nbdkit-zero-plugin(1)

📦
version 1.48.1 · 14 versions
, in fedora 44

✨ nbdkit-zero-plugin — the manual page ✨

okay bestie, welcome to the nbdkit-zero-plugin(1) page 💖 this is part of the NBDKIT manual, and it is literally the shortest, most unserious-sounding, most important-for-testing plugin in the whole squad. buckle up, it's a short one, and yes we're still going to slay every single line 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

nbdkit-zero-plugin — the nbdkit zero length plugin 🫶

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

nbdkit zero

that's it. that's the whole vibe. no args, no drama, no notes 💅

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

nbdkit-zero-plugin is a zero length plugin for nbdkit(1). it presents a virtual device of size 0. that's not a typo, bestie, the device is genuinely zero bytes long, and it is iconic for exactly that reason.

so what is it even for? 🦋 it's used to test corner cases in nbdkit, in the NBD protocol, and in NBD clients. it's the "hold my iced coffee while I see what happens at the absolute edge of the universe" plugin. corner case testing is main character energy fr fr ✨

now, if you wanted a read-only plugin with non-zero size that's full of zero bytes, that is not this one — go use nbdkit-null-plugin(1) instead. and if you wanted a writable plugin that starts off initialized to zeroes (aka a RAM disk), that's also not this one — that's nbdkit-memory-plugin(1). know the difference, iykyk 😌

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • $plugindir/nbdkit-zero-plugin.so — the plugin itself. yes, the whole plugin. it's a little guy.

want to know where $plugindir actually lives on your machine? run nbdkit --dump-config and it will tell you. no cap 🌈

⭐ VERSION ⭐

nbdkit-zero-plugin first appeared in nbdkit 1.4. vintage but still serving 💅

🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

the whole friend group, go say hi:

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Richard W.M. Jones 💖 (yes, the legend himself)

Copyright Red Hat

💅 LICENSE 💅

okay so legally speaking, this part is the serious bit, and we keep it exactly as written, because legal text does not do vibes. redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  • Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
  • Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
  • Neither the name of Red Hat nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
⚠️ and here comes the all-caps part, do not skip it, it means business:

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY RED HAT AND CONTRIBUTORS ''AS IS'' AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL RED HAT OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

and that's the page, bestie 🥹 mwah 💋 this was nbdkit-1.48.1, dated 2026-08-29 — go test some corner cases, you absolute icon 🫶✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from