1 # libguestfs generated file
2 # WARNING: THIS FILE IS GENERATED BY 'src/generator.ml'.
3 # ANY CHANGES YOU MAKE TO THIS FILE WILL BE LOST.
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
9 # License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
10 # version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
12 # This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
13 # but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
14 # MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
15 # Lesser General Public License for more details.
17 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
18 # License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
19 # Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
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 $output = $h->df ();
505 This command runs the C<df> command to report disk space used.
507 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
508 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
509 Use C<statvfs> from programs.
511 =item $output = $h->df_h ();
513 This command runs the C<df -h> command to report disk space used
514 in human-readable format.
516 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
517 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
518 Use C<statvfs> from programs.
520 =item $kmsgs = $h->dmesg ();
522 This returns the kernel messages (C<dmesg> output) from
523 the guest kernel. This is sometimes useful for extended
524 debugging of problems.
526 Another way to get the same information is to enable
527 verbose messages with C<$h-E<gt>set_verbose> or by setting
528 the environment variable C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG=1> before
531 =item $h->download ($remotefilename, $filename);
533 Download file C<remotefilename> and save it as C<filename>
534 on the local machine.
536 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
538 See also C<$h-E<gt>upload>, C<$h-E<gt>cat>.
540 =item $h->drop_caches ($whattodrop);
542 This instructs the guest kernel to drop its page cache,
543 and/or dentries and inode caches. The parameter C<whattodrop>
544 tells the kernel what precisely to drop, see
545 L<http://linux-mm.org/Drop_Caches>
547 Setting C<whattodrop> to 3 should drop everything.
549 This automatically calls L<sync(2)> before the operation,
550 so that the maximum guest memory is freed.
552 =item $sizekb = $h->du ($path);
554 This command runs the C<du -s> command to estimate file space
557 C<path> can be a file or a directory. If C<path> is a directory
558 then the estimate includes the contents of the directory and all
559 subdirectories (recursively).
561 The result is the estimated size in I<kilobytes>
562 (ie. units of 1024 bytes).
564 =item $h->e2fsck_f ($device);
566 This runs C<e2fsck -p -f device>, ie. runs the ext2/ext3
567 filesystem checker on C<device>, noninteractively (C<-p>),
568 even if the filesystem appears to be clean (C<-f>).
570 This command is only needed because of C<$h-E<gt>resize2fs>
571 (q.v.). Normally you should use C<$h-E<gt>fsck>.
573 =item $h->end_busy ();
575 This sets the state to C<READY>, or if in C<CONFIG> then it leaves the
576 state as is. This is only used when implementing
577 actions using the low-level API.
579 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
581 =item $equality = $h->equal ($file1, $file2);
583 This compares the two files C<file1> and C<file2> and returns
584 true if their content is exactly equal, or false otherwise.
586 The external L<cmp(1)> program is used for the comparison.
588 =item $existsflag = $h->exists ($path);
590 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file, directory
591 (or anything) with the given C<path> name.
593 See also C<$h-E<gt>is_file>, C<$h-E<gt>is_dir>, C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
595 =item $description = $h->file ($path);
597 This call uses the standard L<file(1)> command to determine
598 the type or contents of the file. This also works on devices,
599 for example to find out whether a partition contains a filesystem.
601 The exact command which runs is C<file -bsL path>. Note in
602 particular that the filename is not prepended to the output
605 =item @names = $h->find ($directory);
607 This command lists out all files and directories, recursively,
608 starting at C<directory>. It is essentially equivalent to
609 running the shell command C<find directory -print> but some
610 post-processing happens on the output, described below.
612 This returns a list of strings I<without any prefix>. Thus
613 if the directory structure was:
619 then the returned list from C<$h-E<gt>find> C</tmp> would be
627 If C<directory> is not a directory, then this command returns
630 The returned list is sorted.
632 =item $status = $h->fsck ($fstype, $device);
634 This runs the filesystem checker (fsck) on C<device> which
635 should have filesystem type C<fstype>.
637 The returned integer is the status. See L<fsck(8)> for the
638 list of status codes from C<fsck>.
646 Multiple status codes can be summed together.
650 A non-zero return code can mean "success", for example if
651 errors have been corrected on the filesystem.
655 Checking or repairing NTFS volumes is not supported
660 This command is entirely equivalent to running C<fsck -a -t fstype device>.
662 =item $append = $h->get_append ();
664 Return the additional kernel options which are added to the
665 guest kernel command line.
