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5 # Copyright (C) 2009 Red Hat Inc.
7 # This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
8 # modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
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12 # This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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14 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
15 # Lesser General Public License for more details.
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25 Sys::Guestfs - Perl bindings for libguestfs
31 my $h = Sys::Guestfs->new ();
32 $h->add_drive ('guest.img');
35 $h->mount ('/dev/sda1', '/');
41 The C<Sys::Guestfs> module provides a Perl XS binding to the
42 libguestfs API for examining and modifying virtual machine
45 Amongst the things this is good for: making batch configuration
46 changes to guests, getting disk used/free statistics (see also:
47 virt-df), migrating between virtualization systems (see also:
48 virt-p2v), performing partial backups, performing partial guest
49 clones, cloning guests and changing registry/UUID/hostname info, and
52 Libguestfs uses Linux kernel and qemu code, and can access any type of
53 guest filesystem that Linux and qemu can, including but not limited
54 to: ext2/3/4, btrfs, FAT and NTFS, LVM, many different disk partition
55 schemes, qcow, qcow2, vmdk.
57 Libguestfs provides ways to enumerate guest storage (eg. partitions,
58 LVs, what filesystem is in each LV, etc.). It can also run commands
59 in the context of the guest. Also you can access filesystems over FTP.
63 All errors turn into calls to C<croak> (see L<Carp(3)>).
77 XSLoader::load ('Sys::Guestfs');
79 =item $h = Sys::Guestfs->new ();
81 Create a new guestfs handle.
87 my $class = ref ($proto) || $proto;
89 my $self = Sys::Guestfs::_create ();
94 =item $h->add_cdrom ($filename);
96 This function adds a virtual CD-ROM disk image to the guest.
98 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-cdrom filename>.
100 Note that this call checks for the existence of C<filename>. This
101 stops you from specifying other types of drive which are supported
102 by qemu such as C<nbd:> and C<http:> URLs. To specify those, use
103 the general C<$h-E<gt>config> call instead.
105 =item $h->add_drive ($filename);
107 This function adds a virtual machine disk image C<filename> to the
108 guest. The first time you call this function, the disk appears as IDE
109 disk 0 (C</dev/sda>) in the guest, the second time as C</dev/sdb>, and
112 You don't necessarily need to be root when using libguestfs. However
113 you obviously do need sufficient permissions to access the filename
114 for whatever operations you want to perform (ie. read access if you
115 just want to read the image or write access if you want to modify the
118 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-drive file=filename,cache=off>.
120 Note that this call checks for the existence of C<filename>. This
121 stops you from specifying other types of drive which are supported
122 by qemu such as C<nbd:> and C<http:> URLs. To specify those, use
123 the general C<$h-E<gt>config> call instead.
125 =item $h->add_drive_ro ($filename);
127 This adds a drive in snapshot mode, making it effectively
130 Note that writes to the device are allowed, and will be seen for
131 the duration of the guestfs handle, but they are written
132 to a temporary file which is discarded as soon as the guestfs
133 handle is closed. We don't currently have any method to enable
134 changes to be committed, although qemu can support this.
136 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter
137 C<-drive file=filename,snapshot=on>.
139 Note that this call checks for the existence of C<filename>. This
140 stops you from specifying other types of drive which are supported
141 by qemu such as C<nbd:> and C<http:> URLs. To specify those, use
142 the general C<$h-E<gt>config> call instead.
144 =item $h->aug_close ();
146 Close the current Augeas handle and free up any resources
147 used by it. After calling this, you have to call
148 C<$h-E<gt>aug_init> again before you can use any other
151 =item ($nrnodes, $created) = $h->aug_defnode ($name, $expr, $val);
153 Defines a variable C<name> whose value is the result of
156 If C<expr> evaluates to an empty nodeset, a node is created,
157 equivalent to calling C<$h-E<gt>aug_set> C<expr>, C<value>.
158 C<name> will be the nodeset containing that single node.
160 On success this returns a pair containing the
161 number of nodes in the nodeset, and a boolean flag
162 if a node was created.
164 =item $nrnodes = $h->aug_defvar ($name, $expr);
166 Defines an Augeas variable C<name> whose value is the result
167 of evaluating C<expr>. If C<expr> is NULL, then C<name> is
170 On success this returns the number of nodes in C<expr>, or
171 C<0> if C<expr> evaluates to something which is not a nodeset.
173 =item $val = $h->aug_get ($path);
175 Look up the value associated with C<path>. If C<path>
176 matches exactly one node, the C<value> is returned.
