It should be possible to execute the QMP "drive-mirror" command in "none" sync mode and "absolute-paths" mode even for block devices lacking a backing file.
"absolute-paths" does in fact not require a backing file to be present, as can be seen from the "top" sync mode code path. "top" basically states that the device should indeed have a backing file - however, the current code catches the case if it doesn't and then simply treats it as "full" sync mode, creating a target image without a backing file (in "absolute-paths" mode). Thus, "absolute-paths" does not imply the target file must indeed have a backing file. Therefore, the target file may be left unbacked in case of "none" sync mode as well, if the specified device is not backed either. Currently, qemu will crash trying to dereference the backing file pointer since it assumes that it will always be non-NULL in that case ("none" with "absolute-paths"). Signed-off-by: Max Reitz <mre...@redhat.com> --- blockdev.c | 4 +++- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c index b260477..1c426b0 100644 --- a/blockdev.c +++ b/blockdev.c @@ -2026,7 +2026,9 @@ void qmp_drive_mirror(const char *device, const char *target, return; } - if (sync == MIRROR_SYNC_MODE_FULL && mode != NEW_IMAGE_MODE_EXISTING) { + if ((sync == MIRROR_SYNC_MODE_FULL || !source) + && mode != NEW_IMAGE_MODE_EXISTING) + { /* create new image w/o backing file */ assert(format && drv); bdrv_img_create(target, format, -- 1.8.4.2