667 If C<NULL> then no options are added.
669 =item $autosync = $h->get_autosync ();
671 Get the autosync flag.
673 =item $label = $h->get_e2label ($device);
675 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
678 =item $uuid = $h->get_e2uuid ($device);
680 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
683 =item $memsize = $h->get_memsize ();
685 This gets the memory size in megabytes allocated to the
688 If C<$h-E<gt>set_memsize> was not called
689 on this handle, and if C<LIBGUESTFS_MEMSIZE> was not set,
690 then this returns the compiled-in default value for memsize.
692 For more information on the architecture of libguestfs,
695 =item $path = $h->get_path ();
697 Return the current search path.
699 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
700 return the default path.
702 =item $qemu = $h->get_qemu ();
704 Return the current qemu binary.
706 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
707 return the default qemu binary name.
709 =item $state = $h->get_state ();
711 This returns the current state as an opaque integer. This is
712 only useful for printing debug and internal error messages.
714 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
716 =item $verbose = $h->get_verbose ();
718 This returns the verbose messages flag.
720 =item @paths = $h->glob_expand ($pattern);
722 This command searches for all the pathnames matching
723 C<pattern> according to the wildcard expansion rules
726 If no paths match, then this returns an empty list
727 (note: not an error).
729 It is just a wrapper around the C L<glob(3)> function
730 with flags C<GLOB_MARK|GLOB_BRACE>.
731 See that manual page for more details.
733 =item $h->grub_install ($root, $device);
735 This command installs GRUB (the Grand Unified Bootloader) on
736 C<device>, with the root directory being C<root>.
738 =item @lines = $h->head ($path);
740 This command returns up to the first 10 lines of a file as
743 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
744 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
747 =item @lines = $h->head_n ($nrlines, $path);
749 If the parameter C<nrlines> is a positive number, this returns the first
750 C<nrlines> lines of the file C<path>.
752 If the parameter C<nrlines> is a negative number, this returns lines
753 from the file C<path>, excluding the last C<nrlines> lines.
755 If the parameter C<nrlines> is zero, this returns an empty list.
757 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
758 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
761 =item $dump = $h->hexdump ($path);
763 This runs C<hexdump -C> on the given C<path>. The result is
764 the human-readable, canonical hex dump of the file.
766 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
767 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
770 =item @filenames = $h->initrd_list ($path);
772 This command lists out files contained in an initrd.
774 The files are listed without any initial C</> character. The
775 files are listed in the order they appear (not necessarily
776 alphabetical). Directory names are listed as separate items.
778 Old Linux kernels (2.4 and earlier) used a compressed ext2
779 filesystem as initrd. We I<only> support the newer initramfs
780 format (compressed cpio files).
782 =item $busy = $h->is_busy ();
784 This returns true iff this handle is busy processing a command
785 (in the C<BUSY> state).
787 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
789 =item $config = $h->is_config ();
791 This returns true iff this handle is being configured
792 (in the C<CONFIG> state).
794 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
796 =item $dirflag = $h->is_dir ($path);
798 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a directory
799 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
800 other objects like files.
802 See also C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
804 =item $fileflag = $h->is_file ($path);
806 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file
807 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
808 other objects like directories.
810 See also C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
812 =item $launching = $h->is_launching ();
814 This returns true iff this handle is launching the subprocess
815 (in the C<LAUNCHING> state).
817 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
819 =item $ready = $h->is_ready ();
821 This returns true iff this handle is ready to accept commands
822 (in the C<READY> state).
824 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
826 =item $h->kill_subprocess ();
828 This kills the qemu subprocess. You should never need to call this.
832 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
835 You should call this after configuring the handle
836 (eg. adding drives) but before performing any actions.
838 =item @devices = $h->list_devices ();
840 List all the block devices.
842 The full block device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda>
844 =item @partitions = $h->list_partitions ();
846 List all the partitions detected on all block devices.
848 The full partition device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda1>
850 This does not return logical volumes. For that you will need to
853 =item $listing = $h->ll ($directory);
855 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
856 there is no cwd) in the format of 'ls -la'.
858 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
859 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
861 =item @listing = $h->ls ($directory);
863 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
864 there is no cwd). The '.' and '..' entries are not returned, but
865 hidden files are shown.
867 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. Programs
868 should probably use C<$h-E<gt>readdir> instead.
870 =item %statbuf = $h->lstat ($path);
872 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
874 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>stat> except that if C<path>
875 is a symbolic link, then the link is stat-ed, not the file it
878 This is the same as the C<lstat(2)> system call.
880 =item $h->lvcreate ($logvol, $volgroup, $mbytes);
882 This creates an LVM volume group called C<logvol>
883 on the volume group C<volgroup>, with C<size> megabytes.