178 =item $h->aug_init ($root, $flags);
180 Create a new Augeas handle for editing configuration files.
181 If there was any previous Augeas handle associated with this
182 guestfs session, then it is closed.
184 You must call this before using any other C<$h-E<gt>aug_*>
187 C<root> is the filesystem root. C<root> must not be NULL,
190 The flags are the same as the flags defined in
191 E<lt>augeas.hE<gt>, the logical I<or> of the following
196 =item C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP> = 1
198 Keep the original file with a C<.augsave> extension.
200 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NEWFILE> = 2
202 Save changes into a file with extension C<.augnew>, and
203 do not overwrite original. Overrides C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP>.
205 =item C<AUG_TYPE_CHECK> = 4
207 Typecheck lenses (can be expensive).
209 =item C<AUG_NO_STDINC> = 8
211 Do not use standard load path for modules.
213 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NOOP> = 16
215 Make save a no-op, just record what would have been changed.
217 =item C<AUG_NO_LOAD> = 32
219 Do not load the tree in C<$h-E<gt>aug_init>.
223 To close the handle, you can call C<$h-E<gt>aug_close>.
225 To find out more about Augeas, see L<http://augeas.net/>.
227 =item $h->aug_insert ($path, $label, $before);
229 Create a new sibling C<label> for C<path>, inserting it into
230 the tree before or after C<path> (depending on the boolean
233 C<path> must match exactly one existing node in the tree, and
234 C<label> must be a label, ie. not contain C</>, C<*> or end
235 with a bracketed index C<[N]>.
237 =item $h->aug_load ();
239 Load files into the tree.
241 See C<aug_load> in the Augeas documentation for the full gory
244 =item @matches = $h->aug_ls ($path);
246 This is just a shortcut for listing C<$h-E<gt>aug_match>
247 C<path/*> and sorting the resulting nodes into alphabetical order.
249 =item @matches = $h->aug_match ($path);
251 Returns a list of paths which match the path expression C<path>.
252 The returned paths are sufficiently qualified so that they match
253 exactly one node in the current tree.
255 =item $h->aug_mv ($src, $dest);
257 Move the node C<src> to C<dest>. C<src> must match exactly
258 one node. C<dest> is overwritten if it exists.
260 =item $nrnodes = $h->aug_rm ($path);
262 Remove C<path> and all of its children.
264 On success this returns the number of entries which were removed.
266 =item $h->aug_save ();
268 This writes all pending changes to disk.
270 The flags which were passed to C<$h-E<gt>aug_init> affect exactly
273 =item $h->aug_set ($path, $val);
275 Set the value associated with C<path> to C<value>.
277 =item $h->blockdev_flushbufs ($device);
279 This tells the kernel to flush internal buffers associated
282 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
284 =item $blocksize = $h->blockdev_getbsz ($device);
286 This returns the block size of a device.
288 (Note this is different from both I<size in blocks> and
289 I<filesystem block size>).
291 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
293 =item $ro = $h->blockdev_getro ($device);
295 Returns a boolean indicating if the block device is read-only
296 (true if read-only, false if not).
298 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
300 =item $sizeinbytes = $h->blockdev_getsize64 ($device);
302 This returns the size of the device in bytes.
304 See also C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getsz>.
306 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
308 =item $sectorsize = $h->blockdev_getss ($device);
310 This returns the size of sectors on a block device.
311 Usually 512, but can be larger for modern devices.
313 (Note, this is not the size in sectors, use C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getsz>
316 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
318 =item $sizeinsectors = $h->blockdev_getsz ($device);
320 This returns the size of the device in units of 512-byte sectors
321 (even if the sectorsize isn't 512 bytes ... weird).
323 See also C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getss> for the real sector size of
324 the device, and C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getsize64> for the more
325 useful I<size in bytes>.
327 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
329 =item $h->blockdev_rereadpt ($device);
331 Reread the partition table on C<device>.
333 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
335 =item $h->blockdev_setbsz ($device, $blocksize);
337 This sets the block size of a device.
339 (Note this is different from both I<size in blocks> and
340 I<filesystem block size>).
342 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
344 =item $h->blockdev_setro ($device);
346 Sets the block device named C<device> to read-only.
348 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
350 =item $h->blockdev_setrw ($device);
352 Sets the block device named C<device> to read-write.
354 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
356 =item $content = $h->cat ($path);
358 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
360 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
361 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
362 as end of string). For those you need to use the C<$h-E<gt>download>
363 function which has a more complex interface.
