1virt-sysprep(1) Virtualization Support virt-sysprep(1)
2
6 virt-sysprep - Reset, unconfigure or customize a virtual machine so
7 clones can be made
8
10 virt-sysprep [--options] -d domname
11 virt-sysprep [--options] -a disk.img [-a disk.img ...]
13
15 Using "virt-sysprep" on live virtual machines, or concurrently with
16 other disk editing tools, can be dangerous, potentially causing disk
17 corruption. The virtual machine must be shut down before you use this
18 command, and disk images must not be edited concurrently.
19
21 Virt-sysprep can reset or unconfigure a virtual machine so that clones
22 can be made from it. Steps in this process include removing SSH host
23 keys, removing persistent network MAC configuration, and removing user
24 accounts. Virt-sysprep can also customize a virtual machine, for
25 instance by adding SSH keys, users or logos. Each step can be enabled
26 or disabled as required.
27 Virt-sysprep modifies the guest or disk image in place. The guest must
29 be shut down. If you want to preserve the existing contents of the
30 guest, you must snapshot, copy or clone the disk first. See "COPYING
31 AND CLONING" below.
32 You do not need to run virt-sysprep as root. In fact we'd generally
34 recommend that you don't. The time you might want to run it as root is
35 when you need root in order to access the disk image, but even in this
36 case it would be better to change the permissions on the disk image to
37 be writable as the non-root user running virt-sysprep.
38 "Sysprep" stands for "system preparation" tool. The name comes from
40 the Microsoft program sysprep.exe which is used to unconfigure Windows
41 machines in preparation for cloning them. Having said that, virt-
42 sysprep does not currently work on Microsoft Windows guests. We plan
43 to support Windows sysprepping in a future version, and we already have
44 code to do it.
45
47 --help
48 Display brief help.
49 -a file
51 --add file
52 Add file which should be a disk image from a virtual machine.
53 The format of the disk image is auto-detected. To override this
55 and force a particular format use the --format option.
56 -a URI
58 --add URI
59 Add a remote disk. The URI format is compatible with guestfish.
60 See "ADDING REMOTE STORAGE" in guestfish(1).
61 --colors
63 --colours
64 Use ANSI colour sequences to colourize messages. This is the
65 default when the output is a tty. If the output of the program is
66 redirected to a file, ANSI colour sequences are disabled unless you
67 use this option.
68 -c URI
70 --connect URI
71 If using libvirt, connect to the given URI. If omitted, then we
72 connect to the default libvirt hypervisor.
73 If you specify guest block devices directly (-a), then libvirt is
75 not used at all.
76 -d guest
78 --domain guest
79 Add all the disks from the named libvirt guest. Domain UUIDs can
80 be used instead of names.
81 -n
83 --dry-run
84 Perform a read-only "dry run" on the guest. This runs the sysprep
85 operation, but throws away any changes to the disk at the end.
86 --enable operations
88 Choose which sysprep operations to perform. Give a comma-separated
89 list of operations, for example:
90 --enable ssh-hostkeys,udev-persistent-net
92 would enable ONLY "ssh-hostkeys" and "udev-persistent-net"
94 operations.
95 If the --enable option is not given, then we default to trying most
97 sysprep operations (see --list-operations to show which are
98 enabled).
99 Regardless of the --enable option, sysprep operations are skipped
101 for some guest types.
102 Use --list-operations to list operations supported by a particular
104 version of virt-sysprep.
105 See "OPERATIONS" below for a list and an explanation of each
107 operation.
108 --operation operations
110 --operations operations
111 Choose which sysprep operations to perform. Give a comma-separated
112 list of operations, for example:
113 --operations ssh-hostkeys,udev-persistent-net
115 would enable ONLY "ssh-hostkeys" and "udev-persistent-net"
117 operations.
118 --operations allows you to enable and disable any operation,
120 including the default ones (which would be tried when specifying
121 neither --operations nor --enable) and all the available ones;
122 prepending a "-" in front of an operation name removes it from the
123 list of enabled operations, while the meta-names "defaults" and
124 "all" represent respectively the operations enabled by default and
125 all the available ones. For example:
126 --operations firewall-rules,defaults,-tmp-files
128 would enable the "firewall-rules" operation (regardless whether it
130 is enabled by default), all the default ones, and disable the
131 "tmp-files" operation.
132 --operations can be specified multiple times; the first time the
134 set of enabled operations is empty, while any further --operations
135 affects the operations enabled so far.
136 If the --operations option is not given, then we default to trying
138 most sysprep operations (see --list-operations to show which are
139 enabled).
140 Regardless of the --operations option, sysprep operations are
142 skipped for some guest types.
143 Use --list-operations to list operations supported by a particular
145 version of virt-sysprep.
146 See "OPERATIONS" below for a list and an explanation of each
148 operation.
149 --echo-keys
151 When prompting for keys and passphrases, virt-sysprep normally
152 turns echoing off so you cannot see what you are typing. If you
153 are not worried about Tempest attacks and there is no one else in
154 the room you can specify this flag to see what you are typing.
155 --format raw|qcow2|..
