vdiskadm

- create and manage virtual disks

Synopsis

vdiskadm create -s size [-t type[:opt],[opt]
     [-c comment] vdname

vdiskadm destroy [-r] vdname|snapshot

vdiskadm snapshot vdname@snapname

vdiskadm rollback [-r] snapshot

vdiskadm clone [-c comment] vdname|snapshot clone_vdname

vdiskadm move vdname dir

vdiskadm rename vdname|snapshot vdname|snapshot

vdiskadm list [-fp]vdname

vdiskadm verify vdname

vdiskadm prop-get [-l] -p property vdname

vdiskadm prop-set -p property=value vdname

vdiskadm prop-add -p property=value vdname

vdiskadm prop-del -p property vdname

vdiskadm import [-fnpqm] [-x type] -d file|zvol|dsk
     [-t type[:opt]] vdname

vdiskadm export -x type[:opt] -d file|zvol|dsk vdname

vdiskadm convert [-t type[:opt]] vdname

vdiskadm translate [-i type[:opt]] -I input_file -x type[:opt]
     -d output_file

vdiskadm help [command]

Description

The vdiskadm command manages virtual disks within dom0. In the SYNOPSIS above, vdname is the pathname of the virtual disk; it has a maximum length of MAXPATHLEN (1024 bytes).

vdiskadm is implemented as a set of subcommands, many with their own options and operands. These subcommands are described under “Subcommands,” below.

The following subsections describe concepts related to virtual disks.

Snapshots

A snapshot is a read-only copy of a virtual disk. Snapshots can be created extremely quickly and initially consume little space. As data within the active virtual disk changes, the snapshot consumes more data than would otherwise be shared with the active virtual disk.

Clones

A clone is a writable copy of a virtual disk. The default type of clone is a merged (that is, coalesced) copy of the original virtual disk. An example of a merged clone occurs when a virtual disk is comprised of several snapshots; a subsequent clone operation results in a new virtual disk containing no snapshots. A clone will be of the same type as the original virtual disk (that is, vmdk:fixed). When a merged clone is created there is no linkage back to the original virtual disk or to any of its snapshots. This lack of linkage allows the merged clone to be moved to another physical machine.

Numeric Values

The values of numeric properties can be specified using human-readable suffixes, such as k, KB, M, Gb, and so forth, up to Z for zettabyte). The following are all valid (and equal) specifications:

1536M  1.5g  1.50GB

Types of Virtual Disks

The following types and options of virtual disks are supported:

• vmdk:fixed

• vmdk:sparse

• vdi:fixed

• vdi:sparse

• vhd:fixed

• vhd:sparse

• raw:fixed

where vmdk is the native VMware format, vdi is the native VirtualBox format, vhd is the native Microsoft format, and raw describes a file that looks like a raw disk. A raw disk is always in fixed format so that option can be explicitly set or implicitly understood.

If the type is not specified, the default value is vmdk. If the option is not specified, the default value is fixed for type raw and sparse for types vmdk, vdi, and vhd.

Native and User-defined Properties

Properties are divided into two types, native and user defined. Native properties either export internal statistics or control vdiskadm behavior. In addition, native properties are either editable or read-only. User–defined properties are arbitrary strings that have no effect on vdiskadm behavior. You can use them to annotate virtual disks in a way that is meaningful in your environment. User–defined property names must contain a colon (:) character, to distinguish them from native properties.

Properties are associated only with the virtual disk and not with individual snapshots.

Every virtual disk has a set of native properties that export statistics about the virtual disk, as well as control various behaviors.

The following are the native properties for a virtual disk:

cdrom

Boolean property that is true if the virtual disk is a CDROM.

removable

Boolean property that is true if the virtual disk is a removable media.

readonly

Boolean property that is true if the virtual disk is read-only. This property is read-only.

sectors

Numeric property containing the number of disk sectors in the given virtual disk. This property is read-only.

name

String property that is the name of the virtual disk. This property is read-only.

max-size

Numeric property containing the maximum size of the virtual disk in bytes. This property is read-only.

effective-size

Numeric property containing the effective size of the virtual disk, in bytes. The effective size includes the size of the data file and all snapshots. The effective size can exceed the maximum size. This property is read-only.

creation-time

String property containing the date and time that the virtual disk was created. This property is read-only.

creation-time-epoch

Numeric property describing the creation-time property in seconds since the epoch (seconds since 00:00:00 UTC, Jan. 1, 1970). This property is read-only.

modification-time

String property containing the date and time of last modification to virtual disk. This property is read-only.

modification-time-epoch

Numeric property describing the modification-time property in seconds since the epoch (seconds since 00:00:00 UTC, Jan. 1, 1970). This property is read-only.

description

String property that contains the comment given when the virtual disk was created or cloned. This property is read-only.

type

String property that contains the type of virtual disk: vmdk, vhd, vdi, or raw. This property is read-only.

sparse

Boolean property that is true if the virtual disk is in sparse format. This property is read-only.

owner

String property that contains the user name of the owner of the virtual disk. This property is editable.

