It's intended to be inserted between format and protocol nodes to preallocate additional space (expanding protocol file) on writes crossing EOF. It improves performance for file-systems with slow allocation. Signed-off-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@virtuozzo.com> Message-Id: <20201021145859.11201-9-vsementsov@virtuozzo.com> Reviewed-by: Max Reitz <mreitz@redhat.com> [mreitz: Two comment fixes, and bumped the version from 5.2 to 6.0] Signed-off-by: Max Reitz <mreitz@redhat.com>
		
			
				
	
	
		
			981 lines
		
	
	
		
			33 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			PHP
		
	
	
	
	
	
			
		
		
	
	
			981 lines
		
	
	
		
			33 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			PHP
		
	
	
	
	
	
Disk image file formats
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
QEMU supports many image file formats that can be used with VMs as well as with
 | 
						||
any of the tools (like ``qemu-img``). This includes the preferred formats
 | 
						||
raw and qcow2 as well as formats that are supported for compatibility with
 | 
						||
older QEMU versions or other hypervisors.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Depending on the image format, different options can be passed to
 | 
						||
``qemu-img create`` and ``qemu-img convert`` using the ``-o`` option.
 | 
						||
This section describes each format and the options that are supported for it.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: raw
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Raw disk image format. This format has the advantage of
 | 
						||
  being simple and easily exportable to all other emulators. If your
 | 
						||
  file system supports *holes* (for example in ext2 or ext3 on
 | 
						||
  Linux or NTFS on Windows), then only the written sectors will reserve
 | 
						||
  space. Use ``qemu-img info`` to know the real size used by the
 | 
						||
  image or ``ls -ls`` on Unix/Linux.
 | 
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 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: raw
 | 
						||
  .. option:: preallocation
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Preallocation mode (allowed values: ``off``, ``falloc``,
 | 
						||
    ``full``). ``falloc`` mode preallocates space for image by
 | 
						||
    calling ``posix_fallocate()``. ``full`` mode preallocates space
 | 
						||
    for image by writing data to underlying storage. This data may or
 | 
						||
    may not be zero, depending on the storage location.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: qcow2
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  QEMU image format, the most versatile format. Use it to have smaller
 | 
						||
  images (useful if your filesystem does not supports holes, for example
 | 
						||
  on Windows), zlib based compression and support of multiple VM
 | 
						||
  snapshots.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: qcow2
 | 
						||
  .. option:: compat
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Determines the qcow2 version to use. ``compat=0.10`` uses the
 | 
						||
    traditional image format that can be read by any QEMU since 0.10.
 | 
						||
    ``compat=1.1`` enables image format extensions that only QEMU 1.1 and
 | 
						||
    newer understand (this is the default). Amongst others, this includes
 | 
						||
    zero clusters, which allow efficient copy-on-read for sparse images.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: backing_file
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    File name of a base image (see ``create`` subcommand)
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: backing_fmt
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Image format of the base image
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encryption
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    This option is deprecated and equivalent to ``encrypt.format=aes``
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.format
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    If this is set to ``luks``, it requests that the qcow2 payload (not
 | 
						||
    qcow2 header) be encrypted using the LUKS format. The passphrase to
 | 
						||
    use to unlock the LUKS key slot is given by the ``encrypt.key-secret``
 | 
						||
    parameter. LUKS encryption parameters can be tuned with the other
 | 
						||
    ``encrypt.*`` parameters.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    If this is set to ``aes``, the image is encrypted with 128-bit AES-CBC.
 | 
						||
    The encryption key is given by the ``encrypt.key-secret`` parameter.
 | 
						||
    This encryption format is considered to be flawed by modern cryptography
 | 
						||
    standards, suffering from a number of design problems:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    - The AES-CBC cipher is used with predictable initialization vectors based
 | 
						||
      on the sector number. This makes it vulnerable to chosen plaintext attacks
 | 
						||
      which can reveal the existence of encrypted data.
 | 
						||
    - The user passphrase is directly used as the encryption key. A poorly
 | 
						||
      chosen or short passphrase will compromise the security of the encryption.
 | 
						||
    - In the event of the passphrase being compromised there is no way to
 | 
						||
      change the passphrase to protect data in any qcow images. The files must
 | 
						||
      be cloned, using a different encryption passphrase in the new file. The
 | 
						||
      original file must then be securely erased using a program like shred,
 | 
						||
      though even this is ineffective with many modern storage technologies.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    The use of this is no longer supported in system emulators. Support only
 | 
						||
    remains in the command line utilities, for the purposes of data liberation
 | 
						||
    and interoperability with old versions of QEMU. The ``luks`` format
 | 
						||
    should be used instead.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.key-secret
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Provides the ID of a ``secret`` object that contains the passphrase
