EZ Template Management Utilities

This section describes the utilities you can use to manage OS and application templates.

vzpkg

The vzpkg utility is used to manage OS and application EZ templates either inside your containers or on the server itself. This tool can also be used to manage standard software packages (e.g., mysql.rpm) inside containers.

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vzpkg <command> [<options>] {<CT_name>|<object>}
vzpkg --help

Subcommands:

vzpkg install template

This command is used to install an OS or application EZ template on the server from an RPM package or Virtuozzo Server repositories.

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vzpkg install template [<options>] <object> [...]

where <object> is a path to an RPM package or an EZ template name.

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vzpkg update template

This command is used to update an OS or application EZ template on the server from an RPM package or Virtuozzo Server repositories.

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vzpkg update template [<options>] <object> [...]

where <object> is a path to an RPM package or an EZ template name.

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vzpkg remove template

This command removes an OS or application EZ template from the server.

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vzpkg remove template [<options>] <template_name> [...]

When executed, the vzpkg remove template command removes the specified OS EZ template from the server. To delete an application EZ template, additionally specify the name of the OS EZ template (<OS_template>) under which this application template is to be run.

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vzpkg list

The vzpkg list command is used to list

• EZ templates installed on the server, in a container, or available in remote EZ template repositories
• YUM software groups or individual packages installed in a container

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vzpkg list [<options>] [<OS_template>|<CT_name> [...]]

If you indicate a container name, the command will list all EZ templates applied to the specified container. If you indicate an OS EZ template, vzpkg list will display a list of application EZ templates available for this OS EZ template. Without any options, the utility lists all EZ templates installed on the server.

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vzpkg info

This command displays information about EZ templates, YUM software packages, and individual software packages.

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vzpkg info [-F {<OS_template>|<CT_name>} -q|-d <app_template> [<parameters> ...]
vzpkg info -p|-g [-C|-r] [-F {<OS_template>|<CT_name>} -q|-d {<package_name>|<yum_package_group>} [<parameters> [...]]

While executed, vzpkg info parses the subdirectories and files located in the /vz/template/<os_name>/<os_version>/<arch>/config directory and containing the EZ template meta data. To run the command, you should specify either the OS EZ template or the container name. In either case, detailed information on the corresponding OS EZ template is displayed. You can also use the -F option to get the necessary information on any application EZ template included into the OS EZ template or applied to the container.

By default, vzpkg info displays all meta data on the EZ template/package specified. However, you can reduce the amount of the output information by using special parameters (<parameters>) listed in the table below.

Output Parameters

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vzpkg status

This command is used to check the status of the packages either installed inside a container or included in an OS EZ template.

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vzpkg status [<options>] {<CT_name>|<OS_template>}

When executed, the command performs the following operations:

• Checks all the packages installed inside the specified container or included in the specified OS EZ template.
• Checks the repository used to install/update packages inside the container/OS EZ template.
• Compares the packages in the repository with those inside the container/OS EZ template.
• Lists the found packages updates for the container/OS EZ template, if any, or informs you that the container/OS EZ template is up-to-date.

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vzpkg install

This command is used to install application EZ templates, YUM software groups, or individual software packages into containers.

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vzpkg install [<options>] <CT_name> <object> [...]

The vzpkg install command will add an <object> to the specified container. An object can be an application EZ template, a YUM software group, or a standard software package. You can specify several objects to install into the container by separating them by spaces.

When executed, vzpkg install automatically handles the interdependencies among the packages to be installed into a container and ensures that all dependencies are satisfied. If the package dependencies cannot be resolved, the installation process fails and the corresponding message is displayed.

By default, the specified object is treated by vzpkg install as an application EZ template. However, you can use the -p or -g option to explicitly specify the type of the object.

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vzpkg update

The vzpkg update command is used to update the following components of a container:

• OS EZ template
• application EZ templates
• YUM software groups
• individual software packages

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vzpkg update [<options>] <CT_name> [<object> [...]]

Without any options specified, vzpkg update updates all EZ templates (including the OS EZ template) in the specified container. However, you can make the command update a particular EZ template by specifying its name as <object>. You can also use the -p or -g option to update YUM software groups or individual software packages in the container.

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vzpkg remove

This command is used to remove an application EZ template, YUM software group, or a software package from a container.

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vzpkg remove [<options>] <CT_name> <object> [...]

This command will remove <object> from the container with the name <CT_name>. The <object> can be an application EZ template, a YUM software group, or a software package installed with the vzpkg install command. You may specify a number of objects for removing.

By default, the specified object is treated by vzpkg remove as an application EZ template. However, you can use the -p or -g option to explicitly specify the type of the object.

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vzpkg create cache

This command is used to create tarballs (caches) for OS EZ templates. You should execute this command before you start using a newly installed OS EZ template for creating containers.

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vzpkg create cache [<options>] [<OS_template> [...]]

vzpkg create cache checks the template area on the server (by default, the /vz/template directory is used) and if it finds an OS EZ template for which no tar archive exists, it creates a gzipped tarball for the corresponding OS EZ template and places it to the /vz/template/cache directory. When a container is being created, prlctl just unpacks the tar archive.

