xref: /openbmc/qemu/docs/tools/qemu-nbd.rst (revision a8eb9a43)
1=====================================
2QEMU Disk Network Block Device Server
3=====================================
4
5Synopsis
6--------
7
8**qemu-nbd** [*OPTION*]... *filename*
9
10**qemu-nbd** -L [*OPTION*]...
11
12**qemu-nbd** -d *dev*
13
14Description
15-----------
16
17Export a QEMU disk image using the NBD protocol.
18
19Other uses:
20
21- Bind a /dev/nbdX block device to a QEMU server (on Linux).
22- As a client to query exports of a remote NBD server.
23
24Options
25-------
26
27.. program:: qemu-nbd
28
29*filename* is a disk image filename, or a set of block
30driver options if ``--image-opts`` is specified.
31
32*dev* is an NBD device.
33
34.. option:: --object type,id=ID,...props...
35
36  Define a new instance of the *type* object class identified by *ID*.
37  See the :manpage:`qemu(1)` manual page for full details of the properties
38  supported. The common object types that it makes sense to define are the
39  ``secret`` object, which is used to supply passwords and/or encryption
40  keys, and the ``tls-creds`` object, which is used to supply TLS
41  credentials for the qemu-nbd server or client.
42
43.. option:: -p, --port=PORT
44
45  TCP port to listen on as a server, or connect to as a client
46  (default ``10809``).
47
48.. option:: -o, --offset=OFFSET
49
50  The offset into the image.
51
52.. option:: -b, --bind=IFACE
53
54  The interface to bind to as a server, or connect to as a client
55  (default ``0.0.0.0``).
56
57.. option:: -k, --socket=PATH
58
59  Use a unix socket with path *PATH*.
60
61.. option:: --image-opts
62
63  Treat *filename* as a set of image options, instead of a plain
64  filename. If this flag is specified, the ``-f`` flag should
65  not be used, instead the :option:`format=` option should be set.
66
67.. option:: -f, --format=FMT
68
69  Force the use of the block driver for format *FMT* instead of
70  auto-detecting.
71
72.. option:: -r, --read-only
73
74  Export the disk as read-only.
75
76.. option:: -A, --allocation-depth
77
78  Expose allocation depth information via the
79  ``qemu:allocation-depth`` metadata context accessible through
80  NBD_OPT_SET_META_CONTEXT.
81
82.. option:: -B, --bitmap=NAME
83
84  If *filename* has a qcow2 persistent bitmap *NAME*, expose
85  that bitmap via the ``qemu:dirty-bitmap:NAME`` metadata context
86  accessible through NBD_OPT_SET_META_CONTEXT.
87
88.. option:: -s, --snapshot
89
90  Use *filename* as an external snapshot, create a temporary
91  file with ``backing_file=``\ *filename*, redirect the write to
92  the temporary one.
93
94.. option:: -l, --load-snapshot=SNAPSHOT_PARAM
95
96  Load an internal snapshot inside *filename* and export it
97  as an read-only device, SNAPSHOT_PARAM format is
98  ``snapshot.id=[ID],snapshot.name=[NAME]`` or ``[ID_OR_NAME]``
99
100.. option:: --cache=CACHE
101
102  The cache mode to be used with the file. Valid values are:
103  ``none``, ``writeback`` (the default), ``writethrough``,
104  ``directsync`` and ``unsafe``. See the documentation of
105  the emulator's ``-drive cache=...`` option for more info.
106
107.. option:: -n, --nocache
108
109  Equivalent to :option:`--cache=none`.
110
111.. option:: --aio=AIO
112
113  Set the asynchronous I/O mode between ``threads`` (the default),
114  ``native`` (Linux only), and ``io_uring`` (Linux 5.1+).
115
116.. option:: --discard=DISCARD
117
118  Control whether ``discard`` (also known as ``trim`` or ``unmap``)
119  requests are ignored or passed to the filesystem. *DISCARD* is one of
120  ``ignore`` (or ``off``), ``unmap`` (or ``on``).  The default is
121  ``ignore``.
122
123.. option:: --detect-zeroes=DETECT_ZEROES
124
125  Control the automatic conversion of plain zero writes by the OS to
126  driver-specific optimized zero write commands.  *DETECT_ZEROES* is one of
127  ``off``, ``on``, or ``unmap``.  ``unmap``
128  converts a zero write to an unmap operation and can only be used if
129  *DISCARD* is set to ``unmap``.  The default is ``off``.