885 =item $h->lvm_remove_all ();
887 This command removes all LVM logical volumes, volume groups
888 and physical volumes.
890 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
891 can easily destroy all your data>.
893 =item $h->lvremove ($device);
895 Remove an LVM logical volume C<device>, where C<device> is
896 the path to the LV, such as C</dev/VG/LV>.
898 You can also remove all LVs in a volume group by specifying
899 the VG name, C</dev/VG>.
901 =item $h->lvresize ($device, $mbytes);
903 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM logical
904 volume to C<mbytes>. When reducing, data in the reduced part
907 =item @logvols = $h->lvs ();
909 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
910 of the L<lvs(8)> command.
912 This returns a list of the logical volume device names
913 (eg. C</dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00>).
915 See also C<$h-E<gt>lvs_full>.
917 =item @logvols = $h->lvs_full ();
919 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
920 of the L<lvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
922 =item $h->mkdir ($path);
924 Create a directory named C<path>.
926 =item $h->mkdir_p ($path);
928 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
929 as necessary. This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
931 =item $dir = $h->mkdtemp ($template);
933 This command creates a temporary directory. The
934 C<template> parameter should be a full pathname for the
935 temporary directory name with the final six characters being
938 For example: "/tmp/myprogXXXXXX" or "/Temp/myprogXXXXXX",
939 the second one being suitable for Windows filesystems.
941 The name of the temporary directory that was created
944 The temporary directory is created with mode 0700
945 and is owned by root.
947 The caller is responsible for deleting the temporary
948 directory and its contents after use.
950 See also: L<mkdtemp(3)>
952 =item $h->mkfs ($fstype, $device);
954 This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
955 or LVM logical volume). The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
958 =item $h->mkswap ($device);
960 Create a swap partition on C<device>.
962 =item $h->mkswap_L ($label, $device);
964 Create a swap partition on C<device> with label C<label>.
966 =item $h->mkswap_U ($uuid, $device);
968 Create a swap partition on C<device> with UUID C<uuid>.
970 =item $h->mount ($device, $mountpoint);
972 Mount a guest disk at a position in the filesystem. Block devices
973 are named C</dev/sda>, C</dev/sdb> and so on, as they were added to
974 the guest. If those block devices contain partitions, they will have
975 the usual names (eg. C</dev/sda1>). Also LVM C</dev/VG/LV>-style
978 The rules are the same as for L<mount(2)>: A filesystem must
979 first be mounted on C</> before others can be mounted. Other
980 filesystems can only be mounted on directories which already
983 The mounted filesystem is writable, if we have sufficient permissions
984 on the underlying device.
986 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
987 call, in order to improve reliability.
989 =item $h->mount_loop ($file, $mountpoint);
991 This command lets you mount C<file> (a filesystem image
992 in a file) on a mount point. It is entirely equivalent to
993 the command C<mount -o loop file mountpoint>.
995 =item $h->mount_options ($options, $device, $mountpoint);
997 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
998 allows you to set the mount options as for the
999 L<mount(8)> I<-o> flag.
1001 =item $h->mount_ro ($device, $mountpoint);
1003 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
1004 mounts the filesystem with the read-only (I<-o ro>) flag.
1006 =item $h->mount_vfs ($options, $vfstype, $device, $mountpoint);
1008 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
1009 allows you to set both the mount options and the vfstype
1010 as for the L<mount(8)> I<-o> and I<-t> flags.
1012 =item @devices = $h->mounts ();
1014 This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems. It returns
1015 the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
1017 Some internal mounts are not shown.
1019 =item $h->mv ($src, $dest);
1021 This moves a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
1022 either a destination filename or destination directory.
1024 =item $status = $h->ntfs_3g_probe ($rw, $device);
1026 This command runs the L<ntfs-3g.probe(8)> command which probes
1027 an NTFS C<device> for mountability. (Not all NTFS volumes can
1028 be mounted read-write, and some cannot be mounted at all).
1030 C<rw> is a boolean flag. Set it to true if you want to test
1031 if the volume can be mounted read-write. Set it to false if
1032 you want to test if the volume can be mounted read-only.
1034 The return value is an integer which C<0> if the operation
1035 would succeed, or some non-zero value documented in the
1036 L<ntfs-3g.probe(8)> manual page.
1038 =item $h->ping_daemon ();
1040 This is a test probe into the guestfs daemon running inside
1041 the qemu subprocess. Calling this function checks that the
1042 daemon responds to the ping message, without affecting the daemon
1043 or attached block device(s) in any other way.
