virt-make-fs(1)
NAME
virt-make-fs - Make a filesystem from a tar archive or files
SYNOPSIS
virt-make-fs [--options] input.tar output.img
virt-make-fs [--options] input.tar.gz output.img
virt-make-fs [--options] directory output.img
DESCRIPTION
Virt-make-fs is a command line tool for creating a filesystem from a tar archive or some files in a directory. It is similar to tools like mkisofs(1), genisoimage(1) and mksquashfs(1). Unlike those tools, it can create common filesystem types like ext2/3 or NTFS, which can be useful if you want to attach these filesystems to existing virtual machines (eg. to import large amounts of read-only data to a VM). To create blank disks, use virt-format(1). To create complex layouts, use guestfish(1). Basic usage is: virt-make-fs input output.img where "input" is either a directory containing files that you want to add, or a tar archive (either uncompressed tar or gzip-compressed tar); and output.img is a disk image. The input type is detected automatically. The output disk image defaults to a raw ext2 sparse image unless you specify extra flags (see "OPTIONS" below). FILESYSTEM TYPE The default filesystem type is "ext2". Just about any filesystem type that libguestfs supports can be used (but not read-only formats like ISO9660). Here are some of the more common choices: ext3 Note that ext3 filesystems contain a journal, typically 1-32 MB in size. If you are not going to use the filesystem in a way that requires the journal, then this is just wasted overhead. ntfs or vfat Useful if exporting data to a Windows guest. minix Lower overhead than "ext2", but certain limitations on filename length and total filesystem size. EXAMPLE virt-make-fs --type=minix input minixfs.img TO PARTITION OR NOT TO PARTITION Optionally virt-make-fs can add a partition table to the output disk. Adding a partition can make the disk image more compatible with certain virtualized operating systems which don't expect to see a filesystem directly located on a block device (Linux doesn't care and will happily handle both types). On the other hand, if you have a partition table then the output image is no longer a straight filesystem. For example you cannot run fsck(8) directly on a partitioned disk image. (However libguestfs tools such as guestfish(1) and virt-resize(1) can still be used). EXAMPLE Add an MBR partition: virt-make-fs --partition -- input disk.img If the output disk image could be terabyte-sized or larger, it's better to use an EFI/GPT-compatible partition table: virt-make-fs --partition=gpt --size=+4T --format=qcow2 input disk.img EXTRA SPACE Unlike formats such as tar and squashfs, a filesystem does not "just fit" the files that it contains, but might have extra space. Depending on how you are going to use the output, you might think this extra space is wasted and want to minimize it, or you might want to leave space so that more files can be added later. Virt-make-fs defaults to minimizing the extra space, but you can use the --size flag to leave space in the filesystem if you want it. An alternative way to leave extra space but not make the output image any bigger is to use an alternative disk image format (instead of the default "raw" format). Using --format=qcow2 will use the native qemu/KVM qcow2 image format (check your hypervisor supports this before using it). This allows you to choose a large --size but the extra space won't actually be allocated in the image until you try to store something in it. Don't forget that you can also use local commands including resize2fs(8) and virt-resize(1) to resize existing filesystems, or rerun virt-make-fs to build another image from scratch. EXAMPLE virt-make-fs --format=qcow2 --size=+200M input output.img
OPTIONS
--help
Display brief help.
--floppy
Create a virtual floppy disk.
Currently this preselects the size (1440K), partition type (MBR)
and filesystem type (VFAT). In future it may also choose the
geometry.
--size=<N>
--size=+<N>
-s <N>
-s +<N>
Use the --size (or -s) option to choose the size of the output
image.
If this option is not given, then the output image will be just
large enough to contain all the files, with not much wasted space.
To choose a fixed size output disk, specify an absolute number
followed by b/K/M/G/T/P/E to mean bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes,
Gigabytes, Terabytes, Petabytes or Exabytes. This must be large
enough to contain all the input files, else you will get an error.
To leave extra space, specify "+" (plus sign) and a number followed
by b/K/M/G/T/P/E to mean bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes,
Terabytes, Petabytes or Exabytes. For example: --size=+200M means
enough space for the input files, and (approximately) an extra 200
MB free space.
Note that virt-make-fs estimates free space, and therefore will not
produce filesystems containing precisely the free space requested.
(It is much more expensive and time-consuming to produce a
filesystem which has precisely the desired free space).
--format=<fmt>
-F <fmt>
Choose the output disk image format.
The default is "raw" (raw sparse disk image).
--type=<fs>
-t <fs>
Choose the output filesystem type.
The default is "ext2".
Any filesystem which is supported read-write by libguestfs can be
used here.
--label=<LABEL>
Set the filesystem label.
--partition
--partition=<parttype>
If specified, this flag adds an MBR partition table to the output
disk image.
You can change the partition table type, eg. --partition=gpt for
large disks.
For MBR, virt-make-fs sets the partition type byte automatically.
-v
--verbose
Enable debugging information.
-V
--version
Display version number and exit.
-x Enable libguestfs trace.
SEE ALSO
guestfish(1), virt-format(1), virt-resize(1), virt-tar-in(1), mkisofs(1), genisoimage(1), mksquashfs(1), mke2fs(8), resize2fs(8), guestfs(3), http://libguestfs.org/.
AUTHOR
Richard W.M. Jones http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2010-2016 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.
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