 | 
						||
    (``encrypt.format=luks``) or encryption key (``encrypt.format=aes``).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.cipher-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the cipher algorithm and key length. Currently defaults
 | 
						||
    to ``aes-256``. Only used when ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.cipher-mode
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the encryption mode to use. Currently defaults to ``xts``.
 | 
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    Only used when ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.ivgen-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the initialization vector generator algorithm. Currently defaults
 | 
						||
    to ``plain64``. Only used when ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.ivgen-hash-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the hash algorithm to use with the initialization vector generator
 | 
						||
    (if required). Defaults to ``sha256``. Only used when ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.hash-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the hash algorithm to use for PBKDF algorithm
 | 
						||
    Defaults to ``sha256``. Only used when ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: encrypt.iter-time
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Amount of time, in milliseconds, to use for PBKDF algorithm per key slot.
 | 
						||
    Defaults to ``2000``. Only used when ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: cluster_size
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Changes the qcow2 cluster size (must be between 512 and 2M). Smaller cluster
 | 
						||
    sizes can improve the image file size whereas larger cluster sizes generally
 | 
						||
    provide better performance.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: preallocation
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Preallocation mode (allowed values: ``off``, ``metadata``, ``falloc``,
 | 
						||
    ``full``). An image with preallocated metadata is initially larger but can
 | 
						||
    improve performance when the image needs to grow. ``falloc`` and ``full``
 | 
						||
    preallocations are like the same options of ``raw`` format, but sets up
 | 
						||
    metadata also.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: lazy_refcounts
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    If this option is set to ``on``, reference count updates are postponed with
 | 
						||
    the goal of avoiding metadata I/O and improving performance. This is
 | 
						||
    particularly interesting with :option:`cache=writethrough` which doesn't batch
 | 
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    metadata updates. The tradeoff is that after a host crash, the reference count
 | 
						||
    tables must be rebuilt, i.e. on the next open an (automatic) ``qemu-img
 | 
						||
    check -r all`` is required, which may take some time.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    This option can only be enabled if ``compat=1.1`` is specified.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: nocow
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    If this option is set to ``on``, it will turn off COW of the file. It's only
 | 
						||
    valid on btrfs, no effect on other file systems.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Btrfs has low performance when hosting a VM image file, even more
 | 
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    when the guest on the VM also using btrfs as file system. Turning off
 | 
						||
    COW is a way to mitigate this bad performance. Generally there are two
 | 
						||
    ways to turn off COW on btrfs:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    - Disable it by mounting with nodatacow, then all newly created files
 | 
						||
      will be NOCOW.
 | 
						||
    - For an empty file, add the NOCOW file attribute. That's what this
 | 
						||
      option does.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Note: this option is only valid to new or empty files. If there is
 | 
						||
    an existing file which is COW and has data blocks already, it couldn't
 | 
						||
    be changed to NOCOW by setting ``nocow=on``. One can issue ``lsattr
 | 
						||
    filename`` to check if the NOCOW flag is set or not (Capital 'C' is
 | 
						||
    NOCOW flag).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: qed
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   Old QEMU image format with support for backing files and compact image files
 | 
						||
   (when your filesystem or transport medium does not support holes).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   When converting QED images to qcow2, you might want to consider using the
 | 
						||
   ``lazy_refcounts=on`` option to get a more QED-like behaviour.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. program:: qed
 | 
						||
   .. option:: backing_file
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
      File name of a base image (see ``create`` subcommand).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. option:: backing_fmt
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     Image file format of backing file (optional).  Useful if the format cannot be
 | 
						||
     autodetected because it has no header, like some vhd/vpc files.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. option:: cluster_size
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     Changes the cluster size (must be power-of-2 between 4K and 64K). Smaller
 | 
						||
     cluster sizes can improve the image file size whereas larger cluster sizes
 | 
						||
     generally provide better performance.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. option:: table_size
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     Changes the number of clusters per L1/L2 table (must be
 | 
						||
     power-of-2 between 1 and 16).  There is normally no need to
 | 
						||
     change this value but this option can between used for
 | 
						||
     performance benchmarking.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: qcow
