 This is the same as the C<mount> command, but it
862 mounts the filesystem with the read-only (I<-o ro>) flag.
866 mount-vfs options vfstype device mountpoint
868 This is the same as the C<mount> command, but it
869 allows you to set both the mount options and the vfstype
870 as for the L<mount(8)> I<-o> and I<-t> flags.
876 This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems. It returns
877 the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
879 Some internal mounts are not shown.
885 This moves a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
886 either a destination filename or destination directory.
892 This is a test probe into the guestfs daemon running inside
893 the qemu subprocess. Calling this function checks that the
894 daemon responds to the ping message, without affecting the daemon
895 or attached block device(s) in any other way.
901 This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
902 where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
909 This wipes a physical volume C<device> so that LVM will no longer
912 The implementation uses the C<pvremove> command which refuses to
913 wipe physical volumes that contain any volume groups, so you have
914 to remove those first.
920 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM physical
921 volume to match the new size of the underlying device.
927 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
928 of the L<pvs(8)> command.
930 This returns a list of just the device names that contain
931 PVs (eg. C</dev/sda2>).
933 See also C<pvs-full>.
939 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
940 of the L<pvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
946 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
948 The file contents are returned as a list of lines. Trailing
949 C<LF> and C<CRLF> character sequences are I<not> returned.
951 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
952 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
953 as end of line). For those you need to use the C<read-file>
954 function which has a more complex interface.
960 This resizes an ext2 or ext3 filesystem to match the size of
961 the underlying device.
967 Remove the single file C<path>.
973 Remove the file or directory C<path>, recursively removing the
974 contents if its a directory. This is like the C<rm -rf> shell
981 Remove the single directory C<path>.
983 =head2 set-append | append
987 This function is used to add additional options to the
988 guest kernel command line.
990 The default is C<NULL> unless overridden by setting
991 C<LIBGUESTFS_APPEND> environment variable.
993 Setting C<append> to C<NULL> means I<no> additional options
994 are passed (libguestfs always adds a few of its own).
996 =head2 set-autosync | autosync
998 set-autosync true|false
1000 If C<autosync> is true, this enables autosync. Libguestfs will make a
1001 best effort attempt to run C<umount-all> followed by
1002 C<sync> when the handle is closed
1003 (also if the program exits without closing handles).
1005 This is disabled by default (except in guestfish where it is
1006 enabled by default).
1010 set-e2label device label
1012 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
1013 C<device> to C<label>. Filesystem labels are limited to
1016 You can use either C<tune2fs-l> or C<get-e2label>
1017 to return the existing label on a filesystem.
1021 set-e2uuid device uuid
1023 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
1024 C<device> to C<uuid>. The format of the UUID and alternatives
1025 such as C<clear>, C<random> and C<time> are described in the
1026 L<tune2fs(8)> manpage.
1028 You can use either C<tune2fs-l> or C<get-e2uuid>
1029 to return the existing UUID of a filesystem.
1031 =head2 set-path | path
1035 Set the path that libguestfs searches for kernel and initrd.img.
1037 The default is C<$libdir/guestfs> unless overridden by setting
1038 C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
1040 Setting C<path> to C<NULL> restores the default path.
1042 =head2 set-qemu | qemu
1046 Set the qemu binary that we will use.
1048 The default is chosen when the library was compiled by the
1051 You can also override this by setting the C<LIBGUESTFS_QEMU>
1052 environment variable.
1054 Setting C<qemu> to C<NULL> restores the default qemu binary.
1056 =head2 set-verbose | verbose
1058 set-verbose true|false
1060 If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
1062 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
1063 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
1067 sfdisk device cyls heads sectors 'lines ...'
1069 This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
1070 partitions on block devices.
1072 C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
1074 C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
1075 and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
1076 the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters. If you pass C<0> for any
1077 of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted. Usually for
1078 'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
1079 (floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
1080 out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
1082 C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>. For more
1083 information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
1085 To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
1086 pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
1087 the string C<,> (comma).
1089 See also: C<sfdisk-l>, C<sfdisk-N>
1091 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1092 can easily destroy all your data>.
1096 sfdisk-N device n cyls heads sectors line
1098 This runs L<sfdisk(8)> option to modify just the single
1099 partition C<n> (note: C<n> counts from 1).
1101 For other parameters, see C<sfdisk>. You should usually
1102 pass C<0> for the cyls/heads/sectors parameters.
1104 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1105 can easily destroy all your data>.
1107 =head2 sfdisk-disk-geometry
1109 sfdisk-disk-geometry device
1111 This displays the disk geometry of C<device> read from the
1112 partition table. Especially in the case where the underlying
1113 block device has been resized, this can be different from the
1114 kernel's idea of the geometry (see C<sfdisk-kernel-geometry>).
