[PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY

Dov Murik posted 1 patch 3 years, 2 months ago
Test checkpatch passed
Patches applied successfully (tree, apply log)
git fetch https://github.com/patchew-project/qemu tags/patchew/20210117072742.119377-1-dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com
Maintainers: Markus Armbruster <armbru@redhat.com>
scripts/qmp/qmp-shell | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
[PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY
Posted by Dov Murik 3 years, 2 months ago
Detect whether qmp-shell's standard input is not a TTY; in such case,
assume a non-interactive mode, which suppresses the welcome banner and
the "(QEMU)" prompt.  This allows for easier consumption of qmp-shell's
output in scripts.

Example usage before this change:

    $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
    Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!
    Connected to QEMU 5.1.50

    (QEMU) {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false, "running": true}}
    (QEMU) {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
    (QEMU)

Example usage after this change:

    $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
    {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false, "running": true}}
    {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}

Signed-off-by: Dov Murik <dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
---

Notes:
    Note that this might be considered a breaking change; if users have
    automated scripts which assume that qmp-shell prints 3 lines of banner,
    this change will break their scripts.  If there are special
    considerations/procedures for breaking changes, please let me know.
    
    The rationale behaind the TTY check is to imitate python's behaviour:
    
        $ python3
        Python 3.7.5 (default, Apr 19 2020, 20:18:17)
        [GCC 9.2.1 20191008] on linux
        Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
        >>> print(19+23)
        42
        >>>
    
        $ echo 'print(19+23)' | python3
        42

 scripts/qmp/qmp-shell | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
index b4d06096ab..9336066fa8 100755
--- a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
+++ b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
@@ -288,6 +288,8 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
         self.__completer_setup()
 
     def show_banner(self, msg='Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!'):
+        if not self._interactive:
+            return
         print(msg)
         if not self._greeting:
             print('Connected')
@@ -300,6 +302,15 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
             return "TRANS> "
         return "(QEMU) "
 
+    def read_command(self, prompt):
+        if self._interactive:
+            return input(prompt)
+        else:
+            line = sys.stdin.readline()
+            if not line:
+                raise EOFError
+            return line
+
     def read_exec_command(self, prompt):
         """
         Read and execute a command.
@@ -307,7 +318,7 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
         @return True if execution was ok, return False if disconnected.
         """
         try:
-            cmdline = input(prompt)
+            cmdline = self.read_command(prompt)
         except EOFError:
             print()
             return False
@@ -322,6 +333,9 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
     def set_verbosity(self, verbose):
         self._verbose = verbose
 
+    def set_interactive(self, interactive):
+        self._interactive = interactive
+
 class HMPShell(QMPShell):
     def __init__(self, address):
         QMPShell.__init__(self, address)
@@ -449,8 +463,9 @@ def main():
     except qemu.error:
         die('Could not connect to %s' % addr)
 
-    qemu.show_banner()
     qemu.set_verbosity(verbose)
+    qemu.set_interactive(sys.stdin.isatty())
+    qemu.show_banner()
     while qemu.read_exec_command(qemu.get_prompt()):
         pass
     qemu.close()
-- 
2.20.1


Re: [PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY
Posted by John Snow 3 years, 2 months ago
On 1/17/21 2:27 AM, Dov Murik wrote:
> Detect whether qmp-shell's standard input is not a TTY; in such case,
> assume a non-interactive mode, which suppresses the welcome banner and
> the "(QEMU)" prompt.  This allows for easier consumption of qmp-shell's
> output in scripts.
> 
> Example usage before this change:
> 
>      $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
>      Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!
>      Connected to QEMU 5.1.50
> 
>      (QEMU) {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false, "running": true}}
>      (QEMU) {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>      (QEMU)
> 
> Example usage after this change:
> 
>      $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
>      {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false, "running": true}}
>      {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
> 
> Signed-off-by: Dov Murik <dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com>

Hiya! I've been taking lead on modernizing a lot of our python 
infrastructure, including our QMP library and qmp-shell.