365 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
366 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
369 =item $checksum = $h->checksum ($csumtype, $path);
371 This call computes the MD5, SHAx or CRC checksum of the
374 The type of checksum to compute is given by the C<csumtype>
375 parameter which must have one of the following values:
381 Compute the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) specified by POSIX
382 for the C<cksum> command.
386 Compute the MD5 hash (using the C<md5sum> program).
390 Compute the SHA1 hash (using the C<sha1sum> program).
394 Compute the SHA224 hash (using the C<sha224sum> program).
398 Compute the SHA256 hash (using the C<sha256sum> program).
402 Compute the SHA384 hash (using the C<sha384sum> program).
406 Compute the SHA512 hash (using the C<sha512sum> program).
410 The checksum is returned as a printable string.
412 =item $h->chmod ($mode, $path);
414 Change the mode (permissions) of C<path> to C<mode>. Only
415 numeric modes are supported.
417 =item $h->chown ($owner, $group, $path);
419 Change the file owner to C<owner> and group to C<group>.
421 Only numeric uid and gid are supported. If you want to use
422 names, you will need to locate and parse the password file
423 yourself (Augeas support makes this relatively easy).
425 =item $output = $h->command (\@arguments);
427 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem. The
428 filesystem must be mounted, and must contain a compatible
429 operating system (ie. something Linux, with the same
430 or compatible processor architecture).
432 The single parameter is an argv-style list of arguments.
433 The first element is the name of the program to run.
434 Subsequent elements are parameters. The list must be
435 non-empty (ie. must contain a program name). Note that
436 the command runs directly, and is I<not> invoked via
437 the shell (see C<$h-E<gt>sh>).
439 The return value is anything printed to I<stdout> by
442 If the command returns a non-zero exit status, then
443 this function returns an error message. The error message
444 string is the content of I<stderr> from the command.
446 The C<$PATH> environment variable will contain at least
447 C</usr/bin> and C</bin>. If you require a program from
448 another location, you should provide the full path in the
451 Shared libraries and data files required by the program
452 must be available on filesystems which are mounted in the
453 correct places. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure
454 all filesystems that are needed are mounted at the right
457 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
458 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
461 =item @lines = $h->command_lines (\@arguments);
463 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>command>, but splits the
464 result into a list of lines.
466 See also: C<$h-E<gt>sh_lines>
468 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
469 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
472 =item $h->config ($qemuparam, $qemuvalue);
474 This can be used to add arbitrary qemu command line parameters
475 of the form C<-param value>. Actually it's not quite arbitrary - we
476 prevent you from setting some parameters which would interfere with
477 parameters that we use.
479 The first character of C<param> string must be a C<-> (dash).
481 C<value> can be NULL.
483 =item $h->cp ($src, $dest);
485 This copies a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
486 either a destination filename or destination directory.
488 =item $h->cp_a ($src, $dest);
490 This copies a file or directory from C<src> to C<dest>
491 recursively using the C<cp -a> command.
493 =item $result = $h->debug ($subcmd, \@extraargs);
495 The C<$h-E<gt>debug> command exposes some internals of
496 C<guestfsd> (the guestfs daemon) that runs inside the
499 There is no comprehensive help for this command. You have
500 to look at the file C<daemon/debug.c> in the libguestfs source
501 to find out what you can do.
503 =item $kmsgs = $h->dmesg ();
505 This returns the kernel messages (C<dmesg> output) from
506 the guest kernel. This is sometimes useful for extended
507 debugging of problems.
509 Another way to get the same information is to enable
510 verbose messages with C<$h-E<gt>set_verbose> or by setting
511 the environment variable C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG=1> before
514 =item $h->download ($remotefilename, $filename);
516 Download file C<remotefilename> and save it as C<filename>
517 on the local machine.
519 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
521 See also C<$h-E<gt>upload>, C<$h-E<gt>cat>.
523 =item $h->drop_caches ($whattodrop);
525 This instructs the guest kernel to drop its page cache,
526 and/or dentries and inode caches. The parameter C<whattodrop>
527 tells the kernel what precisely to drop, see
528 L<http://linux-mm.org/Drop_Caches>
530 Setting C<whattodrop> to 3 should drop everything.
532 This automatically calls L<sync(2)> before the operation,
533 so that the maximum guest memory is freed.