157 --format auto
158 The default for the -a option is to auto-detect the format of the
159 disk image. Using this forces the disk format for -a options which
160 follow on the command line. Using --format auto switches back to
161 auto-detection for subsequent -a options.
162 For example:
164 virt-sysprep --format raw -a disk.img
166 forces raw format (no auto-detection) for disk.img.
168 virt-sysprep --format raw -a disk.img --format auto -a another.img
170 forces raw format (no auto-detection) for disk.img and reverts to
172 auto-detection for another.img.
173 If you have untrusted raw-format guest disk images, you should use
175 this option to specify the disk format. This avoids a possible
176 security problem with malicious guests (CVE-2010-3851).
177 --key SELECTOR
179 Specify a key for LUKS, to automatically open a LUKS device when
180 using the inspection. "ID" can be either the libguestfs device
181 name, or the UUID of the LUKS device.
182 --key "ID":key:KEY_STRING
184 Use the specified "KEY_STRING" as passphrase.
185 --key "ID":file:FILENAME
187 Read the passphrase from FILENAME.
188 --keys-from-stdin
190 Read key or passphrase parameters from stdin. The default is to
191 try to read passphrases from the user by opening /dev/tty.
192 If there are multiple encrypted devices then you may need to supply
194 multiple keys on stdin, one per line.
195 --list-operations
197 List the operations supported by the virt-sysprep program.
198 These are listed one per line, with one or more single-space-
200 separated fields, eg:
201 $ virt-sysprep --list-operations
203 bash-history * Remove the bash history in the guest
204 cron-spool * Remove user at-jobs and cron-jobs
205 dhcp-client-state * Remove DHCP client leases
206 dhcp-server-state * Remove DHCP server leases
207 [etc]
208 The first field is the operation name, which can be supplied to
210 --enable. The second field is a "*" character if the operation is
211 enabled by default or blank if not. Subsequent fields on the same
212 line are the description of the operation.
213 Before libguestfs 1.17.33 only the first (operation name) field was
215 shown and all operations were enabled by default.
216 --mount-options mp:opts[;mp:opts;...]
218 Set the mount options used when libguestfs opens the disk image.
219 Note this has no effect on the guest. It is used when opening
220 certain guests such as ones using the UFS (BSD) filesystem.
221 Use a semicolon-separated list of "mountpoint:options" pairs. You
223 may need to quote this list to protect it from the shell.
224 For example:
226 --mount-options "/:noatime"
228 will mount the root directory with "notime". This example:
230 --mount-options "/:noatime;/var:rw,nodiratime"
232 will do the same, plus mount /var with "rw,nodiratime".
234 -q
236 --quiet
237 Don’t print log messages.
238 To enable detailed logging of individual file operations, use -x.
240 --network
242 --no-network
243 Enable or disable network access from the guest during the
244 installation.
245 In virt-sysprep, the network is disabled by default. You must use
247 --network to enable it, in order that options such as --install or
248 --update will work.
249 virt-builder(1) has more information about the security advantages
251 of disabling the network.
252 -v
254 --verbose
255 Enable verbose messages for debugging.
256 -V
258 --version
259 Display version number and exit.
260 --wrap
262 Wrap error, warning, and informative messages. This is the default
263 when the output is a tty. If the output of the program is
264 redirected to a file, wrapping is disabled unless you use this
265 option.
266 -x Enable tracing of libguestfs API calls.
268 --append-line FILE:LINE (see "customize" below)
270 Append a single line of text to the "FILE". If the file does not
271 already end with a newline, then one is added before the appended
272 line. Also a newline is added to the end of the "LINE" string
273 automatically.
274 For example (assuming ordinary shell quoting) this command:
276 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.1 foo'
278 will add either "10.0.0.1 foo⏎" or "⏎10.0.0.1 foo⏎" to the file,
280 the latter only if the existing file does not already end with a
281 newline.
282 "⏎" represents a newline character, which is guessed by looking at
284 the existing content of the file, so this command does the right
285 thing for files using Unix or Windows line endings. It also works
286 for empty or non-existent files.
287 To insert several lines, use the same option several times:
289 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.1 foo'
291 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.2 bar'
292 To insert a blank line before the appended line, do:
294 --append-line '/etc/hosts:'
296 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.1 foo'
297 --chmod PERMISSIONS:FILE (see "customize" below)
299 Change the permissions of "FILE" to "PERMISSIONS".
300 Note: "PERMISSIONS" by default would be decimal, unless you prefix
302 it with 0 to get octal, ie. use 0700 not 700.
303 --commands-from-file FILENAME (see "customize" below)
305 Read the customize commands from a file, one (and its arguments)
306 each line.
307 Each line contains a single customization command and its
309 arguments, for example:
310 delete /some/file
312 install some-package
313 password some-user:password:its-new-password
314 Empty lines are ignored, and lines starting with "#" are comments
316 and are ignored as well. Furthermore, arguments can be spread
317 across multiple lines, by adding a "\" (continuation character) at
318 the of a line, for example
319 edit /some/file:\
321 s/^OPT=.*/OPT=ok/
322 The commands are handled in the same order as they are in the file,
324 as if they were specified as --delete /some/file on the command
325 line.