130
131.. option:: -c, --connect=DEV
132
133  Connect *filename* to NBD device *DEV* (Linux only).
134
135.. option:: -d, --disconnect
136
137  Disconnect the device *DEV* (Linux only).
138
139.. option:: -e, --shared=NUM
140
141  Allow up to *NUM* clients to share the device (default
142  ``1``), 0 for unlimited. Safe for readers, but for now,
143  consistency is not guaranteed between multiple writers.
144
145.. option:: -t, --persistent
146
147  Don't exit on the last connection.
148
149.. option:: -x, --export-name=NAME
150
151  Set the NBD volume export name (default of a zero-length string).
152
153.. option:: -D, --description=DESCRIPTION
154
155  Set the NBD volume export description, as a human-readable
156  string.
157
158.. option:: -L, --list
159
160  Connect as a client and list all details about the exports exposed by
161  a remote NBD server.  This enables list mode, and is incompatible
162  with options that change behavior related to a specific export (such as
163  :option:`--export-name`, :option:`--offset`, ...).
164
165.. option:: --tls-creds=ID
166
167  Enable mandatory TLS encryption for the server by setting the ID
168  of the TLS credentials object previously created with the --object
169  option; or provide the credentials needed for connecting as a client
170  in list mode.
171
172.. option:: --fork
173
174  Fork off the server process and exit the parent once the server is running.
175
176.. option:: --pid-file=PATH
177
178  Store the server's process ID in the given file.
179
180.. option:: --tls-authz=ID
181
182  Specify the ID of a qauthz object previously created with the
183  :option:`--object` option. This will be used to authorize connecting users
184  against their x509 distinguished name.
185
186.. option:: -v, --verbose
187
188  Display extra debugging information.
189
190.. option:: -h, --help
191
192  Display this help and exit.
193
194.. option:: -V, --version
195
196  Display version information and exit.
197
198.. option:: -T, --trace [[enable=]PATTERN][,events=FILE][,file=FILE]
199
200  .. include:: ../qemu-option-trace.rst.inc
201
202Examples
203--------
204
205Start a server listening on port 10809 that exposes only the
206guest-visible contents of a qcow2 file, with no TLS encryption, and
207with the default export name (an empty string). The command is
208one-shot, and will block until the first successful client
209disconnects:
210
211::
212
213  qemu-nbd -f qcow2 file.qcow2
214
215Start a long-running server listening with encryption on port 10810,
216and whitelist clients with a specific X.509 certificate to connect to
217a 1 megabyte subset of a raw file, using the export name 'subset':
218
219::
220
221  qemu-nbd \
222    --object tls-creds-x509,id=tls0,endpoint=server,dir=/path/to/qemutls \
223    --object 'authz-simple,id=auth0,identity=CN=laptop.example.com,,\
224              O=Example Org,,L=London,,ST=London,,C=GB' \
225    --tls-creds tls0 --tls-authz auth0 \
226    -t -x subset -p 10810 \
227    --image-opts driver=raw,offset=1M,size=1M,file.driver=file,file.filename=file.raw
228
229Serve a read-only copy of a guest image over a Unix socket with as
230many as 5 simultaneous readers, with a persistent process forked as a
231daemon:
232
233::
234
235  qemu-nbd --fork --persistent --shared=5 --socket=/path/to/sock \
236    --read-only --format=qcow2 file.qcow2
237
238Expose the guest-visible contents of a qcow2 file via a block device
239/dev/nbd0 (and possibly creating /dev/nbd0p1 and friends for
240partitions found within), then disconnect the device when done.
241Access to bind qemu-nbd to an /dev/nbd device generally requires root
242privileges, and may also require the execution of ``modprobe nbd``
243to enable the kernel NBD client module.  *CAUTION*: Do not use
244this method to mount filesystems from an untrusted guest image - a
245malicious guest may have prepared the image to attempt to trigger
246kernel bugs in partition probing or file system mounting.
247
248::
249
250  qemu-nbd -c /dev/nbd0 -f qcow2 file.qcow2
251  qemu-nbd -d /dev/nbd0
252
253Query a remote server to see details about what export(s) it is
254serving on port 10809, and authenticating via PSK:
255
256::
257
258  qemu-nbd \
259    --object tls-creds-psk,id=tls0,dir=/tmp/keys,username=eblake,endpoint=client \
260    --tls-creds tls0 -L -b remote.example.com
261
262See also
263--------
264
265:manpage:`qemu(1)`, :manpage:`qemu-img(1)`
266