Ubuntu Manpage: virt-admin - daemon administration interface

Provided by: libvirt-clients_6.0.0-0ubuntu8.20_amd64

NAME

       virt-admin - daemon administration interface

SYNOPSIS

       virt-admin [OPTION]... [COMMAND_STRING]

       virt-admin [OPTION]... COMMAND [ARG]...

DESCRIPTION

The virt-admin program is the main administration interface for modifying the libvirt daemon
configuration at runtime, changing daemon behaviour as well as for monitoring and managing all clients
connected to the daemon.

The basic structure of most virt-admin usage is:

virt-admin [OPTION]... <command> [ARG]...

Where command is one of the commands listed below. Any command starting with # is treated as a comment
and silently ignored, all other unrecognized commands are diagnosed.

The virt-admin program can be used either to run one COMMAND by giving the command and its arguments on
the shell command line, or a COMMAND_STRING which is a single shell argument consisting of multiple
COMMAND actions and their arguments joined with whitespace and separated by semicolons or newlines
between commands, where unquoted backslash-newline pairs are elided. Within COMMAND_STRING, virt-admin
understands the same single, double, and backslash escapes as the shell, although you must add another
layer of shell escaping in creating the single shell argument, and any word starting with unquoted #
begins a comment that ends at newline. If no command is given in the command line, virt-admin will then
start a minimal interpreter waiting for your commands, and the quit command will then exit the program.

The virt-admin program understands the following OPTIONS.

-c, --connect URI

Connect to the specified URI, as if by the connect command, instead of the default connection.

-d, --debug LEVEL

Enable debug messages at integer LEVEL and above. LEVEL can range from 0 to 4 (default). See the
documentation of VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG environment variable below for the description of each LEVEL.

-h, --help

Ignore all other arguments, and behave as if the help command were given instead.

-l, --log FILE

Output logging details to FILE.

-q, --quiet

Avoid extra informational messages.

-v, --version[=short]

Ignore all other arguments, and prints the version of the libvirt library virt-admin is coming from

-V, --version=long

Ignore all other arguments, and prints the version of the libvirt library virt-admin is coming from.

NOTES

       Running virt-admin requires root privileges due to the  communications  channels  used  to  talk  to  the
       daemon.  Consider changing the unix_sock_group ownership setting to grant access to specific set of users
       or modifying unix_sock_rw_perms permissions. Daemon configuration file provides  more  information  about
       setting permissions.

GENERIC COMMANDS

The following commands are generic.

help
Syntax:

help [command-or-group]

This lists each of the virt-admin commands. When used without options, all commands are listed, one per
line, grouped into related categories, displaying the keyword for each group.

To display detailed information for a specific command, use its name as the option.

quit, exit
Syntax:

quit
exit

quit this interactive terminal

version
Syntax:

version

will print out the version info about which libvirt library was this client built from. As opposed to
virsh client, the output already includes the version of the daemon.

Example:

$ virt-admin version
Compiled against library: libvirt 1.2.21
Using library: libvirt 1.2.21
Running against daemon: 1.2.20

cd
Syntax:

cd [directory]

Will change current directory to directory. The default directory for the cd command is the home
directory or, if there is no HOME variable in the environment, the root directory.

This command is only available in interactive mode.

pwd
Syntax:

pwd

Will print the current directory.

connect
Syntax:

connect [URI]

(Re)-Connect to a daemon's administrating server. The URI parameter specifies how to connect to the
administrating server. If LIBVIRT_ADMIN_DEFAULT_URI or uri_default (see below) were set, connect is
automatically issued every time a command that requires an active connection is executed. Note that this
only applies if there is no connection at all or there is an inactive one.

To find the currently used URI, check the uri command documented below.

uri
Syntax:

uri

Prints the administrating server canonical URI, can be useful in shell mode. If no uri was specified,
neither LIBVIRT_ADMIN_DEFAULT_URI environment variable nor uri_default option (libvirt-admin.conf) were
set, libvirtd:///system is used.

