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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
9 # License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
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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 =item $h->add_drive ($filename);
102 This function adds a virtual machine disk image C<filename> to the
103 guest. The first time you call this function, the disk appears as IDE
104 disk 0 (C</dev/sda>) in the guest, the second time as C</dev/sdb>, and
107 You don't necessarily need to be root when using libguestfs. However
108 you obviously do need sufficient permissions to access the filename
109 for whatever operations you want to perform (ie. read access if you
110 just want to read the image or write access if you want to modify the
113 This is equivalent to the qemu parameter C<-drive file=filename>.
115 =item $h->aug_close ();
117 Close the current Augeas handle and free up any resources
118 used by it. After calling this, you have to call
119 C<$h-E<gt>aug_init> again before you can use any other
122 =item ($nrnodes, $created) = $h->aug_defnode ($name, $expr, $val);
124 Defines a variable C<name> whose value is the result of
127 If C<expr> evaluates to an empty nodeset, a node is created,
128 equivalent to calling C<$h-E<gt>aug_set> C<expr>, C<value>.
129 C<name> will be the nodeset containing that single node.
131 On success this returns a pair containing the
132 number of nodes in the nodeset, and a boolean flag
133 if a node was created.
135 =item $nrnodes = $h->aug_defvar ($name, $expr);
137 Defines an Augeas variable C<name> whose value is the result
138 of evaluating C<expr>. If C<expr> is NULL, then C<name> is
141 On success this returns the number of nodes in C<expr>, or
142 C<0> if C<expr> evaluates to something which is not a nodeset.
144 =item $val = $h->aug_get ($path);
146 Look up the value associated with C<path>. If C<path>
147 matches exactly one node, the C<value> is returned.
149 =item $h->aug_init ($root, $flags);
151 Create a new Augeas handle for editing configuration files.
152 If there was any previous Augeas handle associated with this
153 guestfs session, then it is closed.
155 You must call this before using any other C<$h-E<gt>aug_*>
158 C<root> is the filesystem root. C<root> must not be NULL,
161 The flags are the same as the flags defined in
162 E<lt>augeas.hE<gt>, the logical I<or> of the following
167 =item C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP> = 1
169 Keep the original file with a C<.augsave> extension.
171 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NEWFILE> = 2
173 Save changes into a file with extension C<.augnew>, and
174 do not overwrite original. Overrides C<AUG_SAVE_BACKUP>.
176 =item C<AUG_TYPE_CHECK> = 4
178 Typecheck lenses (can be expensive).
180 =item C<AUG_NO_STDINC> = 8
182 Do not use standard load path for modules.
184 =item C<AUG_SAVE_NOOP> = 16
186 Make save a no-op, just record what would have been changed.
188 =item C<AUG_NO_LOAD> = 32
190 Do not load the tree in C<$h-E<gt>aug_init>.
194 To close the handle, you can call C<$h-E<gt>aug_close>.
196 To find out more about Augeas, see L<http://augeas.net/>.
198 =item $h->aug_insert ($path, $label, $before);
200 Create a new sibling C<label> for C<path>, inserting it into
201 the tree before or after C<path> (depending on the boolean
204 C<path> must match exactly one existing node in the tree, and
205 C<label> must be a label, ie. not contain C</>, C<*> or end
206 with a bracketed index C<[N]>.
208 =item $h->aug_load ();
210 Load files into the tree.
212 See C<aug_load> in the Augeas documentation for the full gory
215 =item @matches = $h->aug_ls ($path);
217 This is just a shortcut for listing C<$h-E<gt>aug_match>
218 C<path/*> and sorting the resulting nodes into alphabetical order.
220 =item @matches = $h->aug_match ($path);
222 Returns a list of paths which match the path expression C<path>.
223 The returned paths are sufficiently qualified so that they match
224 exactly one node in the current tree.
226 =item $h->aug_mv ($src, $dest);
228 Move the node C<src> to C<dest>. C<src> must match exactly
229 one node. C<dest> is overwritten if it exists.
