Linux Manual Pages

Free Software * Books

Source Code

Free Media

Linux

virt-tar(1)

NAME

   virt-tar - Extract or upload files to a virtual machine

SYNOPSIS

    virt-tar [--options] -x domname directory tarball

    virt-tar [--options] -u domname tarball directory

    virt-tar [--options] disk.img [disk.img ...] -x directory tarball

    virt-tar [--options] disk.img [disk.img ...] -u tarball directory

OBSOLETE

   This tool is obsolete.  Use virt-copy-in(1), virt-copy-out(1),
   virt-tar-in(1), virt-tar-out(1) as replacements.

EXAMPLES

   Download "/home" from the VM into a local tarball:

    virt-tar -x domname /home home.tar

    virt-tar -zx domname /home home.tar.gz

   Upload a local tarball and unpack it inside "/tmp" in the VM:

    virt-tar -u domname uploadstuff.tar /tmp

    virt-tar -zu domname uploadstuff.tar.gz /tmp

WARNING

   You must not use "virt-tar" with the -u option (upload) on live virtual
   machines.  If you do this, you risk disk corruption in the VM.
   "virt-tar" tries to stop you from doing this, but doesn't catch all
   cases.

   You can use -x (extract) on live virtual machines, but you might get
   inconsistent results or errors if there is filesystem activity inside
   the VM.  If the live VM is synched and quiescent, then "virt-tar" will
   usually work, but the only way to guarantee consistent results is if
   the virtual machine is shut down.

DESCRIPTION

   "virt-tar" is a general purpose archive tool for downloading and
   uploading parts of a guest filesystem.  There are many possibilities:
   making backups, uploading data files, snooping on guest activity,
   fixing or customizing guests, etc.

   If you want to just view a single file, use virt-cat(1).  If you just
   want to edit a single file, use virt-edit(1).  For more complex cases
   you should look at the guestfish(1) tool.

   There are two modes of operation: -x (eXtract) downloads a directory
   and its contents (recursively) from the virtual machine into a local
   tarball.  -u uploads from a local tarball, unpacking it into a
   directory inside the virtual machine.  You cannot use these two options
   together.

   In addition, you may need to use the -z (gZip) option to enable
   compression.  When uploading, you have to specify -z if the upload file
   is compressed because virt-tar won't detect this on its own.

   "virt-tar" can only handle tar (optionally gzipped) format tarballs.
   For example it cannot do PKZip files or bzip2 compression.  If you want
   that then you'll have to rebuild the tarballs yourself.  (This is a
   limitation of the libguestfs(3) API).

OPTIONS

   --help
       Display brief help.

   --version
       Display version number and exit.

   -c URI
   --connect URI
       If using libvirt, connect to the given URI.  If omitted, then we
       connect to the default libvirt hypervisor.

       If you specify guest block devices directly, then libvirt is not
       used at all.

   --format raw
       Specify the format of disk images given on the command line.  If
       this is omitted then the format is autodetected from the content of
       the disk image.

       If disk images are requested from libvirt, then this program asks
       libvirt for this information.  In this case, the value of the
       format parameter is ignored.

       If working with untrusted raw-format guest disk images, you should
       ensure the format is always specified.

   -x
   --extract
   --download
   -u
   --upload
       Use -x to extract (download) a directory from a virtual machine to
       a local tarball.

       Use -u to upload and unpack from a local tarball into a virtual
       machine.  Please read the "WARNING" section above before using this
       option.

       You must specify exactly one of these options.

   -z
   --gzip
       Specify that the input or output tarball is gzip-compressed.

AUTHOR

   Richard W.M. Jones http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/

COPYRIGHT

   Copyright (C) 2009 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.