1LIBVIRTD(8) Virtualization Support LIBVIRTD(8)
2
6 libvirtd - libvirtd management daemon
7
9 libvirtd [OPTION]...
10
12 The libvirtd program is the server side daemon component of the libvirt
13 virtualization management system.
14 This daemon runs on host servers and performs required management tasks
16 for virtualized guests. This includes activities such as starting,
17 stopping and migrating guests between host servers, configuring and
18 manipulating networking, and managing storage for use by guests.
19 The libvirt client libraries and utilities connect to this daemon to
21 issue tasks and collect information about the configuration and
22 resources of the host system and guests.
23 By default, the libvirtd daemon listens for requests on a local Unix
25 domain socket. Using the -l|--listen command line option, the libvirtd
26 daemon can be instructed to additionally listen on a TCP/IP socket.
27 The TCP/IP socket to use is defined in the libvirtd configuration file.
28 Restarting libvirtd does not impact running guests. Guests continue to
30 operate and will be picked up automatically if their XML configuration
31 has been defined. Any guests whose XML configuration has not been
32 defined will be lost from the configuration.
33
35 The libvirtd daemon is capable of starting in two modes.
36 In the traditional mode, it will create and listen on UNIX sockets
38 itself. If the --listen parameter is given, it will also listen on
39 TCP/IP socket(s), according to the listen_tcp and listen_tls options in
40 /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
41 In socket activation mode, it will rely on systemd to create and listen
43 on the UNIX, and optionally TCP/IP, sockets and pass them as pre-opened
44 file descriptors. In this mode, it is not permitted to pass the
45 --listen parameter, and most of the socket related config options in
46 /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf will no longer have any effect. To enable
47 TCP or TLS sockets use either
48 $ systemctl start libvirtd-tls.socket
50 Or
52 $ systemctl start libvirtd-tcp.socket
54 Socket activation mode is generally the default when running on a host
56 OS that uses systemd. To revert to the traditional mode, all the socket
57 unit files must be masked:
58 $ systemctl mask libvirtd.socket libvirtd-ro.socket \
60 libvirtd-admin.socket libvirtd-tls.socket libvirtd-tcp.socket
61
63 -h, --help
64 Display command line help usage then exit.
65 -d, --daemon
67 Run as a daemon & write PID file.
68 -f, --config FILE
70 Use this configuration file, overriding the default value.
71 -l, --listen
73 Listen for TCP/IP connections. This should not be set if using
74 systemd socket activation. Instead activate the libvirtd-tls.socket
75 or libvirtd-tcp.socket unit files.
76 -p, --pid-file FILE
78 Use this name for the PID file, overriding the default value.
79 -t, --timeout SECONDS
81 Exit after timeout period (in seconds), provided there are neither
82 any client connections nor any running domains.
83 -v, --verbose
85 Enable output of verbose messages.
86 --version
88 Display version information then exit.
89
91 On receipt of SIGHUP libvirtd will reload its configuration.
92
94 When run as root.
95 /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
96 The default configuration file used by libvirtd, unless overridden
97 on the command line using the -f|--config option.
98 /var/run/libvirt/libvirt-sock
100 /var/run/libvirt/libvirt-sock-ro
101 The sockets libvirtd will use.
102 /etc/pki/CA/cacert.pem
104 The TLS Certificate Authority certificate libvirtd will use.
105 /etc/pki/libvirt/servercert.pem
107 The TLS Server certificate libvirtd will use.
108 /etc/pki/libvirt/private/serverkey.pem
110 The TLS Server private key libvirtd will use.
111 /var/run/libvirtd.pid
113 The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p|--pid-file option.
114 When run as non-root.
116 $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
117 The default configuration file used by libvirtd, unless overridden
118 on the command line using the -f|--config option.
119 $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirt-sock
121 The socket libvirtd will use.
122 $HOME/.pki/libvirt/cacert.pem
124 The TLS Certificate Authority certificate libvirtd will use.
125 $HOME/.pki/libvirt/servercert.pem
127 The TLS Server certificate libvirtd will use.
128 $HOME/.pki/libvirt/serverkey.pem
130 The TLS Server private key libvirtd will use.
131 $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirtd.pid
133 The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p|--pid-file option.
134 If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set in your environment, libvirtd will use
136 $HOME/.config
137 If $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set in your environment, libvirtd will use
138 $HOME/.cache
139
141 To retrieve the version of libvirtd:
142 # libvirtd --version
144 libvirtd (libvirt) 0.8.2
145 #
146 To start libvirtd, instructing it to daemonize and create a PID file:
148 # libvirtd -d
150 # ls -la /var/run/libvirtd.pid
151 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6 Jul 9 02:40 /var/run/libvirtd.pid
152 #
153
155 Please report all bugs you discover. This should be done via either:
156 a) the mailing list
158 <https://libvirt.org/contact.html>
159 or,
161 b) the bug tracker
163 <https://libvirt.org/bugs.html>
164 Alternatively, you may report bugs to your software distributor /
166 vendor.
167
169 Please refer to the AUTHORS file distributed with libvirt.
170
172 Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Red Hat, Inc., and the authors listed in the
173 libvirt AUTHORS file.
174
176 libvirtd is distributed under the terms of the GNU LGPL v2.1+. This is
177 free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
178 warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
179 PURPOSE
180
182 virsh(1), virt-install(1), virt-xml-validate(1), virt-top(1),
183 virt-df(1), <https://www.libvirt.org/>
184libvirt-5.6.0 2019-11-11 LIBVIRTD(8)