326 --copy SOURCE:DEST (see "customize" below)
328 Copy files or directories recursively inside the guest.
329 Wildcards cannot be used.
331 --copy-in LOCALPATH:REMOTEDIR (see "customize" below)
333 Copy local files or directories recursively into the disk image,
334 placing them in the directory "REMOTEDIR" (which must exist).
335 Wildcards cannot be used.
337 --delete PATH (see "customize" below)
339 Delete a file from the guest. Or delete a directory (and all its
340 contents, recursively).
341 You can use shell glob characters in the specified path. Be
343 careful to escape glob characters from the host shell, if that is
344 required. For example:
345 virt-customize --delete '/var/log/*.log'.
347 See also: --upload, --scrub.
349 --edit FILE:EXPR (see "customize" below)
351 Edit "FILE" using the Perl expression "EXPR".
352 Be careful to properly quote the expression to prevent it from
354 being altered by the shell.
355 Note that this option is only available when Perl 5 is installed.
357 See "NON-INTERACTIVE EDITING" in virt-edit(1).
359 --firstboot SCRIPT (see "customize" below)
361 Install "SCRIPT" inside the guest, so that when the guest first
362 boots up, the script runs (as root, late in the boot process).
363 The script is automatically chmod +x after installation in the
365 guest.
366 The alternative version --firstboot-command is the same, but it
368 conveniently wraps the command up in a single line script for you.
369 You can have multiple --firstboot options. They run in the same
371 order that they appear on the command line.
372 Please take a look at "FIRST BOOT SCRIPTS" in virt-builder(1) for
374 more information and caveats about the first boot scripts.
375 See also --run.
377 --firstboot-command 'CMD+ARGS' (see "customize" below)
379 Run command (and arguments) inside the guest when the guest first
380 boots up (as root, late in the boot process).
381 You can have multiple --firstboot options. They run in the same
383 order that they appear on the command line.
384 Please take a look at "FIRST BOOT SCRIPTS" in virt-builder(1) for
386 more information and caveats about the first boot scripts.
387 See also --run.
389 --firstboot-install PKG,PKG.. (see "customize" below)
391 Install the named packages (a comma-separated list). These are
392 installed when the guest first boots using the guest’s package
393 manager (eg. apt, yum, etc.) and the guest’s network connection.
394 For an overview on the different ways to install packages, see
396 "INSTALLING PACKAGES" in virt-builder(1).
397 --hostname HOSTNAME (see "customize" below)
399 Set the hostname of the guest to "HOSTNAME". You can use a dotted
400 hostname.domainname (FQDN) if you want.
401 --install PKG,PKG.. (see "customize" below)
403 Install the named packages (a comma-separated list). These are
404 installed during the image build using the guest’s package manager
405 (eg. apt, yum, etc.) and the host’s network connection.
406 For an overview on the different ways to install packages, see
408 "INSTALLING PACKAGES" in virt-builder(1).
409 See also --update, --uninstall.
411 --keep-user-accounts USERS (see "user-account" below)
413 The user accounts to be kept in the guest. The value of this
414 option is a list of user names separated by comma, where specifying
415 an user means it is going to be kept. For example:
416 --keep-user-accounts mary
418 would keep the user account "mary".
420 This option can be specified multiple times.
422 --link TARGET:LINK[:LINK..] (see "customize" below)
424 Create symbolic link(s) in the guest, starting at "LINK" and
425 pointing at "TARGET".
426 --mkdir DIR (see "customize" below)
428 Create a directory in the guest.
429 This uses "mkdir -p" so any intermediate directories are created,
431 and it also works if the directory already exists.
432 --move SOURCE:DEST (see "customize" below)
434 Move files or directories inside the guest.
435 Wildcards cannot be used.
437 --no-logfile (see "customize" below)
439 Scrub "builder.log" (log file from build commands) from the image
440 after building is complete. If you don't want to reveal precisely
441 how the image was built, use this option.
442 See also: "LOG FILE".
444 --password USER:SELECTOR (see "customize" below)
446 Set the password for "USER". (Note this option does not create the
447 user account).
448 See "USERS AND PASSWORDS" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the
450 "SELECTOR" field, and also how to set up user accounts.
451 --password-crypto md5|sha256|sha512 (see "customize" below)
453 When the virt tools change or set a password in the guest, this
454 option sets the password encryption of that password to "md5",
455 "sha256" or "sha512".
456 "sha256" and "sha512" require glibc ≥ 2.7 (check crypt(3) inside
458 the guest).
459 "md5" will work with relatively old Linux guests (eg. RHEL 3), but
461 is not secure against modern attacks.
462 The default is "sha512" unless libguestfs detects an old guest that
464 didn't have support for SHA-512, in which case it will use "md5".
465 You can override libguestfs by specifying this option.
466 Note this does not change the default password encryption used by
468 the guest when you create new user accounts inside the guest. If
469 you want to do that, then you should use the --edit option to
470 modify "/etc/sysconfig/authconfig" (Fedora, RHEL) or
471 "/etc/pam.d/common-password" (Debian, Ubuntu).
472 --remove-user-accounts USERS (see "user-account" below)
474 The user accounts to be removed from the guest. The value of this
475 option is a list of user names separated by comma, where specifying
476 an user means it is going to be removed. For example:
477 --remove-user-accounts bob,eve
479 would only remove the user accounts "bob" and "eve".