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Old QEMU image format with support for backing files, compact image files,
 | 
						||
  encryption and compression.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. program:: qcow
 | 
						||
   .. option:: backing_file
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     File name of a base image (see ``create`` subcommand)
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. option:: encryption
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     This option is deprecated and equivalent to ``encrypt.format=aes``
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. option:: encrypt.format
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     If this is set to ``aes``, the image is encrypted with 128-bit AES-CBC.
 | 
						||
     The encryption key is given by the ``encrypt.key-secret`` parameter.
 | 
						||
     This encryption format is considered to be flawed by modern cryptography
 | 
						||
     standards, suffering from a number of design problems enumerated previously
 | 
						||
     against the ``qcow2`` image format.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     The use of this is no longer supported in system emulators. Support only
 | 
						||
     remains in the command line utilities, for the purposes of data liberation
 | 
						||
     and interoperability with old versions of QEMU.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     Users requiring native encryption should use the ``qcow2`` format
 | 
						||
     instead with ``encrypt.format=luks``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
   .. option:: encrypt.key-secret
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
     Provides the ID of a ``secret`` object that contains the encryption
 | 
						||
     key (``encrypt.format=aes``).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: luks
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  LUKS v1 encryption format, compatible with Linux dm-crypt/cryptsetup
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: luks
 | 
						||
  .. option:: key-secret
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Provides the ID of a ``secret`` object that contains the passphrase.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: cipher-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the cipher algorithm and key length. Currently defaults
 | 
						||
    to ``aes-256``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: cipher-mode
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the encryption mode to use. Currently defaults to ``xts``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: ivgen-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the initialization vector generator algorithm. Currently defaults
 | 
						||
    to ``plain64``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: ivgen-hash-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the hash algorithm to use with the initialization vector generator
 | 
						||
    (if required). Defaults to ``sha256``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: hash-alg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Name of the hash algorithm to use for PBKDF algorithm
 | 
						||
    Defaults to ``sha256``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: iter-time
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Amount of time, in milliseconds, to use for PBKDF algorithm per key slot.
 | 
						||
    Defaults to ``2000``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: vdi
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  VirtualBox 1.1 compatible image format.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: vdi
 | 
						||
  .. option:: static
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    If this option is set to ``on``, the image is created with metadata
 | 
						||
    preallocation.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: vmdk
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  VMware 3 and 4 compatible image format.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program: vmdk
 | 
						||
  .. option:: backing_file
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    File name of a base image (see ``create`` subcommand).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: compat6
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Create a VMDK version 6 image (instead of version 4)
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: hwversion
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Specify vmdk virtual hardware version. Compat6 flag cannot be enabled
 | 
						||
    if hwversion is specified.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. option:: subformat
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Specifies which VMDK subformat to use. Valid options are
 | 
						||
    ``monolithicSparse`` (default),
 | 
						||
    ``monolithicFlat``,
 | 
						||
    ``twoGbMaxExtentSparse``,
 | 
						||
    ``twoGbMaxExtentFlat`` and
 | 
						||
    ``streamOptimized``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: vpc
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  VirtualPC compatible image format (VHD).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: vpc
 | 
						||
  .. option:: subformat
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Specifies which VHD subformat to use. Valid options are
 | 
						||
    ``dynamic`` (default) and ``fixed``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: VHDX
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Hyper-V compatible image format (VHDX).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: VHDX
 | 
						||
  .. option:: subformat
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    Specifies which VHDX subformat to use. Valid options are
 | 
						||
    ``dynamic`` (default) and ``fixed``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    .. option:: block_state_zero
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
      Force use of payload blocks of type 'ZERO'.  Can be set to ``on`` (default)
 | 
						||
      or ``off``.  When set to ``off``, new blocks will be created as
 | 
						||
