[Libguestfs] Proposed new libguestfs file APIS

[Matthew Booth]

As part of a new virt-v2v feature, I've been thinking about how to write 
data to an arbitrary block device in the appliance. I need to be able to 
write arbitrary chunks of data to specific places on the device. This 
will need a new API, as guestfs_pread can't open a block device. While 
I'm at it, I'd like to create a new family of APIs which operate on a 
file handle:

int guestfs_open_device(g, path);
   Open a block device. Return a handle.

int guestfs_open_file(g, path);
   Open a file from the guest's filesystem. Return a handle.

int guestfs_close_handle(g, handle);
   Close a file handle.

ssize_t guestfs_hpread(g, handle, buf, size, offset);
ssize_t guestfs_hread(g, handle, buf, size);
ssize_t guestfs_hpwrite(g, handle, buf, size, offset);
ssize_t guestfs_hwrite(g, handle, buf, size);
   Wrappers round pread(), read(), pwrite() and write() which operate on 
a handle.

ssize_t guestfs_hseek(g, handle, offset, whence);
   Wrapper round lseek().

int guestfs_htruncate(g, handle, length);
   Wrapper round ftruncate().

In terms of the API, the handle would be an opaque int. In practise it 
would be a file descriptor owned by guestfsd.

I believe these APIs could result in a performance improvement over 
opening a file repeated. However, I have no data to back this up at present.

Aside from any potential performance improvement I believe these APIs 
are a better interface for the developer when doing low level file 
operations in the guest.

Comments before I code this up?

Thanks,

Matt
-- 
Matthew Booth, RHCA, RHCSS
Red Hat Engineering, Virtualisation Team

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