481 This option can be specified multiple times.
483 --root-password SELECTOR (see "customize" below)
485 Set the root password.
486 See "USERS AND PASSWORDS" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the
488 "SELECTOR" field, and also how to set up user accounts.
489 Note: In virt-builder, if you don't set --root-password then the
491 guest is given a random root password.
492 --run SCRIPT (see "customize" below)
494 Run the shell script (or any program) called "SCRIPT" on the disk
495 image. The script runs virtualized inside a small appliance,
496 chrooted into the guest filesystem.
497 The script is automatically chmod +x.
499 If libguestfs supports it then a limited network connection is
501 available but it only allows outgoing network connections. You can
502 also attach data disks (eg. ISO files) as another way to provide
503 data (eg. software packages) to the script without needing a
504 network connection (--attach). You can also upload data files
505 (--upload).
506 You can have multiple --run options. They run in the same order
508 that they appear on the command line.
509 See also: --firstboot, --attach, --upload.
511 --run-command 'CMD+ARGS' (see "customize" below)
513 Run the command and arguments on the disk image. The command runs
514 virtualized inside a small appliance, chrooted into the guest
515 filesystem.
516 If libguestfs supports it then a limited network connection is
518 available but it only allows outgoing network connections. You can
519 also attach data disks (eg. ISO files) as another way to provide
520 data (eg. software packages) to the script without needing a
521 network connection (--attach). You can also upload data files
522 (--upload).
523 You can have multiple --run-command options. They run in the same
525 order that they appear on the command line.
526 See also: --firstboot, --attach, --upload.
528 --script SCRIPT (see "script" below)
530 Run the named "SCRIPT" (a shell script or program) against the
531 guest. The script can be any program on the host. The script’s
532 current directory will be the guest’s root directory.
533 Note: If the script is not on the $PATH, then you must give the
535 full absolute path to the script.
536 --scriptdir SCRIPTDIR (see "script" below)
538 The mount point (an empty directory on the host) used when the
539 "script" operation is enabled and one or more scripts are specified
540 using --script parameter(s).
541 Note: "SCRIPTDIR" must be an absolute path.
543 If --scriptdir is not specified then a temporary mountpoint will be
545 created.
546 --scrub FILE (see "customize" below)
548 Scrub a file from the guest. This is like --delete except that:
549 • It scrubs the data so a guest could not recover it.
551 • It cannot delete directories, only regular files.
553 --selinux-relabel (see "customize" below)
555 Relabel files in the guest so that they have the correct SELinux
556 label.
557 This will attempt to relabel files immediately, but if the
559 operation fails this will instead touch /.autorelabel on the image
560 to schedule a relabel operation for the next time the image boots.
561 You should only use this option for guests which support SELinux.
563 --sm-attach SELECTOR (see "customize" below)
565 Attach to a pool using "subscription-manager".
566 See "SUBSCRIPTION-MANAGER" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the
568 "SELECTOR" field.
569 --sm-credentials SELECTOR (see "customize" below)
571 Set the credentials for "subscription-manager".
572 See "SUBSCRIPTION-MANAGER" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the
574 "SELECTOR" field.
575 --sm-register (see "customize" below)
577 Register the guest using "subscription-manager".
578 This requires credentials being set using --sm-credentials.
580 --sm-remove (see "customize" below)
582 Remove all the subscriptions from the guest using
583 "subscription-manager".
584 --sm-unregister (see "customize" below)
586 Unregister the guest using "subscription-manager".
587 --ssh-inject USER[:SELECTOR] (see "customize" below)
589 Inject an ssh key so the given "USER" will be able to log in over
590 ssh without supplying a password. The "USER" must exist already in
591 the guest.
592 See "SSH KEYS" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the "SELECTOR"
594 field.
595 You can have multiple --ssh-inject options, for different users and
597 also for more keys for each user.
598 --timezone TIMEZONE (see "customize" below)
600 Set the default timezone of the guest to "TIMEZONE". Use a
601 location string like "Europe/London"
602 --touch FILE (see "customize" below)
604 This command performs a touch(1)-like operation on "FILE".
605 --truncate FILE (see "customize" below)
607 This command truncates "FILE" to a zero-length file. The file must
608 exist already.
609 --truncate-recursive PATH (see "customize" below)
611 This command recursively truncates all files under "PATH" to zero-
612 length.
613 --uninstall PKG,PKG.. (see "customize" below)
615 Uninstall the named packages (a comma-separated list). These are
616 removed during the image build using the guest’s package manager
617 (eg. apt, yum, etc.). Dependent packages may also need to be
618 uninstalled to satisfy the request.
619 See also --install, --update.
621 --update (see "customize" below)
623 Do the equivalent of "yum update", "apt-get upgrade", or whatever
624 command is required to update the packages already installed in the
625 template to their latest versions.
626 See also --install, --uninstall.
628 --upload FILE:DEST (see "customize" below)
630 Upload local file "FILE" to destination "DEST" in the disk image.
631 File owner and permissions from the original are preserved, so you
632 should set them to what you want them to be in the disk image.
