Provided by: nbdkit_1.42.2-1ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
nbdkit-cow-filter - nbdkit copy-on-write (COW) filter
SYNOPSIS
nbdkit --filter=cow plugin [plugin-args...]
[cow-block-size=N]
[cow-on-cache=false|true]
[cow-on-read=false|true|/PATH]
DESCRIPTION
"nbdkit-cow-filter" is a filter that makes a temporary writable copy on top of a plugin. It can also be
used to enable writes for plugins which are read-only.
The underlying plugin is opened read-only. This filter does not pass any writes or write-like operations
(like trim and zero) through to the underlying plugin.
Note that anything written is thrown away as soon as nbdkit exits. If you want to save changes, either
copy out the whole disk using a tool like nbdcopy(1), or use the method described in "NOTES" below to
create a diff.
Limitations of the filter include:
• The underlying file/device must not be resized.
• The underlying plugin must behave “normally”, meaning that it must serve the same data to each
client.
PARAMETERS
cow-block-size=N
Set the block size used by the filter. This has to be a power of two and the minimum block size is
4K. The maximum block size depends on the plugin, but a block size larger than a few megabytes is
not usually a good idea.
The default is 64K.
cow-on-cache=false
Do not save data from cache (prefetch) requests in the overlay. This leaves the overlay as small as
possible. This is the default.
cow-on-cache=true
When the client issues a cache (prefetch) request, preemptively save the data from the plugin into
the overlay.
cow-on-read=false
Do not save data from read requests in the overlay. This leaves the overlay as small as possible.
This is the default.
cow-on-read=true
When the client issues a read request, copy the data into the overlay so that the same data can be
served more quickly later.
cow-on-read=/PATH
When /PATH (which must be an absolute path) exists, this behaves like "cow-on-read=true", and when it
does not exist like "cow-on-read=false". This allows you to control the "cow-on-read" behaviour
while nbdkit is running.
EXAMPLES
nbdkit --filter=cow file disk.img
Serve the file disk.img, allowing writes, but do not save any changes into the file.
nbdkit --filter=cow --filter=xz file disk.xz cow-on-read=true
nbdkit-xz-filter(1) only supports read access, but you can provide temporary write access by using the
command above. Because xz decompression is slow, using "cow-on-read=true" causes reads to be cached as
well as writes, improving performance at the expense of using more temporary space. Note that writes are
thrown away when nbdkit exits and do not get saved into the file.
NOTES
Creating a diff with qemu-img
Although nbdkit-cow-filter itself cannot save the differences, it is possible to do this using an obscure
feature of qemu-img(1). nbdkit must remain continuously running during the whole operation, otherwise
all changes will be lost.
Run nbdkit:
nbdkit --filter=cow file disk.img
and then connect with a client and make whatever changes you need. At the end, disconnect the client.
Run these "qemu-img" commands to construct a qcow2 file containing the differences:
qemu-img create -F raw -b nbd:localhost -f qcow2 diff.qcow2
qemu-img rebase -F raw -b disk.img -f qcow2 diff.qcow2
diff.qcow2 now contains the differences between the base (disk.img) and the changes stored in nbdkit-cow-
filter. "nbdkit" can now be killed.
Compared to nbd-server -c option
All connections to the nbdkit instance see the same view of the disk. This is different from
nbd-server(1) -c option where each connection sees its own copy-on-write overlay and simply disconnecting
the client throws that away. It also allows us to create diffs as above.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
"TMPDIR"
The copy-on-write changes are stored in a temporary file located in /var/tmp by default. You can
override this location by setting the "TMPDIR" environment variable before starting nbdkit.
FILES
$filterdir/nbdkit-cow-filter.so
The filter.
Use "nbdkit --dump-config" to find the location of $filterdir.
VERSION
"nbdkit-cow-filter" first appeared in nbdkit 1.2.
SEE ALSO
nbdkit(1), nbdkit-file-plugin(1), nbdkit-cache-filter(1), nbdkit-cacheextents-filter(1),
nbdkit-xz-filter(1), nbdkit-filter(3), nbdcopy(1), qemu-img(1).
AUTHORS
Eric Blake
Richard W.M. Jones
COPYRIGHT
Copyright Red Hat
LICENSE
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that the following conditions are met:
• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and
the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• 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.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY RED HAT AND CONTRIBUTORS ''AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
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DAMAGE.
nbdkit-1.42.2 2025-04-02 nbdkit-cow-filter(1)