libguestfs and qemu ssh driver

The qemu ssh block device is now up to version 7 … although sadly not upstream yet.

Nevertheless by applying this patch to libguestfs you can use libguestfs to access remote disks over ssh:

$ export LIBGUESTFS_QEMU=~/d/qemu/qemu.wrapper
$ export LIBGUESTFS_BACKEND=direct
$ ./run ./fish/guestfish

Welcome to guestfish, the libguestfs filesystem interactive shell for
editing virtual machine filesystems.

Type: 'help' for help on commands
      'man' to read the manual
      'quit' to quit the shell

><fs> add /tmp/f17x64.img readonly:true format:raw \
        protocol:ssh server:onuma
><fs> run
 100% ⟦▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒⟧ 00:00
><fs> inspect-os
/dev/vg_f17x64/lv_root
><fs> inspect-get-product-name /dev/vg_f17x64/lv_root
Fedora release 17 (Beefy Miracle)
><fs> list-filesystems
/dev/sda1: ext4
/dev/vg_f17x64/lv_root: ext4
/dev/vg_f17x64/lv_swap: swap
><fs> mount /dev/vg_f17x64/lv_root /
><fs> cat /etc/redhat-release
Fedora release 17 (Beefy Miracle)

Everything just works as if this were a local disk.

There are a couple of minor caveats (the major caveat being none of this is upstream): Firstly you have to have ssh-agent set up. Secondly the remote host must be in your known_hosts file (if not, do ssh remotehost first to add it).