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| -rw-r--r-- | docs/interop/conf.py | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/interop/index.rst | 1 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | docs/interop/qemu-img.rst | 825 |
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diff --git a/docs/interop/conf.py b/docs/interop/conf.py index 40b1ad811d..0de444a900 100644 --- a/docs/interop/conf.py +++ b/docs/interop/conf.py @@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ html_theme_options['description'] = u'System Emulation Management and Interopera man_pages = [ ('qemu-ga', 'qemu-ga', u'QEMU Guest Agent', ['Michael Roth <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>'], 8), + ('qemu-img', 'qemu-img', u'QEMU disk image utility', + ['Fabrice Bellard'], 1), ('qemu-nbd', 'qemu-nbd', u'QEMU Disk Network Block Device Server', ['Anthony Liguori <anthony@codemonkey.ws>'], 8) ] diff --git a/docs/interop/index.rst b/docs/interop/index.rst index c28f7785a5..5e4de07d4c 100644 --- a/docs/interop/index.rst +++ b/docs/interop/index.rst @@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ Contents: live-block-operations pr-helper qemu-ga + qemu-img qemu-nbd vhost-user vhost-user-gpu diff --git a/docs/interop/qemu-img.rst b/docs/interop/qemu-img.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..fa27e5c7b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/interop/qemu-img.rst @@ -0,0 +1,825 @@ +QEMU disk image utility +======================= + +Synopsis +-------- + +**qemu-img** [*standard options*] *command* [*command options*] + +Description +----------- + +qemu-img allows you to create, convert and modify images offline. It can handle +all image formats supported by QEMU. + +**Warning:** Never use qemu-img to modify images in use by a running virtual +machine or any other process; this may destroy the image. Also, be aware that +querying an image that is being modified by another process may encounter +inconsistent state. + +Options +------- + +.. program:: qemu-img + +Standard options: + +.. option:: -h, --help + + Display this help and exit + +.. option:: -V, --version + + Display version information and exit + +.. option:: -T, --trace [[enable=]PATTERN][,events=FILE][,file=FILE] + + .. include:: qemu-option-trace.rst.inc + +The following commands are supported: + +.. hxtool-doc:: qemu-img-cmds.hx + +Command parameters: + +*FILENAME* is a disk image filename. + +*FMT* is the disk image format. It is guessed automatically in most +cases. See below for a description of the supported disk formats. + +*SIZE* is the disk image size in bytes. Optional suffixes ``k`` or +``K`` (kilobyte, 1024) ``M`` (megabyte, 1024k) and ``G`` (gigabyte, +1024M) and T (terabyte, 1024G) are supported. ``b`` is ignored. + +*OUTPUT_FILENAME* is the destination disk image filename. + +*OUTPUT_FMT* is the destination format. + +*OPTIONS* is a comma separated list of format specific options in a +name=value format. Use ``-o ?`` for an overview of the options supported +by the used format or see the format descriptions below for details. + +*SNAPSHOT_PARAM* is param used for internal snapshot, format is +'snapshot.id=[ID],snapshot.name=[NAME]' or '[ID_OR_NAME]'. + +.. + Note the use of a new 'program'; otherwise Sphinx complains about + the -h option appearing both in the above option list and this one. + +.. program:: qemu-img-common-opts + +.. option:: --object OBJECTDEF + + is a QEMU user creatable object definition. See the :manpage:`qemu(1)` + manual page for a description of the object properties. The most common + object type is a ``secret``, which is used to supply passwords and/or + encryption keys. + +.. option:: --image-opts + + Indicates that the source *FILENAME* parameter is to be interpreted as a + full option string, not a plain filename. This parameter is mutually + exclusive with the *-f* parameter. + +.. option:: --target-image-opts + + Indicates that the OUTPUT_FILENAME parameter(s) are to be interpreted as + a full option string, not a plain filename. This parameter is mutually + exclusive with the *-O* parameters. It is currently required to also use + the *-n* parameter to skip image creation. This restriction may be relaxed + in a future release. + +.. option:: --force-share (-U) + + If specified, ``qemu-img`` will open the image in shared mode, allowing + other QEMU processes to open it in write mode. For example, this can be used to + get the image information (with 'info' subcommand) when the image is used by a + running guest. Note that this could produce inconsistent results because of + concurrent metadata changes, etc. This option is only allowed when opening + images in read-only mode. + +.. option:: --backing-chain + + Will enumerate information about backing files in a disk image chain. Refer + below for further description. + +.. option:: -c + + Indicates that