231 =item $nrnodes = $h->aug_rm ($path);
233 Remove C<path> and all of its children.
235 On success this returns the number of entries which were removed.
237 =item $h->aug_save ();
239 This writes all pending changes to disk.
241 The flags which were passed to C<$h-E<gt>aug_init> affect exactly
244 =item $h->aug_set ($path, $val);
246 Set the value associated with C<path> to C<value>.
248 =item $h->blockdev_flushbufs ($device);
250 This tells the kernel to flush internal buffers associated
253 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
255 =item $blocksize = $h->blockdev_getbsz ($device);
257 This returns the block size of a device.
259 (Note this is different from both I<size in blocks> and
260 I<filesystem block size>).
262 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
264 =item $ro = $h->blockdev_getro ($device);
266 Returns a boolean indicating if the block device is read-only
267 (true if read-only, false if not).
269 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
271 =item $sizeinbytes = $h->blockdev_getsize64 ($device);
273 This returns the size of the device in bytes.
275 See also C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getsz>.
277 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
279 =item $sectorsize = $h->blockdev_getss ($device);
281 This returns the size of sectors on a block device.
282 Usually 512, but can be larger for modern devices.
284 (Note, this is not the size in sectors, use C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getsz>
287 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
289 =item $sizeinsectors = $h->blockdev_getsz ($device);
291 This returns the size of the device in units of 512-byte sectors
292 (even if the sectorsize isn't 512 bytes ... weird).
294 See also C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getss> for the real sector size of
295 the device, and C<$h-E<gt>blockdev_getsize64> for the more
296 useful I<size in bytes>.
298 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
300 =item $h->blockdev_rereadpt ($device);
302 Reread the partition table on C<device>.
304 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
306 =item $h->blockdev_setbsz ($device, $blocksize);
308 This sets the block size of a device.
310 (Note this is different from both I<size in blocks> and
311 I<filesystem block size>).
313 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
315 =item $h->blockdev_setro ($device);
317 Sets the block device named C<device> to read-only.
319 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
321 =item $h->blockdev_setrw ($device);
323 Sets the block device named C<device> to read-write.
325 This uses the L<blockdev(8)> command.
327 =item $content = $h->cat ($path);
329 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
331 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
332 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
333 as end of string). For those you need to use the C<$h-E<gt>download>
334 function which has a more complex interface.
336 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
337 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
340 =item $checksum = $h->checksum ($csumtype, $path);
342 This call computes the MD5, SHAx or CRC checksum of the
345 The type of checksum to compute is given by the C<csumtype>
346 parameter which must have one of the following values:
352 Compute the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) specified by POSIX
353 for the C<cksum> command.
357 Compute the MD5 hash (using the C<md5sum> program).
361 Compute the SHA1 hash (using the C<sha1sum> program).
365 Compute the SHA224 hash (using the C<sha224sum> program).
369 Compute the SHA256 hash (using the C<sha256sum> program).
373 Compute the SHA384 hash (using the C<sha384sum> program).
377 Compute the SHA512 hash (using the C<sha512sum> program).
381 The checksum is returned as a printable string.
383 =item $h->chmod ($mode, $path);
385 Change the mode (permissions) of C<path> to C<mode>. Only
386 numeric modes are supported.
388 =item $h->chown ($owner, $group, $path);
390 Change the file owner to C<owner> and group to C<group>.
392 Only numeric uid and gid are supported. If you want to use
393 names, you will need to locate and parse the password file
394 yourself (Augeas support makes this relatively easy).
396 =item $output = $h->command (\@arguments);
398 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem. The
399 filesystem must be mounted, and must contain a compatible
400 operating system (ie. something Linux, with the same
401 or compatible processor architecture).
403 The single parameter is an argv-style list of arguments.
404 The first element is the name of the program to run.
405 Subsequent elements are parameters. The list must be
406 non-empty (ie. must contain a program name).
