Article
Introduction
In the world of virtualization, the VMFS file system plays a crucial role in storing and managing virtual machine data. Understanding its inner workings and being able to parse and analyze it can provide valuable insights. In this article, we will explore Dissect.vmfs, a Python module that allows us to parse and analyze the VMFS file system used by VMware virtualization software.
Requirements
To make use of the Dissect.vmfs module, you will need to have Python installed. Information on the supported Python versions can be found in the Getting Started section of the documentation.
Installation
The Dissect.vmfs module is available on PyPI, making installation a breeze. Simply run the following command:
pip install dissect.vmfs
Alternatively, if you prefer to install the entire Dissect framework, including the Dissect.vmfs module, you can install the ‘dissect’ package, which will automatically include Dissect.vmfs.
Build and Test
Dissect.vmfs uses the ‘tox’ tool for building and testing. To build the source and wheel distributions, navigate to the root folder of the project and run the following command:
tox -e build
The resulting artifacts can be found in the ‘dist/’ directory.
To run linting and unit tests, use the following command:
tox
This command will execute both linting and unit tests using the default installed Python version. For more detailed information on how to build and test the project, please refer to the documentation.
Contributing
The Dissect project welcomes contributions from the community. If you would like to contribute to the codebase, please refer to the development guide in the documentation. It provides valuable information on how to make your contribution fit into the project.
Copyright and Licensing
Dissect is an open-source project released by Fox-IT, which is part of NCC Group Plc. The Dissect Team at Fox-IT is responsible for its development and maintenance. Dissect.vmfs is made available under the AGPL3 license. For more detailed information about the licensing terms, please refer to the LICENSE file.
Conclusion
Dissect.vmfs provides developers and analysts with a powerful tool for parsing and analyzing the VMFS file system. With its easy installation process, comprehensive build and test instructions, and welcoming attitude towards contributions, Dissect.vmfs is an invaluable addition to any virtualization toolkit. Take advantage of this Python module to gain deeper insights into the inner workings of VMware virtualization software.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please feel free to ask during the presentation.
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