NAME

       virt-format - Erase and make a blank disk

SYNOPSIS

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

WARNING

       Using "virt-format" on live virtual machines, or concurrently with other disk editing
       tools, can be dangerous, potentially causing disk corruption.  The virtual machine must be
       shut down before you use this command, and disk images must not be edited concurrently.

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 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.

       -a URI
       --add URI
           Add a remote disk.  See "ADDING REMOTE STORAGE" in guestfish(1).

       --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).

       --label=LABEL
           Set the filesystem label.

       --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
           Create either an MBR or GPT partition covering the whole disk.  MBR is chosen if the
           disk size is < 2 TB, GPT if ≥ 2 TB.

           This is the default.

       --partition=gpt
           Create a GPT partition.

       --partition=mbr
           Create an MBR partition.

       --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.

LICENSE

       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.

BUGS

       To get a list of bugs against libguestfs, use this link:
       https://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools

       To report a new bug against libguestfs, use this link:
       https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools

       When reporting a bug, please supply:

       •   The version of libguestfs.

       •   Where you got libguestfs (eg. which Linux distro, compiled from source, etc)

       •   Describe the bug accurately and give a way to reproduce it.

       •   Run libguestfs-test-tool(1) and paste the complete, unedited output into the bug
           report.