1VIRT-WHO(8) System Manager's Manual VIRT-WHO(8)
2
6 virt-who - Agent for reporting virtual guest IDs to Subscription Asset
7 Manager, Satellite 6, or Satellite 5.
8
10 virt-who [-d] [-i INTERVAL] [-o] [--sam|--satellite5|--satellite6]
11 [--libvirt|--vdsm|--esx|--rhevm|--hyperv|--kubevirt]
12
14 -h, --help
15 show this help message and exit
16 -d, --debug
18 Enable debugging output
19 -o, --one-shot
21 Send the list of guest IDs and exit immediately
22 -i INTERVAL, --interval=INTERVAL
24 Acquire and send guest information each N seconds; note that
25 this option is recommendation only, requested interval might not
26 been honoured and the actual interval might be longer or shorter
27 depending on backend that is used.
28 -p, --print
30 Print the host/guests association in JSON format to standard
31 output
32 -c, --config
34 Use configuration file directly (will override configuration
35 from other files. 'global' and 'default' sections are not read
36 in files passed in via this option, and are only read from
37 /etc/virt-who.conf). Can be used multiple times. See virt-who-
38 config(5) for details about configuration file format.
39 Virtualization backend
41 Choose virtualization backend that should be used to gather
42 host/guest associations
43 --libvirt
45 [Deprecated] Use libvirt to list virtual guests [default]
46 --vdsm [Deprecated] Use vdsm to list virtual guests
48 --esx [Deprecated] Register ESX machines using vCenter
50 --rhevm
52 [Deprecated] Register guests using RHEV-M
53 --hyperv
55 [Deprecated] Register guests using Hyper-V
56 --xen [Deprecated] Register XEN machines using XenServer
58 Subscription manager
60 Choose where the host/guest associations should be reported
61 --sam [Deprecated] Report host/guest associations to the Subscription
63 Asset Manager, Satellite 6, or Red Hat Subscription Management
64 (RHSM). This option specifies the default behaviour, and thus it
65 is not used [default]
66 --satellite5
68 [Deprecated] Report host/guest associations to the Satellite 5
69 server
70 --satellite6
72 [Deprecated] Report host/guest associations to the Subscription
73 Asset Manager, Satellite 6, or Red Hat Subscription Management
74 (RHSM). This option specifies the default behaviour, and thus it
75 is not used [default]
76 Libvirt options
78 Use these options with --libvirt These should be defined in the
79 configuration file or in environment variables
80 --libvirt-owner=OWNER
82 [Deprecated] Organization who has purchased subscriptions of the
83 products, same as current system registration by default
84 --libvirt-env=ENV
86 [Deprecated] Environment where the libvirt server belongs to,
87 same as current system registration by default
88 --libvirt-server=SERVER
90 [Deprecated] URL of the remote libvirt server to connect to,
91 local server by default
92 --libvirt-username=USERNAME
94 [Deprecated] Username for connecting to libvirt, username of
95 current user by default
96 --libvirt-password=PASSWORD
98 [Deprecated] Password for connecting to libvirt. This option
99 doesn't work with ssh transport (default), copy your public ssh
100 key to the remote machine.
