Customization options¶

--append-line FILE:LINE

Append a single line of text to the "FILE". If the file does not already end with a newline, then one is added before the appended line. Also a newline is added to the end of the "LINE" string automatically.

For example (assuming ordinary shell quoting) this command:

 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.1 foo'
    

will add either "10.0.0.1 foo⏎" or "⏎10.0.0.1 foo⏎" to the file, the latter only if the existing file does not already end with a newline.

"⏎" represents a newline character, which is guessed by looking at the existing content of the file, so this command does the right thing for files using Unix or Windows line endings. It also works for empty or non-existent files.

To insert several lines, use the same option several times:

 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.1 foo'
 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.2 bar'
    

To insert a blank line before the appended line, do:

 --append-line '/etc/hosts:'
 --append-line '/etc/hosts:10.0.0.1 foo'
    

--chmod PERMISSIONS:FILE

Change the permissions of "FILE" to "PERMISSIONS".

Note: "PERMISSIONS" by default would be decimal, unless you prefix it with 0 to get octal, ie. use 0700 not 700.

--commands-from-file FILENAME

Read the customize commands from a file, one (and its arguments) each line.

Each line contains a single customization command and its arguments, for example:

 delete /some/file
 install some-package
 password some-user:password:its-new-password
    

Empty lines are ignored, and lines starting with "#" are comments and are ignored as well. Furthermore, arguments can be spread across multiple lines, by adding a "\" (continuation character) at the of a line, for example

 edit /some/file:\
   s/^OPT=.*/OPT=ok/
    

The commands are handled in the same order as they are in the file, as if they were specified as --delete /some/file on the command line.

--copy SOURCE:DEST

Copy files or directories recursively inside the guest.

Wildcards cannot be used.

--copy-in LOCALPATH:REMOTEDIR

Copy local files or directories recursively into the disk image, placing them in the directory "REMOTEDIR" (which must exist).

Wildcards cannot be used.

--delete PATH

Delete a file from the guest. Or delete a directory (and all its contents, recursively).

You can use shell glob characters in the specified path. Be careful to escape glob characters from the host shell, if that is required. For example:

 virt-customize --delete '/var/log/*.log'.
    

See also: --upload, --scrub.

--edit FILE:EXPR

Edit "FILE" using the Perl expression "EXPR".

Be careful to properly quote the expression to prevent it from being altered by the shell.

Note that this option is only available when Perl 5 is installed.

See "NON-INTERACTIVE EDITING" in virt-edit(1).

--firstboot SCRIPT

Install "SCRIPT" inside the guest, so that when the guest first boots up, the script runs (as root, late in the boot process).

The script is automatically chmod +x after installation in the guest.

The alternative version --firstboot-command is the same, but it conveniently wraps the command up in a single line script for you.

You can have multiple --firstboot options. They run in the same order that they appear on the command line.

Please take a look at "FIRST BOOT SCRIPTS" in virt-builder(1) for more information and caveats about the first boot scripts.

See also --run.

--firstboot-command 'CMD+ARGS'

Run command (and arguments) inside the guest when the guest first boots up (as root, late in the boot process).

You can have multiple --firstboot options. They run in the same order that they appear on the command line.

Please take a look at "FIRST BOOT SCRIPTS" in virt-builder(1) for more information and caveats about the first boot scripts.

See also --run.

--firstboot-install PKG,PKG..

Install the named packages (a comma-separated list). These are installed when the guest first boots using the guest’s package manager (eg. apt, yum, etc.) and the guest’s network connection.

For an overview on the different ways to install packages, see "INSTALLING PACKAGES" in virt-builder(1).

--hostname HOSTNAME

Set the hostname of the guest to "HOSTNAME". You can use a dotted hostname.domainname (FQDN) if you want.

--install PKG,PKG..

Install the named packages (a comma-separated list). These are installed during the image build using the guest’s package manager (eg. apt, yum, etc.) and the host’s network connection.

For an overview on the different ways to install packages, see "INSTALLING PACKAGES" in virt-builder(1).

See also --update, --uninstall.

--link TARGET:LINK[:LINK..]

Create symbolic link(s) in the guest, starting at "LINK" and pointing at "TARGET".

--mkdir DIR

Create a directory in the guest.

This uses "mkdir -p" so any intermediate directories are created, and it also works if the directory already exists.

--move SOURCE:DEST

Move files or directories inside the guest.

Wildcards cannot be used.

--no-logfile

Scrub "builder.log" (log file from build commands) from the image after building is complete. If you don't want to reveal precisely how the image was built, use this option.

See also: "LOG FILE".

--password USER:SELECTOR

Set the password for "USER". (Note this option does not create the user account).