(Sorry, not in MAINTAINERS yet; but I am in the process of moving these 
scripts and tools over to ./python/qemu/qmp.)

This change makes me nervous, because qmp-shell is not traditionally a 
component we've thought of as needing to preserve backwards-compatible 
behavior. Using it as a script meant to be consumed in a headless 
fashion runs a bit counter to that assumption.

I'd be less nervous if the syntax of qmp-shell was something that was 
well thought-out and rigorously tested, but it's a hodge-podge of 
whatever people needed at the moment. I am *very* reluctant to cement it.

Are you trying to leverage the qmp.py library from bash?

--js

> ---
> 
> Notes:
>      Note that this might be considered a breaking change; if users have
>      automated scripts which assume that qmp-shell prints 3 lines of banner,
>      this change will break their scripts.  If there are special
>      considerations/procedures for breaking changes, please let me know.
>      
>      The rationale behaind the TTY check is to imitate python's behaviour:
>      
>          $ python3
>          Python 3.7.5 (default, Apr 19 2020, 20:18:17)
>          [GCC 9.2.1 20191008] on linux
>          Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>          >>> print(19+23)
>          42
>          >>>
>      
>          $ echo 'print(19+23)' | python3
>          42
> 
>   scripts/qmp/qmp-shell | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
>   1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
> index b4d06096ab..9336066fa8 100755
> --- a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
> +++ b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
> @@ -288,6 +288,8 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>           self.__completer_setup()
>   
>       def show_banner(self, msg='Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!'):
> +        if not self._interactive:
> +            return
>           print(msg)
>           if not self._greeting:
>               print('Connected')
> @@ -300,6 +302,15 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>               return "TRANS> "
>           return "(QEMU) "
>   
> +    def read_command(self, prompt):
> +        if self._interactive:
> +            return input(prompt)
> +        else:
> +            line = sys.stdin.readline()
> +            if not line:
> +                raise EOFError
> +            return line
> +
>       def read_exec_command(self, prompt):
>           """
>           Read and execute a command.
> @@ -307,7 +318,7 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>           @return True if execution was ok, return False if disconnected.
>           """
>           try:
> -            cmdline = input(prompt)
> +            cmdline = self.read_command(prompt)
>           except EOFError:
>               print()
>               return False
> @@ -322,6 +333,9 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>       def set_verbosity(self, verbose):
>           self._verbose = verbose
>   
> +    def set_interactive(self, interactive):
> +        self._interactive = interactive
> +
>   class HMPShell(QMPShell):
>       def __init__(self, address):
>           QMPShell.__init__(self, address)
> @@ -449,8 +463,9 @@ def main():
>       except qemu.error:
>           die('Could not connect to %s' % addr)
>   
> -    qemu.show_banner()
>       qemu.set_verbosity(verbose)
> +    qemu.set_interactive(sys.stdin.isatty())
> +    qemu.show_banner()
>       while qemu.read_exec_command(qemu.get_prompt()):
>           pass
>       qemu.close()
> 


Re: [PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY
Posted by Dov Murik 3 years, 2 months ago
Hi John,

On 19/01/2021 22:02, John Snow wrote:
> On 1/17/21 2:27 AM, Dov Murik wrote:
>> Detect whether qmp-shell's standard input is not a TTY; in such case,
>> assume a non-interactive mode, which suppresses the welcome banner and
>> the "(QEMU)" prompt.  This allows for easier consumption of qmp-shell's
>> output in scripts.
>>
>> Example usage before this change:
>>
>>      $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo scripts/qmp/qmp-shell 
>> qmp-unix-sock
>>      Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!
>>      Connected to QEMU 5.1.50
>>
>>      (QEMU) {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false, 
>> "running": true}}
>>      (QEMU) {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>>      (QEMU)
>>
>> Example usage after this change:
>>
>>      $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo scripts/qmp/qmp-shell 
>> qmp-unix-sock
>>      {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false, "running": 
>> true}}
>>      {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Dov Murik <dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
> 
> Hiya! I've been taking lead on modernizing a lot of our python 
> infrastructure, including our QMP library and qmp-shell.
> 
> (Sorry, not in MAINTAINERS yet; but I am in the process of moving these 
> scripts and tools over to ./python/qemu/qmp.)

