1 =head2 guestfs_add_cdrom
3 int guestfs_add_cdrom (guestfs_h *handle,
6 This function adds a virtual CD-ROM disk image to the guest.
8 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-cdrom filename>.
10 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
12 =head2 guestfs_add_drive
14 int guestfs_add_drive (guestfs_h *handle,
15 const char *filename);
17 This function adds a virtual machine disk image C<filename> to the
18 guest. The first time you call this function, the disk appears as IDE
19 disk 0 (C</dev/sda>) in the guest, the second time as C</dev/sdb>, and
22 You don't necessarily need to be root when using libguestfs. However
23 you obviously do need sufficient permissions to access the filename
24 for whatever operations you want to perform (ie. read access if you
25 just want to read the image or write access if you want to modify the
28 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-drive file=filename>.
30 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
32 =head2 guestfs_aug_close
34 int guestfs_aug_close (guestfs_h *handle);
36 Close the current Augeas handle and free up any resources
37 used by it. After calling this, you have to call
38 C<guestfs_aug_init> again before you can use any other
41 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
43 =head2 guestfs_aug_defnode
45 struct guestfs_int_bool *guestfs_aug_defnode (guestfs_h *handle,
50 Defines a variable C<name> whose value is the result of
53 If C<expr> evaluates to an empty nodeset, a node is created,
54 equivalent to calling C<guestfs_aug_set> C<expr>, C<value>.
55 C<name> will be the nodeset containing that single node.
57 On success this returns a pair containing the
58 number of nodes in the nodeset, and a boolean flag
59 if a node was created.
61 This function returns a C<struct guestfs_int_bool *>.
62 I<The caller must call C<guestfs_free_int_bool> after use>.
64 =head2 guestfs_aug_defvar
66 int guestfs_aug_defvar (guestfs_h *handle,
70 Defines an Augeas variable C<name> whose value is the result
71 of evaluating C<expr>. If C<expr> is NULL, then C<name> is
74 On success this returns the number of nodes in C<expr>, or
75 C<0> if C<expr> evaluates to something which is not a nodeset.
77 On error this function returns -1.
79 =head2 guestfs_aug_get
81 char *guestfs_aug_get (guestfs_h *handle,
84 Look up the value associated with C<path>. If C<path>
85 matches exactly one node, the C<value> is returned.
87 This function returns a string, or NULL on error.
88 I<The caller must free the returned string after use>.
90 =head2 guestfs_aug_init
92 int guestfs_aug_init (guestfs_h *handle,
96 Create a new Augeas handle for editing configuration files.
97 If there was any previous Augeas handle associated with this
98 guestfs session, then it is closed.
100 You must call this before using any other C<guestfs_aug_*>
103 C<root> is the filesystem root. C<root> must not be NULL,
106 The flags are the same as the flags defined in
107 E<lt>augeas.hE<gt>, the logical I<or> of the following
112 =item C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP> = 1
114 Keep the original file with a C<.augsave> extension.
116 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NEWFILE> = 2
118 Save changes into a file with extension C<.augnew>, and
119 do not overwrite original. Overrides C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP>.
121 =item C<AUG_TYPE_CHECK> = 4
123 Typecheck lenses (can be expensive).
125 =item C<AUG_NO_STDINC> = 8
127 Do not use standard load path for modules.
129 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NOOP> = 16
131 Make save a no-op, just record what would have been changed.
133 =item C<AUG_NO_LOAD> = 32
135 Do not load the tree in C<guestfs_aug_init>.
139 To close the handle, you can call C<guestfs_aug_close>.
141 To find out more about Augeas, see L<http://augeas.net/>.
143 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
145 =head2 guestfs_aug_insert
147 int guestfs_aug_insert (guestfs_h *handle,
152 Create a new sibling C<label> for C<path>, inserting it into
153 the tree before or after C<path> (depending on the boolean
156 C<path> must match exactly one existing node in the tree, and
157 C<label> must be a label, ie. not contain C</>, C<*> or end
158 with a bracketed index C<[N]>.
160 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
162 =head2 guestfs_aug_load
164 int guestfs_aug_load (guestfs_h *handle);
166 Load files into the tree.
168 See C<aug_load> in the Augeas documentation for the full gory
171 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
173 =head2 guestfs_aug_ls
175 char **guestfs_aug_ls (guestfs_h *handle,
178 This is just a shortcut for listing C<guestfs_aug_match>
179 C<path/*> and sorting the resulting nodes into alphabetical order.
181 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
182 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
183 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
185 =head2 guestfs_aug_match
187 char **guestfs_aug_match (guestfs_h *handle,
190 Returns a list of paths which match the path expression C<path>.
191 The returned paths are sufficiently qualified so that they match
192 exactly one node in the current tree.
