xenial (1) nbdkit.1.gz

Provided by: nbdkit_1.1.11-1build1_amd64 bug

NAME

       nbdkit - A toolkit for creating NBD servers

SYNOPSIS

        nbdkit [--dump-config] [-f] [-g GROUP] [-i IPADDR]
               [-P PIDFILE] [-p PORT] [-r] [--run CMD] [-s]
               [-U SOCKET] [-u USER] [-v] [-V]
               PLUGIN [key=value [key=value [...]]]

DESCRIPTION

       Network Block Device (NBD) is a network protocol for accessing block devices over the network.  Block
       devices are hard disks and things that behave like hard disks such as disk images and virtual machines.

       "nbdkit" is both a toolkit for creating NBD servers from "unconventional" sources and the name of an NBD
       server.

       To create a new Network Block Device source, all you need to do is write a few glue functions, possibly
       in C, or perhaps in a high level language like Perl or Python.  The liberal licensing of nbdkit is meant
       to allow you to link nbdkit with proprietary libraries or to include nbdkit in proprietary code.

       If you want to write an nbdkit plugin, you should read nbdkit-plugin(3).

       Several plugins may be found in "$libdir/nbdkit/plugins".  You can give the full path to the plugin, like
       this:

        nbdkit $libdir/nbdkit/plugins/nbdkit-file-plugin.so [...]

       but it is usually more convenient to use this equivalent syntax:

        nbdkit file [...]

       $libdir is set at compile time.  To print it out, do:

        nbdkit --dump-config

EXAMPLES

       Serve file "disk.img" on port 10809:

        nbdkit file file=disk.img

       Run the example1 plugin and connect to it using guestfish(1):

        nbdkit example1
        guestfish --ro -a nbd://localhost

       Run the example3 plugin and connect to it using guestfish(1):

        nbdkit example3 size=1G
        guestfish --ro -a nbd://localhost

       To display usage information about a specific plugin:

        nbdkit --help example1

GLOBAL OPTIONS

       --help
           Display brief command line usage information and exit.

       --dump-config
           Dump out the compile-time configuration values and exit.

       -f
       --foreground
       --no-fork
           Don't fork into the background.

       -g GROUP
       --group GROUP
           Change group to "GROUP" after starting up.  A group name or numeric group ID can be used.

           The server needs sufficient permissions to be able to do this.  Normally this would mean starting the
           server up as root.

           See also -u.

       -i IPADDR
       --ip-addr IPADDR
       --ipaddr IPADDR
           Listen on the specified interface.  The default is to listen on all interfaces.  See also -p.

       -P PIDFILE
       --pid-file PIDFILE
       --pidfile PIDFILE
           Write "PIDFILE" (containing the process ID of the server) after nbdkit becomes ready to accept
           connections.

           If the file already exists, it is overwritten.  nbdkit does not delete the file when it exits.

       -p PORT
       --port PORT
           Change the TCP/IP port number on which nbdkit serves requests.  The default is 10809.  See also -i.

       -r
       --read-only
       --readonly
           The export will be read-only.  If a client writes, then it will get an error.

           Note that some plugins inherently don't support writes.  With those plugins the -r option is added
           implicitly.

           Copy-on-write (or "snapshot") functionality is not supported by this server.  However if you are
           using qemu as a client (or indirectly via libguestfs) then it supports snapshots.

       --run CMD
           Run nbdkit as a captive subprocess of "CMD".  When "CMD" exits, nbdkit is killed.  See "CAPTIVE
           NBDKIT" below.

           This option implies --foreground.

       -s
       --single
       --stdin
           Don't fork.  Handle a single NBD connection on stdin/stdout.  After stdin closes, the server exits.

           You can use this option to run nbdkit from inetd, systemd or similar superservers; or just for
           testing; or if you want to run nbdkit in a non-conventional way.

           This option implies --foreground.

       -U SOCKET
       --unix SOCKET
       -U -
       --unix -
           Accept connections on the Unix domain socket "SOCKET" (which is a path).

           nbdkit creates this socket, but it will probably have incorrect permissions (too permissive).  If it
           is a problem that some unauthorized user could connect to this socket between the time that nbdkit
           starts up and the authorized user connects, then put the socket into a directory that has restrictive
           permissions.

           nbdkit does not delete the socket file when it exits.  The caller should delete the socket file after
           use (else if you try to start nbdkit up again you will get an "Address already in use" error).

           If the socket name is - then nbdkit generates a randomly named private socket.  This is useful with
           "CAPTIVE NBDKIT".

       -u USER
       --user USER
           Change user to "USER" after starting up.  A user name or numeric user ID can be used.

           The server needs sufficient permissions to be able to do this.  Normally this would mean starting the
           server up as root.

           See also -g.

       -v
       --verbose
           Enable verbose messages.

           It's a good idea to use -f as well so the process does not fork into the background (but not
           required).

       -V
       --version
           Print the version number of nbdkit and exit.

PLUGIN CONFIGURATION

       After specifying the plugin name you can (optionally, it depends on the plugin) give plugin configuration
       on the command line in the form of "key=value".  For example:

        nbdkit file file=disk.img

       To list all the options supported by a plugin, do:

        nbdkit --help file

CAPTIVE NBDKIT

       You can run nbdkit as a "captive process", using the --run option.  This means that nbdkit runs as long
       as (for example) qemu(1) or guestfish(1) is running.  When those exit, nbdkit is killed.

       Some examples should make this clear.

       To run nbdkit captive under qemu:

        nbdkit file file=disk.img --run 'qemu -drive file=$nbd,if=virtio'

       On the qemu command line, $nbd is substituted automatically with the right NBD path so it can connect to
       nbdkit.  When qemu exits, nbdkit is killed and cleaned up automatically.

       Running nbdkit captive under guestfish:

        nbdkit file file=disk.img --run 'guestfish --format=raw -a $nbd -i'

       When guestfish exits, nbdkit is killed.

       The following shell variables are available in the --run argument:

       $nbd
           A URL that refers to the nbdkit port or socket.

           Note there is some magic here, since qemu and guestfish URLs have a different format, so nbdkit tries
           to guess which you are running.  If the magic doesn't work, try using the variables below instead.

       $port
           If ≠ "", the port number that nbdkit is listening on.

       $unixsocket
           If ≠ "", the Unix domain socket that nbdkit is listening on.

       --run implies --foreground.  It is not possible, and probably not desirable, to have nbdkit fork into the
       background when using --run.

       Even when running captive, nbdkit still listens on the regular TCP/IP port, unless you specify the -p/-U
       options.  If you want a truly private captive nbdkit, then you should create a private random Unix
       socket, like this:

        nbdkit -U - plugin [args] --run '...'

SIGNALS

       "nbdkit" responds to the following signals:

       "SIGINT"
       "SIGQUIT"
       "SIGTERM"
           The server exits cleanly.

       "SIGPIPE"
           This signal is ignored.

SEE ALSO

       nbdkit-plugin(3), nbdkit-curl-plugin(1), nbdkit-example1-plugin(1), nbdkit-example2-plugin(1),
       nbdkit-example3-plugin(1), nbdkit-file-plugin(1), nbdkit-gzip-plugin(1), nbdkit-libvirt-plugin(1),
       nbdkit-ocaml-plugin(3), nbdkit-perl-plugin(3), nbdkit-python-plugin(3), nbdkit-vddk-plugin(1).
       nbdkit-xz-plugin(1).

AUTHORS

       Richard W.M. Jones

       Copyright (C) 2013 Red Hat Inc.

LICENSE

       Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided
       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
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