633 "DEST" could be the final filename. This can be used to rename the
635 file on upload.
636 If "DEST" is a directory name (which must already exist in the
638 guest) then the file is uploaded into that directory, and it keeps
639 the same name as on the local filesystem.
640 See also: --mkdir, --delete, --scrub.
642 --write FILE:CONTENT (see "customize" below)
644 Write "CONTENT" to "FILE".
645
647 If the --enable/--operations option is not given, then most sysprep
648 operations are enabled.
649 Use "virt-sysprep --list-operations" to list all operations for your
651 virt-sysprep binary. The ones which are enabled by default are marked
652 with a "*" character. Regardless of the --enable/--operations options,
653 sysprep operations are skipped for some guest types.
654 Operations can be individually enabled using the --enable/--operations
656 options. Use a comma-separated list, for example:
657 virt-sysprep --operations ssh-hostkeys,udev-persistent-net [etc..]
659 Future versions of virt-sysprep may add more operations. If you are
661 using virt-sysprep and want predictable behaviour, specify only the
662 operations that you want to have enabled.
663 "*" = enabled by default when no --enable/--operations option is given.
665 abrt-data *
667 Remove the crash data generated by ABRT.
668 Remove the automatically generated ABRT crash data in
670 "/var/spool/abrt/".
671 backup-files *
673 Remove editor backup files from the guest.
674 The following files are removed from anywhere in the guest filesystem:
676 · *.bak
678 · *~
680 On Linux and Unix operating systems, only the following filesystems
682 will be examined:
683 · /etc
685 · /root
687 · /srv
689 · /tmp
691 · /var
693 bash-history *
695 Remove the bash history in the guest.
696 Remove the bash history of user "root" and any other users who have a
698 ".bash_history" file in their home directory.
699 Notes on bash-history
701 Currently this only looks in "/root" and "/home/*" for home
703 directories, so users with home directories in other locations won't
704 have the bash history removed.
705 blkid-tab *
707 Remove blkid tab in the guest.
708 ca-certificates
710 Remove CA certificates in the guest.
711 In case any certificate is removed, the system CA store is updated.
713 crash-data *
715 Remove the crash data generated by kexec-tools.
716 Remove the automatically generated kdump kernel crash data.
718 cron-spool *
720 Remove user at-jobs and cron-jobs.
721 customize *
723 Customize the guest.
724 Customize the guest by providing virt-customize(1) options for
726 installing packages, editing files and so on.
727 dhcp-client-state *
729 Remove DHCP client leases.
730 dhcp-server-state *
732 Remove DHCP server leases.
733 dovecot-data *
735 Remove Dovecot (mail server) data.
736 firewall-rules
738 Remove the firewall rules.
739 This removes custom firewall rules by removing
741 "/etc/sysconfig/iptables" or custom firewalld configuration in
742 "/etc/firewalld/*/*".
743 Note this is not enabled by default since it may expose guests to
745 exploits. Use with care.
746 flag-reconfiguration
748 Flag the system for reconfiguration.
749 For Linux guests, this touches "/.unconfigured", which causes the first
751 boot to interactively query the user for settings such as the root
752 password and timezone.
753 fs-uuids
755 Change filesystem UUIDs.
756 On guests and filesystem types where this is supported, new random
758 UUIDs are generated and assigned to filesystems.
759 Notes on fs-uuids
761 The fs-uuids operation is disabled by default because it does not yet
763 find and update all the places in the guest that use the UUIDs. For
764 example "/etc/fstab" or the bootloader. Enabling this operation is
765 more likely than not to make your guest unbootable.
766 See: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=991641
768 ipa-client *
770 Remove the IPA files.
771 Remove all the files related to an IPA (Identity, Policy, Audit)
773 system. This effectively unenrolls the guest from an IPA server
774 without interacting with it.