target image must be compressed (qcow format only). + +.. option:: -h + + With or without a command, shows help and lists the supported formats. + +.. option:: -p + + Display progress bar (compare, convert and rebase commands only). + If the *-p* option is not used for a command that supports it, the + progress is reported when the process receives a ``SIGUSR1`` or + ``SIGINFO`` signal. + +.. option:: -q + + Quiet mode - do not print any output (except errors). There's no progress bar + in case both *-q* and *-p* options are used. + +.. option:: -S SIZE + + Indicates the consecutive number of bytes that must contain only zeros + for qemu-img to create a sparse image during conversion. This value is rounded + down to the nearest 512 bytes. You may use the common size suffixes like + ``k`` for kilobytes. + +.. option:: -t CACHE + + Specifies the cache mode that should be used with the (destination) file. See + the documentation of the emulator's ``-drive cache=...`` option for allowed + values. + +.. option:: -T SRC_CACHE + + Specifies the cache mode that should be used with the source file(s). See + the documentation of the emulator's ``-drive cache=...`` option for allowed + values. + +Parameters to snapshot subcommand: + +.. program:: qemu-img-snapshot + +.. option:: snapshot + + Is the name of the snapshot to create, apply or delete + +.. option:: -a + + Applies a snapshot (revert disk to saved state) + +.. option:: -c + + Creates a snapshot + +.. option:: -d + + Deletes a snapshot + +.. option:: -l + + Lists all snapshots in the given image + +Parameters to compare subcommand: + +.. program:: qemu-img-compare + +.. option:: -f + + First image format + +.. option:: -F + + Second image format + +.. option:: -s + + Strict mode - fail on different image size or sector allocation + +Parameters to convert subcommand: + +.. program:: qemu-img-convert + +.. option:: -n + + Skip the creation of the target volume + +.. option:: -m + + Number of parallel coroutines for the convert process + +.. option:: -W + + Allow out-of-order writes to the destination. This option improves performance, + but is only recommended for preallocated devices like host devices or other + raw block devices. + +.. option:: -C + + Try to use copy offloading to move data from source image to target. This may + improve performance if the data is remote, such as with NFS or iSCSI backends, + but will not automatically sparsify zero sectors, and may result in a fully + allocated target image depending on the host support for getting allocation + information. + +.. option:: --salvage + + Try to ignore I/O errors when reading. Unless in quiet mode (``-q``), errors + will still be printed. Areas that cannot be read from the source will be + treated as containing only zeroes. + +Parameters to dd subcommand: + +.. program:: qemu-img-dd + +.. option:: bs=BLOCK_SIZE + + Defines the block size + +.. option:: count=BLOCKS + + Sets the number of input blocks to copy + +.. option:: if=INPUT + + Sets the input file + +.. option:: of=OUTPUT + + Sets the output file + +.. option:: skip=BLOCKS + + Sets the number of input blocks to skip + +Command description: + +.. program:: qemu-img-commands + +.. option:: amend [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-p] [-q] [-f FMT] [-t CACHE] -o OPTIONS FILENAME + + Amends the image format specific *OPTIONS* for the image file + *FILENAME*. Not all file formats support this operation. + +.. option:: bench [-c COUNT] [-d DEPTH] [-f FMT] [--flush-interval=FLUSH_INTERVAL] [-n] [-i AIO] [--no-drain] [-o OFFSET] [--pattern=PATTERN] [-q] [-s BUFFER_SIZE] [-S STEP_SIZE] [-t CACHE] [-w] [-U] FILENAME + + Run a simple sequential I/O benchmark on the specified image. If ``-w`` is + specified, a write test is performed, otherwise a read test is performed. + + A total number of *COUNT* I/O requests is performed, each *BUFFER_SIZE* + bytes in size, and with *DEPTH* requests in parallel. The first request + starts at the position given by *OFFSET*, each following request increases + the current position by *STEP_SIZE*. If *STEP_SIZE* is not given, + *BUFFER_SIZE* is used for its value. + + If *FLUSH_INTERVAL* is specified for a write test, the request queue is + drained and a flush is issued before new writes are made whenever the number of + remaining requests is a multiple of *FLUSH_INTERVAL*. If additionally + ``--no-drain`` is specified, a flush is issued without draining the request + queue first. + + If ``-n`` is specified, the native AIO backend is used if possible. On + Linux, this option only works if ``-t none`` or ``-t directsync`` is + specified as well. + + if ``-i`` is specified, *AIO* option can be used to specify different + AIO backends: ``threads``, ``native`` or ``io_uring``. + + For write tests, by default a buffer filled with zeros is written. This can be + overridden with a pattern byte specified