Thanks for this effort.

> 
> This change makes me nervous, because qmp-shell is not traditionally a 
> component we've thought of as needing to preserve backwards-compatible 
> behavior. Using it as a script meant to be consumed in a headless 
> fashion runs a bit counter to that assumption.
> 
> I'd be less nervous if the syntax of qmp-shell was something that was 
> well thought-out and rigorously tested, but it's a hodge-podge of 
> whatever people needed at the moment. I am *very* reluctant to cement it.

Yes, I understand your choice.


> 
> Are you trying to leverage the qmp.py library from bash?

Yes, I want to send a few QMP commands and record their output.  If I 
use socat to the unix-socket I need to serialize the JSON request 
myself, so using qmp-shell saves me that; also not sure if there's any 
negotiation done at the beginning by qmp-shell.

Is there an easier way to script qmp commands, short of writing my own 
python program which uses the qmp.py library?

-Dov


> 
> --js
> 
>> ---
>>
>> Notes:
>>      Note that this might be considered a breaking change; if users have
>>      automated scripts which assume that qmp-shell prints 3 lines of 
>> banner,
>>      this change will break their scripts.  If there are special
>>      considerations/procedures for breaking changes, please let me know.
>>      The rationale behaind the TTY check is to imitate python's 
>> behaviour:
>>          $ python3
>>          Python 3.7.5 (default, Apr 19 2020, 20:18:17)
>>          [GCC 9.2.1 20191008] on linux
>>          Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more 
>> information.
>>          >>> print(19+23)
>>          42
>>          >>>
>>          $ echo 'print(19+23)' | python3
>>          42
>>
>>   scripts/qmp/qmp-shell | 19 +++++++++++++++++--
>>   1 file changed, 17 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
>> index b4d06096ab..9336066fa8 100755
>> --- a/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
>> +++ b/scripts/qmp/qmp-shell
>> @@ -288,6 +288,8 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>>           self.__completer_setup()
>>       def show_banner(self, msg='Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!'):
>> +        if not self._interactive:
>> +            return
>>           print(msg)
>>           if not self._greeting:
>>               print('Connected')
>> @@ -300,6 +302,15 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>>               return "TRANS> "
>>           return "(QEMU) "
>> +    def read_command(self, prompt):
>> +        if self._interactive:
>> +            return input(prompt)
>> +        else:
>> +            line = sys.stdin.readline()
>> +            if not line:
>> +                raise EOFError
>> +            return line
>> +
>>       def read_exec_command(self, prompt):
>>           """
>>           Read and execute a command.
>> @@ -307,7 +318,7 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>>           @return True if execution was ok, return False if disconnected.
>>           """
>>           try:
>> -            cmdline = input(prompt)
>> +            cmdline = self.read_command(prompt)
>>           except EOFError:
>>               print()
>>               return False
>> @@ -322,6 +333,9 @@ class QMPShell(qmp.QEMUMonitorProtocol):
>>       def set_verbosity(self, verbose):
>>           self._verbose = verbose
>> +    def set_interactive(self, interactive):
>> +        self._interactive = interactive
>> +
>>   class HMPShell(QMPShell):
>>       def __init__(self, address):
>>           QMPShell.__init__(self, address)
>> @@ -449,8 +463,9 @@ def main():
>>       except qemu.error:
>>           die('Could not connect to %s' % addr)
>> -    qemu.show_banner()
>>       qemu.set_verbosity(verbose)
>> +    qemu.set_interactive(sys.stdin.isatty())
>> +    qemu.show_banner()
>>       while qemu.read_exec_command(qemu.get_prompt()):
>>           pass
>>       qemu.close()
>>
> 