775 This operation does not run "ipa-client".
777 kerberos-data
779 Remove Kerberos data in the guest.
780 kerberos-hostkeytab *
782 Remove the Kerberos host keytab file in the guest.
783 logfiles *
785 Remove many log files from the guest.
786 On Linux the following files are removed:
788 · /etc/Pegasus/*.cnf
790 · /etc/Pegasus/*.crt
792 · /etc/Pegasus/*.csr
794 · /etc/Pegasus/*.pem
796 · /etc/Pegasus/*.srl
798 · /root/anaconda-ks.cfg
800 · /root/anaconda-post.log
802 · /root/initial-setup-ks.cfg
804 · /root/install.log
806 · /root/install.log.syslog
808 · /root/original-ks.cfg
810 · /var/cache/fontconfig/*
812 · /var/cache/gdm/*
814 · /var/cache/man/*
816 · /var/lib/AccountService/users/*
818 · /var/lib/fprint/*
820 · /var/lib/logrotate.status
822 · /var/log/*.log*
824 · /var/log/BackupPC/LOG
826 · /var/log/ConsoleKit/*
828 · /var/log/anaconda.syslog
830 · /var/log/anaconda/*
832 · /var/log/apache2/*_log
834 · /var/log/apache2/*_log-*
836 · /var/log/apt/*
838 · /var/log/aptitude*
840 · /var/log/audit/*
842 · /var/log/btmp*
844 · /var/log/ceph/*.log
846 · /var/log/chrony/*.log
848 · /var/log/cron*
850 · /var/log/cups/*_log*
852 · /var/log/debug*
854 · /var/log/dmesg*
856 · /var/log/exim4/*
858 · /var/log/faillog*
860 · /var/log/firewalld*
862 · /var/log/gdm/*
864 · /var/log/glusterfs/*glusterd.vol.log
866 · /var/log/glusterfs/glusterfs.log
868 · /var/log/grubby*
870 · /var/log/httpd/*log
872 · /var/log/installer/*
874 · /var/log/jetty/jetty-console.log
876 · /var/log/journal/*
878 · /var/log/lastlog*
880 · /var/log/libvirt/libvirtd.log
882 · /var/log/libvirt/libxl/*.log
884 · /var/log/libvirt/lxc/*.log
886 · /var/log/libvirt/qemu/*.log
888 · /var/log/libvirt/uml/*.log
890 · /var/log/lightdm/*
892 · /var/log/mail/*
894 · /var/log/maillog*
896 · /var/log/messages*
898 · /var/log/ntp
900 · /var/log/ntpstats/*
902 · /var/log/ppp/connect-errors
904 · /var/log/rhsm/*
906 · /var/log/sa/*
908 · /var/log/secure*
910 · /var/log/setroubleshoot/*.log
912 · /var/log/spooler*
914 · /var/log/squid/*.log
916 · /var/log/syslog*
918 · /var/log/tallylog*
920 · /var/log/tuned/tuned.log
922 · /var/log/wtmp*
924 · /var/log/xferlog*
926 · /var/named/data/named.run
928 lvm-uuids *
930 Change LVM2 PV and VG UUIDs.
931 On Linux guests that have LVM2 physical volumes (PVs) or volume groups
933 (VGs), new random UUIDs are generated and assigned to those PVs and
934 VGs.
935 machine-id *
937 Remove the local machine ID.
938 The machine ID is usually generated from a random source during system
940 installation and stays constant for all subsequent boots. Optionally,
941 for stateless systems it is generated during runtime at boot if it is
942 found to be empty.
943 mail-spool *
945 Remove email from the local mail spool directory.
946 net-hostname *
948 Remove HOSTNAME and DHCP_HOSTNAME in network interface configuration.
949 For Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, this is removed from "ifcfg-*"
951 files.
952 net-hwaddr *
954 Remove HWADDR (hard-coded MAC address) configuration.
955 For Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, this is removed from "ifcfg-*"
957 files.
958 net-nmconn *
960 Remove system-local NetworkManager connection profiles (keyfiles).
961 On Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, remove the
963 "/etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/*.nmconnection" files.
964 pacct-log *
966 Remove the process accounting log files.
967 The system wide process accounting will store to the pacct log files if
969 the process accounting is on.
970 package-manager-cache *
972 Remove package manager cache.
973 pam-data *
975 Remove the PAM data in the guest.
976 passwd-backups *
978 Remove /etc/passwd- and similar backup files.
979 On Linux the following files are removed:
981 · /etc/group-
983 · /etc/gshadow-
985 · /etc/passwd-
987 · /etc/shadow-
989 · /etc/subgid-
991 · /etc/subuid-
993 puppet-data-log *
995 Remove the data and log files of puppet.
996 rh-subscription-manager *
998 Remove the RH subscription manager files.
999 rhn-systemid *
1001 Remove the RHN system ID.
1002 rpm-db *
1004 Remove host-specific RPM database files.
1005 Remove host-specific RPM database files and locks. RPM will recreate
1007 these files automatically if needed.
1008 samba-db-log *
1010 Remove the database and log files of Samba.
1011 script *
1013 Run arbitrary scripts against the guest.
1014 The "script" module lets you run arbitrary shell scripts or programs
1016 against the guest.
1017 Note this feature requires FUSE support. You may have to enable this
1019 in your host, for example by adding the current user to the "fuse"
1020 group, or by loading a kernel module.
1021 Use one or more --script parameters to specify scripts or programs that
1023 will be run against the guest.
1024 The script or program is run with its current directory being the
1026 guest’s root directory, so relative paths should be used. For example:
1027 "rm etc/resolv.conf" in the script would remove a Linux guest’s DNS
1028 configuration file, but "rm /etc/resolv.conf" would (try to) remove the
1029 host’s file.
1030 Normally a temporary mount point for the guest is used, but you can
1032 choose a specific one by using the --scriptdir parameter.
1033 Note: This is different from --firstboot scripts (which run in the
1035 context of the guest when it is booting first time). --script scripts
1036 run on the host, not in the guest.
1037 smolt-uuid *
1039 Remove the Smolt hardware UUID.
1040 ssh-hostkeys *
1042 Remove the SSH host keys in the guest.
1043 The SSH host keys are regenerated (differently) next time the guest is
1045 booted.
1046 If, after cloning, the guest gets the same IP address, ssh will give
1048 you a stark warning about the host key changing:
1049 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
1051 @ WARNING: REMOTE HOST IDENTIFICATION HAS CHANGED! @
1052 @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
1053 IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOMEONE IS DOING SOMETHING NASTY!
1054 ssh-userdir *
1056 Remove ".ssh" directories in the guest.
1057 Remove the ".ssh" directory of user "root" and any other users who have
1059 a ".ssh" directory in their home directory.