by *PATTERN*. + +.. option:: check [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-q] [-f FMT] [--output=OFMT] [-r [leaks | all]] [-T SRC_CACHE] [-U] FILENAME + + Perform a consistency check on the disk image *FILENAME*. The command can + output in the format *OFMT* which is either ``human`` or ``json``. + The JSON output is an object of QAPI type ``ImageCheck``. + + If ``-r`` is specified, qemu-img tries to repair any inconsistencies found + during the check. ``-r leaks`` repairs only cluster leaks, whereas + ``-r all`` fixes all kinds of errors, with a higher risk of choosing the + wrong fix or hiding corruption that has already occurred. + + Only the formats ``qcow2``, ``qed`` and ``vdi`` support + consistency checks. + + In case the image does not have any inconsistencies, check exits with ``0``. + Other exit codes indicate the kind of inconsistency found or if another error + occurred. The following table summarizes all exit codes of the check subcommand: + + 0 + Check completed, the image is (now) consistent + 1 + Check not completed because of internal errors + 2 + Check completed, image is corrupted + 3 + Check completed, image has leaked clusters, but is not corrupted + 63 + Checks are not supported by the image format + + If ``-r`` is specified, exit codes representing the image state refer to the + state after (the attempt at) repairing it. That is, a successful ``-r all`` + will yield the exit code 0, independently of the image state before. + +.. option:: commit [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-q] [-f FMT] [-t CACHE] [-b BASE] [-d] [-p] FILENAME + + Commit the changes recorded in *FILENAME* in its base image or backing file. + If the backing file is smaller than the snapshot, then the backing file will be + resized to be the same size as the snapshot. If the snapshot is smaller than + the backing file, the backing file will not be truncated. If you want the + backing file to match the size of the smaller snapshot, you can safely truncate + it yourself once the commit operation successfully completes. + + The image *FILENAME* is emptied after the operation has succeeded. If you do + not need *FILENAME* afterwards and intend to drop it, you may skip emptying + *FILENAME* by specifying the ``-d`` flag. + + If the backing chain of the given image file *FILENAME* has more than one + layer, the backing file into which the changes will be committed may be + specified as *BASE* (which has to be part of *FILENAME*'s backing + chain). If *BASE* is not specified, the immediate backing file of the top + image (which is *FILENAME*) will be used. Note that after a commit operation + all images between *BASE* and the top image will be invalid and may return + garbage data when read. For this reason, ``-b`` implies ``-d`` (so that + the top image stays valid). + +.. option:: compare [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-f FMT] [-F FMT] [-T SRC_CACHE] [-p] [-q] [-s] [-U] FILENAME1 FILENAME2 + + Check if two images have the same content. You can compare images with + different format or settings. + + The format is probed unless you specify it by ``-f`` (used for + *FILENAME1*) and/or ``-F`` (used for *FILENAME2*) option. + + By default, images with different size are considered identical if the larger + image contains only unallocated and/or zeroed sectors in the area after the end + of the other image. In addition, if any sector is not allocated in one image + and contains only zero bytes in the second one, it is evaluated as equal. You + can use Strict mode by specifying the ``-s`` option. When compare runs in + Strict mode, it fails in case image size differs or a sector is allocated in + one image and is not allocated in the second one. + + By default, compare prints out a result message. This message displays + information that both images are same or the position of the first different + byte. In addition, result message can report different image size in case + Strict mode is used. + + Compare exits with ``0`` in case the images are equal and with ``1`` + in case the images differ. Other exit codes mean an error occurred during + execution and standard error output should contain an error message. + The following table sumarizes all exit codes of the compare subcommand: + + 0 + Images are identical + 1 + Images differ + 2 + Error on opening an image + 3 + Error on checking a sector allocation + 4 + Error on reading data + +.. option:: convert [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [--target-image-opts] [-U] [-C] [-c] [-p] [-q] [-n] [-f FMT] [-t CACHE] [-T SRC_CACHE] [-O OUTPUT_FMT] [-B BACKING_FILE] [-o OPTIONS] [-l SNAPSHOT_PARAM] [-S SPARSE_SIZE] [-m NUM_COROUTINES] [-W] FILENAME [FILENAME2 [...]] OUTPUT_FILENAME + + Convert the disk image *FILENAME* or a snapshot *SNAPSHOT_PARAM* + to disk image *OUTPUT_FILENAME* using format *OUTPUT_FMT*. It