Add 'command' and 'command-lines'. Fix args freeing in Perl bindings.

[libguestfs.git] / guestfish-actions.pod

diff --git a/guestfish-actions.pod b/guestfish-actions.pod
index d47e9bf..2d0a045 100644 (file)
--- a/guestfish-actions.pod
+++ b/guestfish-actions.pod
@@ -193,6 +193,10 @@ Note that this function cannot correctly handle binary files
 as end of string).  For those you need to use the C<read_file>
 function which has a more complex interface.
 
 as end of string).  For those you need to use the C<read_file>
 function which has a more complex interface.
 

+Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit 
+of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB.  To transfer large files you should use
+FTP.
+

 =head2 chmod
 
  chmod mode path
 =head2 chmod
 
  chmod mode path


@@ -210,6 +214,38 @@ Only numeric uid and gid are supported.  If you want to use
 names, you will need to locate and parse the password file
 yourself (Augeas support makes this relatively easy).
 
 names, you will need to locate and parse the password file
 yourself (Augeas support makes this relatively easy).
 

+=head2 command
+
+ command arguments,...
+
+This calls runs a command from the guest filesystem.  The
+filesystem must be mounted, and must contain a compatible
+operating system (ie. something Linux, with the same
+or compatible processor architecture).
+
+The single parameter is an argv-style list of arguments.
+The first element is the name of the program to run.
+Subsequent elements are parameters.  The list must be
+non-empty (ie. must contain a program name).
+
+The C<$PATH> environment variable will contain at least
+C</usr/bin> and C</bin>.  If you require a program from
+another location, you should provide the full path in the
+first parameter.
+
+Shared libraries and data files required by the program
+must be available on filesystems which are mounted in the
+correct places.  It is the caller's responsibility to ensure
+all filesystems that are needed are mounted at the right
+locations.
+
+=head2 command-lines
+
+ command-lines arguments,...
+
+This is the same as C<command>, but splits the
+result into a list of lines.
+

 =head2 config
 
  config qemuparam qemuvalue
 =head2 config
 
  config qemuparam qemuvalue


@@ -223,6 +259,27 @@ The first character of C<param> string must be a C<-> (dash).
 
 C<value> can be NULL.
 
 
 C<value> can be NULL.
 

+=head2 exists
+
+ exists path
+
+This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file, directory
+(or anything) with the given C<path> name.
+
+See also C<is_file>, C<is_dir>, C<stat>.
+
+=head2 file
+
+ file path
+
+This call uses the standard L<file(1)> command to determine
+the type or contents of the file.  This also works on devices,
+for example to find out whether a partition contains a filesystem.
+
+The exact command which runs is C<file -bsL path>.  Note in
+particular that the filename is not prepended to the output
+(the C<-b> option).
+

 =head2 get-autosync
 
  get-autosync
 =head2 get-autosync
 
  get-autosync


@@ -244,6 +301,26 @@ return the default path.
 
 This returns the verbose messages flag.
 
 
 This returns the verbose messages flag.
 

+=head2 is-dir
+
+ is-dir path
+
+This returns C<true> if and only if there is a directory
+with the given C<path> name.  Note that it returns false for
+other objects like files.
+
+See also C<stat>.
+
+=head2 is-file
+
+ is-file path
+
+This returns C<true> if and only if there is a file
+with the given C<path> name.  Note that it returns false for
+other objects like directories.
+
+See also C<stat>.
+

 =head2 kill-subprocess
 
  kill-subprocess
 =head2 kill-subprocess
 
  kill-subprocess


@@ -300,6 +377,23 @@ hidden files are shown.
 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions.  Programs
 should probably use C<readdir> instead.
 
 This command is mostly useful for interactive sessions.  Programs
 should probably use C<readdir> instead.
 

+=head2 lvcreate
+
+ lvcreate logvol volgroup mbytes
+
+This creates an LVM volume group called C<logvol>
+on the volume group C<volgroup>, with C<size> megabytes.
+
+=head2 lvm-remove-all
+
+ lvm-remove-all
+
+This command removes all LVM logical volumes, volume groups
+and physical volumes.
+
+B<This command is dangerous.  Without careful use you
+can easily destroy all your data>.
+

 =head2 lvs
 
  lvs
 =head2 lvs
 
  lvs


@@ -332,6 +426,14 @@ Create a directory named C<path>.
 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
 as necessary.  This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
 
 Create a directory named C<path>, creating any parent directories
 as necessary.  This is like the C<mkdir -p> shell command.
 

