[Libguestfs] [PATCH] New tool: virt-format

[Richard W.M. Jones]

Rather than me explaining over again what it does, I've included the
man page below.

Rich.

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virt-format(1)              Virtualization Support              virt-format(1)



NAME
       virt-format - Erase and make a blank disk

SYNOPSIS
        virt-format [--options] -a disk.img [-a disk.img ...]

DESCRIPTION
       Virt-format takes an existing disk file (or it can be a host partition,
       LV etc), erases all data on it, and formats it as a blank disk.  It can
       optionally create partition tables, empty filesystems, logical volumes
       and more.

       To create a disk containing data, you may be better to use
       virt-make-fs(1).  If you are creating a blank disk to use in
       guestfish(1), you should instead use the guestfish -N option.

       Normal usage would be something like this:

        virt-format -a disk.qcow

       or this:

        virt-format -a /dev/VG/LV

       "disk.qcow" or "/dev/VG/LV" must exist already.  Any data on these
       disks will be erased by these commands.  These commands will create a
       single empty MBR partition covering the whole disk, with no filesystem
       inside it.

       Additional parameters can be used to control the creation of
       partitions, filesystems, etc.  The most commonly used options are:

       --filesystem=[ext3|ntfs|vfat|...]
           Create an empty filesystem ("ext3", "ntfs" etc) inside the
           partition.

       --lvm[=/dev/VG/LV]
           Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume on the disk.  When used with
           --filesystem, the filesystem is created inside the LV.

       For more information about these and other options, see "OPTIONS"
       below.

       The format of the disk is normally auto-detected, but you can also
       force it by using the --format option (q.v.).  In situations where you
       do not trust the existing content of the disk, then it is advisable to
       use this option to avoid possible exploits.

OPTIONS
       --help
           Display brief help.

       -a file
       --add file
           Add file, a disk image, host partition, LV, external USB disk, etc.

           The format of the disk image is auto-detected.  To override this
           and force a particular format use the --format=.. option.

           Any existing data on the disk is erased.

       --filesystem=ext3|ntfs|vfat|...
           Create an empty filesystem of the specified type.  Many filesystem
           types are supported by libguestfs.

       --filesystem=none
           Create no filesystem.  This is the default.

       --format=raw|qcow2|..
       --format
           The default for the -a option is to auto-detect the format of the
           disk image.  Using this forces the disk format for -a options which
           follow on the command line.  Using --format with no argument
           switches back to auto-detection for subsequent -a options.

           For example:

            virt-format --format=raw -a disk.img

           forces raw format (no auto-detection) for "disk.img".

            virt-format --format=raw -a disk.img --format -a another.img

           forces raw format (no auto-detection) for "disk.img" and reverts to
           auto-detection for "another.img".

           If you have untrusted raw-format guest disk images, you should use
           this option to specify the disk format.  This avoids a possible
           security problem with malicious guests (CVE-2010-3851).

       --lvm=/dev/VG/LV
           Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume called "/dev/VG/LV".  You can
           change the name of the volume group and logical volume.

       --lvm
           Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume with the default name
           ("/dev/VG/LV").

       --lvm=none
           Create no logical volume.  This is the default.

       --partition=gpt
           Create a GPT partition instead of MBR.  This is useful for disks
           which are 2TB or larger in size.

       --partition
       --partition=mbr
           Create an MBR partition.  This is the default.

       --partition=none
           Create no partition table.  Note that Windows may not be able to
           see these disks.

       -v
       --verbose
           Enable verbose messages for debugging.

       -V
       --version
           Display version number and exit.

       --wipe
           Normally virt-format does not wipe data from the disk (because that
           takes a long time).  Thus if there is data on the disk, it is only
           hidden and partially overwritten by virt-format, and it might be
           recovered by disk editing tools.

           If you use this option, virt-format writes zeroes over the whole
           disk so that previous data is not recoverable.

       -x  Enable tracing of libguestfs API calls.

EXIT STATUS
       This program returns 0 on success, or 1 on failure.

SEE ALSO
       guestfs(3), guestfish(1), virt-filesystems(1), virt-make-fs(1),
       virt-rescue(1), virt-resize(1), <http://libguestfs.org/>.

AUTHOR
       Richard W.M. Jones <http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat Inc.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
       under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
       Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
       option) any later version.

       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
       WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
       General Public License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
       with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
       51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.



libguestfs-1.15.16                2012-01-17                    virt-format(1)