Sub-commands

The vdiskadm subcommands and their arguments are described in the following subsections.

vdiskadm create

vdiskadm create -s size [-t type[:opt],[opt]]
     [-c comment] vdname

Creates a new virtual disk of the specified size and at the location specified by vdname. If vdname includes a path to the virtual disk, the directories that follow from that path will be created during creation of the virtual disk. This subcommand has the options listed below.

-t type[:opt],[opt]]

Specifies the type of virtual disk to be created. The default type is vmdk. For vmdk and vdi types the default option is sparse. For type raw the default option is fixed.

-c comment

Comment that can be attached to virtual disk.

vdiskadm destroy

vdiskadm destroy [-r] vdname|snapshot

Destroys the specified virtual disk or snapshot. By default, the destroy operation fails if the specified virtual disk contains snapshots. This subcommand has the option listed below.

-r

Recursively destroys the virtual disk, including all snapshots associated with the virtual disk.

vdiskadm snapshot

vdiskadm snapshot vdname@snapname

Creates a snapshot of the virtual disk with the specified snapname. This subcommand has no options.

vdiskadm rollback

vdiskadm rollback [-r] snapshot

Roll back the virtual disk to a previous snapshot. When a virtual disk is rolled back, all data that has changed since the snapshot is discarded, and the virtual disk reverts to the state at the time of the snapshot. By default, the command refuses to roll back to a snapshot other than the most recent one. In order to roll back further, all intermediate snapshots must be destroyed by specifying the -r option. This subcommand has the option listed below.

-r

Recursively destroy any snapshots more recent than the one specified.

vdiskadm clone

vdiskadm [-c comment] vdname|snapshot clone_vdname

Creates a clone of the specified snapshot or virtual disk. The clone is created with the type and option and the size of the virtual disk being cloned. If clone_vdname includes a path the directories that flow from that path will be created during creation of the cloned virtual disk. By default, a merged clone image is created. This subcommand has the option listed below.

-c comment

Comment that can be attached to cloned virtual disk.

vdiskadm move

vdiskadm move vdname dir

Moves a specified virtual disk into the specified directory. The virtual disk maintains the same name. The new directory must exist. This subcommand has no options.

vdiskadm rename

vdiskadm rename vdname|snapshot vdname|snapshot

Renames a virtual disk or snapshot. This subcommand has no options.

vdiskadm list

vdiskadm list [-fp]vdname

Lists a specified virtual disk and its snapshots. This subcommand has the options listed below.

-f

Gives a list of all files associated with the virtual disk. This list includes the store file and the extents.

-p

Lists the files in an easily parsable format, prefixing the files with a label of file:, snapshot:, or store.

vdiskadm verify

vdiskadm verify vdname

Returns an error if the virtual disk cannot be recognized or opened by Solaris. This subcommand has no options.

vdiskadm prop-get

vdiskadm prop-get [-l] -p property vdname

Returns the value of the property for the specified virtual disk. A property value of all displays all native and user-defined properties for the virtual disk. This subcommand has the options listed below.

-l

Gives additional property information, such as the writeable status of property.

-p property

Specifies the property being queried and displays the value of the property. For the property all, the name of the property, a colon, and a space are displayed before the value of the property.

vdiskadm prop-set

vdiskadm prop-set -p property=value vdname

Sets the value of the specified property for the specified virtual disk. property can be a native or a user-defined property, but must be writable. Can be used to change the value of a property added with the prop-add subcommand. This subcommand has the option listed below.

-p property=value

Specifies the property being set.

vdiskadm prop-add

vdiskadm -p property=value vdname

Adds the user-defined property with the specified value to the specified virtual disk. Returns an error if the property already exists. The user-defined property name must contain a colon character (:). This subcommand has the option listed below.

-p property=value

Specifies the property being added.

vdiskadm prop-del

vdiskadm prop-del -p property vdname

Deletes a user–defined property from the specified virtual disk. This subcommand has the option listed below.

-p property

Specifies the property being deleted.

vdiskadm import

vdiskadm import [-fnpqm] [-x type] -d file|zvol|dsk \
[-t type[:opt]] vdname

Creates a new virtual disk using data from a file or block device. The file may be in vdi, vhd, vmdk, or raw format. A block device is always assumed to be in raw format. This subcommand has the following options.

-f

Returns a list of files that will be used in the import process.

-n

Show output from import without actually running the import.

-p

Displays files in an easily parsable format.

-q

Run in quiet mode giving no output.

-m

Move the imported file to virtual disk without copying the data.

-x type

Specifies the type of virtual disk data being imported. If vdiskadm is unable to detect the imported file type, -x must be specified.

-d file|zvol|dsk

File or block device containing data to be imported.