can + be optionally compressed (``-c`` option) or use any format specific + options like encryption (``-o`` option). + + Only the formats ``qcow`` and ``qcow2`` support compression. The + compression is read-only. It means that if a compressed sector is + rewritten, then it is rewritten as uncompressed data. + + Image conversion is also useful to get smaller image when using a + growable format such as ``qcow``: the empty sectors are detected and + suppressed from the destination image. + + *SPARSE_SIZE* indicates the consecutive number of bytes (defaults to 4k) + that must contain only zeros for qemu-img to create a sparse image during + conversion. If *SPARSE_SIZE* is 0, the source will not be scanned for + unallocated or zero sectors, and the destination image will always be + fully allocated. + + You can use the *BACKING_FILE* option to force the output image to be + created as a copy on write image of the specified base image; the + *BACKING_FILE* should have the same content as the input's base image, + however the path, image format, etc may differ. + + If a relative path name is given, the backing file is looked up relative to + the directory containing *OUTPUT_FILENAME*. + + If the ``-n`` option is specified, the target volume creation will be + skipped. This is useful for formats such as ``rbd`` if the target + volume has already been created with site specific options that cannot + be supplied through qemu-img. + + Out of order writes can be enabled with ``-W`` to improve performance. + This is only recommended for preallocated devices like host devices or other + raw block devices. Out of order write does not work in combination with + creating compressed images. + + *NUM_COROUTINES* specifies how many coroutines work in parallel during + the convert process (defaults to 8). + +.. option:: create [--object OBJECTDEF] [-q] [-f FMT] [-b BACKING_FILE] [-F BACKING_FMT] [-u] [-o OPTIONS] FILENAME [SIZE] + + Create the new disk image *FILENAME* of size *SIZE* and format + *FMT*. Depending on the file format, you can add one or more *OPTIONS* + that enable additional features of this format. + + If the option *BACKING_FILE* is specified, then the image will record + only the differences from *BACKING_FILE*. No size needs to be specified in + this case. *BACKING_FILE* will never be modified unless you use the + ``commit`` monitor command (or qemu-img commit). + + If a relative path name is given, the backing file is looked up relative to + the directory containing *FILENAME*. + + Note that a given backing file will be opened to check that it is valid. Use + the ``-u`` option to enable unsafe backing file mode, which means that the + image will be created even if the associated backing file cannot be opened. A + matching backing file must be created or additional options be used to make the + backing file specification valid when you want to use an image created this + way. + + The size can also be specified using the *SIZE* option with ``-o``, + it doesn't need to be specified separately in this case. + + +.. option:: dd [--image-opts] [-U] [-f FMT] [-O OUTPUT_FMT] [bs=BLOCK_SIZE] [count=BLOCKS] [skip=BLOCKS] if=INPUT of=OUTPUT + + dd copies from *INPUT* file to *OUTPUT* file converting it from + *FMT* format to *OUTPUT_FMT* format. + + The data is by default read and written using blocks of 512 bytes but can be + modified by specifying *BLOCK_SIZE*. If count=\ *BLOCKS* is specified + dd will stop reading input after reading *BLOCKS* input blocks. + + The size syntax is similar to :manpage:`dd(1)`'s size syntax. + +.. option:: info [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-f FMT] [--output=OFMT] [--backing-chain] [-U] FILENAME + + Give information about the disk image *FILENAME*. Use it in + particular to know the size reserved on disk which can be different + from the displayed size. If VM snapshots are stored in the disk image, + they are displayed too. + + If a disk image has a backing file chain, information about each disk image in + the chain can be recursively enumerated by using the option ``--backing-chain``. + + For instance, if you have an image chain like: + + :: + + base.qcow2 <- snap1.qcow2 <- snap2.qcow2 + + To enumerate information about each disk image in the above chain, starting from top to base, do: + + :: + + qemu-img info --backing-chain snap2.qcow2 + + The command can output in the format *OFMT* which is either ``human`` or + ``json``. The JSON output is an object of QAPI type ``ImageInfo``; with + ``--backing-chain``, it is an array of ``ImageInfo`` objects. + + ``--output=human`` reports the following information (for every image in the + chain): + + *image* + The image file name + + *file format* + The image format + + *virtual size* + The size of the guest disk + + *disk size* + How much space the image file occupies on the host file system (may be + shown