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181 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
181 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
=encoding utf8
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=head1 NAME
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance - Make a "fixed appliance" for libguestfs
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=head1 SYNOPSIS
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance [--options] OUTPUTDIR
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance [--options] --xz
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=head1 DESCRIPTION
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance lets you make a pre-built binary
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appliance for libguestfs.
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B<Note that ordinary users should not need to run this tool>.
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Some reasons why you I<might> want to use this include:
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=over 4
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=item *
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You want to make a self-contained libguestfs appliance that can be
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copied to another machine or platform that doesn't support
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L<supermin(1)>.
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=item *
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You have multiple users on the same machine and want to avoid the
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storage duplication and start-up overhead of having multiple cached
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copies of the appliance.
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=item *
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You want to have very predictable performance from libguestfs (see
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L<guestfs-performance(1)>).
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=back
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For deeper understanding of why you might need this tool, read the
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section L</FIXED APPLIANCE> below.
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Instead of running this tool, you can download fixed appliances from
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L<http://libguestfs.org/download/binaries/appliance/>. These
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appliances were made using this tool.
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There are two ways to use this tool.
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=over 4
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=item *
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Specify an output directory, for example:
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance /usr/local/lib/guestfs/appliance
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The output directory is created if it does not exist. Four files are
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created in this directory:
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<OUTPUTDIR>/kernel
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<OUTPUTDIR>/initrd
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<OUTPUTDIR>/root
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<OUTPUTDIR>/README.fixed
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Note that C<I<OUTPUTDIR>/root> is a sparse file, so take care when
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copying it.
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You can then run libguestfs (possibly after copying this directory to
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another machine) by setting the environment variable LIBGUESTFS_PATH
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to C<OUTPUTDIR>.
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=item *
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The alternative method is to use the I<--xz> option to create a
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compressed tarball:
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance --xz
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This creates a tarball in the I<current> directory called:
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appliance-<VERSION>.tar.xz
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(where C<VERSION> is the version of libguestfs). The tarball contains
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the four files:
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appliance/kernel
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appliance/initrd
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appliance/root
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appliance/README.fixed
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Note that C<appliance/root> is a sparse file, so take care when
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copying it.
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=back
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=head1 OPTIONS
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=over 4
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=item B<--help>
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Display short usage information and exit.
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=item B<-V>
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=item B<--version>
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Display the version number and exit.
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=item B<--xz>
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Instead of creating the appliance in an output directory, create a
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compressed tarball of the appliance in the current directory called
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C<appliance-I<VERSION>.tar.xz> where C<VERSION> is the version of
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libguestfs.
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Using I<--xz> can take some time. If working normally, the tool is
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completely silent when it is running.
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=back
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=head1 FIXED APPLIANCE
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When libguestfs (or libguestfs tools) are run, they search a path
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looking for an appliance. The path is built into libguestfs, or can
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be set using the C<LIBGUESTFS_PATH> environment variable.
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Normally a supermin appliance is located on this path (see
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L<supermin(1)/SUPERMIN APPLIANCE>). libguestfs reconstructs this
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into a full appliance by running C<supermin --build>.
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However, a simpler "fixed appliance" can also be used. libguestfs
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detects this by looking for a directory on the path containing four
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files called C<kernel>, C<initrd>, C<root> and C<README.fixed> (note
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the C<README.fixed> file must be present as well).
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If the fixed appliance is found, libguestfs skips supermin entirely
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and just runs qemu with the kernel, initrd and root disk from the
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fixed appliance.
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Thus the fixed appliance can be used when a platform or Linux distro
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does not support supermin. You build the fixed appliance on a
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platform that does support supermin, and copy it over, and use that
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to run libguestfs.
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=head1 LICENSING
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The fixed appliance is a complete Linux binary distro. If you
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distribute it, you may need to distribute corresponding source files
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to remain in legal compliance with the licenses of the software in the
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appliance (such as the GNU General Public License).
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=head1 EXIT STATUS
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libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance returns I<0> if the appliance was
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built without errors.
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=head1 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
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For the full list of environment variables which may affect
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libguestfs, please see the L<guestfs(3)> manual page.
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=head1 SEE ALSO
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L<guestfs(3)>,
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L<supermin(1)>,
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L<xz(1)>,
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L<http://libguestfs.org/>,
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L<http://qemu.org/>.
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=head1 AUTHORS
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Richard W.M. Jones (C<rjones at redhat dot com>)
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=head1 COPYRIGHT
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Copyright (C) 2009-2014 Red Hat Inc.
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