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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 with the six characters being
862 For example: "/tmp/tmpXXXXXX" or "/Temp/tmpXXXXXX",
863 the second one being suitable for Windows.
865 The name of the temporary directory that was created
868 The caller is responsible for deleting the temporary
869 directory and its contents after use.
871 See also: L<mkdtemp(3)>
873 =item $h->mkfs ($fstype, $device);
875 This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
876 or LVM logical volume). The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
879 =item $h->mount ($device, $mountpoint);
881 Mount a guest disk at a position in the filesystem. Block devices
882 are named C</dev/sda>, C</dev/sdb> and so on, as they were added to
883 the guest. If those block devices contain partitions, they will have
884 the usual names (eg. C</dev/sda1>). Also LVM C</dev/VG/LV>-style
887 The rules are the same as for L<mount(2)>: A filesystem must
888 first be mounted on C</> before others can be mounted. Other
889 filesystems can only be mounted on directories which already
892 The mounted filesystem is writable, if we have sufficient permissions
893 on the underlying device.
895 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
896 call, in order to improve reliability.
898 =item $h->mount_options ($options, $device, $mountpoint);
900 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
901 allows you to set the mount options as for the
902 L<mount(8)> I<-o> flag.
904 =item $h->mount_ro ($device, $mountpoint);
906 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
907 mounts the filesystem with the read-only (I<-o ro>) flag.
909 =item $h->mount_vfs ($options, $vfstype, $device, $mountpoint);
911 This is the same as the C<$h-E<gt>mount> command, but it
912 allows you to set both the mount options and the vfstype
913 as for the L<mount(8)> I<-o> and I<-t> flags.
915 =item @devices = $h->mounts ();
917 This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems. It returns
918 the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
920 Some internal mounts are not shown.
922 =item $h->mv ($src, $dest);
924 This moves a file from C<src> to C<dest> where C<dest> is
925 either a destination filename or destination directory.
927 =item $status = $h->ntfs_3g_probe ($rw, $device);
929 This command runs the L<ntfs-3g.probe(8)> command which probes
930 an NTFS C<device> for mountability. (Not all NTFS volumes can
931 be mounted read-write, and some cannot be mounted at all).
933 C<rw> is a boolean flag. Set it to true if you want to test
934 if the volume can be mounted read-write. Set it to false if
935 you want to test if the volume can be mounted read-only.
937 The return value is an integer which C<0> if the operation
938 would succeed, or some non-zero value documented in the
939 L<ntfs-3g.probe(8)> manual page.
941 =item $h->ping_daemon ();
943 This is a test probe into the guestfs daemon running inside
944 the qemu subprocess. Calling this function checks that the
945 daemon responds to the ping message, without affecting the daemon
946 or attached block device(s) in any other way.
948 =item $h->pvcreate ($device);
950 This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
951 where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
954 =item $h->pvremove ($device);
956 This wipes a physical volume C<device> so that LVM will no longer
959 The implementation uses the C<pvremove> command which refuses to
960 wipe physical volumes that contain any volume groups, so you have
961 to remove those first.
963 =item $h->pvresize ($device);
965 This resizes (expands or shrinks) an existing LVM physical
966 volume to match the new size of the underlying device.
968 =item @physvols = $h->pvs ();
970 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
971 of the L<pvs(8)> command.
973 This returns a list of just the device names that contain
974 PVs (eg. C</dev/sda2>).
976 See also C<$h-E<gt>pvs_full>.
978 =item @physvols = $h->pvs_full ();
980 List all the physical volumes detected. This is the equivalent
981 of the L<pvs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
983 =item @lines = $h->read_lines ($path);
985 Return the contents of the file named C<path>.
987 The file contents are returned as a list of lines. Trailing
988 C<LF> and C<CRLF> character sequences are I<not> returned.
990 Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
991 (specifically, files containing C<\0> character which is treated
992 as end of line). For those you need to use the C<$h-E<gt>read_file>
993 function which has a more complex interface.