408 The C<$PATH> environment variable will contain at least
409 C</usr/bin> and C</bin>. If you require a program from
410 another location, you should provide the full path in the
413 Shared libraries and data files required by the program
414 must be available on filesystems which are mounted in the
415 correct places. It is the caller's responsibility to ensure
416 all filesystems that are needed are mounted at the right
419 =item @lines = $h->command_lines (\@arguments);
421 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>command>, but splits the
422 result into a list of lines.
424 =item $h->config ($qemuparam, $qemuvalue);
426 This can be used to add arbitrary qemu command line parameters
427 of the form C<-param value>. Actually it's not quite arbitrary - we
428 prevent you from setting some parameters which would interfere with
429 parameters that we use.
431 The first character of C<param> string must be a C<-> (dash).
433 C<value> can be NULL.
435 =item $h->cp ($src, $dest);
437 This copies a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
438 either a destination filename or destination directory.
440 =item $h->cp_a ($src, $dest);
442 This copies a file or directory from C<src> to C<dest>
443 recursively using the C<cp -a> command.
445 =item $result = $h->debug ($subcmd, \@extraargs);
447 The C<$h-E<gt>debug> command exposes some internals of
448 C<guestfsd> (the guestfs daemon) that runs inside the
451 There is no comprehensive help for this command. You have
452 to look at the file C<daemon/debug.c> in the libguestfs source
453 to find out what you can do.
455 =item $h->download ($remotefilename, $filename);
457 Download file C<remotefilename> and save it as C<filename>
458 on the local machine.
460 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
462 See also C<$h-E<gt>upload>, C<$h-E<gt>cat>.
464 =item $h->drop_caches ($whattodrop);
466 This instructs the guest kernel to drop its page cache,
467 and/or dentries and inode caches. The parameter C<whattodrop>
468 tells the kernel what precisely to drop, see
469 L<http://linux-mm.org/Drop_Caches>
471 Setting C<whattodrop> to 3 should drop everything.
473 This automatically calls L<sync(2)> before the operation,
474 so that the maximum guest memory is freed.
476 =item $existsflag = $h->exists ($path);
478 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file, directory
479 (or anything) with the given C<path> name.
481 See also C<$h-E<gt>is_file>, C<$h-E<gt>is_dir>, C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
483 =item $description = $h->file ($path);
485 This call uses the standard L<file(1)> command to determine
486 the type or contents of the file. This also works on devices,
487 for example to find out whether a partition contains a filesystem.
489 The exact command which runs is C<file -bsL path>. Note in
490 particular that the filename is not prepended to the output
493 =item $status = $h->fsck ($fstype, $device);
495 This runs the filesystem checker (fsck) on C<device> which
496 should have filesystem type C<fstype>.
498 The returned integer is the status. See L<fsck(8)> for the
499 list of status codes from C<fsck>.
507 Multiple status codes can be summed together.
511 A non-zero return code can mean "success", for example if
512 errors have been corrected on the filesystem.
516 Checking or repairing NTFS volumes is not supported
521 This command is entirely equivalent to running C<fsck -a -t fstype device>.
523 =item $autosync = $h->get_autosync ();
525 Get the autosync flag.
527 =item $label = $h->get_e2label ($device);
529 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
532 =item $uuid = $h->get_e2uuid ($device);
534 This returns the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
537 =item $path = $h->get_path ();
539 Return the current search path.
541 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
542 return the default path.
544 =item $qemu = $h->get_qemu ();
546 Return the current qemu binary.
548 This is always non-NULL. If it wasn't set already, then this will
549 return the default qemu binary name.
551 =item $state = $h->get_state ();
553 This returns the current state as an opaque integer. This is
554 only useful for printing debug and internal error messages.
