LIBVIRTD(8)

NAME
libvirtd - libvirtd management daemon

SYNOPSIS
libvirtd [ -dlv ] [ -f config_file ] [ -p pid_file ] [ -t timeout_seconds ]

libvirtd --version

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.

OPTIONS

-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.

-p, --pid-file FILE
    Use this name for the PID file, overriding the default value.

-t, --timeout SECONDS
    Exit after timeout period (in seconds) elapse with no client connections or registered resources. Be aware that resources such as autostart networks will result in never reaching the timeout, even when there are no client connections.

-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/libvirtd.conf
    The default configuration file used by libvirtd, unless overridden on the command line using the -f|--config option.

LOCALSTATEDIR/run/libvirt/libvirt-sock
LOCALSTATEDIR/run/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.

LOCALSTATEDIR/run/libvirtd.pid
    The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p|--pid-file option.

  When run as non-root.

$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirtd.conf
    The default configuration file used by libvirtd, unless overridden on the command line using the -f|--config option.

$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) 0.8.2
 #

To start libvirtd, instructing it to daemonize and create a PID file:

 # libvirtd -d
 # ls -la LOCALSTATEDIR/run/libvirtd.pid
 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 6 Jul  9 02:40 LOCALSTATEDIR/run/libvirtd.pid
 #

BUGS
Please report all bugs you discover. This should be done via either:

a) the mailing list
    <http://libvirt.org/contact.html>

or,

b) the bug tracker
    <http://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), <http://www.libvirt.org/>