+=head2 mkfs
+
+ mkfs fstype device
+
+This creates a filesystem on C<device> (usually a partition
+of LVM logical volume).  The filesystem type is C<fstype>, for
+example C<ext3>.
+

 =head2 mount
 
  mount device mountpoint
 =head2 mount
 
  mount device mountpoint


@@ -353,6 +455,23 @@ on the underlying device.
 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
 call, in order to improve reliability.
 
 The filesystem options C<sync> and C<noatime> are set with this
 call, in order to improve reliability.
 

+=head2 mounts
+
+ mounts
+
+This returns the list of currently mounted filesystems.  It returns
+the list of devices (eg. C</dev/sda1>, C</dev/VG/LV>).
+
+Some internal mounts are not shown.
+
+=head2 pvcreate
+
+ pvcreate device
+
+This creates an LVM physical volume on the named C<device>,
+where C<device> should usually be a partition name such
+as C</dev/sda1>.
+

 =head2 pvs
 
  pvs
 =head2 pvs
 
  pvs


@@ -437,6 +556,33 @@ If C<verbose> is true, this turns on verbose messages (to C<stderr>).
 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
 
 Verbose messages are disabled unless the environment variable
 C<LIBGUESTFS_DEBUG> is defined and set to C<1>.
 

+=head2 sfdisk
+
+ sfdisk device cyls heads sectors lines,...
+
+This is a direct interface to the L<sfdisk(8)> program for creating
+partitions on block devices.
+
+C<device> should be a block device, for example C</dev/sda>.
+
+C<cyls>, C<heads> and C<sectors> are the number of cylinders, heads
+and sectors on the device, which are passed directly to sfdisk as
+the I<-C>, I<-H> and I<-S> parameters.  If you pass C<0> for any
+of these, then the corresponding parameter is omitted.  Usually for
+'large' disks, you can just pass C<0> for these, but for small
+(floppy-sized) disks, sfdisk (or rather, the kernel) cannot work
+out the right geometry and you will need to tell it.
+
+C<lines> is a list of lines that we feed to C<sfdisk>.  For more
+information refer to the L<sfdisk(8)> manpage.
+
+To create a single partition occupying the whole disk, you would
+pass C<lines> as a single element list, when the single element being
+the string C<,> (comma).
+
+B<This command is dangerous.  Without careful use you
+can easily destroy all your data>.
+

 =head2 sync
 
  sync
 =head2 sync
 
  sync


@@ -455,6 +601,29 @@ Touch acts like the L<touch(1)> command.  It can be used to
 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
 to create a new zero-length file.
 
 update the timestamps on a file, or, if the file does not exist,
 to create a new zero-length file.
 

+=head2 umount | unmount
+
+ umount pathordevice
+
+This unmounts the given filesystem.  The filesystem may be
+specified either by its mountpoint (path) or the device which
+contains the filesystem.
+
+=head2 umount-all | unmount-all
+
+ umount-all
+
+This unmounts all mounted filesystems.
+
+Some internal mounts are not unmounted by this call.
+
+=head2 vgcreate
+
+ vgcreate volgroup physvols,...
+
+This creates an LVM volume group called C<volgroup>
+from the non-empty list of physical volumes C<physvols>.
+

 =head2 vgs
 
  vgs
 =head2 vgs
 
  vgs


@@ -474,3 +643,19 @@ See also C<vgs_full>.
 List all the volumes groups detected.  This is the equivalent
 of the L<vgs(8)> command.  The "full" version includes all fields.
 
 List all the volumes groups detected.  This is the equivalent
 of the L<vgs(8)> command.  The "full" version includes all fields.
 

+=head2 write-file
+
+ write-file path content size
+
+This call creates a file called C<path>.  The contents of the
+file is the string C<content> (which can contain any 8 bit data),
+with length C<size>.
+
+As a special case, if C<size> is C<0>
+then the length is calculated using C<strlen> (so in this case
+the content cannot contain embedded ASCII NULs).
+
+Because of the message protocol, there is a transfer limit 
+of somewhere between 2MB and 4MB.  To transfer large files you should use
+FTP.
+