      ``PAYLOAD_BLOCK_NOT_PRESENT``, which means parsers are free to return
 | 
						||
      arbitrary data for those blocks.  Do not set to ``off`` when using
 | 
						||
      ``qemu-img convert`` with ``subformat=dynamic``.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    .. option:: block_size
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
      Block size; min 1 MB, max 256 MB.  0 means auto-calculate based on
 | 
						||
      image size.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    .. option:: log_size
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
      Log size; min 1 MB.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Read-only formats
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
More disk image file formats are supported in a read-only mode.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: bochs
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Bochs images of ``growing`` type.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: cloop
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Linux Compressed Loop image, useful only to reuse directly compressed
 | 
						||
  CD-ROM images present for example in the Knoppix CD-ROMs.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: dmg
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Apple disk image.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: image-formats
 | 
						||
.. option:: parallels
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Parallels disk image format.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Using host drives
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
In addition to disk image files, QEMU can directly access host
 | 
						||
devices. We describe here the usage for QEMU version >= 0.8.3.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Linux
 | 
						||
^^^^^
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
On Linux, you can directly use the host device filename instead of a
 | 
						||
disk image filename provided you have enough privileges to access
 | 
						||
it. For example, use ``/dev/cdrom`` to access to the CDROM.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
CD
 | 
						||
  You can specify a CDROM device even if no CDROM is loaded. QEMU has
 | 
						||
  specific code to detect CDROM insertion or removal. CDROM ejection by
 | 
						||
  the guest OS is supported. Currently only data CDs are supported.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Floppy
 | 
						||
  You can specify a floppy device even if no floppy is loaded. Floppy
 | 
						||
  removal is currently not detected accurately (if you change floppy
 | 
						||
  without doing floppy access while the floppy is not loaded, the guest
 | 
						||
  OS will think that the same floppy is loaded).
 | 
						||
  Use of the host's floppy device is deprecated, and support for it will
 | 
						||
  be removed in a future release.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Hard disks
 | 
						||
  Hard disks can be used. Normally you must specify the whole disk
 | 
						||
  (``/dev/hdb`` instead of ``/dev/hdb1``) so that the guest OS can
 | 
						||
  see it as a partitioned disk. WARNING: unless you know what you do, it
 | 
						||
  is better to only make READ-ONLY accesses to the hard disk otherwise
 | 
						||
  you may corrupt your host data (use the ``-snapshot`` command
 | 
						||
  line option or modify the device permissions accordingly).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Windows
 | 
						||
^^^^^^^
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
CD
 | 
						||
  The preferred syntax is the drive letter (e.g. ``d:``). The
 | 
						||
  alternate syntax ``\\.\d:`` is supported. ``/dev/cdrom`` is
 | 
						||
  supported as an alias to the first CDROM drive.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Currently there is no specific code to handle removable media, so it
 | 
						||
  is better to use the ``change`` or ``eject`` monitor commands to
 | 
						||
  change or eject media.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Hard disks
 | 
						||
  Hard disks can be used with the syntax: ``\\.\PhysicalDriveN``
 | 
						||
  where *N* is the drive number (0 is the first hard disk).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  WARNING: unless you know what you do, it is better to only make
 | 
						||
  READ-ONLY accesses to the hard disk otherwise you may corrupt your
 | 
						||
  host data (use the ``-snapshot`` command line so that the
 | 
						||
  modifications are written in a temporary file).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Mac OS X
 | 
						||
^^^^^^^^
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
``/dev/cdrom`` is an alias to the first CDROM.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Currently there is no specific code to handle removable media, so it
 | 
						||
is better to use the ``change`` or ``eject`` monitor commands to
 | 
						||
change or eject media.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Virtual FAT disk images
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
QEMU can automatically create a virtual FAT disk image from a
 | 
						||
directory tree. In order to use it, just type:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux.img -hdb fat:/my_directory
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Then you access access to all the files in the ``/my_directory``
 | 
						||
directory without having to copy them in a disk image or to export
 | 
						||
them via SAMBA or NFS. The default access is *read-only*.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Floppies can be emulated with the ``:floppy:`` option:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux.img -fda fat:floppy:/my_directory
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
A read/write support is available for testing (beta stage) with the
 | 
						||
``:rw:`` option:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux.img -fda fat:floppy:rw:/my_directory
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
What you should *never* do:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
- use non-ASCII filenames
 | 
						||