1060 Notes on ssh-userdir
1062 Currently this only looks in "/root" and "/home/*" for home
1064 directories, so users with home directories in other locations won't
1065 have the ssh files removed.
1066 sssd-db-log *
1068 Remove the database and log files of sssd.
1069 tmp-files *
1071 Remove temporary files.
1072 This removes temporary files under "/tmp" and "/var/tmp".
1074 udev-persistent-net *
1076 Remove udev persistent net rules.
1077 Remove udev persistent net rules which map the guest’s existing MAC
1079 address to a fixed ethernet device (eg. eth0).
1080 After a guest is cloned, the MAC address usually changes. Since the
1082 old MAC address occupies the old name (eg. eth0), this means the fresh
1083 MAC address is assigned to a new name (eg. eth1) and this is usually
1084 undesirable. Erasing the udev persistent net rules avoids this.
1085 user-account
1087 Remove the user accounts in the guest.
1088 By default remove all the user accounts and their home directories.
1090 The "root" account is not removed.
1091 See the --remove-user-accounts parameter for a way to specify how to
1093 remove only some users, or to not remove some others.
1094 utmp *
1096 Remove the utmp file.
1097 This file records who is currently logged in on a machine. In modern
1099 Linux distros it is stored in a ramdisk and hence not part of the
1100 virtual machine’s disk, but it was stored on disk in older distros.
1101 yum-uuid *
1103 Remove the yum UUID.
1104 Yum creates a fresh UUID the next time it runs when it notices that the
1106 original UUID has been erased.
1107
1109 Virt-sysprep can be used as part of a process of cloning guests, or to
1110 prepare a template from which guests can be cloned. There are many
1111 different ways to achieve this using the virt tools, and this section
1112 is just an introduction.
1113 A virtual machine (when switched off) consists of two parts:
1115 configuration
1117 The configuration or description of the guest. eg. The libvirt XML
1118 (see "virsh dumpxml"), the running configuration of the guest, or
1119 another external format like OVF.
1120 Some configuration items that might need to be changed:
1122 • name
1124 • UUID
1126 • path to block device(s)
1128 • network card MAC address
1130 block device(s)
1132 One or more hard disk images, themselves containing files,
1133 directories, applications, kernels, configuration, etc.
1134 Some things inside the block devices that might need to be changed:
1136 • hostname and other net configuration
1138 • UUID
1140 • SSH host keys
1142 • Windows unique security ID (SID)
1144 • Puppet registration
1146 COPYING THE BLOCK DEVICE
1148 Starting with an original guest, you probably wish to copy the guest
1149 block device and its configuration to make a template. Then once you
1150 are happy with the template, you will want to make many clones from it.
1151 virt-sysprep
1153 |
1154 v
1155 original guest --------> template ---------->
1156 \------> cloned
1157 \-----> guests
1158 \---->
1159 You can, of course, just copy the block device on the host using cp(1)
1161 or dd(1).
1162 dd dd
1164 original guest --------> template ---------->
1165 \------> cloned
1166 \-----> guests
1167 \---->
1168 There are some smarter (and faster) ways too:
1170 snapshot
1172 template ---------->
1173 \------> cloned
1174 \-----> guests
1175 \---->
1176 You may want to run virt-sysprep twice, once to reset the guest (to
1178 make a template) and a second time to customize the guest for a
1179 specific user:
1180 virt-sysprep virt-sysprep
1182 (reset) (add user, keys, logos)
1183 | |
1184 dd v dd v
1185 original guest ----> template ---------> copied ------> custom
1186 template guest
1187 • Create a snapshot using qemu-img:
1189 qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o backing_file=original snapshot.qcow
1191 The advantage is that you don’t need to copy the original (very
1193 fast) and only changes are stored (less storage required).
1194 Note that writing to the backing file once you have created guests
1196 on top of it is not possible: you will corrupt the guests.
1197 • Create a snapshot using "lvcreate --snapshot".
1199 • Other ways to create snapshots include using filesystems-level
1201 tools (for filesystems such as btrfs).
1202 Most Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices can also create cheap
1204 snapshots from files or LUNs.
1205 • Get your NAS to duplicate the LUN. Most NAS devices can also
1207 duplicate LUNs very cheaply (they copy them on-demand in the
1208 background).
1209 • Prepare your template using virt-sparsify(1). See below.
1211 VIRT-CLONE
1213 A separate tool, virt-clone(1), can be used to duplicate the block
1214 device and/or modify the external libvirt configuration of a guest. It
1215 will reset the name, UUID and MAC address of the guest in the libvirt
1216 XML.
1217 virt-clone(1) does not use libguestfs and cannot look inside the disk
1219 image. This was the original motivation to write virt-sysprep.
1220 SPARSIFY
1222 virt-sparsify
1223 original guest --------> template
1224 virt-sparsify(1) can be used to make the cloning template smaller,
1226 making it easier to compress and/or faster to copy.
1227 Notice that since virt-sparsify also copies the image, you can use it
1229 to make the initial copy (instead of "dd").
