[Libguestfs] RFE: ctime byte-for-byte reproducible qcow2 ext2/3/4 FS

[Marc Pawlowsky]

Problem:  Want to be able to produce a qcow2 file with multiple ext4
File Systems.
Days later want to reproduce the production of the qcow2 and have the
exact same byte-for-byte file, to prove my build is reproducible.
Currently the ctime attributes of the inodes will differ and thus the
qcow2 files will differ.  Since the file times are subsecond the trick
of setting the system time and chmoding the files will not work.

In
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/47440618/changing-qcow2-st-ctime
I mention how debugfs can be used to change the ctimes.

Two possible usages come to mind:

1.  A global flag that would indicate the ctime that should be used
for all file operations, e.g. a fake system clock.
2.  A new command to specifically change the ctime, like debugfs's
set_inode_field.


Thanks
  Marc