[libvirt] RFE: virsh list improvement (--description and --details)

[Przemysław Sztoch]

As you wish. I have made python script for my customer:

https://github.com/psztoch/virt-report

Nevertheless, I think the second version of my patch for the virsh list 
is simple and traightforward, and falls within the scope of a simple 
low-level virsh tool. And of course  should be merged into trunk.

On 09.05.2017 13:25, Andrea Bolognani wrote:
> On Mon, 2017-05-08 at 09:16 +0200, Przemysław Sztoch wrote:
>> Dear Michal and Pavel,
>>   
>> We cover about 100 clients who have their own and simple CentOS KVM
>> installations.
>> Their technical skills are far from writing python scripts. They expect
>> simple solutions.
> They don't necessarily have to write the Python script
> themselves, though :)
>
>> Talking to our helpdesk, I found that 70% of libvirt and virtualization
>> problems are:
>> A) lack of autostart activation on critical guests; then occasional
>> failures and reboots affect lack of automatic startup of key services,
>> B) frequent overcommiting of allocated virtual processors and memory due
>> to the lack of basic planning and addition operations of local admin
>> stuff :-(,
>> C) misconfiguration of qemu-agent, which affects many problems with safe
>> restart, snapshot, backup, etc. (the "Time" column is a perfect
>> diagnostic here)
>> D) leaving unnecessary snapshots that lie unused after many months,
>> E) live migration attempts that fail to put domain in a transient mode
>> leave the guests disappearing in unexplained circumstances after kvm
>> host restart :-)
>>   
>> Virtually all the above problems of everyday life, our helpdesk is now
>> able to diagnose by command:
>> virsh list --details --managed-save
>> By the way, they can easily update the documentation with one compact list.
>>   
>> I do not understand your dislike for the proposed changes. All the
>> members of our team and teams of our partners have been very
>> enthusiastic about the new functionality.
>> You govern, so you have to decide. ;-)
> The problem with your proposal is that it doesn't fit
> neatly in a generic tool like virsh.
>
> My suggestion would be to implement the script yourself,
> then ship it to your clients and instruct them to run
>
>    # virt-diagnostics.py
>
> or whatever you end up calling it to obtain the
> information you care about.
>
> Doing so will allow you to have plenty of freedom when
> it comes to tailoring the output for your specific needs
> instead of having to keep the tool generic, which you
> would have to do if you wanted it to be shipped with
> libvirt, and it won't be any harder for your clients to
> run it.
>
> -- 
> Andrea Bolognani / Red Hat / Virtualization