[libvirt] uses of /etc/libvirt/<driver>/

[Eric Blake]

On 03/17/2014 05:46 PM, Jim Fehlig wrote:
> I received a report about an odd use case of /etc/libvirt/<driver>/
> config files, and would like to hear some opinions about it.  The user
> "preps" a host by mounting a remote fs containing VM images and config,
> creates links in /etc/libvirt/<driver>/dom.xml to
> /mnt-point/whatever/dom.xml, and starts libvirtd.  All is well until
> there is a need to modify the VM config (e.g. virsh setmaxmem ...
> --config), at which point libvirt replaces the link with a file
> containing the new config, instead of updating the contents of the
> linked file.

Not a valid use case.  Instead, the user should 'virsh define' (or
otherwise use the libvirt APIs).

> 
> I suppose I've always considered the contents of /etc/libvirt/<driver>/
> private to libvirt, with a "modify at your own risk" warning, ignoring
> that it is user configuration in /etc.  What are the guidelines for
> modifying the contents of these directories?  Would the above be
> considered valid use?

Point your user to:
http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/FAQ#Where_are_VM_config_files_stored.3F_How_do_I_edit_a_VM.27s_XML_config.3F

and hopefully they will quit abusing files under /etc, as that usage is
explicitly unsupported.  We only support modifications made through
libvirt APIs.

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake redhat com    +1-919-301-3266
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org

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