556 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
558 =item $verbose = $h->get_verbose ();
560 This returns the verbose messages flag.
562 =item $h->grub_install ($root, $device);
564 This command installs GRUB (the Grand Unified Bootloader) on
565 C<device>, with the root directory being C<root>.
567 =item $busy = $h->is_busy ();
569 This returns true iff this handle is busy processing a command
570 (in the C<BUSY> state).
572 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
574 =item $config = $h->is_config ();
576 This returns true iff this handle is being configured
577 (in the C<CONFIG> state).
579 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
581 =item $dirflag = $h->is_dir ($path);
583 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a directory
584 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
585 other objects like files.
587 See also C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
589 =item $fileflag = $h->is_file ($path);
591 This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file
592 with the given C<path> name. Note that it returns false for
593 other objects like directories.
595 See also C<$h-E<gt>stat>.
597 =item $launching = $h->is_launching ();
599 This returns true iff this handle is launching the subprocess
600 (in the C<LAUNCHING> state).
602 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
604 =item $ready = $h->is_ready ();
606 This returns true iff this handle is ready to accept commands
607 (in the C<READY> state).
609 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
611 =item $h->kill_subprocess ();
613 This kills the qemu subprocess. You should never need to call this.
617 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
620 You should call this after configuring the handle
621 (eg. adding drives) but before performing any actions.
623 =item @devices = $h->list_devices ();
625 List all the block devices.
627 The full block device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda>
629 =item @partitions = $h->list_partitions ();
631 List all the partitions detected on all block devices.
633 The full partition device names are returned, eg. C</dev/sda1>
635 This does not return logical volumes. For that you will need to
638 =item $listing = $h->ll ($directory);
640 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
641 there is no cwd) in the format of 'ls -la'.
643 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. It
644 is I<not> intended that you try to parse the output string.
646 =item @listing = $h->ls ($directory);
648 List the files in C<directory> (relative to the root directory,
649 there is no cwd). The '.' and '..' entries are not returned, but
650 hidden files are shown.
652 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions. Programs
653 should probably use C<$h-E<gt>readdir> instead.
655 =item %statbuf = $h->lstat ($path);
657 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
659 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>stat> except that if C<path>
660 is a symbolic link, then the link is stat-ed, not the file it
663 This is the same as the C<lstat(2)> system call.
665 =item $h->lvcreate ($logvol, $volgroup, $mbytes);
667 This creates an LVM volume group called C<logvol>
668 on the volume group C<volgroup>, with C<size> megabytes.
670 =item $h->lvm_remove_all ();
672 This command removes all LVM logical volumes, volume groups
673 and physical volumes.
675 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
676 can easily destroy all your data>.
678 =item $h->lvremove ($device);
680 Remove an LVM logical volume C<device>, where C<device> is
681 the path to the LV, such as C</dev/VG/LV>.
683 You can also remove all LVs in a volume group by specifying
684 the VG name, C</dev/VG>.
686 =item @logvols = $h->lvs ();
688 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
689 of the L<lvs(8)> command.
691 This returns a list of the logical volume device names
692 (eg. C</dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00>).
694 See also C<$h-E<gt>lvs_full>.
696 =item @logvols = $h->lvs_full ();
698 List all the logical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
699 of the L<lvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
701 =item $h->mkdir ($path);
703 Create a directory named C<path>.
705 =item $h->mkdir_p ($path);
707 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
708 as necessary. This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
710 =item $h->mkfs ($fstype, $device);
712 This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
713 of LVM logical volume). The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
716 =item $h->mount ($device, $mountpoint);
718 Mount a guest disk at a position in the filesystem. Block devices
719 are named C</dev/sda>, C</dev/sdb> and so on, as they were added to
720 the guest. If those block devices contain partitions, they will have
721 the usual names (eg. C</dev/sda1>). Also LVM C</dev/VG/LV>-style
724 The rules are the same as for L<mount(2)>: A filesystem must
725 first be mounted on C</> before others can be mounted. Other
726 filesystems can only be mounted on directories which already
729 The mounted filesystem is writable, if we have sufficient permissions
730 on the underlying device.