as 0 if this information is unavailable, e.g. because there is no + file system) + + *cluster_size* + Cluster size of the image format, if applicable + + *encrypted* + Whether the image is encrypted (only present if so) + + *cleanly shut down* + This is shown as ``no`` if the image is dirty and will have to be + auto-repaired the next time it is opened in qemu. + + *backing file* + The backing file name, if present + + *backing file format* + The format of the backing file, if the image enforces it + + *Snapshot list* + A list of all internal snapshots + + *Format specific information* + Further information whose structure depends on the image format. This + section is a textual representation of the respective + ``ImageInfoSpecific*`` QAPI object (e.g. ``ImageInfoSpecificQCow2`` + for qcow2 images). + +.. option:: map [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-f FMT] [--output=OFMT] [-U] FILENAME + + Dump the metadata of image *FILENAME* and its backing file chain. + In particular, this commands dumps the allocation state of every sector + of *FILENAME*, together with the topmost file that allocates it in + the backing file chain. + + Two option formats are possible. The default format (``human``) + only dumps known-nonzero areas of the file. Known-zero parts of the + file are omitted altogether, and likewise for parts that are not allocated + throughout the chain. ``qemu-img`` output will identify a file + from where the data can be read, and the offset in the file. Each line + will include four fields, the first three of which are hexadecimal + numbers. For example the first line of: + + :: + + Offset Length Mapped to File + 0 0x20000 0x50000 /tmp/overlay.qcow2 + 0x100000 0x10000 0x95380000 /tmp/backing.qcow2 + + means that 0x20000 (131072) bytes starting at offset 0 in the image are + available in /tmp/overlay.qcow2 (opened in ``raw`` format) starting + at offset 0x50000 (327680). Data that is compressed, encrypted, or + otherwise not available in raw format will cause an error if ``human`` + format is in use. Note that file names can include newlines, thus it is + not safe to parse this output format in scripts. + + The alternative format ``json`` will return an array of dictionaries + in JSON format. It will include similar information in + the ``start``, ``length``, ``offset`` fields; + it will also include other more specific information: + + - whether the sectors contain actual data or not (boolean field ``data``; + if false, the sectors are either unallocated or stored as optimized + all-zero clusters); + - whether the data is known to read as zero (boolean field ``zero``); + - in order to make the output shorter, the target file is expressed as + a ``depth``; for example, a depth of 2 refers to the backing file + of the backing file of *FILENAME*. + + In JSON format, the ``offset`` field is optional; it is absent in + cases where ``human`` format would omit the entry or exit with an error. + If ``data`` is false and the ``offset`` field is present, the + corresponding sectors in the file are not yet in use, but they are + preallocated. + + For more information, consult ``include/block/block.h`` in QEMU's + source code. + +.. option:: measure [--output=OFMT] [-O OUTPUT_FMT] [-o OPTIONS] [--size N | [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-f FMT] [-l SNAPSHOT_PARAM] FILENAME] + + Calculate the file size required for a new image. This information + can be used to size logical volumes or SAN LUNs appropriately for + the image that will be placed in them. The values reported are + guaranteed to be large enough to fit the image. The command can + output in the format *OFMT* which is either ``human`` or ``json``. + The JSON output is an object of QAPI type ``BlockMeasureInfo``. + + If the size *N* is given then act as if creating a new empty image file + using ``qemu-img create``. If *FILENAME* is given then act as if + converting an existing image file using ``qemu-img convert``. The format + of the new file is given by *OUTPUT_FMT* while the format of an existing + file is given by *FMT*. + + A snapshot in an existing image can be specified using *SNAPSHOT_PARAM*. + + The following fields are reported: + + :: + + required size: 524288 + fully allocated size: 1074069504 + + The ``required size`` is the file size of the new image. It may be smaller + than the virtual disk size if the image format supports compact representation. + + The ``fully allocated size`` is the file size of the new image once data has + been written to all sectors. This is the maximum size that the image file can + occupy with the exception of internal snapshots, dirty bitmaps, vmstate data, + and other advanced image format features. + +.. option:: snapshot [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-U] [-q] [-l | -a SNAPSHOT | -c SNAPSHOT | -d SNAPSHOT] FILENAME + + List, apply, create