194 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
195 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
196 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
198 =head2 guestfs_aug_mv
200 int guestfs_aug_mv (guestfs_h *handle,
204 Move the node C<src> to C<dest>. C<src> must match exactly
205 one node. C<dest> is overwritten if it exists.
207 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
209 =head2 guestfs_aug_rm
211 int guestfs_aug_rm (guestfs_h *handle,
214 Remove C<path> and all of its children.
216 On success this returns the number of entries which were removed.
218 On error this function returns -1.
220 =head2 guestfs_aug_save
222 int guestfs_aug_save (guestfs_h *handle);
224 This writes all pending changes to disk.
226 The flags which were passed to C<guestfs_aug_init> affect exactly
229 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
231 =head2 guestfs_aug_set
233 int guestfs_aug_set (guestfs_h *handle,
237 Set the value associated with C<path> to C<value>.
239 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
243 char *guestfs_cat (guestfs_h *handle,
246 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
248 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
249 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
250 as end of string). For those you need to use the C<guestfs_read_file>
251 function which has a more complex interface.
253 This function returns a string, or NULL on error.
254 I<The caller must free the returned string after use>.
256 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
257 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
262 int guestfs_chmod (guestfs_h *handle,
266 Change the mode (permissions) of C<path> to C<mode>. Only
267 numeric modes are supported.
269 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
273 int guestfs_chown (guestfs_h *handle,
278 Change the file owner to C<owner> and group to C<group>.
280 Only numeric uid and gid are supported. If you want to use
281 names, you will need to locate and parse the password file
282 yourself (Augeas support makes this relatively easy).
284 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
286 =head2 guestfs_command
288 char *guestfs_command (guestfs_h *handle,
289 char * const* const arguments);
291 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem. The
292 filesystem must be mounted, and must contain a compatible
293 operating system (ie. something Linux, with the same
294 or compatible processor architecture).
296 The single parameter is an argv-style list of arguments.
297 The first element is the name of the program to run.
298 Subsequent elements are parameters. The list must be
299 non-empty (ie. must contain a program name).
301 The C<$PATH> environment variable will contain at least
302 C</usr/bin> and C</bin>. If you require a program from
303 another location, you should provide the full path in the
306 Shared libraries and data files required by the program
307 must be available on filesystems which are mounted in the
308 correct places. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure
309 all filesystems that are needed are mounted at the right
312 This function returns a string, or NULL on error.
313 I<The caller must free the returned string after use>.
315 =head2 guestfs_command_lines
317 char **guestfs_command_lines (guestfs_h *handle,
318 char * const* const arguments);
320 This is the same as C<guestfs_command>, but splits the
321 result into a list of lines.
323 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
324 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
325 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
327 =head2 guestfs_config
329 int guestfs_config (guestfs_h *handle,
330 const char *qemuparam,
331 const char *qemuvalue);
333 This can be used to add arbitrary qemu command line parameters
334 of the form C<-param value>. Actually it's not quite arbitrary - we
335 prevent you from setting some parameters which would interfere with
336 parameters that we use.
338 The first character of C<param> string must be a C<-> (dash).
340 C<value> can be NULL.
342 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
344 =head2 guestfs_exists
346 int guestfs_exists (guestfs_h *handle,
349 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file, directory
350 (or anything) with the given C<path> name.
352 See also C<guestfs_is_file>, C<guestfs_is_dir>, C<guestfs_stat>.
354 This function returns a C truth value on success or -1 on error.
358 char *guestfs_file (guestfs_h *handle,
361 This call uses the standard L<file(1)> command to determine
362 the type or contents of the file. This also works on devices,
363 for example to find out whether a partition contains a filesystem.
365 The exact command which runs is C<file -bsL path>. Note in
366 particular that the filename is not prepended to the output
369 This function returns a string, or NULL on error.
370 I<The caller must free the returned string after use>.
372 =head2 guestfs_get_autosync
374 int guestfs_get_autosync (guestfs_h *handle);
376 Get the autosync flag.
378 This function returns a C truth value on success or -1 on error.
380 =head2 guestfs_get_path
382 const char *guestfs_get_path (guestfs_h *handle);
384 Return the current search path.
386 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
387 return the default path.
389 This function returns a string, or NULL on error.
390 The string is owned by the guest handle and must I<not> be freed.
392 =head2 guestfs_get_verbose
394 int guestfs_get_verbose (guestfs_h *handle);
396 This returns the verbose messages flag.
398 This function returns a C truth value on success or -1 on error.
400 =head2 guestfs_is_dir
402 int guestfs_is_dir (guestfs_h *handle,
405 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a directory
406 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
407 other objects like files.