By default, vzpkg create cache checks the tar archive existence for all OS EZ templates installed on the server and creates some, if necessary. However, you can explicitly indicate what OS EZ template should be cached by specifying its name as <OS_template>. If the cache of the OS template specified already exists on the server, the command will fail and you will be presented with the corresponding error message.

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vzpkg update cache

This command is used to update tarballs (caches) of the OS EZ templates installed on the server.

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vzpkg update cache [<options>] [<OS_template> [...]]

The vzpkg update cache command checks the cache directory in the template area (by default, the template area is located in the /vz/template directory on the server) and updates all existing tarballs in this directory. However, you can explicitly indicate what OS EZ template tarball is to be updated by specifying its name as <OS_template>. Upon the vzpkg update cache execution, the old tarball is renamed by receiving the -old suffix (e.g., centos-6-x86_64.tar.gz-old).

If the vzpkg update cache command does not find a tarball for one or more OS EZ templates installed on the server, it creates the corresponding tar archive(s) and puts them to the /vz/template/cache directory.

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vzpkg remove cache

This command removes the cache for the OS EZ templates specified.

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vzpkg remove cache [<options>] [<OS_template> [...]]

By default, vzpkg remove cache deletes all caches located in the /vz/template/cache directory on the server. However, you can explicitly indicate what OS EZ template tar archive is to be removed by specifying its name as <OS_template>.

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vzpkg create appcache

This command combines an OS EZ template cache and one or more application EZ templates into a new OS and applications cache. If the OS EZ template cache has not been created yet, this will be done before application templates are added.

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vzpkg create appcache --config <config> [<options>]

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vzpkg update appcache

This command updates an existing OS EZ template cache with preinstalled application templates if the --update-cache option is provided. Otherwise, the cache is created anew.

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vzpkg update appcache --config <config> [<options>]

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vzpkg remove appcache

This command removes an existing OS EZ template cache with preinstalled application templates.

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vzpkg remove appcache --config <config> [<options>]

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vzpkg localinstall

The vzpkg localinstall command is used to install a software package inside a container from the corresponding file on the server.

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vzpkg localinstall [<options>] <CT_name> <rpm_file_path> [...]

When executed, the command installs the package, the full path to which is specified as <rpm_file_path>, inside the container with the name <CT_name>. You may specify multiple packages to be installed inside the container.

During its execution, vzpkg localinstall automatically handles the interdependencies among the packages to be installed inside a container and ensures that all dependencies are satisfied. If the package dependencies cannot be resolved, the installation process will fail and the corresponding message will be displayed.

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vzpkg localupdate

The vzpkg localupdate command is used to update the software packages installed inside your container(s) by means of the vzpkg install or vzpkg localinstall commands.

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vzpkg localupdate [<options>] <CT_name> <rpm_file_path> [...]

When executed, vzpkg localupdate compares the file on the server the full path to which is specified as <rpm_file_path> with the corresponding package inside the container with the name <CT_name> and updates it, if necessary. You may specify a number of packages at once to be updated inside your container.

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vzpkg upgrade

The vzpkg upgrade command is used to upgrade an OS EZ template the container is based on to a newer version.

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vzpkg upgrade [<options>] <CT_name>

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vzpkg fetch

This command is used to download packages included in the corresponding OS EZ template or their updates from the remote repository to the vzpkg local cache on the server and to prepare them for installation.

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vzpkg fetch [<options>] <OS_template>

You can make vzpkg fetch run as a cron job (e.g., nightly) checking for available packages or packages updates for your EZ templates and keeping them in the local cache. Having all the necessary packages in the vzpkg local cache can greatly speed up the execution of the vzpkg install, vzpkg update, or vzpkg create cache commands since the packages are available locally and there is no need to check for them in the corresponding remote repositories.

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vzpkg clean

This command is used to remove the software packages, their headers, and metadata downloaded to the server from the repository during the vzpkg execution (e.g., while caching an OS EZ template or adding an application EZ template to a container for the first time).

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vzpkg clean [<options>] [<OS_template> [...]]

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vzpkg update metadata

This command is used to update the OS EZ template local metadata on the server.

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vzpkg update metadata [<options>] [<OS_template> [...]]

When executed without any options, the command updates the metadata of all OS EZ templates installed on the server. If you specify one or more OS EZ templates, the command will update the metadata of the indicated OS templates only. You can run this command a cron job at regular intervals to be sure that your OS EZ templates metadata are always up-to-date.

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vzpkg sync_vzpackages

This command is used to synchronize the vzpackages file with the actual installed packages in the container. It reads the container’s package database and updates the vzpackages file located at /vz/private/<CTID>/templates/vzpackages to match the current state of installed packages. Useful when packages have been installed or removed inside the container directly, using the native package manager (apt, yum, zypper) without using vzpkg.

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vzpkg sync_vzpackages [<options>] <CT_name>

When executed, the command reads the existing vzpackages file, compares it with the container’s package database, and updates the file to reflect the current state. If used with the --skip-db option, it reads all installed packages directly from the container’s package database (rpm/dpkg database) and writes them to the vzpackages file, ignoring any existing vzpackages file content.

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