101 vCenter/ESX options
103 Use these options with --esx These should be defined in the con‐
104 figuration file or in environment variables
105 --esx-owner=OWNER
107 [Deprecated] Organization who has purchased subscriptions of the
108 products
109 --esx-env=ENV
111 [Deprecated] Environment where the vCenter server belongs to
112 --esx-server=SERVER
114 [Deprecated] URL of the vCenter server to connect to
115 --esx-username=USERNAME
117 [Deprecated] Username for connecting to vCenter
118 --esx-password=PASSWORD
120 [Deprecated] Password for connecting to vCenter
121 RHEV-M options
123 Use these options with --rhevm These should be defined in the
124 configuration file or in environment variables
125 --rhevm-owner=OWNER
127 [Deprecated] Organization who has purchased subscriptions of the
128 products
129 --rhevm-env=ENV
131 [Deprecated] Environment where the RHEV-M belongs to
132 --rhevm-server=SERVER
134 [Deprecated] URL of the RHEV-M server to connect to
135 --rhevm-username=USERNAME
137 [Deprecated] Username for connecting to RHEV-M
138 --rhevm-password=PASSWORD
140 [Deprecated] Password for connecting to RHEV-M
141 Hyper-V options
143 Use these options with --hyperv These should be defined in the
144 configuration file or in environment variables
145 --hyperv-owner=OWNER
147 [Deprecated] Organization who has purchased subscriptions of the
148 products
149 --hyperv-env=ENV
151 [Deprecated] Environment where the Hyper-V belongs to
152 --hyperv-server=SERVER
154 [Deprecated] URL of the Hyper-V server to connect to
155 --hyperv-username=USERNAME
157 [Deprecated] Username for connecting to Hyper-V
158 --hyperv-password=PASSWORD
160 [Deprecated] Password for connecting to Hyper-V
161 XenServer options
163 Use these options with --xen These should be defined in the con‐
164 figuration file or in environment variables
165 --xen-owner=OWNER
167 [Deprecated] Organization who has purchased subscriptions of the
168 products
169 --xen-env=ENV
171 [Deprecated] Environment where the XenServer belongs to
172 --xen-server=SERVER
174 [Deprecated] URL of the XenServer server to connect to
175 --xen-username=USERNAME
177 [Deprecated] Username for connecting to XenServer
178 --xen-password=PASSWORD
180 [Deprecated] Password for connecting to XenServer
181 Satellite 5 options:
183 Use these options with --satellite5 These should be defined in
184 the configuration file or in environment variables
185 --satellite-server=SAT_SERVER
187 [Deprecated] Satellite server URL
188 --satellite-username=SAT_USERNAME
190 [Deprecated] Username for connecting to Satellite server
191 --satellite-password=SAT_PASSWORD
193 [Deprecated] Password for connecting to Satellite server
194
196 virt-who also reads environmental variables. They have the same name as
197 command line arguments but upper-cased, with underscore instead of dash
198 and prefixed with VIRTWHO_ (e.g. VIRTWHO_ONE_SHOT). Empty variables are
199 considered as disabled, non-empty as enabled
200
202 MODE
203 virt-who has three modes how it can run:
204 1. one-shot mode
206 # virt-who -o
207 In this mode virt-who just sends the host to guest association
209 to the server once and then exits.
210 2. interval mode
212 # virt-who
213 This is default mode. virt-who will listen to change events (if
215 available) or do a polling with given interval, and will send
216 the host to guest association when it changes. The default
217 polling interval is 60 seconds and can be changed using "-i
218 INTERVAL" (in seconds).
219 3. print mode
221 # virt-who -p
222 This mode is similar to oneshot mode but the host to guest asso‐
224 ciation is not send to server, but printed to standard output
225 instead.
226 VIRTUALIZATION BACKEND
229 virt-who can use couple of virtualization backends.
230 1. libvirt
232 # virt-who
233 # virt-who --libvirt
235 Use libvirt as virtualization backend. This is default.
237 NOTE: virt-who can monitor for events only in this mode.
239 2. vdsm
241 # virt-who --vdsm
242 Use vdsm as virtualization backend.
244 3. ESX
246 # virt-who --esx --esx-owner=ESX_OWNER --esx-env=ESX_ENV --esx-
248 server=ESX_SERVER --esx-username=ESX_USERNAME --esx-pass‐
249 word=ESX_PASSWORD
250 Use ESX (vCenter) as virtualization backend and specify option
252 required to connect to ESX server.
253 4. RHEV-M
256 # virt-who --rhevm --rhevm-owner=RHEVM_OWNER --rhevm-
258 env=RHEVM_ENV --rhevm-server=RHEVM_SERVER --rhevm-user‐
259 name=RHEVM_USERNAME --rhevm-password=RHEVM_PASSWORD
260 Use RHEV-M as virtualization backend and specify option required
262 to connect to RHEV-M server.