409 See also C<guestfs_stat>.
411 This function returns a C truth value on success or -1 on error.
413 =head2 guestfs_is_file
415 int guestfs_is_file (guestfs_h *handle,
418 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file
419 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
420 other objects like directories.
422 See also C<guestfs_stat>.
424 This function returns a C truth value on success or -1 on error.
426 =head2 guestfs_kill_subprocess
428 int guestfs_kill_subprocess (guestfs_h *handle);
430 This kills the qemu subprocess. You should never need to call this.
432 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
434 =head2 guestfs_launch
436 int guestfs_launch (guestfs_h *handle);
438 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
441 You should call this after configuring the handle
442 (eg. adding drives) but before performing any actions.
444 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
446 =head2 guestfs_list_devices
448 char **guestfs_list_devices (guestfs_h *handle);
450 List all the block devices.
452 The full block device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda>
454 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
455 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
456 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
458 =head2 guestfs_list_partitions
460 char **guestfs_list_partitions (guestfs_h *handle);
462 List all the partitions detected on all block devices.
464 The full partition device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda1>
466 This does not return logical volumes. For that you will need to
469 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
470 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
471 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
475 char *guestfs_ll (guestfs_h *handle,
476 const char *directory);
478 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
479 there is no cwd) in the format of 'ls -la'.
481 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
482 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
484 This function returns a string, or NULL on error.
485 I<The caller must free the returned string after use>.
489 char **guestfs_ls (guestfs_h *handle,
490 const char *directory);
492 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
493 there is no cwd). The '.' and '..' entries are not returned, but
494 hidden files are shown.
496 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. Programs
497 should probably use C<guestfs_readdir> instead.
499 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
500 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
501 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
503 =head2 guestfs_lvcreate
505 int guestfs_lvcreate (guestfs_h *handle,
507 const char *volgroup,
510 This creates an LVM volume group called C<logvol>
511 on the volume group C<volgroup>, with C<size> megabytes.
513 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
515 =head2 guestfs_lvm_remove_all
517 int guestfs_lvm_remove_all (guestfs_h *handle);
519 This command removes all LVM logical volumes, volume groups
520 and physical volumes.
522 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
524 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
525 can easily destroy all your data>.
529 char **guestfs_lvs (guestfs_h *handle);
531 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
532 of the L<lvs(8)> command.
534 This returns a list of the logical volume device names
535 (eg. C</dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00>).
537 See also C<guestfs_lvs_full>.
539 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
540 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
541 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
543 =head2 guestfs_lvs_full
545 struct guestfs_lvm_lv_list *guestfs_lvs_full (guestfs_h *handle);
547 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
548 of the L<lvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
550 This function returns a C<struct guestfs_lvm_lv_list *>.
551 I<The caller must call C<guestfs_free_lvm_lv_list> after use>.
555 int guestfs_mkdir (guestfs_h *handle,
558 Create a directory named C<path>.
560 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
562 =head2 guestfs_mkdir_p
564 int guestfs_mkdir_p (guestfs_h *handle,
567 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
568 as necessary. This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
570 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
574 int guestfs_mkfs (guestfs_h *handle,
578 This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
579 of LVM logical volume). The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
582 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
586 int guestfs_mount (guestfs_h *handle,
588 const char *mountpoint);
590 Mount a guest disk at a position in the filesystem. Block devices
591 are named C</dev/sda>, C</dev/sdb> and so on, as they were added to
592 the guest. If those block devices contain partitions, they will have
593 the usual names (eg. C</dev/sda1>). Also LVM C</dev/VG/LV>-style
596 The rules are the same as for L<mount(2)>: A filesystem must
597 first be mounted on C</> before others can be mounted. Other
598 filesystems can only be mounted on directories which already
601 The mounted filesystem is writable, if we have sufficient permissions
602 on the underlying device.
604 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
605 call, in order to improve reliability.
607 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
609 =head2 guestfs_mounts
611 char **guestfs_mounts (guestfs_h *handle);
613 This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems. It returns
614 the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
616 Some internal mounts are not shown.
618 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
619 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
620 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
622 =head2 guestfs_pvcreate
624 int guestfs_pvcreate (guestfs_h *handle,
627 This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
628 where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
631 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
635 char **guestfs_pvs (guestfs_h *handle);
637 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
638 of the L<pvs(8)> command.