1045 =item $h->pvcreate ($device);
1047 This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
1048 where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
1051 =item $h->pvremove ($device);
1053 This wipes a physical volume C<device> so that LVM will no longer
1056 The implementation uses the C<pvremove> command which refuses to
1057 wipe physical volumes that contain any volume groups, so you have
1058 to remove those first.
1060 =item $h->pvresize ($device);
1062 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM physical
1063 volume to match the new size of the underlying device.
1065 =item @physvols = $h->pvs ();
1067 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
1068 of the L<pvs(8)> command.
1070 This returns a list of just the device names that contain
1071 PVs (eg. C</dev/sda2>).
1073 See also C<$h-E<gt>pvs_full>.
1075 =item @physvols = $h->pvs_full ();
1077 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
1078 of the L<pvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
1080 =item @lines = $h->read_lines ($path);
1082 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
1084 The file contents are returned as a list of lines. Trailing
1085 C<LF> and C<CRLF> character sequences are I<not> returned.
1087 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
1088 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
1089 as end of line). For those you need to use the C<$h-E<gt>read_file>
1090 function which has a more complex interface.
1092 =item $h->resize2fs ($device);
1094 This resizes an ext2 or ext3 filesystem to match the size of
1095 the underlying device.
1097 I<Note:> It is sometimes required that you run C<$h-E<gt>e2fsck_f>
1098 on the C<device> before calling this command. For unknown reasons
1099 C<resize2fs> sometimes gives an error about this and sometimes not.
1100 In any case, it is always safe to call C<$h-E<gt>e2fsck_f> before
1101 calling this function.
1103 =item $h->rm ($path);
1105 Remove the single file C<path>.
1107 =item $h->rm_rf ($path);
1109 Remove the file or directory C<path>, recursively removing the
1110 contents if its a directory. This is like the C<rm -rf> shell
1113 =item $h->rmdir ($path);
1115 Remove the single directory C<path>.
1117 =item $h->scrub_device ($device);
1119 This command writes patterns over C<device> to make data retrieval
1122 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1123 manual page for more details.
1125 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1126 can easily destroy all your data>.
1128 =item $h->scrub_file ($file);
1130 This command writes patterns over a file to make data retrieval
1133 The file is I<removed> after scrubbing.
1135 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1136 manual page for more details.
1138 =item $h->scrub_freespace ($dir);
1140 This command creates the directory C<dir> and then fills it
1141 with files until the filesystem is full, and scrubs the files
1142 as for C<$h-E<gt>scrub_file>, and deletes them.
1143 The intention is to scrub any free space on the partition
1146 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1147 manual page for more details.
1149 =item $h->set_append ($append);
1151 This function is used to add additional options to the
1152 guest kernel command line.
1154 The default is C<NULL> unless overridden by setting
1155 C<LIBGUESTFS_APPEND> environment variable.
1157 Setting C<append> to C<NULL> means I<no> additional options
1158 are passed (libguestfs always adds a few of its own).
1160 =item $h->set_autosync ($autosync);
1162 If C<autosync> is true, this enables autosync. Libguestfs will make a
1163 best effort attempt to run C<$h-E<gt>umount_all> followed by
1164 C<$h-E<gt>sync> when the handle is closed
1165 (also if the program exits without closing handles).
1167 This is disabled by default (except in guestfish where it is
1168 enabled by default).
1170 =item $h->set_busy ();
1172 This sets the state to C<BUSY>. This is only used when implementing
1173 actions using the low-level API.
1175 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
1177 =item $h->set_e2label ($device, $label);
1179 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
1180 C<device> to C<label>. Filesystem labels are limited to
1183 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2label>
1184 to return the existing label on a filesystem.
1186 =item $h->set_e2uuid ($device, $uuid);
1188 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
1189 C<device> to C<uuid>. The format of the UUID and alternatives
1190 such as C<clear>, C<random> and C<time> are described in the
1191 L<tune2fs(8)> manpage.
1193 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2uuid>
1194 to return the existing UUID of a filesystem.