732 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
733 call, in order to improve reliability.
735 =item $h->mount_options ($options, $device, $mountpoint);
737 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
738 allows you to set the mount options as for the
739 L<mount(8)> I<-o> flag.
741 =item $h->mount_ro ($device, $mountpoint);
743 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
744 mounts the filesystem with the read-only (I<-o ro>) flag.
746 =item $h->mount_vfs ($options, $vfstype, $device, $mountpoint);
748 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
749 allows you to set both the mount options and the vfstype
750 as for the L<mount(8)> I<-o> and I<-t> flags.
752 =item @devices = $h->mounts ();
754 This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems. It returns
755 the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
757 Some internal mounts are not shown.
759 =item $h->mv ($src, $dest);
761 This moves a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
762 either a destination filename or destination directory.
764 =item $h->pvcreate ($device);
766 This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
767 where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
770 =item $h->pvremove ($device);
772 This wipes a physical volume C<device> so that LVM will no longer
775 The implementation uses the C<pvremove> command which refuses to
776 wipe physical volumes that contain any volume groups, so you have
777 to remove those first.
779 =item @physvols = $h->pvs ();
781 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
782 of the L<pvs(8)> command.
784 This returns a list of just the device names that contain
785 PVs (eg. C</dev/sda2>).
787 See also C<$h-E<gt>pvs_full>.
789 =item @physvols = $h->pvs_full ();
791 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
792 of the L<pvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
794 =item @lines = $h->read_lines ($path);
796 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
798 The file contents are returned as a list of lines. Trailing
799 C<LF> and C<CRLF> character sequences are I<not> returned.
801 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
802 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
803 as end of line). For those you need to use the C<$h-E<gt>read_file>
804 function which has a more complex interface.
806 =item $h->rm ($path);
808 Remove the single file C<path>.
810 =item $h->rm_rf ($path);
812 Remove the file or directory C<path>, recursively removing the
813 contents if its a directory. This is like the C<rm -rf> shell
816 =item $h->rmdir ($path);
818 Remove the single directory C<path>.
820 =item $h->set_autosync ($autosync);
822 If C<autosync> is true, this enables autosync. Libguestfs will make a
823 best effort attempt to run C<$h-E<gt>umount_all> followed by
824 C<$h-E<gt>sync> when the handle is closed
825 (also if the program exits without closing handles).
827 This is disabled by default (except in guestfish where it is
830 =item $h->set_busy ();
832 This sets the state to C<BUSY>. This is only used when implementing
833 actions using the low-level API.
835 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
837 =item $h->set_e2label ($device, $label);
839 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
840 C<device> to C<label>. Filesystem labels are limited to
843 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2label>
844 to return the existing label on a filesystem.
846 =item $h->set_e2uuid ($device, $uuid);
848 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
849 C<device> to C<uuid>. The format of the UUID and alternatives
850 such as C<clear>, C<random> and C<time> are described in the
851 L<tune2fs(8)> manpage.
853 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2uuid>
854 to return the existing UUID of a filesystem.
856 =item $h->set_path ($path);
858 Set the path that libguestfs searches for kernel and initrd.img.
860 The default is C<$libdir/guestfs> unless overridden by setting
861 C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
863 The string C<path> is stashed in the libguestfs handle, so the caller
864 must make sure it remains valid for the lifetime of the handle.
866 Setting C<path> to C<NULL> restores the default path.
868 =item $h->set_qemu ($qemu);
870 Set the qemu binary that we will use.
872 The default is chosen when the library was compiled by the
875 You can also override this by setting the C<LIBGUESTFS_QEMU>
876 environment variable.
878 The string C<qemu> is stashed in the libguestfs handle, so the caller
879 must make sure it remains valid for the lifetime of the handle.
881 Setting C<qemu> to C<NULL> restores the default qemu binary.
883 =item $h->set_ready ();
885 This sets the state to C<READY>. This is only used when implementing
886 actions using the low-level API.