Re: [PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY
Posted by Daniel P. Berrangé 3 years, 2 months ago
On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 10:25:25AM +0200, Dov Murik wrote:
> Hi John,
> 
> On 19/01/2021 22:02, John Snow wrote:
> > On 1/17/21 2:27 AM, Dov Murik wrote:
> > > Detect whether qmp-shell's standard input is not a TTY; in such case,
> > > assume a non-interactive mode, which suppresses the welcome banner and
> > > the "(QEMU)" prompt.  This allows for easier consumption of qmp-shell's
> > > output in scripts.
> > > 
> > > Example usage before this change:
> > > 
> > >      $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo
> > > scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
> > >      Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!
> > >      Connected to QEMU 5.1.50
> > > 
> > >      (QEMU) {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false,
> > > "running": true}}
> > >      (QEMU) {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
> > >      (QEMU)
> > > 
> > > Example usage after this change:
> > > 
> > >      $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo
> > > scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
> > >      {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false,
> > > "running": true}}
> > >      {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
> > > 
> > > Signed-off-by: Dov Murik <dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
> > 
> > Hiya! I've been taking lead on modernizing a lot of our python
> > infrastructure, including our QMP library and qmp-shell.
> > 
> > (Sorry, not in MAINTAINERS yet; but I am in the process of moving these
> > scripts and tools over to ./python/qemu/qmp.)
> 
> Thanks for this effort.
> 
> > 
> > This change makes me nervous, because qmp-shell is not traditionally a
> > component we've thought of as needing to preserve backwards-compatible
> > behavior. Using it as a script meant to be consumed in a headless
> > fashion runs a bit counter to that assumption.
> > 
> > I'd be less nervous if the syntax of qmp-shell was something that was
> > well thought-out and rigorously tested, but it's a hodge-podge of
> > whatever people needed at the moment. I am *very* reluctant to cement
> > it.
> 
> Yes, I understand your choice.
> 
> 
> > 
> > Are you trying to leverage the qmp.py library from bash?
> 
> Yes, I want to send a few QMP commands and record their output.  If I use
> socat to the unix-socket I need to serialize the JSON request myself, so
> using qmp-shell saves me that; also not sure if there's any negotiation done
> at the beginning by qmp-shell.

There is a handshake, but it is just a single json message.

See docs/interop/qmp-intro.txt and qmp-spec.txt for guidance.

> Is there an easier way to script qmp commands, short of writing my own
> python program which uses the qmp.py library?

Yes, writing your own python program is probably best. Doing anything
complex is shell is almost always a mistake, as it is a very crude
and poor language compared to something like managing QEMU/QMP.

Note that I don't believe that we've declared qmp.py to be a long
term stable interface for users outside of QEMU either. An alternative
is to just use the python sockets APIs directly to speak to QEMU/QMP