535 =item $h->e2fsck_f ($device);
537 This runs C<e2fsck -p -f device>, ie. runs the ext2/ext3
538 filesystem checker on C<device>, noninteractively (C<-p>),
539 even if the filesystem appears to be clean (C<-f>).
541 This command is only needed because of C<$h-E<gt>resize2fs>
542 (q.v.). Normally you should use C<$h-E<gt>fsck>.
544 =item $h->end_busy ();
546 This sets the state to C<READY>, or if in C<CONFIG> then it leaves the
547 state as is. This is only used when implementing
548 actions using the low-level API.
550 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
552 =item $equality = $h->equal ($file1, $file2);
554 This compares the two files C<file1> and C<file2> and returns
555 true if their content is exactly equal, or false otherwise.
557 The external L<cmp(1)> program is used for the comparison.
559 =item $existsflag = $h->exists ($path);
561 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file, directory
562 (or anything) with the given C<path> name.
564 See also C<$h-E<gt>is_file>, C<$h-E<gt>is_dir>, C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
566 =item $description = $h->file ($path);
568 This call uses the standard L<file(1)> command to determine
569 the type or contents of the file. This also works on devices,
570 for example to find out whether a partition contains a filesystem.
572 The exact command which runs is C<file -bsL path>. Note in
573 particular that the filename is not prepended to the output
576 =item @names = $h->find ($directory);
578 This command lists out all files and directories, recursively,
579 starting at C<directory>. It is essentially equivalent to
580 running the shell command C<find directory -print> but some
581 post-processing happens on the output, described below.
583 This returns a list of strings I<without any prefix>. Thus
584 if the directory structure was:
590 then the returned list from C<$h-E<gt>find> C</tmp> would be
598 If C<directory> is not a directory, then this command returns
601 The returned list is sorted.
603 =item $status = $h->fsck ($fstype, $device);
605 This runs the filesystem checker (fsck) on C<device> which
606 should have filesystem type C<fstype>.
608 The returned integer is the status. See L<fsck(8)> for the
609 list of status codes from C<fsck>.
617 Multiple status codes can be summed together.
621 A non-zero return code can mean "success", for example if
622 errors have been corrected on the filesystem.
626 Checking or repairing NTFS volumes is not supported
631 This command is entirely equivalent to running C<fsck -a -t fstype device>.
633 =item $append = $h->get_append ();
635 Return the additional kernel options which are added to the
636 guest kernel command line.
638 If C<NULL> then no options are added.
640 =item $autosync = $h->get_autosync ();
642 Get the autosync flag.
644 =item $label = $h->get_e2label ($device);
646 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
649 =item $uuid = $h->get_e2uuid ($device);
651 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
654 =item $path = $h->get_path ();
656 Return the current search path.
658 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
659 return the default path.
661 =item $qemu = $h->get_qemu ();
663 Return the current qemu binary.
665 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
666 return the default qemu binary name.
668 =item $state = $h->get_state ();
670 This returns the current state as an opaque integer. This is
671 only useful for printing debug and internal error messages.
673 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
675 =item $verbose = $h->get_verbose ();
677 This returns the verbose messages flag.
679 =item @paths = $h->glob_expand ($pattern);
681 This command searches for all the pathnames matching
682 C<pattern> according to the wildcard expansion rules
685 If no paths match, then this returns an empty list
686 (note: not an error).
688 It is just a wrapper around the C L<glob(3)> function
689 with flags C<GLOB_MARK|GLOB_BRACE>.
690 See that manual page for more details.
692 =item $h->grub_install ($root, $device);
694 This command installs GRUB (the Grand Unified Bootloader) on
695 C<device>, with the root directory being C<root>.
697 =item $dump = $h->hexdump ($path);
699 This runs C<hexdump -C> on the given C<path>. The result is
700 the human-readable, canonical hex dump of the file.
702 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
703 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
706 =item $busy = $h->is_busy ();
708 This returns true iff this handle is busy processing a command
709 (in the C<BUSY> state).
711 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
713 =item $config = $h->is_config ();
715 This returns true iff this handle is being configured
716 (in the C<CONFIG> state).
718 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
720 =item $dirflag = $h->is_dir ($path);
722 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a directory
723 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
724 other objects like files.