- use "-snapshot" together with ":rw:"
 | 
						||
- expect it to work when loadvm'ing
 | 
						||
- write to the FAT directory on the host system while accessing it with the guest system
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
NBD access
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
QEMU can access directly to block device exported using the Network Block Device
 | 
						||
protocol.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux.img -hdb nbd://my_nbd_server.mydomain.org:1024/
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
If the NBD server is located on the same host, you can use an unix socket instead
 | 
						||
of an inet socket:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux.img -hdb nbd+unix://?socket=/tmp/my_socket
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
In this case, the block device must be exported using qemu-nbd:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-nbd --socket=/tmp/my_socket my_disk.qcow2
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
The use of qemu-nbd allows sharing of a disk between several guests:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-nbd --socket=/tmp/my_socket --share=2 my_disk.qcow2
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
and then you can use it with two guests:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux1.img -hdb nbd+unix://?socket=/tmp/my_socket
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux2.img -hdb nbd+unix://?socket=/tmp/my_socket
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
If the nbd-server uses named exports (supported since NBD 2.9.18, or with QEMU's
 | 
						||
own embedded NBD server), you must specify an export name in the URI:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -cdrom nbd://localhost/debian-500-ppc-netinst
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -cdrom nbd://localhost/openSUSE-11.1-ppc-netinst
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
The URI syntax for NBD is supported since QEMU 1.3.  An alternative syntax is
 | 
						||
also available.  Here are some example of the older syntax:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux.img -hdb nbd:my_nbd_server.mydomain.org:1024
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| linux2.img -hdb nbd:unix:/tmp/my_socket
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -cdrom nbd:localhost:10809:exportname=debian-500-ppc-netinst
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Sheepdog disk images
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Sheepdog is a distributed storage system for QEMU.  It provides highly
 | 
						||
available block level storage volumes that can be attached to
 | 
						||
QEMU-based virtual machines.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can create a Sheepdog disk image with the command:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-img create sheepdog:///IMAGE SIZE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
where *IMAGE* is the Sheepdog image name and *SIZE* is its
 | 
						||
size.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
To import the existing *FILENAME* to Sheepdog, you can use a
 | 
						||
convert command.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-img convert FILENAME sheepdog:///IMAGE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can boot from the Sheepdog disk image with the command:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| sheepdog:///IMAGE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can also create a snapshot of the Sheepdog image like qcow2.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-img snapshot -c TAG sheepdog:///IMAGE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
where *TAG* is a tag name of the newly created snapshot.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
To boot from the Sheepdog snapshot, specify the tag name of the
 | 
						||
snapshot.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| sheepdog:///IMAGE#TAG
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can create a cloned image from the existing snapshot.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-img create -b sheepdog:///BASE#TAG sheepdog:///IMAGE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
where *BASE* is an image name of the source snapshot and *TAG*
 | 
						||
is its tag name.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can use an unix socket instead of an inet socket:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| sheepdog+unix:///IMAGE?socket=PATH
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
If the Sheepdog daemon doesn't run on the local host, you need to
 | 
						||
specify one of the Sheepdog servers to connect to.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-img create sheepdog://HOSTNAME:PORT/IMAGE SIZE
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| sheepdog://HOSTNAME:PORT/IMAGE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
iSCSI LUNs
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
iSCSI is a popular protocol used to access SCSI devices across a computer
 | 
						||
network.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
There are two different ways iSCSI devices can be used by QEMU.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
The first method is to mount the iSCSI LUN on the host, and make it appear as
 | 
						||
any other ordinary SCSI device on the host and then to access this device as a
 | 
						||
/dev/sd device from QEMU. How to do this differs between host OSes.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
The second method involves using the iSCSI initiator that is built into
 | 
						||
QEMU. This provides a mechanism that works the same way regardless of which
 | 
						||
host OS you are running QEMU on. This section will describe this second method
 | 
						||
of using iSCSI together with QEMU.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
In QEMU, iSCSI devices are described using special iSCSI URLs. URL syntax:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  iscsi://[<username>[%<password>]@]<host>[:<port>]/<target-iqn-name>/<lun>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Username and password are optional and only used if your target is set up
