nbd\_aio\_pread(3) LIBNBD nbd\_aio\_pread(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

nbd\_aio\_pread - read from the NBD server

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

```
 #include <libnbd.h>
 typedef struct {
   int (*callback) (void *user_data, int *error);
   void *user_data;
   void (*free) (void *user_data);
 } nbd_completion_callback;
 int64_t nbd_aio_pread (
           struct nbd_handle *h, void *buf, size_t count,
           uint64_t offset,
           nbd_completion_callback completion_callback,
           uint32_t flags
         );
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

Issue a read command to the NBD server.

To check if the command completed, call [**nbd\_aio\_command\_completed**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_aio_command_completed.3). Or supply the optional "completion\_callback" which will be invoked as described in "Completion callbacks" in [**libnbd**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/libnbd.3).

Note that you must ensure "buf" is valid until the command has completed. Furthermore, if the "error" parameter to "completion\_callback" is set or if [**nbd\_aio\_command\_completed**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_aio_command_completed.3) reports failure, and if [**nbd\_get\_pread\_initialize**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_get_pread_initialize.3) returns true, then libnbd sanitized "buf", but it is unspecified whether the contents of "buf" will read as zero or as partial results from the server. If [**nbd\_get\_pread\_initialize**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_get_pread_initialize.3) returns false, then libnbd did not sanitize "buf", and the contents are undefined on failure.

Other parameters behave as documented in [**nbd\_pread**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_pread.3).

By default, libnbd will reject attempts to use this function with parameters that are likely to result in server failure, such as requesting an unknown command flag. The [**nbd\_set\_strict\_mode**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_set_strict_mode.3) function can be used to alter which scenarios should await a server reply rather than failing fast.

# [RETURN VALUE](#RETURN_VALUE)

This call returns the 64 bit cookie of the command. The cookie is ≥ 1. Cookies are unique (per libnbd handle, not globally).

# [ERRORS](#ERRORS)

On error -1 is returned.

Refer to "ERROR HANDLING" in [**libnbd**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/libnbd.3) for how to get further details of the error.

The following parameters must not be NULL: "h", "buf". For more information see "Non-NULL parameters" in [**libnbd**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/libnbd.3).

# [HANDLE STATE](#HANDLE_STATE)

nbd\_aio\_pread can be called when the handle is in the following state:

```
 ┌─────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────┐
 │ Handle created, before connecting   │ ❌ error                │
 │ Connecting                          │ ❌ error                │
 │ Connecting & handshaking (opt_mode) │ ❌ error                │
 │ Connected to the server             │ ✅ allowed              │
 │ Connection shut down                │ ❌ error                │
 │ Handle dead                         │ ❌ error                │
 └─────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────┘
```

# [VERSION](#VERSION)

This function first appeared in libnbd 1.0.

If you need to test if this function is available at compile time check if the following macro is defined:

```
 #define LIBNBD_HAVE_NBD_AIO_PREAD 1
```

# [EXAMPLE](#EXAMPLE)

This example is also available as *examples/aio-connect-read.c* in the libnbd source code.

```
 /* This example shows how to use the AIO (asynchronous) low
  * level API to connect to a server and read the disk.
  *
  * Here are a few ways to try this example:
  *
  * nbdkit -U - linuxdisk . \
  *   --run './aio-connect-read $unixsocket'
  *
  * nbdkit -U - floppy . \
  *   --run './aio-connect-read $unixsocket'
  *
  * nbdkit -U - pattern size=1M \
  *   --run './aio-connect-read $unixsocket'
  */
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <libnbd.h>
 #define NR_SECTORS 32
 #define SECTOR_SIZE 512
 struct data {
   uint64_t offset;
   char sector[SECTOR_SIZE];
 };
 static int
 hexdump (void *user_data, int *error)
 {
   struct data *data = user_data;
   FILE *pp;
   if (*error) {
     errno = *error;
     perror ("failed to read");
     exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
   printf ("sector at offset 0x%" PRIx64 ":\n",
           data->offset);
   pp = popen ("hexdump -C", "w");
   if (pp == NULL) {
     perror ("popen: hexdump");
     exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
   fwrite (data->sector, SECTOR_SIZE, 1, pp);
   pclose (pp);
   printf ("\n");
   /* Returning 1 from the callback automatically retires
    * the command.
    */
   return 1;
 }
 static struct data data[NR_SECTORS];
 int
 main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
   struct nbd_handle *nbd;
   size_t i;
   if (argc != 2) {
     fprintf (stderr, "%s socket\n", argv[0]);
     exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
   /* Create the libnbd handle. */
   nbd = nbd_create ();
   if (nbd == NULL) {
     fprintf (stderr, "%s\n", nbd_get_error ());
     exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
   /* Connect to the NBD server over a Unix domain socket.
    * This only starts the connection.
    */
   if (nbd_aio_connect_unix (nbd, argv[1]) == -1) {
     fprintf (stderr, "%s\n", nbd_get_error ());
     exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
   }
   /* Wait for the connection to complete.  The use of
    * nbd_poll here is only as an example.  You could also
    * integrate this with poll(2), glib or another main
    * loop.  Read libnbd(3) and the source file lib/poll.c.
    */
   while (!nbd_aio_is_ready (nbd)) {
     if (nbd_poll (nbd, -1) == -1) {
       fprintf (stderr, "%s\n", nbd_get_error ());
       exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
   }
   assert (nbd_get_size (nbd) >= NR_SECTORS * SECTOR_SIZE);
   /* Issue read commands for the first NR sectors. */
   for (i = 0; i < NR_SECTORS; ++i) {
     data[i].offset = i * SECTOR_SIZE;
     /* The callback (hexdump) is called when the command
      * completes.  The buffer must continue to exist while
      * the command is running.
      */
     if (nbd_aio_pread (nbd, data[i].sector, SECTOR_SIZE,
                        data[i].offset,
                        (nbd_completion_callback) {
                          .callback = hexdump,
                          .user_data = &data[i],
                        }, 0) == -1) {
       fprintf (stderr, "%s\n", nbd_get_error ());
       exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
   }
   /* Run the main loop until all the commands have
    * completed and retired.  Again the use of nbd_poll
    * here is only as an example.
    */
   while (nbd_aio_in_flight (nbd) > 0) {
     if (nbd_poll (nbd, -1) == -1) {
       fprintf (stderr, "%s\n", nbd_get_error ());
       exit (EXIT_FAILURE);
     }
   }
   /* Close the libnbd handle. */
   nbd_close (nbd);
   exit (EXIT_SUCCESS);
 }
```

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**nbd\_aio\_command\_completed**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_aio_command_completed.3), [**nbd\_aio\_pread\_structured**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_aio_pread_structured.3), [**nbd\_create**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_create.3), [**nbd\_get\_pread\_initialize**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_get_pread_initialize.3), [**nbd\_pread**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_pread.3), [**nbd\_set\_pread\_initialize**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_set_pread_initialize.3), [**nbd\_set\_strict\_mode**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/nbd_set_strict_mode.3), "Issuing asynchronous commands" in [**libnbd**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/libnbd.3), [**libnbd**(3)](/man/os/libnbd/libnbd.3).

# [AUTHORS](#AUTHORS)

Eric Blake

Richard W.M. Jones

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

Copyright Red Hat

# [LICENSE](#LICENSE)

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA

2026-10-11 libnbd-1.25.7

---

Document: nbd_aio_pread(3) from libnbd 1.25.7-r3 (Chainguard OS)
