1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
|
========
libvirtd
========
-------------------------
libvirt management daemon
-------------------------
:Manual section: 8
:Manual group: Virtualization Support
.. contents::
SYNOPSIS
========
``libvirtd`` [*OPTION*]...
DESCRIPTION
===========
The ``libvirtd`` program is the server side daemon component of the libvirt
virtualization management system.
This daemon runs on host servers and performs required management tasks for
virtualized guests. This includes activities such as starting, stopping
and migrating guests between host servers, configuring and manipulating
networking, and managing storage for use by guests.
The libvirt client libraries and utilities connect to this daemon to issue
tasks and collect information about the configuration and resources of the host
system and guests.
By default, the ``libvirtd`` daemon listens for requests on a local Unix domain
socket. Using the ``-l`` | ``--listen`` command line option, the ``libvirtd``
daemon can be instructed to additionally listen on a TCP/IP socket. The TCP/IP
socket to use is defined in the ``libvirtd`` configuration file.
Restarting ``libvirtd`` does not impact running guests. Guests continue to
operate and will be picked up automatically if their XML configuration has been
defined. Any guests whose XML configuration has not been defined will be lost
from the configuration.
SYSTEM SOCKET ACTIVATION
========================
The ``libvirtd`` daemon is capable of starting in two modes.
In the traditional mode, it will create and listen on UNIX sockets itself.
If the ``--listen`` parameter is given, it will also listen on TCP/IP socket(s),
according to the ``listen_tcp`` and ``listen_tls`` options in
``/etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf``
In socket activation mode, it will rely on systemd to create and listen
on the UNIX, and optionally TCP/IP, sockets and pass them as pre-opened
file descriptors. In this mode, it is not permitted to pass the ``--listen``
parameter, and most of the socket related config options in
``/etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf`` will no longer have any effect. To enable
TCP or TLS sockets use either
::
$ systemctl start libvirtd-tls.socket
Or
::
$ systemctl start libvirtd-tcp.socket
Socket activation mode is generally the default when running on a host
OS that uses systemd. To revert to the traditional mode, all the socket
unit files must be masked:
::
$ systemctl mask libvirtd.socket libvirtd-ro.socket \
libvirtd-admin.socket libvirtd-tls.socket libvirtd-tcp.socket
On top of that make sure that the --timeout argument is not used for the daemon
since it would not be started upon any later connection.
If using libvirt-guests service then the ordering for that service needs to be
adapted so that it is ordered after the service unit instead of the socket unit.
Since dependencies and ordering cannot be changed with drop-in overrides, the
whole libvirt-guests unit file needs to be changed. In order to preserve such
change copy the installed ``/usr/lib/systemd/system/libvirt-guests.service`` to
``/etc/systemd/system/libvirt-guests.service`` and make the change there,
specifically make sure the ``After=`` ordering mentions ``libvirtd.service`` and
not ``libvirtd.socket``:
::
[Unit]
After=libvirtd.service
OPTIONS
=======
``-h``, ``--help``
Display command line help usage then exit.
``-d``, ``--daemon``
Run as a daemon & write PID file.
``-f``, ``--config *FILE*``
Use this configuration file, overriding the default value.
``-l``, ``--listen``
Listen for TCP/IP connections. This should not be set if using systemd
socket activation. Instead activate the ``libvirtd-tls.socket`` or
``libvirtd-tcp.socket`` unit files.
``-p``, ``--pid-file *FILE*``
Use this name for the PID file, overriding the default value.
``-t``, ``--timeout *SECONDS*``
Exit after timeout period (in seconds), provided there are neither any client
connections nor any running domains.
``-v``, ``--verbose``
Enable output of verbose messages.
``--version``
Display version information then exit.
SIGNALS
=======
On receipt of ``SIGHUP`` ``libvirtd`` will reload its configuration.
FILES
=====
When run as *root*
------------------
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/libvirt/libvirtd.conf``
The default configuration file used by ``libvirtd``, unless overridden on the
command line using the ``-f`` | ``--config`` option.
Depending on what driver is installed, then the following files are also read:
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/libvirt/qemu.conf`` for the QEMU driver
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/libvirt/lxc.conf`` for the LXC driver
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/libvirt/libxl.conf`` for the libxl driver
These files contain various knobs and default values for virtual machines
created within their respective drivers, and offer a way to override the built
in defaults, for instance (but not limited to): paths to various supplementary
binaries, TLS certificates location, graphical consoles configuration and
others. Location of neither of these files can be overridden by any command
line switch.
* ``@RUNSTATEDIR@/libvirt/libvirt-sock``
* ``@RUNSTATEDIR@/libvirt/libvirt-sock-ro``
The sockets ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/pki/CA/cacert.pem``
The TLS **Certificate Authority** certificate ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/pki/libvirt/servercert.pem``
The TLS **Server** certificate ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``@SYSCONFDIR@/pki/libvirt/private/serverkey.pem``
The TLS **Server** private key ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``@RUNSTATEDIR@/libvirtd.pid``
The PID file to use, unless overridden by the ``-p`` | ``--pid-file`` option.
When run as *non-root*
----------------------
* ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/libvirtd.conf``
The default configuration file used by ``libvirtd``, unless overridden on the
command line using the ``-f``|``--config`` option.
If QEMU driver is installed, then the following file is also read:
* ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/qemu.conf``
If the file exists, it can contain various knobs and default values for virtual
machines created within QEMU driver, and offers a way to override the built in
defaults, for instance (but not limited to): paths to various supplementary
binaries, TLS certificates location, graphical consoles configuration and
others. Location of this file can't be overridden by any command line switch.
* ``$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirt-sock``
The socket ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``$HOME/.pki/libvirt/cacert.pem``
The TLS **Certificate Authority** certificate ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``$HOME/.pki/libvirt/servercert.pem``
The TLS **Server** certificate ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``$HOME/.pki/libvirt/serverkey.pem``
The TLS **Server** private key ``libvirtd`` will use.
* ``$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/libvirtd.pid``
The PID file to use, unless overridden by the ``-p``|``--pid-file`` option.
If ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` is not set in your environment, ``libvirtd`` will use
``$HOME/.config``
If ``$XDG_RUNTIME_DIR`` is not set in your environment, ``libvirtd`` will use
``$HOME/.cache``
EXAMPLES
========
To retrieve the version of ``libvirtd``:
::
# libvirtd --version
libvirtd (libvirt) @VERSION@
To start ``libvirtd``, instructing it to daemonize and create a PID file:
::
# libvirtd -d
# ls -la @RUNSTATEDIR@/libvirtd.pid
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6 Jul 9 02:40 @RUNSTATEDIR@/libvirtd.pid
BUGS
====
Please report all bugs you discover. This should be done via either:
#. the mailing list
`https://libvirt.org/contact.html <https://libvirt.org/contact.html>`_
#. the bug tracker
`https://libvirt.org/bugs.html <https://libvirt.org/bugs.html>`_
Alternatively, you may report bugs to your software distributor / vendor.
AUTHORS
=======
Please refer to the AUTHORS file distributed with libvirt.
COPYRIGHT
=========
Copyright (C) 2006-2012 Red Hat, Inc., and the authors listed in the
libvirt AUTHORS file.
LICENSE
=======
``libvirtd`` is distributed under the terms of the GNU LGPL v2.1+.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There
is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE
SEE ALSO
========
virsh(1), virt-install(1), virt-xml-validate(1), virt-top(1),
virt-df(1), `https://libvirt.org/ <https://libvirt.org/>`_
|
