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VBD commands
Commands for working with VBDs (Virtual Block Devices).
A VBD is a software object that connects a VM to the VDI, which represents the contents of the virtual disk.
The VBD has the attributes which tie the VDI to the VM (is it bootable, its read/write metrics, and so on),
while the VDI has the information on the physical attributes of the virtual disk (which type of SR, whether
the disk is shareable, whether the media is read/write or read only, and so on).
The VBD objects can be listed with the standard object listing command (xe vbd-list), and the parameters
manipulated with the standard parameter commands. See the section called “Low-level param commands”
for details.
VBD parameters
VBDs have the following parameters:
Parameter Name Description Type
uuid the unique identifier/object
reference for the VBD
read only
vm-uuid the unique identifier/object
reference for the VM this VBD
is attached to
read only
vm-name-label the name of the VM this VBD
is attached to
read only
vdi-uuid the unique identifier/object
reference for the VDI this
VBD is mapped to
read only
vdi-name-label the name of the VDI this VBD
is mapped to
read only
empty if true, this represents an
empty drive
read only
device the device seen by the guest,
for example hda1
read only
userdevice user-friendly device name read/write
bootable true if this VBD is bootable read/write
mode the mode the VBD should be
mounted with
read/write
type how the VBD appears to the
VM, for example disk or CD
read/write
currently-attached True if the VBD is currently
attached on this host, false
otherwise
read only