726 See also C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
728 =item $fileflag = $h->is_file ($path);
730 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file
731 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
732 other objects like directories.
734 See also C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
736 =item $launching = $h->is_launching ();
738 This returns true iff this handle is launching the subprocess
739 (in the C<LAUNCHING> state).
741 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
743 =item $ready = $h->is_ready ();
745 This returns true iff this handle is ready to accept commands
746 (in the C<READY> state).
748 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
750 =item $h->kill_subprocess ();
752 This kills the qemu subprocess. You should never need to call this.
756 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
759 You should call this after configuring the handle
760 (eg. adding drives) but before performing any actions.
762 =item @devices = $h->list_devices ();
764 List all the block devices.
766 The full block device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda>
768 =item @partitions = $h->list_partitions ();
770 List all the partitions detected on all block devices.
772 The full partition device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda1>
774 This does not return logical volumes. For that you will need to
777 =item $listing = $h->ll ($directory);
779 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
780 there is no cwd) in the format of 'ls -la'.
782 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
783 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
785 =item @listing = $h->ls ($directory);
787 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
788 there is no cwd). The '.' and '..' entries are not returned, but
789 hidden files are shown.
791 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. Programs
792 should probably use C<$h-E<gt>readdir> instead.
794 =item %statbuf = $h->lstat ($path);
796 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
798 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>stat> except that if C<path>
799 is a symbolic link, then the link is stat-ed, not the file it
802 This is the same as the C<lstat(2)> system call.
804 =item $h->lvcreate ($logvol, $volgroup, $mbytes);
806 This creates an LVM volume group called C<logvol>
807 on the volume group C<volgroup>, with C<size> megabytes.
809 =item $h->lvm_remove_all ();
811 This command removes all LVM logical volumes, volume groups
812 and physical volumes.
814 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
815 can easily destroy all your data>.
817 =item $h->lvremove ($device);
819 Remove an LVM logical volume C<device>, where C<device> is
820 the path to the LV, such as C</dev/VG/LV>.
822 You can also remove all LVs in a volume group by specifying
823 the VG name, C</dev/VG>.
825 =item $h->lvresize ($device, $mbytes);
827 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM logical
828 volume to C<mbytes>. When reducing, data in the reduced part
831 =item @logvols = $h->lvs ();
833 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
834 of the L<lvs(8)> command.
836 This returns a list of the logical volume device names
837 (eg. C</dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00>).
839 See also C<$h-E<gt>lvs_full>.
841 =item @logvols = $h->lvs_full ();
843 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
844 of the L<lvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
846 =item $h->mkdir ($path);
848 Create a directory named C<path>.
850 =item $h->mkdir_p ($path);
852 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
853 as necessary. This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
855 =item $dir = $h->mkdtemp ($template);
857 This command creates a temporary directory. The
858 C<template> parameter should be a full pathname for the
859 temporary directory name with the final six characters being
862 For example: "/tmp/myprogXXXXXX" or "/Temp/myprogXXXXXX",
863 the second one being suitable for Windows filesystems.
865 The name of the temporary directory that was created
868 The temporary directory is created with mode 0700
869 and is owned by root.
871 The caller is responsible for deleting the temporary
872 directory and its contents after use.
874 See also: L<mkdtemp(3)>
876 =item $h->mkfs ($fstype, $device);
878 This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
879 or LVM logical volume). The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
882 =item $h->mount ($device, $mountpoint);
884 Mount a guest disk at a position in the filesystem. Block devices
885 are named C</dev/sda>, C</dev/sdb> and so on, as they were added to
886 the guest. If those block devices contain partitions, they will have
887 the usual names (eg. C</dev/sda1>). Also LVM C</dev/VG/LV>-style
890 The rules are the same as for L<mount(2)>: A filesystem must
891 first be mounted on C</> before others can be mounted. Other
892 filesystems can only be mounted on directories which already
895 The mounted filesystem is writable, if we have sufficient permissions
896 on the underlying device.
898 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
899 call, in order to improve reliability.
901 =item $h->mount_options ($options, $device, $mountpoint);
903 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
904 allows you to set the mount options as for the
905 L<mount(8)> I<-o> flag.
907 =item $h->mount_ro ($device, $mountpoint);
909 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
910 mounts the filesystem with the read-only (I<-o ro>) flag.
