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 ma‐
18       nipulating 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  re‐
22       sources 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 de‐
33       fined will be lost from the configuration.
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SYSTEM SOCKET ACTIVATION

36       The libvirtd daemon is capable of starting in two modes.
37
38       In the traditional mode, it will create and listen on UNIX sockets  it‐
39       self.   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.
71
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*
83
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.
108
109       Depending on what driver is installed, then  the  following  files  are
110       also read:
111
112       • /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf for the QEMU driver
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114       • /etc/libvirt/lxc.conf for the LXC driver
115
116       • /etc/libvirt/libxl.conf for the libxl driver
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118       These  files  contain  various knobs and default values for virtual ma‐
119       chines created within their respective drivers,  and  offer  a  way  to
120       override  the  built  in  defaults,  for instance (but not limited to):
121       paths to various supplementary  binaries,  TLS  certificates  location,
122       graphical  consoles  configuration  and  others. Location of neither of
123       these files can be overridden by any command line switch.
124
125       • /run/libvirt/libvirt-sock
126
127       • /run/libvirt/libvirt-sock-ro
128
129       The sockets libvirtd will use.
130
131       • /etc/pki/CA/cacert.pem
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133       The TLS Certificate Authority certificate libvirtd will use.
134
135       • /etc/pki/libvirt/servercert.pem
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137       The TLS Server certificate libvirtd will use.
138
139       • /etc/pki/libvirt/private/serverkey.pem
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141       The TLS Server private key libvirtd will use.
142
143       • /run/libvirtd.pid
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145       The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p | --pid-file option.
146
147   When run as non-root
148       • $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/libvirtd.conf
149
150       The default configuration file used by libvirtd, unless  overridden  on
151       the command line using the -f``|--config`` option.
152
153       If QEMU driver is installed, then the following file is also read:
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155       • $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/qemu.conf
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157       If the file exists, it can contain various knobs and default values for
158       virtual machines created within QEMU driver, and offers a way to  over‐
159       ride the built in defaults, for instance (but not limited to): paths to
160       various supplementary binaries, TLS  certificates  location,  graphical
161       consoles configuration and others. Location of this file can't be over‐
162       ridden by any command line switch.
163
164       • $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirt-sock
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166       The socket libvirtd will use.
167
168       • $HOME/.pki/libvirt/cacert.pem
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170       The TLS Certificate Authority certificate libvirtd will use.
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172       • $HOME/.pki/libvirt/servercert.pem
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174       The TLS Server certificate libvirtd will use.
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176       • $HOME/.pki/libvirt/serverkey.pem
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178       The TLS Server private key libvirtd will use.
179
180       • $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirtd.pid
181
182       The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p``|--pid-file`` option.
183
184       If $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set in your environment, libvirtd  will  use
185       $HOME/.config
186
187       If  $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR  is not set in your environment, libvirtd will use
188       $HOME/.cache
189

EXAMPLES

191       To retrieve the version of libvirtd:
192
193          # libvirtd --version
194          libvirtd (libvirt) 8.1.0
195
196       To start libvirtd, instructing it to daemonize and create a PID file:
197
198          # libvirtd -d
199          # ls -la /run/libvirtd.pid
200          -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6 Jul  9 02:40 /run/libvirtd.pid
201

BUGS

203       Please report all bugs you discover.  This should be done via either:
204
205       1. the mailing list
206
207          https://libvirt.org/contact.html
208
209       2. the bug tracker
210
211          https://libvirt.org/bugs.html
212
213       Alternatively, you may report bugs to your software distributor /  ven‐
214       dor.
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AUTHORS

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

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

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