1196 =item $h->set_memsize ($memsize);
1198 This sets the memory size in megabytes allocated to the
1199 qemu subprocess. This only has any effect if called before
1202 You can also change this by setting the environment
1203 variable C<LIBGUESTFS_MEMSIZE> before the handle is
1206 For more information on the architecture of libguestfs,
1209 =item $h->set_path ($path);
1211 Set the path that libguestfs searches for kernel and initrd.img.
1213 The default is C<$libdir/guestfs> unless overridden by setting
1214 C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
1216 Setting C<path> to C<NULL> restores the default path.
1218 =item $h->set_qemu ($qemu);
1220 Set the qemu binary that we will use.
1222 The default is chosen when the library was compiled by the
1225 You can also override this by setting the C<LIBGUESTFS_QEMU>
1226 environment variable.
1228 Setting C<qemu> to C<NULL> restores the default qemu binary.
1230 =item $h->set_ready ();
1232 This sets the state to C<READY>. This is only used when implementing
1233 actions using the low-level API.
1235 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
1237 =item $h->set_verbose ($verbose);
1239 If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
1241 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
1242 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
1244 =item $h->sfdisk ($device, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, \@lines);
1246 This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
1247 partitions on block devices.
1249 C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
1251 C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
1252 and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
1253 the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters. If you pass C<0> for any
1254 of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted. Usually for
1255 'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
1256 (floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
1257 out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
1259 C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>. For more
1260 information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
1262 To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
1263 pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
1264 the string C<,> (comma).
1266 See also: C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_l>, C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_N>
1268 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1269 can easily destroy all your data>.
1271 =item $h->sfdisk_N ($device, $partnum, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, $line);
1273 This runs L<sfdisk(8)> option to modify just the single
1274 partition C<n> (note: C<n> counts from 1).
1276 For other parameters, see C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk>. You should usually
1277 pass C<0> for the cyls/heads/sectors parameters.
1279 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1280 can easily destroy all your data>.
1282 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_disk_geometry ($device);
1284 This displays the disk geometry of C<device> read from the
1285 partition table. Especially in the case where the underlying
1286 block device has been resized, this can be different from the
1287 kernel's idea of the geometry (see C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_kernel_geometry>).
1289 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1292 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_kernel_geometry ($device);
1294 This displays the kernel's idea of the geometry of C<device>.
1296 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1299 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_l ($device);
1301 This displays the partition table on C<device>, in the
1302 human-readable output of the L<sfdisk(8)> command. It is
1303 not intended to be parsed.
1305 =item $output = $h->sh ($command);
1307 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem via the
1310 This is like C<$h-E<gt>command>, but passes the command to:
1312 /bin/sh -c "command"
1314 Depending on the guest's shell, this usually results in
1315 wildcards being expanded, shell expressions being interpolated
1318 All the provisos about C<$h-E<gt>command> apply to this call.
1320 =item @lines = $h->sh_lines ($command);
1322 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>sh>, but splits the result
1323 into a list of lines.
1325 See also: C<$h-E<gt>command_lines>
1327 =item $h->sleep ($secs);
1329 Sleep for C<secs> seconds.
1331 =item %statbuf = $h->stat ($path);
1333 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
1335 This is the same as the C<stat(2)> system call.
1337 =item %statbuf = $h->statvfs ($path);
1339 Returns file system statistics for any mounted file system.
1340 C<path> should be a file or directory in the mounted file system
1341 (typically it is the mount point itself, but it doesn't need to be).
1343 This is the same as the C<statvfs(2)> system call.
1345 =item @stringsout = $h->strings ($path);
1347 This runs the L<strings(1)> command on a file and returns
1348 the list of printable strings found.
1350 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1351 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1354 =item @stringsout = $h->strings_e ($encoding, $path);
1356 This is like the C<$h-E<gt>strings> command, but allows you to
1357 specify the encoding.
1359 See the L<strings(1)> manpage for the full list of encodings.
1361 Commonly useful encodings are C<l> (lower case L) which will
1362 show strings inside Windows/x86 files.
1364 The returned strings are transcoded to UTF-8.
1366 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1367 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1372 This syncs the disk, so that any writes are flushed through to the
1373 underlying disk image.
1375 You should always call this if you have modified a disk image, before
1378 =item @lines = $h->tail ($path);
1380 This command returns up to the last 10 lines of a file as
1383 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1384 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1387 =item @lines = $h->tail_n ($nrlines, $path);
1389 If the parameter C<nrlines> is a positive number, this returns the last
1390 C<nrlines> lines of the file C<path>.
1392 If the parameter C<nrlines> is a negative number, this returns lines
1393 from the file C<path>, starting with the C<-nrlines>th line.