 | 
						||
using CHAP authentication for access control.
 | 
						||
Alternatively the username and password can also be set via environment
 | 
						||
variables to have these not show up in the process list:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  export LIBISCSI_CHAP_USERNAME=<username>
 | 
						||
  export LIBISCSI_CHAP_PASSWORD=<password>
 | 
						||
  iscsi://<host>/<target-iqn-name>/<lun>
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Various session related parameters can be set via special options, either
 | 
						||
in a configuration file provided via '-readconfig' or directly on the
 | 
						||
command line.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
If the initiator-name is not specified qemu will use a default name
 | 
						||
of 'iqn.2008-11.org.linux-kvm[:<uuid>'] where <uuid> is the UUID of the
 | 
						||
virtual machine. If the UUID is not specified qemu will use
 | 
						||
'iqn.2008-11.org.linux-kvm[:<name>'] where <name> is the name of the
 | 
						||
virtual machine.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Setting a specific initiator name to use when logging in to the target:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  -iscsi initiator-name=iqn.qemu.test:my-initiator
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Controlling which type of header digest to negotiate with the target:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  -iscsi header-digest=CRC32C|CRC32C-NONE|NONE-CRC32C|NONE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
These can also be set via a configuration file:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  [iscsi]
 | 
						||
    user = "CHAP username"
 | 
						||
    password = "CHAP password"
 | 
						||
    initiator-name = "iqn.qemu.test:my-initiator"
 | 
						||
    # header digest is one of CRC32C|CRC32C-NONE|NONE-CRC32C|NONE
 | 
						||
    header-digest = "CRC32C"
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Setting the target name allows different options for different targets:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  [iscsi "iqn.target.name"]
 | 
						||
    user = "CHAP username"
 | 
						||
    password = "CHAP password"
 | 
						||
    initiator-name = "iqn.qemu.test:my-initiator"
 | 
						||
    # header digest is one of CRC32C|CRC32C-NONE|NONE-CRC32C|NONE
 | 
						||
    header-digest = "CRC32C"
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
How to use a configuration file to set iSCSI configuration options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  cat >iscsi.conf <<EOF
 | 
						||
  [iscsi]
 | 
						||
    user = "me"
 | 
						||
    password = "my password"
 | 
						||
    initiator-name = "iqn.qemu.test:my-initiator"
 | 
						||
    header-digest = "CRC32C"
 | 
						||
  EOF
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=iscsi://127.0.0.1/iqn.qemu.test/1 \\
 | 
						||
    -readconfig iscsi.conf
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
How to set up a simple iSCSI target on loopback and access it via QEMU:
 | 
						||
this example shows how to set up an iSCSI target with one CDROM and one DISK
 | 
						||
using the Linux STGT software target. This target is available on Red Hat based
 | 
						||
systems as the package 'scsi-target-utils'.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  tgtd --iscsi portal=127.0.0.1:3260
 | 
						||
  tgtadm --lld iscsi --op new --mode target --tid 1 -T iqn.qemu.test
 | 
						||
  tgtadm --lld iscsi --mode logicalunit --op new --tid 1 --lun 1 \\
 | 
						||
      -b /IMAGES/disk.img --device-type=disk
 | 
						||
  tgtadm --lld iscsi --mode logicalunit --op new --tid 1 --lun 2 \\
 | 
						||
      -b /IMAGES/cd.iso --device-type=cd
 | 
						||
  tgtadm --lld iscsi --op bind --mode target --tid 1 -I ALL
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -iscsi initiator-name=iqn.qemu.test:my-initiator \\
 | 
						||
    -boot d -drive file=iscsi://127.0.0.1/iqn.qemu.test/1 \\
 | 
						||
    -cdrom iscsi://127.0.0.1/iqn.qemu.test/2
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
GlusterFS disk images
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
GlusterFS is a user space distributed file system.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can boot from the GlusterFS disk image with the command:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
URI:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster[+TYPE]://[HOST}[:PORT]]/VOLUME/PATH
 | 
						||
                               [?socket=...][,file.debug=9][,file.logfile=...]
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
JSON:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| 'json:{"driver":"qcow2",
 | 
						||
                           "file":{"driver":"gluster",
 | 
						||
                                    "volume":"testvol","path":"a.img","debug":9,"logfile":"...",
 | 
						||
                                    "server":[{"type":"tcp","host":"...","port":"..."},
 | 
						||
                                              {"type":"unix","socket":"..."}]}}'
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*gluster* is the protocol.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*TYPE* specifies the transport type used to connect to gluster
 | 
						||
management daemon (glusterd). Valid transport types are
 | 
						||
tcp and unix. In the URI form, if a transport type isn't specified,
 | 
						||
then tcp type is assumed.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*HOST* specifies the server where the volume file specification for
 | 
						||
the given volume resides. This can be either a hostname or an ipv4 address.
 | 
						||
If transport type is unix, then *HOST* field should not be specified.
 | 
						||
Instead *socket* field needs to be populated with the path to unix domain
 | 
						||
socket.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*PORT* is the port number on which glusterd is listening. This is optional
 | 
						||
and if not specified, it defaults to port 24007. If the transport type is unix,
 | 
						||