DAEMON COMMANDS

The following commands allow one to monitor the daemon's state as well as directly change its internal
configuration.

server-list
Syntax:

server-list

Lists all manageable servers contained within the daemon the client is currently connected to.

daemon-log-filters
Syntax:

daemon-log-filters [--filters string]

When run without arguments, this returns the currently defined set of logging filters. Providing an
argument will cause the command to define a new set of logging filters.

• --filters

Define a new set of logging filters where multiple filters are delimited by space. Each filter must
conform to the form described in detail by /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf (section 'Logging filters').

Example:

To define a filter which suppresses all e.g. 'virObjectUnref' DEBUG messages, use the following:

$ virt-admin daemon-log-filters "4:util.object"

(Note the '.' symbol which can be used to more fine-grained filters tailored to specific modules, in
contrast, to affect the whole directory containing several modules this would become "4:util"):

daemon-log-outouts
Syntax:

daemon-log-outputs [--outputs string]

When run without arguments, this returns the currently defined set of logging outputs. Providing an
argument will cause the command to define a new set of logging outputs.

• --outputs

Define a new set of logging outputs where multiple outputs are delimited by space. Each output must
conform to the form described in detail by /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf (section 'Logging outputs').

Example:

To replace the current setting for logging outputs with one that writes to a file while logging errors
only, the following could be used:

$ virt-admin daemon-log-outputs "4:file:<absolute_path_to_the_file>"

To define multiple outputs at once they need to be delimited by spaces:

$ virt-admin daemon-log-outputs "4:stderr 2:syslog:<msg_ident>"

SERVER COMMANDS

The following commands manipulate daemon's server internal configuration. The server is specified by its
name.

server-threadpool-info
Syntax:

server-threadpool-info server

Retrieve server's threadpool attributes. These attributes include:

• minWorkers as the bottom limit to the number of active workers,

• maxWorkers as the top limit to the number of active workers,

• nWorkers as the current number of workers in the threadpool,

• freeWorkers as the current number of workers available for a task,

• prioWorkers as the current number of priority workers in the threadpool, and

• jobQueueDepth as the current depth of threadpool's job queue.

Background

Each daemon server utilizes a threadpool to accomplish tasks requested by clients connected to it. Every
time a client request arrives to the server, it checks whether there is a worker available to accomplish
the given task or it should create a new worker for the job (rather than being destroyed, the worker
becomes free once the task is finished). Creating new workers, however, is only possible when the current
number of workers is still below the configured upper limit. In addition to these 'standard' workers, a
threadpool also contains a special set of workers called priority workers. Their purpose is to perform
tasks that, unlike tasks carried out by normal workers, are within libvirt's full control and libvirt
guarantees that such a task cannot hang, thus will always finish. An example of such a task this would be
destroying a domain:

$ virsh destroy <domain>.

server-threadpool-set
Syntax:

server-threadpool-set server [--min-workers count] [--max-workers count] [--priority-workers count]

Change threadpool attributes on a server. Only a fraction of all attributes as described in
server-threadpool-info is supported for the setter.

• --min-workers

The bottom limit to number of active workers in a threadpool.

• --max-workers

The upper limit to number of active workers in a threadpool. If used in combination with option
--min-workers, the value for the upper limit has to be greater than the value for the bottom limit,
otherwise the command results in an error.

• --priority-workers

The current number of active priority workers in a threadpool.

server-clients-info
Syntax:

server-clients-info server

Get information about the current setting of limits regarding connections of new clients. This
information comprises of the limits to the maximum number of clients connected to server, maximum number
of clients waiting for authentication, in order to be connected to the server, as well as the current
runtime values, more specifically, the current number of clients connected to server and the current
number of clients waiting for authentication.

Example:

# virt-admin server-clients-info libvirtd
nclients_max : 120
nclients : 3
nclients_unauth_max : 20
nclients_unauth : 0

server-clients-set
Syntax:

server-clients-set server [--max-clients count] [--max-unauth-clients count]

Set new client-related limits on server.

• --max-clients

Change the upper limit of the maximum overall number of clients connected to server to value count. The
value for this limit has to be always greater than the value of --max-unauth-clients.