263 5. Hyper-V
266 # virt-who --hyperv --hyperv-owner=HYPERV_OWNER --hyperv-
268 env=HYPERV_ENV --hyperv-server=HYPERV_SERVER --hyperv-user‐
269 name=HYPERV_USERNAME --hyperv-password=HYPERV_PASSWORD
270 Use Hyper-V as virtualization backend and specify option
272 required to connect to Hyper-V server.
273 6. XenServer
276 # virt-who --xen --xen-owner=XEN_OWNER --xen-env=XEN_ENV --xen-
278 server=XEN_SERVER --xen-username=XEN_USERNAME --xen-pass‐
279 word=XEN_PASSWORD
280 Use Citrix XenServer as virtualization backend and specify
282 option required to connect to XenServer server.
283 7. Fake
286 Fake virtualization backend fetches the host/guests association
288 from file. This can be useful in environments where the hypervi‐
289 sor is not accessible by virt-who. It's only available through
290 configuration file, see virt-who-config(5) for details about
291 configuration of this backend.
292 8. Kubevirt
295 # virt-who --kubevirt --kubevirt-owner=KUBEVIRT_OWNER --kube‐
297 virt-env=KUBEVIRT_ENV
298 Use Kubevirt as virtualization backend.
300 SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER
304 virt-who can report host/guest associations to Subscription Asset Man‐
305 ager (SAM), to Satellite 5, or to Satellite 6.
306 1. Subscription Asset Manager or Satellite 6
308 # virt-who
309 # virt-who --sam
311 System must be registered using subscription-manager prior to
313 using virt-who. Configuration for connecting to SAM, or Satel‐
314 lite6, or Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM) is shared
315 between subscription-manager and virt-who. This option specifies
316 the default behaviour, and thus it is not used.
317 2. Satellite 6
320 # virt-who --satellite6
322 System must be registered using subscription-manager prior to
324 using virt-who. Configuration for connecting to SAM, or Satel‐
325 lite6, or Red Hat Subscription Management (RHSM) is shared
326 between subscription-manager and virt-who. This option specifies
327 the default behaviour, and thus it is not used.
328 2. Satellite 5
331 # virt-who --satellite5 --satellite-server=SAT_SERVER --satel‐
333 lite-username=SAT_USERNAME --satellite-password=SAT_PASSWORD
334 This option can't be used for monitoring local guests, use rhn-
336 virtualization-host instead.
337
340 virt-who always writes error output to file /var/log/rhsm/rhsm.log. It
341 also writes the same output to standard error output when started from
342 command line.
343 virt-who can be started with option "-d" in all modes and with all
345 backends. This option will enable verbose output with more information.
346
349 Virt-who may present security concerns in some scenarios because it
350 needs access to every hypervisor in the environment. To minimize secu‐
351 rity risk, virt-who is a network client, not a server. It only does
352 outbound connections to find and register new hypervisors and does not
353 need access to any virtual machines. To further reduce risk, deploy
354 virt-who in a small virtual machine with a minimal installation and
355 lock it down from any unsolicited inbound network connections.
356 Here is a list of ports that need to be open for different hypervisors:
358 VMWare ESX/vCenter: 443/tcp
360 Hyper-V: 5985/tcp
361 RHEV-M: 443/tcp or 8443/tcp (depending on version)
362 XenServer: 443/tcp
363 libvirt: depending on transport type, default (for remote connec‐
364 tions) is qemu over ssh on port 22
365 local libvirt and vdsm use local connections and don't need open
366 ports
367 kubevirt: 8443/tcp
368 virt-who also needs to have access to Subscription Asset Manager,
370 Satellite 5, or Satellite 6. Default port is 443/tcp. All the ports
371 might be changed by system administrators.
372 Using the same network for machine running virt-who as for hypervisor
374 management software instead of production VM networks is suggested.
375
378 Radek Novacek <rnovacek at redhat dot com>
379virt-who April 2016 VIRT-WHO(8)