or delete snapshots in image *FILENAME*. + +.. option:: rebase [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-U] [-q] [-f FMT] [-t CACHE] [-T SRC_CACHE] [-p] [-u] -b BACKING_FILE [-F BACKING_FMT] FILENAME + + Changes the backing file of an image. Only the formats ``qcow2`` and + ``qed`` support changing the backing file. + + The backing file is changed to *BACKING_FILE* and (if the image format of + *FILENAME* supports this) the backing file format is changed to + *BACKING_FMT*. If *BACKING_FILE* is specified as "" (the empty + string), then the image is rebased onto no backing file (i.e. it will exist + independently of any backing file). + + If a relative path name is given, the backing file is looked up relative to + the directory containing *FILENAME*. + + *CACHE* specifies the cache mode to be used for *FILENAME*, whereas + *SRC_CACHE* specifies the cache mode for reading backing files. + + There are two different modes in which ``rebase`` can operate: + + Safe mode + This is the default mode and performs a real rebase operation. The + new backing file may differ from the old one and qemu-img rebase + will take care of keeping the guest-visible content of *FILENAME* + unchanged. + + In order to achieve this, any clusters that differ between + *BACKING_FILE* and the old backing file of *FILENAME* are merged + into *FILENAME* before actually changing the backing file. + + Note that the safe mode is an expensive operation, comparable to + converting an image. It only works if the old backing file still + exists. + + Unsafe mode + qemu-img uses the unsafe mode if ``-u`` is specified. In this + mode, only the backing file name and format of *FILENAME* is changed + without any checks on the file contents. The user must take care of + specifying the correct new backing file, or the guest-visible + content of the image will be corrupted. + + This mode is useful for renaming or moving the backing file to + somewhere else. It can be used without an accessible old backing + file, i.e. you can use it to fix an image whose backing file has + already been moved/renamed. + + You can use ``rebase`` to perform a "diff" operation on two + disk images. This can be useful when you have copied or cloned + a guest, and you want to get back to a thin image on top of a + template or base image. + + Say that ``base.img`` has been cloned as ``modified.img`` by + copying it, and that the ``modified.img`` guest has run so there + are now some changes compared to ``base.img``. To construct a thin + image called ``diff.qcow2`` that contains just the differences, do: + + :: + + qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b modified.img diff.qcow2 + qemu-img rebase -b base.img diff.qcow2 + + At this point, ``modified.img`` can be discarded, since + ``base.img + diff.qcow2`` contains the same information. + +.. option:: resize [--object OBJECTDEF] [--image-opts] [-f FMT] [--preallocation=PREALLOC] [-q] [--shrink] FILENAME [+ | -]SIZE + + Change the disk image as if it had been created with *SIZE*. + + Before using this command to shrink a disk image, you MUST use file system and + partitioning tools inside the VM to reduce allocated file systems and partition + sizes accordingly. Failure to do so will result in data loss! + + When shrinking images, the ``--shrink`` option must be given. This informs + qemu-img that the user acknowledges all loss of data beyond the truncated + image's end. + + After using this command to grow a disk image, you must use file system and + partitioning tools inside the VM to actually begin using the new space on the + device. + + When growing an image, the ``--preallocation`` option may be used to specify + how the additional image area should be allocated on the host. See the format + description in the :ref:`notes` section which values are allowed. Using this + option may result in slightly more data being allocated than necessary. + +.. _notes: + +Notes +----- + +Supported image file formats: + +``raw`` + + Raw disk image format (default). This format has the advantage of + being simple and easily exportable to all other emulators. If your + file system supports *holes* (for example in ext2 or ext3 on + Linux or NTFS on Windows), then only the written sectors will reserve + space. Use ``qemu-img info`` to know the real size used by the + image or ``ls -ls`` on Unix/Linux. + + Supported options: + + ``preallocation`` + Preallocation mode (allowed values: ``off``, ``falloc``, + ``full``). ``falloc`` mode preallocates space for image by + calling ``posix_fallocate()``. ``full`` mode preallocates space + for image by writing data to underlying storage. This data may or + may not be zero, depending on the storage location. + +``qcow2`` + + QEMU image format, the most versatile format. Use it to have smaller + images (useful if your filesystem does not supports holes, for example + on