995 =item $h->resize2fs ($device);
997 This resizes an ext2 or ext3 filesystem to match the size of
998 the underlying device.
1000 I<Note:> It is sometimes required that you run C<$h-E<gt>e2fsck_f>
1001 on the C<device> before calling this command. For unknown reasons
1002 C<resize2fs> sometimes gives an error about this and sometimes not.
1003 In any case, it is always safe to call C<$h-E<gt>e2fsck_f> before
1004 calling this function.
1006 =item $h->rm ($path);
1008 Remove the single file C<path>.
1010 =item $h->rm_rf ($path);
1012 Remove the file or directory C<path>, recursively removing the
1013 contents if its a directory. This is like the C<rm -rf> shell
1016 =item $h->rmdir ($path);
1018 Remove the single directory C<path>.
1020 =item $h->scrub_device ($device);
1022 This command writes patterns over C<device> to make data retrieval
1025 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1026 manual page for more details.
1028 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1029 can easily destroy all your data>.
1031 =item $h->scrub_file ($file);
1033 This command writes patterns over a file to make data retrieval
1036 The file is I<removed> after scrubbing.
1038 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1039 manual page for more details.
1041 =item $h->scrub_freespace ($dir);
1043 This command creates the directory C<dir> and then fills it
1044 with files until the filesystem is full, and scrubs the files
1045 as for C<$h-E<gt>scrub_file>, and deletes them.
1046 The intention is to scrub any free space on the partition
1049 It is an interface to the L<scrub(1)> program. See that
1050 manual page for more details.
1052 =item $h->set_append ($append);
1054 This function is used to add additional options to the
1055 guest kernel command line.
1057 The default is C<NULL> unless overridden by setting
1058 C<LIBGUESTFS_APPEND> environment variable.
1060 Setting C<append> to C<NULL> means I<no> additional options
1061 are passed (libguestfs always adds a few of its own).
1063 =item $h->set_autosync ($autosync);
1065 If C<autosync> is true, this enables autosync. Libguestfs will make a
1066 best effort attempt to run C<$h-E<gt>umount_all> followed by
1067 C<$h-E<gt>sync> when the handle is closed
1068 (also if the program exits without closing handles).
1070 This is disabled by default (except in guestfish where it is
1071 enabled by default).
1073 =item $h->set_busy ();
1075 This sets the state to C<BUSY>. This is only used when implementing
1076 actions using the low-level API.
1078 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
1080 =item $h->set_e2label ($device, $label);
1082 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem label of the filesystem on
1083 C<device> to C<label>. Filesystem labels are limited to
1086 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2label>
1087 to return the existing label on a filesystem.
1089 =item $h->set_e2uuid ($device, $uuid);
1091 This sets the ext2/3/4 filesystem UUID of the filesystem on
1092 C<device> to C<uuid>. The format of the UUID and alternatives
1093 such as C<clear>, C<random> and C<time> are described in the
1094 L<tune2fs(8)> manpage.
1096 You can use either C<$h-E<gt>tune2fs_l> or C<$h-E<gt>get_e2uuid>
1097 to return the existing UUID of a filesystem.
1099 =item $h->set_path ($path);
1101 Set the path that libguestfs searches for kernel and initrd.img.
1103 The default is C<$libdir/guestfs> unless overridden by setting
1104 C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
1106 Setting C<path> to C<NULL> restores the default path.
1108 =item $h->set_qemu ($qemu);
1110 Set the qemu binary that we will use.
1112 The default is chosen when the library was compiled by the
1115 You can also override this by setting the C<LIBGUESTFS_QEMU>
1116 environment variable.
1118 Setting C<qemu> to C<NULL> restores the default qemu binary.
1120 =item $h->set_ready ();
1122 This sets the state to C<READY>. This is only used when implementing
1123 actions using the low-level API.
1125 For more information on states, see L<guestfs(3)>.
1127 =item $h->set_verbose ($verbose);
1129 If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
1131 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
1132 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
1134 =item $h->sfdisk ($device, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, \@lines);
1136 This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
1137 partitions on block devices.