-t type[:opt]

Specifies the type of virtual disk to be created on import. The default type is vmdk. For vmdk, vdi, and vhd types the default opt is sparse. For type raw the default opt is fixed.

vdiskadm export

vdiskadm export -x type[:opt] -d file|zvol|dsk vdname

Exports data from a virtual disk to a file or block device. This subcommand has the following options.

-x type[:opt]

Specifies the type of virtual disk data being exported.

-d file|zvol|dsk

File or block device receiving data being exported.

vdiskadm convert

vdiskadm convert [-t type[:opt]] vdname

Converts a virtual disk into a different type virtual disk. This subcommand has the following option.

-t type[:opt]

Specifies the type of virtual disk to be created upon conversion. The default type is vmdk. For vmdk, vdi, and vhd types the default opt is sparse. For type raw the default opt is fixed.

vdiskadm translate

vdiskadm translate [-i type[:opt]] -I input_file \
-x type[:opt] -d output_file

Translate data from one virtual disk data type to another without creating a virtual disk. This subcommand has the following options.

-i type[:opt]

Specifies the input type of virtual disk data being translated. If vdiskadm is unable to detect the input file type, -i must be specified.

-I input_file

File or block device containing data being translated.

-x type[:opt]

Specifies the output type of virtual disk data being translated. For vmdk, vdi, and vhd types the default opt is sparse. For type raw the default opt is fixed.

-d output_file

File or block device receiving data being translated. output_file must not exist. The file will be created during translation.

vdiskadm help

vdiskadm help [command]

Displays a general or command-specific help message. This subcommand has only the command name optional argument.

Examples

Example 1 Creating a vmdk Sparse File

The following command creates a virtual disk named disk1 of size 8 GB in the directory /guests/disks.

# vdiskadm create -s 8g -t vmdk:sparse /guests/disks/disk1

Example 2 Creating a Snapshot

The following command creates a snapshot of the virtual disk located at /guests/disks/disk1. The snapshot is named install.

# vdiskadm snapshot /guests/disks/disk1@install

Example 3 Creating and Destroying Snapshots

The following commands create two snapshots, named install and bfu, of the virtual disk located at /guests/disks/disk1. The third command destroys the newly created snapshot install.

# vdiskadm snapshot /guests/disks/disk1@install
# vdiskadm snapshot /guests/disks/disk1@bfu
# vdiskadm destroy /guests/disks/disk1@install

Example 4 Rolling Back a Virtual Disk

The following command reverts the contents of the virtual disk to the snapshot named install, deleting all intermediate snapshots.

# vdiskadm rollback -r /guests/disks/disk1@install

Example 5 Listing a Virtual Disk and Snapshots

The following command lists all of the images associated with the virtual disk /guests/disks/disk1.

# vdiskadm list /guests/disks/disk1
disk1@install
disk1@bfu
disk1

Example 6 Creating a Clone

The following command creates a new virtual disk that is a coalesced copy of the virtual disk /guests/disks/disk1. The clone is created in the same format (that is, vmdk:sparse) as the original virtual disk.

# vdiskadm clone /guests/disks/disk1 /guests/clone/clone_disk1

Example 7 Adding a User-defined Property

The following command adds a user-defined property to the virtual disk and assigns it the specified value. This property name was chosen to represent the source and requirements of this virtual disk data using the required colon to delineate the fields.

# vdiskadm prop-add -p com.sun:required-nic=2 /guests/disks/disk1

Example 8 Importing Existing vmdk Format File

The following command takes an existing vmdk format file and imports it to a virtual disk.

# vdiskadm import -d /downloads/appliance.vmdk /guests/import/disk1

Example 9 Importing vmdk File and Converting to vhd

The following command takes an existing vmdk format file and, upon import, converts it to a vhd-type virtual disk.

# vdiskadm import -d /downloads/appliance.vmdk -t vhd \
/guests/import/disk1

Example 10 Importing Data from zvol

The following command imports virtual disk data from a zvol and, upon import, converts it to a vmdk:fixed type virtual disk.

# vdiskadm import -d /dev/zvol/dsk/pool1/disk1 -t vmdk:fixed \
/guests/import/disk1

Example 11 Exporting Data to Block Device

The following command takes an existing virtual disk and, upon export, converts it to a disk slice, of raw type.

# vdiskadm export -d /dev/dsk/c0t1d0s3 -x raw /guests/disks/disk1

Example 12 Converting Virtual Disk Type

The following command takes an existing virtual disk and converts it (in place) to a different format type.

# vdiskadm convert -t vdi:fixed /guests/disks/disk1

Example 13 Translating Data from One Type to Another

The following command translates data from a virtual disk format file to raw data written to a zvol without creating a virtual disk.

# vdiskadm translate -I /downloads/appliance.vmdk -x raw \
-d /dev/zvol/dsk/pool1/disk1

Attributes

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

See Also

attributes(5)