Provided by: nbdkit-plugin-perl_1.36.3-1ubuntu10_amd64 bug

NAME

       nbdkit-perl-plugin - nbdkit perl plugin

SYNOPSIS

        nbdkit perl /path/to/plugin.pl [arguments...]

DESCRIPTION

       "nbdkit-perl-plugin" is an embedded Perl interpreter for nbdkit(1), allowing you to write
       nbdkit plugins in Perl.

   If you have been given an nbdkit Perl plugin
       Assuming you have a Perl script which is an nbdkit plugin, you run it like this:

        nbdkit perl /path/to/plugin.pl

       You may have to add further "key=value" arguments to the command line.  Read the Perl
       script to see if it requires any.

WRITING A PERL NBDKIT PLUGIN

       For an example plugin written in Perl, see:
       https://gitlab.com/nbdkit/nbdkit/blob/master/plugins/perl/example.pl

       Broadly speaking, Perl nbdkit plugins work like C ones, so you should read
       nbdkit-plugin(3) first.

       To write a Perl nbdkit plugin, you create a Perl file which contains at least the
       following required subroutines:

        sub open
        {
          # see below
        }
        sub get_size
        {
          # see below
        }
        sub pread
        {
          # see below
        }

       Note that the subroutines must have those literal names (like "open"), because the C part
       looks up and calls those functions directly.  You may want to include documentation and
       globals (eg. for storing global state).  Also any top-level statements, "BEGIN"
       statements, "END" statements and so on are run when nbdkit starts up and shuts down, just
       like ordinary Perl.

   Executable script
       If you want you can make the script executable and include a "shebang" at the top:

        #!/usr/sbin/nbdkit perl

       See also "Shebang scripts" in nbdkit(1).

       These scripts can also be installed in the $plugindir.  See "WRITING PLUGINS IN OTHER
       PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES" in nbdkit-plugin(3).

   "Nbdkit::" functions
       The following functions can be called in a virtual Perl package called "Nbdkit".  Your
       script does not need to "use" this package, it is already available in all scripts.

       "Nbdkit::debug ($msg)"

       In debugging mode, print $msg.  This is a wrapper around the C function "nbdkit_debug"
       (see nbdkit-plugin(3)).

       "Nbdkit::set_error ($err)"

        Nbdkit::set_error($err);

       Record $err as the reason you are about to throw an exception.  $err should correspond to
       usual errno values, where it may help to "use POSIX()".

   Exceptions
       Instead of returning error codes as in C, Perl callbacks should indicate problems by
       throwing Perl exceptions (ie. "die", "croak" etc).  The Perl error message is captured and
       printed by nbdkit.  Remember to use "Nbdkit::set_error" if you need to control which error
       is sent back to the client; if omitted, the client will see an error of "EIO".

   32 vs 64 bit
       It is likely that Perl plugins won't work well, or maybe won't work at all, on 32 bit
       platforms.  This is simply because Perl doesn't have an easy way to use 64 bit integers on
       32 bit platforms, and 64 bit integers (eg. file offsets, disk sizes) are required for many
       nbdkit operations.

   Perl callbacks
       This just documents the arguments to the callbacks in Perl, and any way that they differ
       from the C callbacks.  In all other respects they work the same way as the C callbacks, so
       you should go and read nbdkit-plugin(3).

       "dump_plugin"
           (Optional)

           There are no arguments or return value.

       "config"
           (Optional)

            sub config
            {
                my $key = shift;
                my $value = shift;
                # No return value.
            }

       "config_complete"
           (Optional)

           There are no arguments or return value.

       "open"
           (Required)

            sub open
            {
                my $readonly = shift;
                my $handle = {};
                return $handle;
            }

           The "readonly" flag is a boolean.

           You can return any Perl value as the handle.  It is passed back to subsequent calls.
           It's usually convenient to use a hashref, since that lets you store arbitrary fields.

       "close"
           (Optional)

            sub close
            {
                my $handle = shift;
                # No return value
            }

           After "close" returns, the reference count of the handle is decremented in the C part,
           which usually means that the handle and its contents will be garbage collected.

       "get_size"
           (Required)

            sub get_size
            {
                my $handle = shift;
                my $i64 = .. the size of the disk ..;
                return $i64;
            }

           This returns the size of the disk.  You can return any Perl object that evaluates to
           an integer.