Regards,
Daniel
-- 
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Re: [PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY
Posted by John Snow 3 years, 2 months ago
On 1/20/21 4:45 AM, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 10:25:25AM +0200, Dov Murik wrote:
>> Hi John,
>>
>> On 19/01/2021 22:02, John Snow wrote:
>>> On 1/17/21 2:27 AM, Dov Murik wrote:
>>>> Detect whether qmp-shell's standard input is not a TTY; in such case,
>>>> assume a non-interactive mode, which suppresses the welcome banner and
>>>> the "(QEMU)" prompt.  This allows for easier consumption of qmp-shell's
>>>> output in scripts.
>>>>
>>>> Example usage before this change:
>>>>
>>>>       $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo
>>>> scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
>>>>       Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!
>>>>       Connected to QEMU 5.1.50
>>>>
>>>>       (QEMU) {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false,
>>>> "running": true}}
>>>>       (QEMU) {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>>>>       (QEMU)
>>>>
>>>> Example usage after this change:
>>>>
>>>>       $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo
>>>> scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
>>>>       {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false,
>>>> "running": true}}
>>>>       {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Dov Murik <dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
>>>
>>> Hiya! I've been taking lead on modernizing a lot of our python
>>> infrastructure, including our QMP library and qmp-shell.
>>>
>>> (Sorry, not in MAINTAINERS yet; but I am in the process of moving these
>>> scripts and tools over to ./python/qemu/qmp.)
>>
>> Thanks for this effort.
>>
>>>
>>> This change makes me nervous, because qmp-shell is not traditionally a
>>> component we've thought of as needing to preserve backwards-compatible
>>> behavior. Using it as a script meant to be consumed in a headless
>>> fashion runs a bit counter to that assumption.
>>>
>>> I'd be less nervous if the syntax of qmp-shell was something that was
>>> well thought-out and rigorously tested, but it's a hodge-podge of
>>> whatever people needed at the moment. I am *very* reluctant to cement
>>> it.
>>
>> Yes, I understand your choice.
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Are you trying to leverage the qmp.py library from bash?
>>
>> Yes, I want to send a few QMP commands and record their output.  If I use
>> socat to the unix-socket I need to serialize the JSON request myself, so
>> using qmp-shell saves me that; also not sure if there's any negotiation done
>> at the beginning by qmp-shell.
> 
> There is a handshake, but it is just a single json message.
> 
> See docs/interop/qmp-intro.txt and qmp-spec.txt for guidance.
> 
>> Is there an easier way to script qmp commands, short of writing my own
>> python program which uses the qmp.py library?
> 
> Yes, writing your own python program is probably best. Doing anything
> complex is shell is almost always a mistake, as it is a very crude
> and poor language compared to something like managing QEMU/QMP.
> 
> Note that I don't believe that we've declared qmp.py to be a long
> term stable interface for users outside of QEMU either. An alternative
> is to just use the python sockets APIs directly to speak to QEMU/QMP
> 

Right. qmp.py is technically not stable either, but it at least doesn't 
use an invented syntax we don't have a spec for ... and it is used by 
quite a few other things in the tree, so I trust it /slightly/ more. I 
cannot promise compatibility for scripts that aren't in the tree at this 
time, though.

(I am working on an asyncio variant of the QMP library that I do hope to 
promise stability for, but that's probably not something you can hope to 
see in the short term. It will likely have an API that is at least 
somewhat similar to the existing library, but will use asyncio 
coroutines instead of blocking calls.)

You can look at ./tests/qemu-iotests/ for some examples of using the QMP 
library that we have today; grep for '.qmp(' to find examples.

The connection for these tests is established in python/qemu/machine.py, 
look at the 'self._qmp_connection' field. This connection is exposed via 
the qmp(...) method, which the tests use. The library handles the (very 
small) handshake.

There are also bash tests in ./tests/qemu-iotests/ that handle some QMP 
by themselves, and might be up your alley for very simple cases. Test 
060 sets up its own QMP connection and just echoes JSON into the pipe.

--js


Re: [PATCH] qmp-shell: Suppress banner and prompt when stdin is not a TTY
Posted by Dov Murik 3 years, 2 months ago

