---
name: "guestfsd"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "guestfsd"
version: "1:1.54.1-2+deb13u1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/guestfsd"
---

# guestfsd(8)

guestfs daemon

## NAME

guestfsd - guestfs daemon

## SYNOPSIS

```
 guestfsd [-r] [-v|--verbose]
```

## DESCRIPTION

`"guestfsd"` is the libguestfs daemon.  Normal users never need to run this program explicitly.  This man page discusses what `"guestfsd"` does in both the libguestfs appliance and when using libguestfs live.

### LIBGUESTFS APPLIANCE

For the architecture of the libguestfs appliance, see "ARCHITECTURE" in [**guestfs**(3)](/guestfs/3.md).

After the appliance boots, the */init* script in the appliance starts `"guestfsd"` with no arguments.  `"guestfsd"` opens the virtio-serial port on a known path (see "FILES").  It initiates the protocol (see "COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL" in [**guestfs**(3)](/guestfs/3.md)) and processes requests one at a time from the library until the appliance is destroyed.

Filesystems are mounted under */sysroot* and all filesystem operations happen relative to this directory.

### LIBGUESTFS LIVE

In the libguestfs live case, `"guestfsd -r"` is started from the rc-scripts, systemd, etc.

The `"-r"` option causes the daemon to operate on the root filesystem instead of */sysroot*.

Currently (because of limitations in virtio-serial) only one client can connect at a time, and `"guestfsd"` must be restarted after each client disconnects.  If libguestfs live were changed to use a different transport such as TCP/IP then this limitation could be removed.

## OPTIONS

- **-?**

  - **--help**

  Display brief help.

- **-c** CHANNEL

  - **--channel** CHANNEL

  - **--channel** fd:N

  Pass the name of the virtio-serial channel, serial port, etc.  over which guestfsd will communicate with the library.  If this parameter is not given, then an internal default port is used.

  The `"fd:N"` form causes guestfsd to use the file descriptor `"N"` directly.

- **-l**

  - **--listen**

  Instead of opening the `"guestfs_channel"` and thus expecting that it already exists, create the channel as a Unix domain socket, listen on it, and accept a single connection.  This is mainly used for testing the daemon.

- **-n**

  - **--network**

  Enable network features in the daemon.

- **-r**

  Set the root filesystem to be */* (instead of the default which is */sysroot*).  Also do not unmount filesystems when the daemon exits.

  This option is used to enable libguestfs live.

- **-v**

  - **--verbose**

  Enable verbose messages for debugging.

  The verbose flag is also set if the Linux command line contains the substring `"guestfs_verbose=1"`.

## EXIT STATUS

This program returns 0 if successful, or non-zero if there was an error.

## FILES

- */dev/virtio-ports/org.libguestfs.channel.0*

  The virtio serial port which `"guestfsd"` connects to.

- */proc/cmdline*

  The Linux command line is parsed to discover `"guestfs_*"` flags.  The following flags are understood:

  - **guestfs\_verbose=1**

    Enable verbose messages.  This flag is passed by the libguestfs library to the appliance to make the daemon more verbose (it acts like the *-v* flag on the command line).  Unrelated to the daemon, it also causes the appliance init script to print out a lot more debugging information.

  - **guestfs\_channel=PATH**

    Set the path to the virtio-serial channel to something other than the default (which is */dev/virtio-ports/org.libguestfs.channel.0*). This is used by the User-Mode Linux backend to use a regular emulated serial port instead of virtio-serial.

  - **guestfs\_network=1**

    This is set if the appliance network is enabled (see `"guestfs_set_network"`).

## SEE ALSO

[**guestfs**(3)](/guestfs/3.md), http://libguestfs.org/.

## AUTHOR

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

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2009-2023 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)](/libguestfs-test-tool/1.md) and paste the **complete, unedited** output into the bug report.