VIRTINTERFACED(8)

📦
version 12.8.0 · 7 versions
, in centos-stream 10

🌸 VIRTINTERFACED(8) 🌸

okay so this is a page from the Virtualization Support manual, and we're about to get into virtinterfaced — the libvirt host network interface management daemon. buckle up bestie 💖

✨ NAME ✨

virtinterfaced — the libvirt host network interface management daemon. yeah. that's the whole vibe. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

virtinterfaced [OPTION]...

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so virtinterfaced is a server side daemon component of the libvirt virtualization management system. icon behavior honestly. 👑

it's one of a whole collection of modular daemons that replace the functionality that the old monolithic libvirtd daemon used to give you. like the group chat splitting into smaller, more focused group chats. slay.

this daemon runs on virtualization hosts and its whole job is providing management for host network interfaces. that's it, that's the assignment. 🦋

the virtinterfaced daemon only listens for requests on a local Unix domain socket. remote access via TLS/TCP — plus backwards compatibility for legacy clients that are still expecting libvirtd — is provided by the virtproxyd daemon instead. so like, if you want in from outside, that's a different girl's department. 💅

restarting virtinterfaced does not interrupt running guests. guests keep operating, and changes in their state will generally be picked up automatically during startup. none the less (their spelling, not mine, but ok) it is recommended to avoid restarting with running guests whenever practical. lowkey just be polite about it. 🙈

✨ DAEMON STARTUP MODES ✨

the virtinterfaced daemon is capable of starting in two modes. two moods. two aesthetics. 🌈

💜 Socket activation mode

on hosts with systemd it is started in socket activation mode, and it will rely on systemd to create and listen on the UNIX sockets and pass them as pre-opened file descriptors. in this mode most of the socket related config options in /etc/libvirt/virtinterfaced.conf will no longer have any effect. yes bestie, those settings are just... not doing anything. it's giving decorative. 💀

💜 Traditional service mode

on hosts without systemd, it will create and listen on UNIX sockets itself. self-sufficient queen. periodt. 🔥

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -h, --help — display command line help usage then exit. a little peek at the menu 🫶
  • -d, --daemon — run as a daemon & write PID file.
  • -f, --config FILE — use this configuration file, overriding the default value.
  • -p, --pid-file FILE — use this name for the PID file, overriding the default value.
  • -t, --timeout SECONDS — exit after timeout period (in seconds), provided there are no client connections. like leaving the party when nobody's dancing 😭
  • -v, --verbose — enable output of verbose messages. she's chatty now 💬
  • --version — display version information then exit.

✨ SIGNALS ✨

on receipt of SIGHUP, virtinterfaced will reload its configuration. that's it. that's the signal. a little refresh, a little self-care. ⭐

✨ FILES ✨

🎀 When run as root

  • /etc/libvirt/virtinterfaced.conf
    • The default configuration file used by virtinterfaced, unless overridden on the command line using the -f | --config option.
  • /run/libvirt/virtinterfaced-sock
  • /run/libvirt/virtinterfaced-sock-ro
  • /run/libvirt/virtinterfaced-admin-sock
    • The sockets virtinterfaced will use.
  • The TLS Server private key virtinterfaced will use.
ngl the original page lists that TLS line here with no file path attached to it — not me fixing it, just preserving the lore exactly as written, iykyk 💀
  • /run/virtinterfaced.pid
    • The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p | --pid-file option.

🎀 When run as non-root

  • $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/virtinterfaced.conf
    • The default configuration file used by virtinterfaced, unless overridden on the command line using the -f | --config option.
  • $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/virtinterfaced-sock
  • $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/virtinterfaced-admin-sock
    • The sockets virtinterfaced will use.
  • $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/libvirt/virtinterfaced.pid
    • The PID file to use, unless overridden by the -p | --pid-file option.

if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is not set in your environment, virtinterfaced will use $HOME/.config 🏠

if $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR is not set in your environment, virtinterfaced will use $HOME/.cache 🧚

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

to retrieve the version of virtinterfaced:

# virtinterfaced --version
virtinterfaced (libvirt) 12.8.0

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

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

see? the PID file is literally right there. ate. 🔥

✨ BUGS ✨

please report all bugs you discover. 💖 this should be done via either:

  1. the mailing list
https://libvirt.org/contact.html
  1. the bug tracker
https://libvirt.org/bugs.html

alternatively, you may report bugs to your software distributor / vendor. we're not gonna gatekeep where you vent. 🫶

✨ AUTHORS ✨

please refer to the AUTHORS file distributed with libvirt. 👑

Copyright (C) 2006-2020 Red Hat, Inc., and the authors listed in the libvirt AUTHORS file.

✨ LICENSE ✨

virtinterfaced 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. like, zero. none. don't come for her. 😭

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

virsh(1), libvirtd(8), https://libvirt.org/daemons.html

and that's the whole page, bestie 🌸 this lil icon comes to you from the VIRTINTERFACED(8) page in the Virtualization Support manual — version vibes courtesy of the libvirt fam, dated in the classic terse manpage way. mwah, go manage some interfaces. 💜🎀✨

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