• --max-unauth-clients

Change the upper limit of the maximum number of clients waiting for authentication, in order to be
connected to server, to value count. The value for this limit has to be always lower than the value of
--max-clients.

CLIENT COMMANDS

       The  following  commands  provide  management  and  monitoring  of  clients  connected to one of daemon's
       available servers. Clients are specified by their numeric ID which is obtained  by  listing  all  clients
       connected to a specified server (see command client-list).

   client-list
       Syntax:

          client-list server

       Print  a  table  showing  the  list  of  clients  connected to <server>, also providing information about
       transport type used on client's connection (supported transports include unix, tcp, and tls), as well  as
       providing information about client's connection time (system local time is used).

   client-info
       Syntax:

          client-info server client

       Retrieve identity information about client from server. The attributes returned may vary depending on the
       connection transport used.  Transport-dependent attributes include local client process's pid, uid,  user
       name, and group name, as well as socket address of the remote peer, see Examples below.

       On  the  other hand, transport-independent attributes include client's SELinux context (if enabled on the
       host) and SASL username (if SASL authentication is enabled within daemon).

       Examples:

          # virt-admin client-info libvirtd 1
          id             : 1
          connection_time: 2016-05-03 13:27:04+0200
          transport      : unix
          readonly       : yes
          unix_user_id   : 0
          unix_user_name : root
          unix_group_id  : 0
          unix_group_name: root
          unix_process_id: 10201

          # virt-admin client-info libvirtd 2
          id             : 2
          connection_time: 2016-05-03 13:30:33+0200
          transport      : tcp
          readonly       : no
          sock_addr      : 127.0.0.1:57060

   client-disconnect
       Syntax:

          client-disconnect server client

       Close a connection originating from client. The server argument specifies the name of the  server  client
       is currently connected to.

ENVIRONMENT

The following environment variables can be set to alter the behaviour of virt-admin

• VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG=<0 to 4>

Turn on verbose debugging of virt-admin commands. Valid levels are

• VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG=0

DEBUG - Messages at ALL levels get logged

• VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG=1

INFO - Logs messages at levels INFO, NOTICE, WARNING and ERROR

• VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG=2

NOTICE - Logs messages at levels NOTICE, WARNING and ERROR

• VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG=3

WARNING - Logs messages at levels WARNING and ERROR

• VIRT_ADMIN_DEBUG=4

ERROR - Messages at only ERROR level gets logged.

• VIRT_ADMIN_LOG_FILE=``LOGFILE``

The file to log virt-admin debug messages.

• LIBVIRT_ADMIN_DEFAULT_URI

The daemon whose admin server to connect to by default. Set this to a URI, in the same format as
accepted by the connect option. This overrides the default URI set in any client config file.

• VIRT_ADMIN_HISTSIZE

The number of commands to remember in the command history. The default value is 500.

• LIBVIRT_DEBUG=LEVEL

Turn on verbose debugging of all libvirt API calls. Valid levels are

• LIBVIRT_DEBUG=1

Messages at level DEBUG or above

• LIBVIRT_DEBUG=2

Messages at level INFO or above

• LIBVIRT_DEBUG=3

Messages at level WARNING or above

• LIBVIRT_DEBUG=4

Messages at level ERROR or above

For further information about debugging options consult https://libvirt.org/logging.html

AUTHORS

       Please refer to the AUTHORS file distributed with libvirt.

BUGS

       Please report all bugs you discover.  This should be done via either:

       1. the mailing list

          https://libvirt.org/contact.html

       2. the bug tracker

          https://libvirt.org/bugs.html

       Alternatively, you may report bugs to your software distributor / vendor.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2015 Red Hat, Inc., and the authors listed in the libvirt AUTHORS file.

LICENSE

       virt-admin is distributed under the terms of the GNU LGPL v2+.  This is free software; see the source for
       copying  conditions.  There  is  NO  warranty;  not  even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

NOTES

GENERIC COMMANDS

DAEMON COMMANDS

SERVER COMMANDS

CLIENT COMMANDS

ENVIRONMENT

AUTHORS

BUGS

COPYRIGHT

LICENSE

SEE ALSO