then *PORT* should not be specified.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*VOLUME* is the name of the gluster volume which contains the disk image.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*PATH* is the path to the actual disk image that resides on gluster volume.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*debug* is the logging level of the gluster protocol driver. Debug levels
 | 
						||
are 0-9, with 9 being the most verbose, and 0 representing no debugging output.
 | 
						||
The default level is 4. The current logging levels defined in the gluster source
 | 
						||
are 0 - None, 1 - Emergency, 2 - Alert, 3 - Critical, 4 - Error, 5 - Warning,
 | 
						||
6 - Notice, 7 - Info, 8 - Debug, 9 - Trace
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*logfile* is a commandline option to mention log file path which helps in
 | 
						||
logging to the specified file and also help in persisting the gfapi logs. The
 | 
						||
default is stderr.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can create a GlusterFS disk image with the command:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  qemu-img create gluster://HOST/VOLUME/PATH SIZE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Examples
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster://1.2.3.4/testvol/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+tcp://1.2.3.4/testvol/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+tcp://1.2.3.4:24007/testvol/dir/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+tcp://[1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]/testvol/dir/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+tcp://[1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:24007/testvol/dir/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+tcp://server.domain.com:24007/testvol/dir/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+unix:///testvol/dir/a.img?socket=/tmp/glusterd.socket
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster+rdma://1.2.3.4:24007/testvol/a.img
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=gluster://1.2.3.4/testvol/a.img,file.debug=9,file.logfile=/var/log/qemu-gluster.log
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| 'json:{"driver":"qcow2",
 | 
						||
                           "file":{"driver":"gluster",
 | 
						||
                                    "volume":"testvol","path":"a.img",
 | 
						||
                                    "debug":9,"logfile":"/var/log/qemu-gluster.log",
 | 
						||
                                    "server":[{"type":"tcp","host":"1.2.3.4","port":24007},
 | 
						||
                                              {"type":"unix","socket":"/var/run/glusterd.socket"}]}}'
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive driver=qcow2,file.driver=gluster,file.volume=testvol,file.path=/path/a.img,
 | 
						||
                                       file.debug=9,file.logfile=/var/log/qemu-gluster.log,
 | 
						||
                                       file.server.0.type=tcp,file.server.0.host=1.2.3.4,file.server.0.port=24007,
 | 
						||
                                       file.server.1.type=unix,file.server.1.socket=/var/run/glusterd.socket
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Secure Shell (ssh) disk images
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
You can access disk images located on a remote ssh server
 | 
						||
by using the ssh protocol:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file=ssh://[USER@]SERVER[:PORT]/PATH[?host_key_check=HOST_KEY_CHECK]
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Alternative syntax using properties:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file.driver=ssh[,file.user=USER],file.host=SERVER[,file.port=PORT],file.path=PATH[,file.host_key_check=HOST_KEY_CHECK]
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*ssh* is the protocol.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*USER* is the remote user.  If not specified, then the local
 | 
						||
username is tried.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*SERVER* specifies the remote ssh server.  Any ssh server can be
 | 
						||
used, but it must implement the sftp-server protocol.  Most Unix/Linux
 | 
						||
systems should work without requiring any extra configuration.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*PORT* is the port number on which sshd is listening.  By default
 | 
						||
the standard ssh port (22) is used.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*PATH* is the path to the disk image.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
The optional *HOST_KEY_CHECK* parameter controls how the remote
 | 
						||
host's key is checked.  The default is ``yes`` which means to use
 | 
						||
the local ``.ssh/known_hosts`` file.  Setting this to ``no``
 | 
						||
turns off known-hosts checking.  Or you can check that the host key
 | 
						||
matches a specific fingerprint:
 | 
						||
``host_key_check=md5:78:45:8e:14:57:4f:d5:45:83:0a:0e:f3:49:82:c9:c8``
 | 
						||
(``sha1:`` can also be used as a prefix, but note that OpenSSH
 | 
						||
tools only use MD5 to print fingerprints).
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Currently authentication must be done using ssh-agent.  Other
 | 
						||
authentication methods may be supported in future.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Note: Many ssh servers do not support an ``fsync``-style operation.
 | 
						||
The ssh driver cannot guarantee that disk flush requests are
 | 
						||
obeyed, and this causes a risk of disk corruption if the remote
 | 
						||
server or network goes down during writes.  The driver will
 | 
						||
print a warning when ``fsync`` is not supported:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  warning: ssh server ssh.example.com:22 does not support fsync
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
With sufficiently new versions of libssh and OpenSSH, ``fsync`` is
 | 
						||
supported.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
NVMe disk images
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
NVM Express (NVMe) storage controllers can be accessed directly by a userspace
 | 
						||
driver in QEMU.  This bypasses the host kernel file system and block layers