See "USERS AND PASSWORDS" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the "SELECTOR" field, and also how to set up user accounts.

--password-crypto md5|sha256|sha512

When the virt tools change or set a password in the guest, this option sets the password encryption of that password to "md5", "sha256" or "sha512".

"sha256" and "sha512" require glibc ≥ 2.7 (check crypt(3) inside the guest).

"md5" will work with relatively old Linux guests (eg. RHEL 3), but is not secure against modern attacks.

The default is "sha512" unless libguestfs detects an old guest that didn't have support for SHA-512, in which case it will use "md5". You can override libguestfs by specifying this option.

Note this does not change the default password encryption used by the guest when you create new user accounts inside the guest. If you want to do that, then you should use the --edit option to modify "/etc/sysconfig/authconfig" (Fedora, RHEL) or "/etc/pam.d/common-password" (Debian, Ubuntu).

--root-password SELECTOR

Set the root password.

See "USERS AND PASSWORDS" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the "SELECTOR" field, and also how to set up user accounts.

Note: In virt-builder, if you don't set --root-password then the guest is given a random root password.

--run SCRIPT

Run the shell script (or any program) called "SCRIPT" on the disk image. The script runs virtualized inside a small appliance, chrooted into the guest filesystem.

The script is automatically chmod +x.

If libguestfs supports it then a limited network connection is available but it only allows outgoing network connections. You can also attach data disks (eg. ISO files) as another way to provide data (eg. software packages) to the script without needing a network connection (--attach). You can also upload data files (--upload).

You can have multiple --run options. They run in the same order that they appear on the command line.

See also: --firstboot, --attach, --upload.

--run-command 'CMD+ARGS'

Run the command and arguments on the disk image. The command runs virtualized inside a small appliance, chrooted into the guest filesystem.

If libguestfs supports it then a limited network connection is available but it only allows outgoing network connections. You can also attach data disks (eg. ISO files) as another way to provide data (eg. software packages) to the script without needing a network connection (--attach). You can also upload data files (--upload).

You can have multiple --run-command options. They run in the same order that they appear on the command line.

See also: --firstboot, --attach, --upload.

--scrub FILE

Scrub a file from the guest. This is like --delete except that:

--selinux-relabel

Relabel files in the guest so that they have the correct SELinux label.

This will attempt to relabel files immediately, but if the operation fails this will instead touch /.autorelabel on the image to schedule a relabel operation for the next time the image boots.

You should only use this option for guests which support SELinux.

--sm-attach SELECTOR

Attach to a pool using "subscription-manager".

See "SUBSCRIPTION-MANAGER" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the "SELECTOR" field.

--sm-credentials SELECTOR

Set the credentials for "subscription-manager".

See "SUBSCRIPTION-MANAGER" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the "SELECTOR" field.

--sm-register

Register the guest using "subscription-manager".

This requires credentials being set using --sm-credentials.

--sm-remove

Remove all the subscriptions from the guest using "subscription-manager".

--sm-unregister

Unregister the guest using "subscription-manager".

--ssh-inject USER[:SELECTOR]

Inject an ssh key so the given "USER" will be able to log in over ssh without supplying a password. The "USER" must exist already in the guest.

See "SSH KEYS" in virt-builder(1) for the format of the "SELECTOR" field.

You can have multiple --ssh-inject options, for different users and also for more keys for each user.

--timezone TIMEZONE

Set the default timezone of the guest to "TIMEZONE". Use a location string like "Europe/London"

--touch FILE

This command performs a touch(1)-like operation on "FILE".

--truncate FILE

This command truncates "FILE" to a zero-length file. The file must exist already.

--truncate-recursive PATH

This command recursively truncates all files under "PATH" to zero-length.

--uninstall PKG,PKG..

Uninstall the named packages (a comma-separated list). These are removed during the image build using the guest’s package manager (eg. apt, yum, etc.). Dependent packages may also need to be uninstalled to satisfy the request.

See also --install, --update.

--update

Do the equivalent of "yum update", "apt-get upgrade", or whatever command is required to update the packages already installed in the template to their latest versions.

See also --install, --uninstall.

--upload FILE:DEST

Upload local file "FILE" to destination "DEST" in the disk image. File owner and permissions from the original are preserved, so you should set them to what you want them to be in the disk image.

"DEST" could be the final filename. This can be used to rename the file on upload.

If "DEST" is a directory name (which must already exist in the guest) then the file is uploaded into that directory, and it keeps the same name as on the local filesystem.

See also: --mkdir, --delete, --scrub.

--write FILE:CONTENT

Write "CONTENT" to "FILE".