1libguestfs-make-fixed-applianVcier(t1u)alization Sulpipbogrutestfs-make-fixed-appliance(1)
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6 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance - Make a "fixed appliance" for
7 libguestfs
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10 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance [--options] OUTPUTDIR
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12 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance [--options] --xz
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15 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance lets you make a pre-built binary
16 appliance for libguestfs.
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18 Note that ordinary users should not need to run this tool.
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20 Some reasons why you might want to use this include:
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22 • You want to make a self-contained libguestfs appliance that can be
23 copied to another machine or platform that doesn't support
24 supermin(1).
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26 • You have multiple users on the same machine and want to avoid the
27 storage duplication and start-up overhead of having multiple cached
28 copies of the appliance.
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30 • You want to have very predictable performance from libguestfs (see
31 guestfs-performance(1)).
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33 For deeper understanding of why you might need this tool, read "FIXED
34 APPLIANCE" in guestfs-internals(1).
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36 Instead of running this tool, you can download fixed appliances from
37 http://libguestfs.org/download/binaries/appliance/. These appliances
38 were made using this tool.
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40 There are two ways to use this tool.
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42 • Specify an output directory, for example:
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44 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance /usr/local/lib/guestfs/appliance
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46 The output directory is created if it does not exist. Four files
47 are created in this directory:
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49 <OUTPUTDIR>/kernel
50 <OUTPUTDIR>/initrd
51 <OUTPUTDIR>/root
52 <OUTPUTDIR>/README.fixed
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54 Note that "OUTPUTDIR/root" is a sparse file, so take care when
55 copying it.
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57 You can then run libguestfs (possibly after copying this directory
58 to another machine) by setting the environment variable
59 LIBGUESTFS_PATH to "OUTPUTDIR".
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61 • The alternative method is to use the --xz option to create a
62 compressed tarball:
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64 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance --xz
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66 This creates a tarball in the current directory called:
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68 appliance-<VERSION>.tar.xz
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70 (where "VERSION" is the version of libguestfs). The tarball
71 contains the four files:
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73 appliance/kernel
74 appliance/initrd
75 appliance/root
76 appliance/README.fixed
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78 Note that "appliance/root" is a sparse file, so take care when
79 copying it.
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82 --help
83 Display short usage information and exit.
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85 -V
86 --version
87 Display the version number and exit.
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89 --xz
90 Instead of creating the appliance in an output directory, create a
91 compressed tarball of the appliance in the current directory called
92 appliance-VERSION.tar.xz where "VERSION" is the version of
93 libguestfs.
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95 Using --xz can take some time. If working normally, the tool is
96 completely silent when it is running.
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99 The fixed appliance is a complete Linux binary distro. If you
100 distribute it, you may need to distribute corresponding source files to
101 remain in legal compliance with the licenses of the software in the
102 appliance (such as the GNU General Public License).
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105 libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance returns 0 if the appliance was built
106 without errors.
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109 For the full list of environment variables which may affect libguestfs,
110 please see the guestfs(3) manual page.
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113 guestfs(3), supermin(1), xz(1), http://libguestfs.org/,
114 http://qemu.org/.
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117 Richard W.M. Jones ("rjones at redhat dot com")
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120 Copyright (C) 2009-2020 Red Hat Inc.
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123 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
124 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
125 Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
126 option) any later version.
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128 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
129 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
130 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
131 General Public License for more details.
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133 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
134 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
135 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
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138 To get a list of bugs against libguestfs, use this link:
139 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
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141 To report a new bug against libguestfs, use this link:
142 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
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144 When reporting a bug, please supply:
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146 • The version of libguestfs.
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148 • Where you got libguestfs (eg. which Linux distro, compiled from
149 source, etc)
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151 • Describe the bug accurately and give a way to reproduce it.
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153 • Run libguestfs-test-tool(1) and paste the complete, unedited output
154 into the bug report.
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158libguestfs-1.45.4 2021-04-03libguestfs-make-fixed-appliance(1)