NAME

       nbdkit-tmpdisk-plugin - create a fresh temporary filesystem for each client

SYNOPSIS

        nbdkit tmpdisk [size=]SIZE [type=ext4|xfs|vfat|...] [label=LABEL]

        nbdkit tmpdisk [size=]SIZE command=COMMAND [VAR=VALUE ...]

DESCRIPTION

       This nbdkit(1) plugin is used for creating temporary filesystems for thin clients.  Each
       time a client connects it will see a fresh, empty filesystem for its exclusive use.  The
       filesystem is deleted when the client disconnects.  If you want a persistent filesystem,
       use nbdkit-ondemand-plugin(1) instead.

       When a new client connects, a blank, sparse file of the required size is created in
       $TMPDIR (or /var/tmp).  mkfs(8) is then run on the file to create the empty filesystem,
       and this filesystem is served to the client.  Unlike nbdkit-linuxdisk-plugin(1) each
       client of this plugin sees a different disk.

       The size of the disk is chosen using the "size" parameter.  The filesystem type is "ext4"
       but this can be changed using the "type" parameter (controlling the -t option of mkfs).
       The filesystem label may be set using "label".

   The command parameter
       Instead of running mkfs you can run an arbitrary command (a shell script fragment) to
       create the disk.

       The other parameters to the plugin are turned into shell variables passed to the command.
       For example "type" becomes the shell variable $type, etc.  Any parameters you want can be
       passed to the plugin and will be turned into shell variables (not only "type" and "label")
       making this a very flexible method to create temporary disks of all kinds.

       Two special variables are also passed to the shell script fragment:

       $disk
           The absolute path of the disk file.  Note that this is not pre-created, you must
           create it yourself, for example using:

            truncate -s $size "$disk"

           $disk is deleted automatically when the client disconnects.

       $size
           The virtual size in bytes.  This is the "size" parameter, converted to bytes.  Note
           the final size served to the client is whatever disk size "command" creates.

   Security considerations
       Because each client gets a new disk, the amount of disk space required on the server can
       be as much as number of clients × size.  It is therefore best to limit the number of
       clients using nbdkit-limit-filter(1) or take steps to limit where clients can connect from
       using nbdkit-ip-filter(1), firewalls, or TLS client certificates.

EXAMPLES

   Remote tmpfs
       One use for this is to create a kind of "remote tmpfs(5)" for thin clients.  On the server
       you would run (see nbdkit-service(1)):

        nbdkit tmpdisk 16G

       To set up each thin client follow the instructions in nbdkit-client(1).  Clients will see
       a fresh, empty, mounted directory after boot.

   Overriding mkfs options
       Using "command" allows you to easily override any mkfs option, for example:

        nbdkit tmpdisk 16G command='
            truncate -s $size "$disk"
            mke2fs -F -N 10000 -t ext4 "$disk"
        '

   Serve a fresh blank disk to each client
       Again using "command", this demonstrates serving any file that you can create locally to
       the client.  This is different from nbdkit-memory-plugin(1) because the clients all see
       their own private disk (instead of all seeing the same shared disk):

        nbdkit tmpdisk 16G command=' truncate -s $size "$disk" '

   Serve a fresh operating system to each client
        nbdkit tmpdisk 16G os=fedora-31 \
            command=' virt-builder -o "$disk" --size ${size}b "$os" '

   Serve a throwaway snapshot of a base image to each client
       You could create a base image using mke2fs(8) -d option, virt-builder(1), or similar
       tools.  Then in the command you could copy and serve different throwaway snapshots to each
       client:

        truncate -s 1G base.img
        mke2fs -d initial-content/ -F -t ext4 base.img
        nbdkit tmpdisk size=0 base=$PWD/base.img \
            command=' cp --sparse=always "$base" "$disk" '

       The unusual "size=0" parameter is because when using "command", "size" is only a request
       (but the parameter is required).  In this case the command ignores the requested size.
       The final size is the size of $disk created by the cp(1) command.

PARAMETERS

       command='COMMAND'
           Instead of running mkfs(8) to create the initial filesystem, run "COMMAND" (a shell
           script fragment which usually must be quoted to protect it from the shell).  See "The
           command parameter" and "EXAMPLES" sections above.

       label=LABEL
           Select the filesystem label.  The default is not set.

       [size=]SIZE
           Specify the virtual size of the disk image.

           If using "command", this is only a suggested size.  The actual size of the resulting
           disk will be the size of the disk created by "command".

           This parameter is required.

           "size=" is a magic config key and may be omitted in most cases.  See "Magic
           parameters" in nbdkit(1).

       type=FS
           Select the filesystem type.  The default is "ext4".  Most non-networked, non-cluster
           filesystem types supported by the mkfs(8) command can be used here.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       "TMPDIR"
           The temporary disks for this plugin are created in this directory, one per connected
           client.  If not set this defaults to /var/tmp.

FILES

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

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

VERSION

       "nbdkit-tmpdisk-plugin" first appeared in nbdkit 1.20.

SEE ALSO

       nbdkit(1), nbdkit-plugin(3), nbdkit-data-plugin(1), nbdkit-eval-plugin(1),
       nbdkit-file-plugin(1), nbdkit-ip-filter(1), nbdkit-limit-filter(1),
       nbdkit-linuxdisk-plugin(1), nbdkit-memory-plugin(1), nbdkit-sh-plugin(1), nbdkit-loop(1),
       nbdkit-tls(1), mkfs(8), mke2fs(8), virt-builder(1).

AUTHORS

       Richard W.M. Jones

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2018-2020 Red Hat Inc.

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