640 This returns a list of just the device names that contain
641 PVs (eg. C</dev/sda2>).
643 See also C<guestfs_pvs_full>.
645 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
646 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
647 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
649 =head2 guestfs_pvs_full
651 struct guestfs_lvm_pv_list *guestfs_pvs_full (guestfs_h *handle);
653 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
654 of the L<pvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
656 This function returns a C<struct guestfs_lvm_pv_list *>.
657 I<The caller must call C<guestfs_free_lvm_pv_list> after use>.
659 =head2 guestfs_read_lines
661 char **guestfs_read_lines (guestfs_h *handle,
664 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
666 The file contents are returned as a list of lines. Trailing
667 C<LF> and C<CRLF> character sequences are I<not> returned.
669 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
670 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
671 as end of line). For those you need to use the C<guestfs_read_file>
672 function which has a more complex interface.
674 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
675 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
676 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
680 int guestfs_rm (guestfs_h *handle,
683 Remove the single file C<path>.
685 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
689 int guestfs_rm_rf (guestfs_h *handle,
692 Remove the file or directory C<path>, recursively removing the
693 contents if its a directory. This is like the C<rm -rf> shell
696 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
700 int guestfs_rmdir (guestfs_h *handle,
703 Remove the single directory C<path>.
705 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
707 =head2 guestfs_set_autosync
709 int guestfs_set_autosync (guestfs_h *handle,
712 If C<autosync> is true, this enables autosync. Libguestfs will make a
713 best effort attempt to run C<guestfs_sync> when the handle is closed
714 (also if the program exits without closing handles).
716 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
718 =head2 guestfs_set_path
720 int guestfs_set_path (guestfs_h *handle,
723 Set the path that libguestfs searches for kernel and initrd.img.
725 The default is C<$libdir/guestfs> unless overridden by setting
726 C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
728 The string C<path> is stashed in the libguestfs handle, so the caller
729 must make sure it remains valid for the lifetime of the handle.
731 Setting C<path> to C<NULL> restores the default path.
733 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
735 =head2 guestfs_set_verbose
737 int guestfs_set_verbose (guestfs_h *handle,
740 If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
742 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
743 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
745 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
747 =head2 guestfs_sfdisk
749 int guestfs_sfdisk (guestfs_h *handle,
754 char * const* const lines);
756 This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
757 partitions on block devices.
759 C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
761 C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
762 and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
763 the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters. If you pass C<0> for any
764 of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted. Usually for
765 'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
766 (floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
767 out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
769 C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>. For more
770 information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
772 To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
773 pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
774 the string C<,> (comma).
776 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
778 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
779 can easily destroy all your data>.
783 int guestfs_sync (guestfs_h *handle);
785 This syncs the disk, so that any writes are flushed through to the
786 underlying disk image.
788 You should always call this if you have modified a disk image, before
791 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
795 int guestfs_touch (guestfs_h *handle,
798 Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command. It can be used to
799 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
800 to create a new zero-length file.
802 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
804 =head2 guestfs_umount
806 int guestfs_umount (guestfs_h *handle,
807 const char *pathordevice);
809 This unmounts the given filesystem. The filesystem may be
810 specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
811 contains the filesystem.
813 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
815 =head2 guestfs_umount_all
817 int guestfs_umount_all (guestfs_h *handle);
819 This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
821 Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
823 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
825 =head2 guestfs_vgcreate
827 int guestfs_vgcreate (guestfs_h *handle,
828 const char *volgroup,
829 char * const* const physvols);
831 This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
832 from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
834 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
838 char **guestfs_vgs (guestfs_h *handle);
840 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
841 of the L<vgs(8)> command.
843 This returns a list of just the volume group names that were
844 detected (eg. C<VolGroup00>).
846 See also C<guestfs_vgs_full>.
848 This function returns a NULL-terminated array of strings
849 (like L<environ(3)>), or NULL if there was an error.
850 I<The caller must free the strings and the array after use>.
852 =head2 guestfs_vgs_full
854 struct guestfs_lvm_vg_list *guestfs_vgs_full (guestfs_h *handle);
856 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
857 of the L<vgs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
859 This function returns a C<struct guestfs_lvm_vg_list *>.
860 I<The caller must call C<guestfs_free_lvm_vg_list> after use>.
862 =head2 guestfs_wait_ready
864 int guestfs_wait_ready (guestfs_h *handle);
866 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
869 You should call this after C<guestfs_launch> to wait for the launch
872 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
874 =head2 guestfs_write_file
876 int guestfs_write_file (guestfs_h *handle,
881 This call creates a file called C<path>. The contents of the
882 file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
885 As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
886 then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
887 the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
889 This function returns 0 on success or -1 on error.
891 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
892 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use