912 =item $h->mount_vfs ($options, $vfstype, $device, $mountpoint);
914 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
915 allows you to set both the mount options and the vfstype
916 as for the L<mount(8)> I<-o> and I<-t> flags.
918 =item @devices = $h->mounts ();
920 This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems. It returns
921 the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
923 Some internal mounts are not shown.
925 =item $h->mv ($src, $dest);
927 This moves a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
928 either a destination filename or destination directory.
930 =item $status = $h->ntfs_3g_probe ($rw, $device);
932 This command runs the L<ntfs-3g.probe(8)> command which probes
933 an NTFS C<device> for mountability. (Not all NTFS volumes can
934 be mounted read-write, and some cannot be mounted at all).
936 C<rw> is a boolean flag. Set it to true if you want to test
937 if the volume can be mounted read-write. Set it to false if
938 you want to test if the volume can be mounted read-only.
940 The return value is an integer which C<0> if the operation
941 would succeed, or some non-zero value documented in the
942 L<ntfs-3g.probe(8)> manual page.
944 =item $h->ping_daemon ();
946 This is a test probe into the guestfs daemon running inside
947 the qemu subprocess. Calling this function checks that the
948 daemon responds to the ping message, without affecting the daemon
949 or attached block device(s) in any other way.
951 =item $h->pvcreate ($device);
953 This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
954 where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
957 =item $h->pvremove ($device);
959 This wipes a physical volume C<device> so that LVM will no longer
962 The implementation uses the C<pvremove> command which refuses to
963 wipe physical volumes that contain any volume groups, so you have
964 to remove those first.
966 =item $h->pvresize ($device);
968 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM physical
969 volume to match the new size of the underlying device.
971 =item @physvols = $h->pvs ();
973 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
974 of the L<pvs(8)> command.
976 This returns a list of just the device names that contain
977 PVs (eg. C</dev/sda2>).
979 See also C<$h-E<gt>pvs_full>.
981 =item @physvols = $h->pvs_full ();
983 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
984 of the L<pvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
986 =item @lines = $h->read_lines ($path);
988 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
990 The file contents are returned as a list of lines. Trailing
991 C<LF> and C<CRLF> character sequences are I<not> returned.
993 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
994 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
995 as end of line). For those you need to use the C<$h-E<gt>read_file>
996 function which has a more complex interface.
998 =item $h->resize2fs ($device);
1000 This resizes an ext2 or ext3 filesystem to match the size of
1001 the underlying device.
1003 I<Note:> It is sometimes required that you run C<$h-E<gt>e2fsck_f>
1004 on the C<device> before calling this command. For unknown reasons
1005 C<resize2fs> sometimes gives an error about this and sometimes not.
1006 In any case, it is always safe to call C<$h-E<gt>e2fsck_f> before
1007 calling this function.
1009 =item $h->rm ($path);
1011 Remove the single file C<path>.
1013 =item $h->rm_rf ($path);
1015 Remove the file or directory C<path>, recursively removing the
1016 contents if its a directory. This is like the C<rm -rf> shell
1019 =item $h->rmdir ($path);
1021 Remove the single directory C<path>.
1023 =item $h->scrub_device ($device);
1025 This command writes patterns over C<device> to make data retrieval
1028 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1029 manual page for more details.
1031 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1032 can easily destroy all your data>.
1034 =item $h->scrub_file ($file);
1036 This command writes patterns over a file to make data retrieval
1039 The file is I<removed> after scrubbing.
1041 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1042 manual page for more details.
1044 =item $h->scrub_freespace ($dir);
1046 This command creates the directory C<dir> and then fills it
1047 with files until the filesystem is full, and scrubs the files
1048 as for C<$h-E<gt>scrub_file>, and deletes them.
1049 The intention is to scrub any free space on the partition
1052 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1053 manual page for more details.
1055 =item $h->set_append ($append);
1057 This function is used to add additional options to the
1058 guest kernel command line.
1060 The default is C<NULL> unless overridden by setting
1061 C<LIBGUESTFS_APPEND> environment variable.
1063 Setting C<append> to C<NULL> means I<no> additional options
1064 are passed (libguestfs always adds a few of its own).
1066 =item $h->set_autosync ($autosync);
1068 If C<autosync> is true, this enables autosync. Libguestfs will make a
1069 best effort attempt to run C<$h-E<gt>umount_all> followed by
1070 C<$h-E<gt>sync> when the handle is closed
1071 (also if the program exits without closing handles).