Windows), optional AES encryption, zlib based compression and + support of multiple VM snapshots. + + Supported options: + + ``compat`` + Determines the qcow2 version to use. ``compat=0.10`` uses the + traditional image format that can be read by any QEMU since 0.10. + ``compat=1.1`` enables image format extensions that only QEMU 1.1 and + newer understand (this is the default). Amongst others, this includes zero + clusters, which allow efficient copy-on-read for sparse images. + + ``backing_file`` + File name of a base image (see ``create`` subcommand) + + ``backing_fmt`` + Image format of the base image + + ``encryption`` + If this option is set to ``on``, the image is encrypted with + 128-bit AES-CBC. + + The use of encryption in qcow and qcow2 images is considered to be + flawed by modern cryptography standards, suffering from a number + of design problems: + + - The AES-CBC cipher is used with predictable initialization + vectors based on the sector number. This makes it vulnerable to + chosen plaintext attacks which can reveal the existence of + encrypted data. + + - The user passphrase is directly used as the encryption key. A + poorly chosen or short passphrase will compromise the security + of the encryption. + + - In the event of the passphrase being compromised there is no way + to change the passphrase to protect data in any qcow images. The + files must be cloned, using a different encryption passphrase in + the new file. The original file must then be securely erased + using a program like shred, though even this is ineffective with + many modern storage technologies. + + - Initialization vectors used to encrypt sectors are based on the + guest virtual sector number, instead of the host physical + sector. When a disk image has multiple internal snapshots this + means that data in multiple physical sectors is encrypted with + the same initialization vector. With the CBC mode, this opens + the possibility of watermarking attacks if the attack can + collect multiple sectors encrypted with the same IV and some + predictable data. Having multiple qcow2 images with the same + passphrase also exposes this weakness since the passphrase is + directly used as the key. + + Use of qcow / qcow2 encryption is thus strongly discouraged. Users are + recommended to use an alternative encryption technology such as the + Linux dm-crypt / LUKS system. + + ``cluster_size`` + Changes the qcow2 cluster size (must be between 512 and + 2M). Smaller cluster sizes can improve the image file size whereas + larger cluster sizes generally provide better performance. + + ``preallocation`` + Preallocation mode (allowed values: ``off``, ``metadata``, + ``falloc``, ``full``). An image with preallocated metadata is + initially larger but can improve performance when the image needs + to grow. ``falloc`` and ``full`` preallocations are like the same + options of ``raw`` format, but sets up metadata also. + + ``lazy_refcounts`` + If this option is set to ``on``, reference count updates are + postponed with the goal of avoiding metadata I/O and improving + performance. This is particularly interesting with + ``cache=writethrough`` which doesn't batch metadata + updates. The tradeoff is that after a host crash, the reference + count tables must be rebuilt, i.e. on the next open an (automatic) + ``qemu-img check -r all`` is required, which may take some time. + + This option can only be enabled if ``compat=1.1`` is specified. + + ``nocow`` + If this option is set to ``on``, it will turn off COW of the file. It's + only valid on btrfs, no effect on other file systems. + + Btrfs has low performance when hosting a VM image file, even more + when the guest on the VM also using btrfs as file system. Turning + off COW is a way to mitigate this bad performance. Generally there + are two ways to turn off COW on btrfs: + + - Disable it by mounting with nodatacow, then all newly created files + will be NOCOW + - For an empty file, add the NOCOW file attribute. That's what this + option does. + + Note: this option is only valid to new or empty files. If there is + an existing file which is COW and has data blocks already, it + couldn't be changed to NOCOW by setting ``nocow=on``. One can + issue ``lsattr filename`` to check if the NOCOW flag is set or not + (Capital 'C' is NOCOW flag). + +``Other`` + + QEMU also supports various other image file formats for + compatibility with older QEMU versions or other hypervisors, + including VMDK, VDI, VHD (vpc), VHDX, qcow1 and QED. For a full list + of supported formats see ``qemu-img --help``. For a more detailed + description of these formats, see the QEMU block drivers reference + documentation. + + The main purpose of the block drivers for these formats is image + conversion. For running VMs, it is recommended to convert the disk + images to either raw or qcow2 in order to achieve good performance. |