libvirtd(8)

1LIBVIRTD(8)                 Virtualization Support                 LIBVIRTD(8)
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NAME

6       libvirtd - libvirt management daemon
7

SYNOPSIS

9       libvirtd [OPTION]...
10

DESCRIPTION

12       The libvirtd program is the server side daemon component of the libvirt
13       virtualization management system.
14
15       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
20       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
24       By  default,  the  libvirtd daemon listens for requests on a local Unix
25       domain socket.  Using the -l | --listen command line option,  the  lib‐
26       virtd  daemon  can  be  instructed  to  additionally listen on a TCP/IP
27       socket.  The TCP/IP socket to use is defined in the libvirtd configura‐
28       tion file.
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30       Restarting libvirtd does not impact running guests.  Guests continue to
31       operate and will be picked up automatically if their XML  configuration
32       has  been  defined.   Any  guests  whose XML configuration has not been
33       defined will be lost from the configuration.
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SYSTEM SOCKET ACTIVATION

36       The libvirtd daemon is capable of starting in two modes.
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38       In the traditional mode, it will create  and  listen  on  UNIX  sockets
39       itself.   If  the  --listen  parameter is given, it will also listen on
40       TCP/IP socket(s), according to the listen_tcp and listen_tls options in
41       /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
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43       In socket activation mode, it will rely on systemd to create and listen
44       on the UNIX, and optionally TCP/IP, sockets and pass them as pre-opened
45       file  descriptors. In this mode, it is not permitted to pass the --lis‐
46       ten parameter, and  most  of  the  socket  related  config  options  in
47       /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf  will  no  longer have any effect. To enable
48       TCP or TLS sockets use either
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50          $ systemctl start libvirtd-tls.socket
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52       Or
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54          $ systemctl start libvirtd-tcp.socket
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56       Socket activation mode is generally the default when running on a  host
57       OS that uses systemd. To revert to the traditional mode, all the socket
58       unit files must be masked:
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60          $ systemctl mask libvirtd.socket libvirtd-ro.socket \
61             libvirtd-admin.socket libvirtd-tls.socket libvirtd-tcp.socket
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OPTIONS

64       -h, --help
65
66       Display command line help usage then exit.
67
68       -d, --daemon
69
70       Run as a daemon & write PID file.
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72       -f, --config *FILE*
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74       Use this configuration file, overriding the default value.
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76       -l, --listen
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78       Listen for TCP/IP connections. This should not be set if using  systemd
79       socket  activation.  Instead  activate  the libvirtd-tls.socket or lib‐
80       virtd-tcp.socket unit files.
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82       -p, --pid-file *FILE*
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84       Use this name for the PID file, overriding the default value.
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86       -t, --timeout *SECONDS*
87
88       Exit after timeout period (in seconds), provided there are neither  any
89       client connections nor any running domains.
90
91       -v, --verbose
92
93       Enable output of verbose messages.
94
95       --version
96
97       Display version information then exit.
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SIGNALS

100       On receipt of SIGHUP libvirtd will reload its configuration.
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FILES

103   When run as root
104       · /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
105
106       The  default  configuration file used by libvirtd, unless overridden on
107       the command line using the -f | --config option.
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109       · /run/libvirt/libvirt-sock
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111       · /run/libvirt/libvirt-sock-ro
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113       The sockets libvirtd will use.
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115       · /etc/pki/CA/cacert.pem
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117       The TLS Certificate Authority certificate libvirtd will use.
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119       · /etc/pki/libvirt/servercert.pem
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121       The TLS Server certificate libvirtd will use.
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123       · /etc/pki/libvirt/private/serverkey.pem
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125       The TLS Server private key libvirtd will use.
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127       · /run/libvirtd.pid
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129       The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p | --pid-file option.
130
131   When run as non-root
132       · $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
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134       The default configuration file used by libvirtd, unless  overridden  on
135       the command line using the -f``|--config`` option.
136
137       · $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirt-sock
138
139       The socket libvirtd will use.
140
141       · $HOME/.pki/libvirt/cacert.pem
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143       The TLS Certificate Authority certificate libvirtd will use.
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145       · $HOME/.pki/libvirt/servercert.pem
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147       The TLS Server certificate libvirtd will use.
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149       · $HOME/.pki/libvirt/serverkey.pem
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151       The TLS Server private key libvirtd will use.
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153       · $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirtd.pid
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155       The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p``|--pid-file`` option.
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157       If  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME  is not set in your environment, libvirtd will use
158       $HOME/.config
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160       If $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set in your environment, libvirtd  will  use
161       $HOME/.cache
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EXAMPLES

164       To retrieve the version of libvirtd:
165
166          # libvirtd --version
167          libvirtd (libvirt) 0.8.2
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169       To start libvirtd, instructing it to daemonize and create a PID file:
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171          # libvirtd -d
172          # ls -la /run/libvirtd.pid
173          -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6 Jul  9 02:40 /run/libvirtd.pid
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BUGS

176       Please report all bugs you discover.  This should be done via either:
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178       1. the mailing list
179
180          https://libvirt.org/contact.html
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182       2. the bug tracker
183
184          https://libvirt.org/bugs.html
185
186       Alternatively,  you may report bugs to your software distributor / ven‐
187       dor.
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AUTHORS

190       Please refer to the AUTHORS file distributed with libvirt.
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COPYRIGHT

193       Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Red Hat, Inc., and the authors  listed  in  the
194       libvirt AUTHORS file.
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LICENSE

197       libvirtd is distributed under the terms of the GNU LGPL v2.1+.  This is
198       free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO  war‐
199       ranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
200