1073 This is disabled by default (except in guestfish where it is
1074 enabled by default).
1076 =item $h->set_busy ();
1078 This sets the state to C<BUSY>. This is only used when implementing
1079 actions using the low-level API.
1081 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
1083 =item $h->set_e2label ($device, $label);
1085 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
1086 C<device> to C<label>. Filesystem labels are limited to
1089 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2label>
1090 to return the existing label on a filesystem.
1092 =item $h->set_e2uuid ($device, $uuid);
1094 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
1095 C<device> to C<uuid>. The format of the UUID and alternatives
1096 such as C<clear>, C<random> and C<time> are described in the
1097 L<tune2fs(8)> manpage.
1099 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2uuid>
1100 to return the existing UUID of a filesystem.
1102 =item $h->set_path ($path);
1104 Set the path that libguestfs searches for kernel and initrd.img.
1106 The default is C<$libdir/guestfs> unless overridden by setting
1107 C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
1109 Setting C<path> to C<NULL> restores the default path.
1111 =item $h->set_qemu ($qemu);
1113 Set the qemu binary that we will use.
1115 The default is chosen when the library was compiled by the
1118 You can also override this by setting the C<LIBGUESTFS_QEMU>
1119 environment variable.
1121 Setting C<qemu> to C<NULL> restores the default qemu binary.
1123 =item $h->set_ready ();
1125 This sets the state to C<READY>. This is only used when implementing
1126 actions using the low-level API.
1128 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
1130 =item $h->set_verbose ($verbose);
1132 If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
1134 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
1135 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
1137 =item $h->sfdisk ($device, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, \@lines);
1139 This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
1140 partitions on block devices.
1142 C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
1144 C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
1145 and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
1146 the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters. If you pass C<0> for any
1147 of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted. Usually for
1148 'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
1149 (floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
1150 out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
1152 C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>. For more
1153 information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
1155 To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
1156 pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
1157 the string C<,> (comma).
1159 See also: C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_l>, C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_N>
1161 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1162 can easily destroy all your data>.
1164 =item $h->sfdisk_N ($device, $n, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, $line);
1166 This runs L<sfdisk(8)> option to modify just the single
1167 partition C<n> (note: C<n> counts from 1).
1169 For other parameters, see C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk>. You should usually
1170 pass C<0> for the cyls/heads/sectors parameters.
1172 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1173 can easily destroy all your data>.
1175 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_disk_geometry ($device);
1177 This displays the disk geometry of C<device> read from the
1178 partition table. Especially in the case where the underlying
1179 block device has been resized, this can be different from the
1180 kernel's idea of the geometry (see C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_kernel_geometry>).
1182 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1185 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_kernel_geometry ($device);
1187 This displays the kernel's idea of the geometry of C<device>.
1189 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1192 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_l ($device);
1194 This displays the partition table on C<device>, in the
1195 human-readable output of the L<sfdisk(8)> command. It is
1196 not intended to be parsed.
1198 =item $output = $h->sh ($command);
1200 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem via the
1203 This is like C<$h-E<gt>command>, but passes the command to:
1205 /bin/sh -c "command"
1207 Depending on the guest's shell, this usually results in
1208 wildcards being expanded, shell expressions being interpolated
1211 All the provisos about C<$h-E<gt>command> apply to this call.
1213 =item @lines = $h->sh_lines ($command);
1215 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>sh>, but splits the result
1216 into a list of lines.
1218 See also: C<$h-E<gt>command_lines>
1220 =item $h->sleep ($secs);
1222 Sleep for C<secs> seconds.
1224 =item %statbuf = $h->stat ($path);
1226 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
1228 This is the same as the C<stat(2)> system call.
1230 =item %statbuf = $h->statvfs ($path);
1232 Returns file system statistics for any mounted file system.
1233 C<path> should be a file or directory in the mounted file system
1234 (typically it is the mount point itself, but it doesn't need to be).
1236 This is the same as the C<statvfs(2)> system call.
1238 =item @stringsout = $h->strings ($path);
1240 This runs the L<strings(1)> command on a file and returns
1241 the list of printable strings found.
1243 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1244 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1247 =item @stringsout = $h->strings_e ($encoding, $path);
1249 This is like the C<$h-E<gt>strings> command, but allows you to
1250 specify the encoding.
1252 See the L<strings(1)> manpage for the full list of encodings.
1254 Commonly useful encodings are C<l> (lower case L) which will
1255 show strings inside Windows/x86 files.