1230 RESIZE
1232 virt-resize
1233 template ---------->
1234 \------> cloned
1235 \-----> guests
1236 \---->
1237 If you want to give people cloned guests, but let them pick the size of
1239 the guest themselves (eg. depending on how much they are prepared to
1240 pay for disk space), then instead of copying the template, you can run
1241 virt-resize(1). Virt-resize performs a copy and resize, and thus is
1242 ideal for cloning guests from a template.
1243
1245 The two options --firstboot and --script both supply shell scripts that
1246 are run against the guest. However these two options are significantly
1247 different.
1248 --firstboot script uploads the file "script" into the guest and
1250 arranges that it will run, in the guest, when the guest is next booted.
1251 (The script will only run once, at the "first boot").
1252 --script script runs the shell "script" on the host, with its current
1254 directory inside the guest filesystem.
1255 If you needed, for example, to "yum install" new packages, then you
1257 must not use --script for this, since that would (a) run the "yum"
1258 command on the host and (b) wouldn't have access to the same resources
1259 (repositories, keys, etc.) as the guest. Any command that needs to run
1260 on the guest must be run via --firstboot.
1261 On the other hand if you need to make adjustments to the guest
1263 filesystem (eg. copying in files), then --script is ideal since (a) it
1264 has access to the host filesystem and (b) you will get immediate
1265 feedback on errors.
1266 Either or both options can be used multiple times on the command line.
1268
1270 Although virt-sysprep removes some sensitive information from the
1271 guest, it does not pretend to remove all of it. You should examine the
1272 "OPERATIONS" above and the guest afterwards.
1273 Sensitive files are simply removed. The data they contained may still
1275 exist on the disk, easily recovered with a hex editor or undelete tool.
1276 The --scrub option can be used to scrub files instead of just deleting
1277 them. virt-sparsify(1) is another way to remove this content. See
1278 also the scrub(1) command to get rid of deleted content in directory
1279 entries and inodes.
1280 RANDOM SEED
1282 (This section applies to Linux guests only)
1283 For supported guests, virt-sysprep writes a few bytes of randomness
1285 from the host into the guest’s random seed file.
1286 If this is just done once and the guest is cloned from the same
1288 template, then each guest will start with the same entropy, and things
1289 like SSH host keys and TCP sequence numbers may be predictable.
1290 Therefore you should arrange to add more randomness after cloning from
1292 a template too, which can be done by enabling just the customize
1293 module:
1294 cp template.img newguest.img
1296 virt-sysprep --enable customize -a newguest.img
1297
1299 For guests which make use of SELinux, special handling for them might
1300 be needed when using operations which create new files or alter
1301 existing ones.
1302 For further details, see "SELINUX" in virt-builder(1).
1304
1306 Windows 8 "fast startup" can prevent virt-sysprep from working. See
1307 "WINDOWS HIBERNATION AND WINDOWS 8 FAST STARTUP" in guestfs(3).
1308
1310 This program returns 0 on success, or 1 if there was an error.
1311
1313 "VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR"
1314 This can point to the directory containing data files used for
1315 Windows firstboot installation.
1316 Normally you do not need to set this. If not set, a compiled-in
1318 default will be used (something like /usr/share/virt-tools).
1319 This directory may contain the following files:
1321 rhsrvany.exe
1323 This is the RHSrvAny Windows binary, used to install a
1324 "firstboot" script in Windows guests. It is required if you
1325 intend to use the --firstboot or --firstboot-command options
1326 with Windows guests.
1327 See also: "https://github.com/rwmjones/rhsrvany"
1329 pvvxsvc.exe
1331 This is a Windows binary shipped with SUSE VMDP, used to
1332 install a "firstboot" script in Windows guests. It is required
1333 if you intend to use the --firstboot or --firstboot-command
1334 options with Windows guests.
1335 For other environment variables, see "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES" in
1337 guestfs(3).
1338
1340 guestfs(3), guestfish(1), virt-builder(1), virt-clone(1),
1341 virt-customize(1), virt-rescue(1), virt-resize(1), virt-sparsify(1),
1342 virsh(1), lvcreate(8), qemu-img(1), scrub(1), http://libguestfs.org/,
1343 http://libvirt.org/.
1344
1346 Richard W.M. Jones http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/
1347 Wanlong Gao, Fujitsu Ltd.
1349
1351 Copyright (C) 2011-2020 Red Hat Inc.
1352 Copyright (C) 2012 Fujitsu Ltd.
1354
1356 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
1357 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
1358 Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
1359 option) any later version.
1360 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
1362 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1363 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
1364 General Public License for more details.
1365 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
1367 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
1368 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
1369
1371 To get a list of bugs against libguestfs, use this link:
1372 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
1373 To report a new bug against libguestfs, use this link:
1375 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
1376 When reporting a bug, please supply:
1378 • The version of libguestfs.
1380 • Where you got libguestfs (eg. which Linux distro, compiled from
1382 source, etc)
1383 • Describe the bug accurately and give a way to reproduce it.
1385 • Run libguestfs-test-tool(1) and paste the complete, unedited output
1387 into the bug report.
1388guestfs-tools-1.48.2 2022-05-26 virt-sysprep(1)