On 20/01/2021 17:46, John Snow wrote:
> On 1/20/21 4:45 AM, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
>> On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 10:25:25AM +0200, Dov Murik wrote:
>>> Hi John,
>>>
>>> On 19/01/2021 22:02, John Snow wrote:
>>>> On 1/17/21 2:27 AM, Dov Murik wrote:
>>>>> Detect whether qmp-shell's standard input is not a TTY; in such case,
>>>>> assume a non-interactive mode, which suppresses the welcome banner and
>>>>> the "(QEMU)" prompt.  This allows for easier consumption of 
>>>>> qmp-shell's
>>>>> output in scripts.
>>>>>
>>>>> Example usage before this change:
>>>>>
>>>>>       $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo
>>>>> scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
>>>>>       Welcome to the QMP low-level shell!
>>>>>       Connected to QEMU 5.1.50
>>>>>
>>>>>       (QEMU) {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false,
>>>>> "running": true}}
>>>>>       (QEMU) {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>>>>>       (QEMU)
>>>>>
>>>>> Example usage after this change:
>>>>>
>>>>>       $ printf "query-status\nquery-kvm\n" | sudo
>>>>> scripts/qmp/qmp-shell qmp-unix-sock
>>>>>       {"return": {"status": "running", "singlestep": false,
>>>>> "running": true}}
>>>>>       {"return": {"enabled": true, "present": true}}
>>>>>
>>>>> Signed-off-by: Dov Murik <dovmurik@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
>>>>
>>>> Hiya! I've been taking lead on modernizing a lot of our python
>>>> infrastructure, including our QMP library and qmp-shell.
>>>>
>>>> (Sorry, not in MAINTAINERS yet; but I am in the process of moving these
>>>> scripts and tools over to ./python/qemu/qmp.)
>>>
>>> Thanks for this effort.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> This change makes me nervous, because qmp-shell is not traditionally a
>>>> component we've thought of as needing to preserve backwards-compatible
>>>> behavior. Using it as a script meant to be consumed in a headless
>>>> fashion runs a bit counter to that assumption.
>>>>
>>>> I'd be less nervous if the syntax of qmp-shell was something that was
>>>> well thought-out and rigorously tested, but it's a hodge-podge of
>>>> whatever people needed at the moment. I am *very* reluctant to cement
>>>> it.
>>>
>>> Yes, I understand your choice.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Are you trying to leverage the qmp.py library from bash?
>>>
>>> Yes, I want to send a few QMP commands and record their output.  If I 
>>> use
>>> socat to the unix-socket I need to serialize the JSON request myself, so
>>> using qmp-shell saves me that; also not sure if there's any 
>>> negotiation done
>>> at the beginning by qmp-shell.
>>
>> There is a handshake, but it is just a single json message.
>>
>> See docs/interop/qmp-intro.txt and qmp-spec.txt for guidance.
>>
>>> Is there an easier way to script qmp commands, short of writing my own
>>> python program which uses the qmp.py library?
>>
>> Yes, writing your own python program is probably best. Doing anything
>> complex is shell is almost always a mistake, as it is a very crude
>> and poor language compared to something like managing QEMU/QMP.
>>
>> Note that I don't believe that we've declared qmp.py to be a long
>> term stable interface for users outside of QEMU either. An alternative
>> is to just use the python sockets APIs directly to speak to QEMU/QMP
>>
> 
> Right. qmp.py is technically not stable either, but it at least doesn't 
> use an invented syntax we don't have a spec for ... and it is used by 
> quite a few other things in the tree, so I trust it /slightly/ more. I 
> cannot promise compatibility for scripts that aren't in the tree at this 
> time, though.
> 
> (I am working on an asyncio variant of the QMP library that I do hope to 
> promise stability for, but that's probably not something you can hope to 
> see in the short term. It will likely have an API that is at least 
> somewhat similar to the existing library, but will use asyncio 
> coroutines instead of blocking calls.)
> 
> You can look at ./tests/qemu-iotests/ for some examples of using the QMP 
> library that we have today; grep for '.qmp(' to find examples.
> 
> The connection for these tests is established in python/qemu/machine.py, 
> look at the 'self._qmp_connection' field. This connection is exposed via 
> the qmp(...) method, which the tests use. The library handles the (very 
> small) handshake.

Thanks John and Daniel for these pointers.  If we ever add documentation 
for qmp-shell itself (man page or similar), maybe we should add a 
warning there (not to consume its output in scripts).



> 
> There are also bash tests in ./tests/qemu-iotests/ that handle some QMP 
> by themselves, and might be up your alley for very simple cases. Test 
> 060 sets up its own QMP connection and just echoes JSON into the pipe.

Constructing and echoing JSON in bash is ugly.  Look at the code for 
_filter_qmp in common.filter -- that looks fragile.  That's why I tried 
to script qmp-shell to begin with and started messing with its welcome 
banner.  Instead I should switch to Python (or anything with a proper 
JSON parse/unparse).

-Dov