1139 C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
1141 C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
1142 and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
1143 the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters. If you pass C<0> for any
1144 of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted. Usually for
1145 'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
1146 (floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
1147 out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
1149 C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>. For more
1150 information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
1152 To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
1153 pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
1154 the string C<,> (comma).
1156 See also: C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_l>, C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_N>
1158 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1159 can easily destroy all your data>.
1161 =item $h->sfdisk_N ($device, $n, $cyls, $heads, $sectors, $line);
1163 This runs L<sfdisk(8)> option to modify just the single
1164 partition C<n> (note: C<n> counts from 1).
1166 For other parameters, see C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk>. You should usually
1167 pass C<0> for the cyls/heads/sectors parameters.
1169 B<This command is dangerous. Without careful use you
1170 can easily destroy all your data>.
1172 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_disk_geometry ($device);
1174 This displays the disk geometry of C<device> read from the
1175 partition table. Especially in the case where the underlying
1176 block device has been resized, this can be different from the
1177 kernel's idea of the geometry (see C<$h-E<gt>sfdisk_kernel_geometry>).
1179 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1182 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_kernel_geometry ($device);
1184 This displays the kernel's idea of the geometry of C<device>.
1186 The result is in human-readable format, and not designed to
1189 =item $partitions = $h->sfdisk_l ($device);
1191 This displays the partition table on C<device>, in the
1192 human-readable output of the L<sfdisk(8)> command. It is
1193 not intended to be parsed.
1195 =item $output = $h->sh ($command);
1197 This call runs a command from the guest filesystem via the
1200 This is like C<$h-E<gt>command>, but passes the command to:
1202 /bin/sh -c "command"
1204 Depending on the guest's shell, this usually results in
1205 wildcards being expanded, shell expressions being interpolated
1208 All the provisos about C<$h-E<gt>command> apply to this call.
1210 =item @lines = $h->sh_lines ($command);
1212 This is the same as C<$h-E<gt>sh>, but splits the result
1213 into a list of lines.
1215 See also: C<$h-E<gt>command_lines>
1217 =item $h->sleep ($secs);
1219 Sleep for C<secs> seconds.
1221 =item %statbuf = $h->stat ($path);
1223 Returns file information for the given C<path>.
1225 This is the same as the C<stat(2)> system call.
1227 =item %statbuf = $h->statvfs ($path);
1229 Returns file system statistics for any mounted file system.
1230 C<path> should be a file or directory in the mounted file system
1231 (typically it is the mount point itself, but it doesn't need to be).
1233 This is the same as the C<statvfs(2)> system call.
1235 =item @stringsout = $h->strings ($path);
1237 This runs the L<strings(1)> command on a file and returns
1238 the list of printable strings found.
1240 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1241 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1244 =item @stringsout = $h->strings_e ($encoding, $path);
1246 This is like the C<$h-E<gt>strings> command, but allows you to
1247 specify the encoding.
1249 See the L<strings(1)> manpage for the full list of encodings.
1251 Commonly useful encodings are C<l> (lower case L) which will
1252 show strings inside Windows/x86 files.
1254 The returned strings are transcoded to UTF-8.
1256 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1257 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1262 This syncs the disk, so that any writes are flushed through to the
1263 underlying disk image.
1265 You should always call this if you have modified a disk image, before
1268 =item $h->tar_in ($tarfile, $directory);
1270 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarfile> (an
1271 I<uncompressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1273 To upload a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_in>.
1275 =item $h->tar_out ($directory, $tarfile);
1277 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1278 it to local file C<tarfile>.
1280 To download a compressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tgz_out>.
1282 =item $h->tgz_in ($tarball, $directory);
1284 This command uploads and unpacks local file C<tarball> (a
1285 I<gzip compressed> tar file) into C<directory>.
1287 To upload an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_in>.
1289 =item $h->tgz_out ($directory, $tarball);
1291 This command packs the contents of C<directory> and downloads
1292 it to local file C<tarball>.