       "can_write"
           (Optional)

            sub can_write
            {
                my $handle = shift;
                my $bool = ...;
                return $bool;
            }

           Return a boolean indicating whether the disk is writable.

       "can_flush"
           (Optional)

            sub can_flush
            {
                my $handle = shift;
                my $bool = ...;
                return $bool;
            }

           Return a boolean indicating whether flush can be performed.

       "is_rotational"
           (Optional)

            sub is_rotational
            {
                my $handle = shift;
                my $bool = ...;
                return $bool;
            }

           Return a boolean indicating whether the disk is rotational.

       "can_trim"
           (Optional)

            sub can_trim
            {
                my $handle = shift;
                my $bool = ...;
                return $bool;
            }

           Return a boolean indicating whether trim/discard can be performed.

       "pread"
           (Required)

            sub pread
            {
               my $handle = shift;
               my $count = shift;
               my $offset = shift;
               my $flags = shift;
               # Construct a buffer of length $count bytes and return it.
               return $buf;
            }

           The body of your "pread" function should construct a buffer of length (at least)
           $count bytes.  You should read $count bytes from the disk starting at $offset.

           NBD only supports whole reads, so your function should try to read the whole region
           (perhaps requiring a loop).  If the read fails or is partial, your function should
           "die", optionally using "Nbdkit::set_error" first.

       "pwrite"
           (Optional)

            sub pwrite
            {
               my $handle = shift;
               my $buf = shift;
               my $count = length ($buf);
               my $offset = shift;
               my $flags = shift;
               # No return value
            }

           The body of your "pwrite" function should write the $buf string to the disk.  You
           should write $count bytes to the disk starting at $offset.

           NBD only supports whole writes, so your function should try to write the whole region
           (perhaps requiring a loop).  If the write fails or is partial, your function should
           "die", optionally using "Nbdkit::set_error" first.

       "flush"
           (Optional)

            sub flush
            {
               my $handle = shift;
               my $flags = shift;
               # No return value
            }

           The body of your "flush" function should do a sync(2) or fdatasync(2) or equivalent on
           the backing store.

           If there is an error, the function should call "die", optionally using
           "Nbdkit::set_error" first.

       "trim"
           (Optional)

            sub trim
            {
               my $handle = shift;
               my $count = shift;
               my $offset = shift;
               my $flags = shift;
               # No return value
            }

           The body of your "trim" function should "punch a hole" in the backing store.

           If there is an error, the function should call "die", optionally using
           "Nbdkit::set_error" first.

       "zero"
           (Optional)

            sub zero
            {
               my $handle = shift;
               my $count = shift;
               my $offset = shift;
               my $flags = shift;
               # No return value
            }

           The body of your "zero" function should ensure that $count bytes of the disk, starting
           at $offset, will read back as zero.

           NBD only supports whole writes, so your function should try to write the whole region
           (perhaps requiring a loop).  If the write fails or is partial, your function should
           "die", optionally using "Nbdkit::set_error" first.  In particular, if you would like
           to automatically fall back to "pwrite" (perhaps because there is nothing to optimize
           if $flags does not contain $Nbdkit::FLAG_MAY_TRIM), use
           Nbdkit::set_error(POSIX::EOPNOTSUPP).

   Missing callbacks
       Missing: "load" and "unload"
           These are not needed because you can just use regular Perl "BEGIN" and "END"
           constructs.

       Missing: "name", "version", "longname", "description", "config_help", "can_fua",
       "can_cache", "cache"
           These are not yet supported.

   Threads
       The thread model for Perl callbacks currently cannot be set from Perl.  It is hard-coded
       in the C part to "NBDKIT_THREAD_MODEL_SERIALIZE_ALL_REQUESTS".  This may change or be
       settable in future.

FILES

       $plugindir/nbdkit-perl-plugin.so
           The plugin.

           Use "nbdkit --dump-config" to find the location of $plugindir.

VERSION

       "nbdkit-perl-plugin" first appeared in nbdkit 1.2.

SEE ALSO

       nbdkit(1), nbdkit-plugin(3), perl(1).

AUTHORS

       Eric Blake

       Richard W.M. Jones

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright Red Hat

LICENSE

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       permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

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           conditions and the following disclaimer.

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           conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
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       •   Neither the name of Red Hat nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse
           or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written
           permission.

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