1395 If the parameter C<nrlines> is zero, this returns an empty list.
1397 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1398 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1401 =item $h->tar_in ($tarfile, $directory);
1403 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarfile> (an
1404 I<uncompressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1406 To upload a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_in>.
1408 =item $h->tar_out ($directory, $tarfile);
1410 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1411 it to local file C<tarfile>.
1413 To download a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_out>.
1415 =item $h->tgz_in ($tarball, $directory);
1417 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarball> (a
1418 I<gzip compressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1420 To upload an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_in>.
1422 =item $h->tgz_out ($directory, $tarball);
1424 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1425 it to local file C<tarball>.
1427 To download an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_out>.
1429 =item $h->touch ($path);
1431 Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command. It can be used to
1432 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
1433 to create a new zero-length file.
1435 =item %superblock = $h->tune2fs_l ($device);
1437 This returns the contents of the ext2, ext3 or ext4 filesystem
1438 superblock on C<device>.
1440 It is the same as running C<tune2fs -l device>. See L<tune2fs(8)>
1441 manpage for more details. The list of fields returned isn't
1442 clearly defined, and depends on both the version of C<tune2fs>
1443 that libguestfs was built against, and the filesystem itself.
1445 =item $h->umount ($pathordevice);
1447 This unmounts the given filesystem. The filesystem may be
1448 specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
1449 contains the filesystem.
1451 =item $h->umount_all ();
1453 This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
1455 Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
1457 =item $h->upload ($filename, $remotefilename);
1459 Upload local file C<filename> to C<remotefilename> on the
1462 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
1464 See also C<$h-E<gt>download>.
1466 =item $h->vg_activate ($activate, \@volgroups);
1468 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1469 all logical volumes in the listed volume groups C<volgroups>.
1470 If activated, then they are made known to the
1471 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1472 then those devices disappear.
1474 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n volgroups...>
1476 Note that if C<volgroups> is an empty list then B<all> volume groups
1477 are activated or deactivated.
1479 =item $h->vg_activate_all ($activate);
1481 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1482 all logical volumes in all volume groups.
1483 If activated, then they are made known to the
1484 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1485 then those devices disappear.
1487 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n>
1489 =item $h->vgcreate ($volgroup, \@physvols);
1491 This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
1492 from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
1494 =item $h->vgremove ($vgname);
1496 Remove an LVM volume group C<vgname>, (for example C<VG>).
1498 This also forcibly removes all logical volumes in the volume
1501 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs ();
1503 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1504 of the L<vgs(8)> command.
1506 This returns a list of just the volume group names that were
1507 detected (eg. C<VolGroup00>).
1509 See also C<$h-E<gt>vgs_full>.
1511 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs_full ();
1513 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1514 of the L<vgs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
1516 =item $h->wait_ready ();
1518 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
1521 You should call this after C<$h-E<gt>launch> to wait for the launch
1524 =item $chars = $h->wc_c ($path);
1526 This command counts the characters in a file, using the
1527 C<wc -c> external command.
1529 =item $lines = $h->wc_l ($path);
1531 This command counts the lines in a file, using the
1532 C<wc -l> external command.
1534 =item $words = $h->wc_w ($path);
1536 This command counts the words in a file, using the
1537 C<wc -w> external command.
1539 =item $h->write_file ($path, $content, $size);
1541 This call creates a file called C<path>. The contents of the
1542 file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
1543 with length C<size>.
1545 As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
1546 then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
1547 the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
1549 I<NB.> Owing to a bug, writing content containing ASCII NUL
1550 characters does I<not> work, even if the length is specified.
1551 We hope to resolve this bug in a future version. In the meantime
1552 use C<$h-E<gt>upload>.
1554 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1555 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1558 =item $h->zero ($device);
1560 This command writes zeroes over the first few blocks of C<device>.
1562 How many blocks are zeroed isn't specified (but it's I<not> enough
1563 to securely wipe the device). It should be sufficient to remove
1564 any partition tables, filesystem superblocks and so on.
1566 See also: C<$h-E<gt>scrub_device>.
1568 =item $h->zerofree ($device);
1570 This runs the I<zerofree> program on C<device>. This program
1571 claims to zero unused inodes and disk blocks on an ext2/3
1572 filesystem, thus making it possible to compress the filesystem
1575 You should B<not> run this program if the filesystem is
1578 It is possible that using this program can damage the filesystem
1579 or data on the filesystem.
1589 Copyright (C) 2009 Red Hat Inc.
1593 Please see the file COPYING.LIB for the full license.
1597 L<guestfs(3)>, L<guestfish(1)>.