1116 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1119 =head2 sfdisk-kernel-geometry
1121 sfdisk-kernel-geometry device
1123 This displays the kernel's idea of the geometry of C<device>.
1125 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1132 This displays the partition table on C<device>, in the
1133 human-readable output of the L<sfdisk(8)> command. It is
1134 not intended to be parsed.
1140 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
1142 This is the same as the C<stat(2)> system call.
1148 Returns file system statistics for any mounted file system.
1149 C<path> should be a file or directory in the mounted file system
1150 (typically it is the mount point itself, but it doesn't need to be).
1152 This is the same as the C<statvfs(2)> system call.
1158 This runs the L<strings(1)> command on a file and returns
1159 the list of printable strings found.
1161 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1162 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1167 strings-e encoding path
1169 This is like the C<strings> command, but allows you to
1170 specify the encoding.
1172 See the L<strings(1)> manpage for the full list of encodings.
1174 Commonly useful encodings are C<l> (lower case L) which will
1175 show strings inside Windows/x86 files.
1177 The returned strings are transcoded to UTF-8.
1179 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1180 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1187 This syncs the disk, so that any writes are flushed through to the
1188 underlying disk image.
1190 You should always call this if you have modified a disk image, before
1195 tar-in (tarfile|-) directory
1197 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarfile> (an
1198 I<uncompressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1200 To upload a compressed tarball, use C<tgz-in>.
1202 Use C<-> instead of a filename to read/write from stdin/stdout.
1206 tar-out directory (tarfile|-)
1208 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1209 it to local file C<tarfile>.
1211 To download a compressed tarball, use C<tgz-out>.
1213 Use C<-> instead of a filename to read/write from stdin/stdout.
1217 tgz-in (tarball|-) directory
1219 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarball> (a
1220 I<gzip compressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1222 To upload an uncompressed tarball, use C<tar-in>.
1224 Use C<-> instead of a filename to read/write from stdin/stdout.
1228 tgz-out directory (tarball|-)
1230 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1231 it to local file C<tarball>.
1233 To download an uncompressed tarball, use C<tar-out>.
1235 Use C<-> instead of a filename to read/write from stdin/stdout.
1241 Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command. It can be used to
1242 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
1243 to create a new zero-length file.
1249 This returns the contents of the ext2, ext3 or ext4 filesystem
1250 superblock on C<device>.
1252 It is the same as running C<tune2fs -l device>. See L<tune2fs(8)>
1253 manpage for more details. The list of fields returned isn't
1254 clearly defined, and depends on both the version of C<tune2fs>
1255 that libguestfs was built against, and the filesystem itself.
1257 =head2 umount | unmount
1261 This unmounts the given filesystem. The filesystem may be
1262 specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
1263 contains the filesystem.
1265 =head2 umount-all | unmount-all
1269 This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
1271 Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
1275 upload (filename|-) remotefilename
1277 Upload local file C<filename> to C<remotefilename> on the
1280 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
1282 See also C<download>.
1284 Use C<-> instead of a filename to read/write from stdin/stdout.
1288 vg-activate true|false 'volgroups ...'
1290 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1291 all logical volumes in the listed volume groups C<volgroups>.
1292 If activated, then they are made known to the
1293 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1294 then those devices disappear.
1296 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n volgroups...>
1298 Note that if C<volgroups> is an empty list then B<all> volume groups
1299 are activated or deactivated.
1301 =head2 vg-activate-all
1303 vg-activate-all true|false
1305 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1306 all logical volumes in all volume groups.
1307 If activated, then they are made known to the
1308 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1309 then those devices disappear.
1311 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n>
1315 vgcreate volgroup 'physvols ...'
1317 This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
1318 from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
1324 Remove an LVM volume group C<vgname>, (for example C<VG>).
1326 This also forcibly removes all logical volumes in the volume
1333 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1334 of the L<vgs(8)> command.
1336 This returns a list of just the volume group names that were
1337 detected (eg. C<VolGroup00>).
1339 See also C<vgs-full>.
1345 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1346 of the L<vgs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
1350 write-file path content size
1352 This call creates a file called C<path>. The contents of the
1353 file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
1354 with length C<size>.
1356 As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
1357 then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
1358 the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
1360 I<NB.> Owing to a bug, writing content containing ASCII NUL
1361 characters does I<not> work, even if the length is specified.
1362 We hope to resolve this bug in a future version. In the meantime
1365 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1366 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1373 This command writes zeroes over the first few blocks of C<device>.
1375 How many blocks are zeroed isn't specified (but it's I<not> enough
1376 to securely wipe the device). It should be sufficient to remove
1377 any partition tables, filesystem superblocks and so on.
1383 This runs the I<zerofree> program on C<device>. This program
1384 claims to zero unused inodes and disk blocks on an ext2/3
1385 filesystem, thus making it possible to compress the filesystem
1388 You should B<not> run this program if the filesystem is
1391 It is possible that using this program can damage the filesystem
1392 or data on the filesystem.