 | 
						||
while retaining QEMU block layer functionalities, such as block jobs, I/O
 | 
						||
throttling, image formats, etc.  Disk I/O performance is typically higher than
 | 
						||
with ``-drive file=/dev/sda`` using either thread pool or linux-aio.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
The controller will be exclusively used by the QEMU process once started. To be
 | 
						||
able to share storage between multiple VMs and other applications on the host,
 | 
						||
please use the file based protocols.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Before starting QEMU, bind the host NVMe controller to the host vfio-pci
 | 
						||
driver.  For example:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  # modprobe vfio-pci
 | 
						||
  # lspci -n -s 0000:06:0d.0
 | 
						||
  06:0d.0 0401: 1102:0002 (rev 08)
 | 
						||
  # echo 0000:06:0d.0 > /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:06:0d.0/driver/unbind
 | 
						||
  # echo 1102 0002 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/vfio-pci/new_id
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  # |qemu_system| -drive file=nvme://HOST:BUS:SLOT.FUNC/NAMESPACE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Alternative syntax using properties:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. parsed-literal::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  |qemu_system| -drive file.driver=nvme,file.device=HOST:BUS:SLOT.FUNC,file.namespace=NAMESPACE
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*HOST*:*BUS*:*SLOT*.\ *FUNC* is the NVMe controller's PCI device
 | 
						||
address on the host.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
*NAMESPACE* is the NVMe namespace number, starting from 1.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Disk image file locking
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
By default, QEMU tries to protect image files from unexpected concurrent
 | 
						||
access, as long as it's supported by the block protocol driver and host
 | 
						||
operating system. If multiple QEMU processes (including QEMU emulators and
 | 
						||
utilities) try to open the same image with conflicting accessing modes, all but
 | 
						||
the first one will get an error.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
This feature is currently supported by the file protocol on Linux with the Open
 | 
						||
File Descriptor (OFD) locking API, and can be configured to fall back to POSIX
 | 
						||
locking if the POSIX host doesn't support Linux OFD locking.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
To explicitly enable image locking, specify "locking=on" in the file protocol
 | 
						||
driver options. If OFD locking is not possible, a warning will be printed and
 | 
						||
the POSIX locking API will be used. In this case there is a risk that the lock
 | 
						||
will get silently lost when doing hot plugging and block jobs, due to the
 | 
						||
shortcomings of the POSIX locking API.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
QEMU transparently handles lock handover during shared storage migration.  For
 | 
						||
shared virtual disk images between multiple VMs, the "share-rw" device option
 | 
						||
should be used.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
By default, the guest has exclusive write access to its disk image. If the
 | 
						||
guest can safely share the disk image with other writers the
 | 
						||
``-device ...,share-rw=on`` parameter can be used.  This is only safe if
 | 
						||
the guest is running software, such as a cluster file system, that
 | 
						||
coordinates disk accesses to avoid corruption.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Note that share-rw=on only declares the guest's ability to share the disk.
 | 
						||
Some QEMU features, such as image file formats, require exclusive write access
 | 
						||
to the disk image and this is unaffected by the share-rw=on option.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Alternatively, locking can be fully disabled by "locking=off" block device
 | 
						||
option. In the command line, the option is usually in the form of
 | 
						||
"file.locking=off" as the protocol driver is normally placed as a "file" child
 | 
						||
under a format driver. For example:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
::
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  -blockdev driver=qcow2,file.filename=/path/to/image,file.locking=off,file.driver=file
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
To check if image locking is active, check the output of the "lslocks" command
 | 
						||
on host and see if there are locks held by the QEMU process on the image file.
 | 
						||
More than one byte could be locked by the QEMU instance, each byte of which
 | 
						||
reflects a particular permission that is acquired or protected by the running
 | 
						||
block driver.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
Filter drivers
 | 
						||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
QEMU supports several filter drivers, which don't store any data, but perform
 | 
						||
some additional tasks, hooking io requests.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
.. program:: filter-drivers
 | 
						||
.. option:: preallocate
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  The preallocate filter driver is intended to be inserted between format
 | 
						||
  and protocol nodes and preallocates some additional space
 | 
						||
  (expanding the protocol file) when writing past the file’s end. This can be
 | 
						||
  useful for file-systems with slow allocation.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  Supported options:
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: preallocate
 | 
						||
  .. option:: prealloc-align
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    On preallocation, align the file length to this value (in bytes), default 1M.
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
  .. program:: preallocate
 | 
						||
  .. option:: prealloc-size
 | 
						||
 | 
						||
    How much to preallocate (in bytes), default 128M.
 |