virt-format(1) Virtualization Support virt-format(1)NAMEvirt-format - Erase and make a blank disk
SYNOPSISvirt-format [--options] -a disk.img [-a disk.img ...]
DESCRIPTION
Virt-format takes an existing disk file (or it can be a host partition,
LV etc), erases all data on it, and formats it as a blank disk. It can
optionally create partition tables, empty filesystems, logical volumes
and more.
To create a disk containing data, you may be better to use
virt-make-fs(1). If you are creating a blank disk to use in
guestfish(1), you should instead use the guestfish -N option.
Normal usage would be something like this:
virt-format-a disk.qcow
or this:
virt-format-a /dev/VG/LV
"disk.qcow" or "/dev/VG/LV" must exist already. Any data on these
disks will be erased by these commands. These commands will create a
single empty partition covering the whole disk, with no filesystem
inside it.
Additional parameters can be used to control the creation of
partitions, filesystems, etc. The most commonly used options are:
--filesystem=[ext3|ntfs|vfat|...]
Create an empty filesystem ("ext3", "ntfs" etc) inside the
partition.
--lvm[=/dev/VG/LV]
Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume on the disk. When used with
--filesystem, the filesystem is created inside the LV.
For more information about these and other options, see "OPTIONS"
below.
The format of the disk is normally auto-detected, but you can also
force it by using the --format option (q.v.). In situations where you
do not trust the existing content of the disk, then it is advisable to
use this option to avoid possible exploits.
OPTIONS--help
Display brief help.
-a file
--add file
Add file, a disk image, host partition, LV, external USB disk, etc.
The format of the disk image is auto-detected. To override this
and force a particular format use the --format=.. option.
Any existing data on the disk is erased.
--filesystem=ext3|ntfs|vfat|...
Create an empty filesystem of the specified type. Many filesystem
types are supported by libguestfs.
--filesystem=none
Create no filesystem. This is the default.
--format=raw|qcow2|..
--format
The default for the -a option is to auto-detect the format of the
disk image. Using this forces the disk format for -a options which
follow on the command line. Using --format with no argument
switches back to auto-detection for subsequent -a options.
For example:
virt-format --format=raw -a disk.img
forces raw format (no auto-detection) for "disk.img".
virt-format --format=raw -a disk.img --format -a another.img
forces raw format (no auto-detection) for "disk.img" and reverts to
auto-detection for "another.img".
If you have untrusted raw-format guest disk images, you should use
this option to specify the disk format. This avoids a possible
security problem with malicious guests (CVE-2010-3851).
--lvm=/dev/VG/LV
Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume called "/dev/VG/LV". You can
change the name of the volume group and logical volume.
--lvm
Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume with the default name
("/dev/VG/LV").
--lvm=none
Create no logical volume. This is the default.
--partition
Create either an MBR or GPT partition covering the whole disk. MBR
is chosen if the disk size is < 2 TB, GPT if X 2 TB.
This is the default.
--partition=gpt
Create a GPT partition.
--partition=mbr
Create an MBR partition.
--partition=none
Create no partition table. Note that Windows may not be able to
see these disks.
-v
--verbose
Enable verbose messages for debugging.
-V
--version
Display version number and exit.
--wipe
Normally virt-format does not wipe data from the disk (because that
takes a long time). Thus if there is data on the disk, it is only
hidden and partially overwritten by virt-format, and it might be
recovered by disk editing tools.
If you use this option, virt-format writes zeroes over the whole
disk so that previous data is not recoverable.
-x Enable tracing of libguestfs API calls.
EXIT STATUS
This program returns 0 on success, or 1 on failure.
SEE ALSOguestfs(3), guestfish(1), virt-filesystems(1), virt-make-fs(1),
virt-rescue(1), virt-resize(1), http://libguestfs.org/.
AUTHOR
Richard W.M. Jones http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat Inc.
LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
BUGS
To get a list of bugs against libguestfs, use this link:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
To report a new bug against libguestfs, use this link:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools
When reporting a bug, please supply:
· The version of libguestfs.
· Where you got libguestfs (eg. which Linux distro, compiled from
source, etc)
· Describe the bug accurately and give a way to reproduce it.
· Run libguestfs-test-tool(1) and paste the complete, unedited output
into the bug report.
libguestfs-1.20.4 2013-03-12 virt-format(1)