1257 The returned strings are transcoded to UTF-8.
1259 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1260 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1265 This syncs the disk, so that any writes are flushed through to the
1266 underlying disk image.
1268 You should always call this if you have modified a disk image, before
1271 =item $h->tar_in ($tarfile, $directory);
1273 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarfile> (an
1274 I<uncompressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1276 To upload a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_in>.
1278 =item $h->tar_out ($directory, $tarfile);
1280 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1281 it to local file C<tarfile>.
1283 To download a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_out>.
1285 =item $h->tgz_in ($tarball, $directory);
1287 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarball> (a
1288 I<gzip compressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1290 To upload an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_in>.
1292 =item $h->tgz_out ($directory, $tarball);
1294 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1295 it to local file C<tarball>.
1297 To download an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_out>.
1299 =item $h->touch ($path);
1301 Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command. It can be used to
1302 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
1303 to create a new zero-length file.
1305 =item %superblock = $h->tune2fs_l ($device);
1307 This returns the contents of the ext2, ext3 or ext4 filesystem
1308 superblock on C<device>.
1310 It is the same as running C<tune2fs -l device>. See L<tune2fs(8)>
1311 manpage for more details. The list of fields returned isn't
1312 clearly defined, and depends on both the version of C<tune2fs>
1313 that libguestfs was built against, and the filesystem itself.
1315 =item $h->umount ($pathordevice);
1317 This unmounts the given filesystem. The filesystem may be
1318 specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
1319 contains the filesystem.
1321 =item $h->umount_all ();
1323 This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
1325 Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
1327 =item $h->upload ($filename, $remotefilename);
1329 Upload local file C<filename> to C<remotefilename> on the
1332 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
1334 See also C<$h-E<gt>download>.
1336 =item $h->vg_activate ($activate, \@volgroups);
1338 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1339 all logical volumes in the listed volume groups C<volgroups>.
1340 If activated, then they are made known to the
1341 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1342 then those devices disappear.
1344 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n volgroups...>
1346 Note that if C<volgroups> is an empty list then B<all> volume groups
1347 are activated or deactivated.
1349 =item $h->vg_activate_all ($activate);
1351 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1352 all logical volumes in all volume groups.
1353 If activated, then they are made known to the
1354 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1355 then those devices disappear.
1357 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n>
1359 =item $h->vgcreate ($volgroup, \@physvols);
1361 This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
1362 from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
1364 =item $h->vgremove ($vgname);
1366 Remove an LVM volume group C<vgname>, (for example C<VG>).
1368 This also forcibly removes all logical volumes in the volume
1371 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs ();
1373 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1374 of the L<vgs(8)> command.
1376 This returns a list of just the volume group names that were
1377 detected (eg. C<VolGroup00>).
1379 See also C<$h-E<gt>vgs_full>.
1381 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs_full ();
1383 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1384 of the L<vgs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
1386 =item $h->wait_ready ();
1388 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
1391 You should call this after C<$h-E<gt>launch> to wait for the launch
1394 =item $h->write_file ($path, $content, $size);
1396 This call creates a file called C<path>. The contents of the
1397 file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
1398 with length C<size>.
1400 As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
1401 then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
1402 the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
1404 I<NB.> Owing to a bug, writing content containing ASCII NUL
1405 characters does I<not> work, even if the length is specified.
1406 We hope to resolve this bug in a future version. In the meantime
1407 use C<$h-E<gt>upload>.
1409 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1410 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1413 =item $h->zero ($device);
1415 This command writes zeroes over the first few blocks of C<device>.
1417 How many blocks are zeroed isn't specified (but it's I<not> enough
1418 to securely wipe the device). It should be sufficient to remove
1419 any partition tables, filesystem superblocks and so on.
1421 See also: C<$h-E<gt>scrub_device>.
1423 =item $h->zerofree ($device);
1425 This runs the I<zerofree> program on C<device>. This program
1426 claims to zero unused inodes and disk blocks on an ext2/3
1427 filesystem, thus making it possible to compress the filesystem
1430 You should B<not> run this program if the filesystem is
1433 It is possible that using this program can damage the filesystem
1434 or data on the filesystem.
1444 Copyright (C) 2009 Red Hat Inc.
1448 Please see the file COPYING.LIB for the full license.
1452 L<guestfs(3)>, L<guestfish(1)>.