1294 To download an uncompressed tarball, use C<$h-E<gt>tar_out>.
1296 =item $h->touch ($path);
1298 Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command. It can be used to
1299 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
1300 to create a new zero-length file.
1302 =item %superblock = $h->tune2fs_l ($device);
1304 This returns the contents of the ext2, ext3 or ext4 filesystem
1305 superblock on C<device>.
1307 It is the same as running C<tune2fs -l device>. See L<tune2fs(8)>
1308 manpage for more details. The list of fields returned isn't
1309 clearly defined, and depends on both the version of C<tune2fs>
1310 that libguestfs was built against, and the filesystem itself.
1312 =item $h->umount ($pathordevice);
1314 This unmounts the given filesystem. The filesystem may be
1315 specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
1316 contains the filesystem.
1318 =item $h->umount_all ();
1320 This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
1322 Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
1324 =item $h->upload ($filename, $remotefilename);
1326 Upload local file C<filename> to C<remotefilename> on the
1329 C<filename> can also be a named pipe.
1331 See also C<$h-E<gt>download>.
1333 =item $h->vg_activate ($activate, \@volgroups);
1335 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1336 all logical volumes in the listed volume groups C<volgroups>.
1337 If activated, then they are made known to the
1338 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1339 then those devices disappear.
1341 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n volgroups...>
1343 Note that if C<volgroups> is an empty list then B<all> volume groups
1344 are activated or deactivated.
1346 =item $h->vg_activate_all ($activate);
1348 This command activates or (if C<activate> is false) deactivates
1349 all logical volumes in all volume groups.
1350 If activated, then they are made known to the
1351 kernel, ie. they appear as C</dev/mapper> devices. If deactivated,
1352 then those devices disappear.
1354 This command is the same as running C<vgchange -a y|n>
1356 =item $h->vgcreate ($volgroup, \@physvols);
1358 This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
1359 from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
1361 =item $h->vgremove ($vgname);
1363 Remove an LVM volume group C<vgname>, (for example C<VG>).
1365 This also forcibly removes all logical volumes in the volume
1368 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs ();
1370 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1371 of the L<vgs(8)> command.
1373 This returns a list of just the volume group names that were
1374 detected (eg. C<VolGroup00>).
1376 See also C<$h-E<gt>vgs_full>.
1378 =item @volgroups = $h->vgs_full ();
1380 List all the volumes groups detected. This is the equivalent
1381 of the L<vgs(8)> command. The "full" version includes all fields.
1383 =item $h->wait_ready ();
1385 Internally libguestfs is implemented by running a virtual machine
1388 You should call this after C<$h-E<gt>launch> to wait for the launch
1391 =item $h->write_file ($path, $content, $size);
1393 This call creates a file called C<path>. The contents of the
1394 file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
1395 with length C<size>.
1397 As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
1398 then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
1399 the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
1401 I<NB.> Owing to a bug, writing content containing ASCII NUL
1402 characters does I<not> work, even if the length is specified.
1403 We hope to resolve this bug in a future version. In the meantime
1404 use C<$h-E<gt>upload>.
1406 Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit
1407 of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB. To transfer large files you should use
1410 =item $h->zero ($device);
1412 This command writes zeroes over the first few blocks of C<device>.
1414 How many blocks are zeroed isn't specified (but it's I<not> enough
1415 to securely wipe the device). It should be sufficient to remove
1416 any partition tables, filesystem superblocks and so on.
1418 See also: C<$h-E<gt>scrub_device>.
1420 =item $h->zerofree ($device);
1422 This runs the I<zerofree> program on C<device>. This program
1423 claims to zero unused inodes and disk blocks on an ext2/3
1424 filesystem, thus making it possible to compress the filesystem
1427 You should B<not> run this program if the filesystem is
1430 It is possible that using this program can damage the filesystem
1431 or data on the filesystem.
1441 Copyright (C) 2009 Red Hat Inc.
1445 Please see the file COPYING.LIB for the full license.
1449 L<guestfs(3)>, L<guestfish(1)>.