888 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
890 =item $h->set_verbose ($verbose);
892 If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
894 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
895 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
897 =item $h->sfdisk ($device, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, \@lines);
899 This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
900 partitions on block devices.
902 C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
904 C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
905 and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
906 the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters. If you pass C<0> for any
907 of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted. Usually for
908 'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
909 (floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
910 out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
912 C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>. For more
913 information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
915 To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
916 pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
917 the string C<,> (comma).
919 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
920 can easily destroy all your data>.
922 =item %statbuf = $h->stat ($path);
924 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
926 This is the same as the C<stat(2)> system call.
928 =item %statbuf = $h->statvfs ($path);
930 Returns file system statistics for any mounted file system.
931 C<path> should be a file or directory in the mounted file system
932 (typically it is the mount point itself, but it doesn't need to be).
934 This is the same as the C<statvfs(2)> system call.
938 This syncs the disk, so that any writes are flushed through to the
939 underlying disk image.
941 You should always call this if you have modified a disk image, before
944 =item $h->tar_in ($tarfile, $directory);
946 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarfile> (an
947 I<uncompressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
949 To upload a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_in>.
951 =item $h->tar_out ($directory, $tarfile);
953 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
954 it to local file C<tarfile>.
956 To download a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_out>.
958 =item $h->tgz_in ($tarball, $directory);
960 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarball> (a
961 I<gzip compressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
963 To upload an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_in>.
965 =item $h->tgz_out ($directory, $tarball);
967 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
968 it to local file C<tarball>.
970 To download an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_out>.
972 =item $h->touch ($path);
974 Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command. It can be used to
975 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
976 to create a new zero-length file.
978 =item %superblock = $h->tune2fs_l ($device);
980 This returns the contents of the ext2, ext3 or ext4 filesystem
981 superblock on C<device>.
983 It is the same as running C<tune2fs -l device>. See L<tune2fs(8)>
984 manpage for more details. The list of fields returned isn't
985 clearly defined, and depends on both the version of C<tune2fs>
986 that libguestfs was built against, and the filesystem itself.
988 =item $h->umount ($pathordevice);
990 This unmounts the given filesystem. The filesystem may be
991 specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
992 contains the filesystem.
994 =item $h->umount_all ();
996 This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
998 Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
1000 =item $h->upload ($filename, $remotefilename);
1002 Upload local file C<filename> to C<remotefilename> on the
1005 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
1007 See also C<$h-E<gt>download>.
1009 =item $h->vgcreate ($volgroup, \@physvols);
1011 This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
1012 from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
1014 =item $h->vgremove ($vgname);
1016 Remove an LVM volume group C<vgname>, (for example C<VG>).
1018 This also forcibly removes all logical volumes in the volume
1021 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs ();
1023 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1024 of the L<vgs(8)> command.
1026 This returns a list of just the volume group names that were
1027 detected (eg. C<VolGroup00>).
1029 See also C<$h-E<gt>vgs_full>.
1031 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs_full ();
1033 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1034 of the L<vgs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
1036 =item $h->wait_ready ();
1038 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
1041 You should call this after C<$h-E<gt>launch> to wait for the launch
1044 =item $h->write_file ($path, $content, $size);
1046 This call creates a file called C<path>. The contents of the
1047 file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
1048 with length C<size>.
1050 As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
1051 then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
1052 the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
1054 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1055 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1058 =item $h->zero ($device);
1060 This command writes zeroes over the first few blocks of C<device>.
1062 How many blocks are zeroed isn't specified (but it's I<not> enough
1063 to securely wipe the device). It should be sufficient to remove
1064 any partition tables, filesystem superblocks and so on.
1074 Copyright (C) 2009 Red Hat Inc.
1078 Please see the file COPYING.LIB for the full license.
1082 L<guestfs(3)>, L<guestfish(1)>.