diff --git a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.ml b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.ml
index 12e74d60..7f7c9067 100644
--- a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.ml
+++ b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.ml
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ let pp ppf =
 
 let close t = Safefd.idempotent_close_exn t.fd
 
+let fsync t = Unix.fsync (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd)
+
 let with_fd t f =
   let finally () = close t in
   Fun.protect ~finally (fun () -> f t)
@@ -107,6 +109,14 @@ let creat path flags perm =
        (Unix.O_RDWR :: Unix.O_CREAT :: Unix.O_EXCL :: Unix.O_CLOEXEC :: flags)
        perm
 
+let kind_of_fd fd = of_unix_kind Unix.LargeFile.((fstat fd).st_kind)
+
+let stdin = make_ro_exn (kind_of_fd Unix.stdin) Unix.stdin
+
+let stdout = make_wo_exn (kind_of_fd Unix.stdout) Unix.stdout
+
+let stderr = make_wo_exn (kind_of_fd Unix.stderr) Unix.stderr
+
 let dev_null_out () = openfile_wo `chr "/dev/null" []
 
 let dev_null_in () = openfile_ro `chr "/dev/null" []
@@ -122,6 +132,9 @@ let shutdown_send t =
 let shutdown_all t =
   Unix.shutdown (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd) Unix.SHUTDOWN_ALL
 
+let setsockopt_float t opt value =
+  Unix.setsockopt_float (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd) opt value
+
 let ftruncate t size =
   match t.custom_ftruncate with
   | None ->
@@ -138,6 +151,18 @@ let read t buf off len =
 let single_write_substring t buf off len =
   Unix.single_write_substring (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd) buf off len
 
+let fstat t = Unix.LargeFile.fstat (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd)
+
+let dup t =
+  {
+    t with
+    fd=
+      t.fd
+      |> Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn
+      |> Unix.dup
+      |> Safefd.of_file_descr
+  }
+
 let set_nonblock t = Unix.set_nonblock (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd)
 
 let clear_nonblock t = Unix.clear_nonblock (Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd)
@@ -200,6 +225,60 @@ let with_temp_blk ?(sector_size = 512) name f =
 
 let setup () = Sys.set_signal Sys.sigpipe Sys.Signal_ignore
 
+type ('a, 'b) operation = 'a t -> 'b -> int -> int -> int
+
+let repeat_read op fd buf off len =
+  let rec loop consumed =
+    let off = off + consumed and len = len - consumed in
+    if len = 0 then
+      consumed (* we filled the buffer *)
+    else
+      match op fd buf off len with
+      | 0 (* EOF *)
+      | (exception
+          Unix.(
+            Unix_error
+              ((ECONNRESET | ENOTCONN | EAGAIN | EWOULDBLOCK | EINTR), _, _))
+          ) (* connection error or non-blocking socket *) ->
+          consumed
+      | n ->
+          assert (n >= 0) ;
+          assert (n <= len) ;
+          loop (consumed + n)
+  in
+  loop 0
+
+let repeat_write op fd buf off len =
+  let rec loop written =
+    let off = off + written and len = len - written in
+    if len = 0 then
+      written (* we've written the entire buffer *)
+    else
+      match op fd buf off len with
+      | 0
+        (* should never happen, but we cannot retry now or we'd enter an infinite loop *)
+      | (exception
+          Unix.(
+            Unix_error
+              ( ( ECONNRESET
+                | EPIPE
+                | EINTR
+                | ENETDOWN
+                | ENETUNREACH
+                | EAGAIN
+                | EWOULDBLOCK )
+              , _
+              , _
+              ))
+          ) (* connection error or nonblocking socket *) ->
+          written
+      | n ->
+          assert (n >= 0) ;
+          assert (n <= len) ;
+          loop (written + n)
+  in
+  loop 0
+
 module For_test = struct
   let unsafe_fd_exn t = Safefd.unsafe_to_file_descr_exn t.fd
 end
diff --git a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.mli b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.mli
index e320c681..ee4a9f36 100644
--- a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.mli
+++ b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/operations.mli
@@ -62,11 +62,26 @@ end
 
 (** {1 {!mod:Unix} wrappers} *)
 
+val stdin : ([> rdonly], kind) make
+(** [stdin] is a readonly file descriptor of unknown kind *)
+
+val stdout : ([> wronly], kind) make
+(** [stdout] is a writeonly file descriptor of unknown kind *)
+
+val stderr : ([> wronly], kind) make
+(** [stderr] is a writeonly file descriptor of unknown kind *)
+
 val close : _ t -> unit
 (** [close t] closes t. Doesn't raise an exception if it is already closed.
   Other errors from the underlying {!val:Unix.close} are propagated.
  *)
 
+val fsync : _ t -> unit
+(** [fsync t] flushes [t] buffer to disk.
+
+  Note that the file doesn't necessarily have to be writable, e.g. you can fsync a readonly open directory.
+ *)
+
 val pipe : unit -> ([> rdonly], [> fifo]) make * ([> wronly], [> fifo]) make
 (** [pipe ()] creates an unnamed pipe.
   @see {!val:Unix.pipe}
@@ -173,6 +188,12 @@ val single_write_substring :
   @see {!Unix.single_write_substring}
 *)
 
+val fstat : _ t -> Unix.LargeFile.stats
+(** [fstat t] is {!val:Unix.LargeFile.fstat}  *)
+
+val dup : 'a t -> 'a t
+(** [dup t] is {!val:Unix.dup} on [t]. *)
+
 val set_nonblock : (_, [< espipe]) make -> unit
 (** [set_nonblock t].
 
@@ -191,6 +212,10 @@ val clear_nonblock : _ t -> unit
   @see {!Unix.clear_nonblock}
  *)
 
+val setsockopt_float :
+  (_, [< sock]) make -> Unix.socket_float_option -> float -> unit
+(** [set_sockopt_float t opt val] sets the socket option [opt] to [val] for [t]. *)
+
 (** {1 Temporary files} *)
 
 val with_tempfile :
@@ -209,6 +234,38 @@ val with_temp_blk :
   @param sector_size between 512 and 4096
 *)
 
+(** {1 Operation wrappers}
+
+  The low-level {!val:read} and {!val:single_write_substring} can raise different exceptions
+  to mean end-of-file/disconnected depending on the file's kind.
+
+  If you want to consider disconnectins as end-of-file then use these wrappers.
+ *)
+
+(** a buffered operation on a file descriptors.
+
+  @see {!val:read} and {!val:single_write_substring}
+ *)
+type ('a, 'b) operation = 'a t -> 'b -> int -> int -> int
+
+val repeat_read : ('a, bytes) operation -> ('a, bytes) operation
+(** [repeat_read op buf off len] repeats [op] on the supplied buffer until EOF or a connection error is encountered.
+  The following connection errors are treated as EOF and are not reraised:
+  {!val:Unix.ECONNRESET}, {!val:Unix.ENOTCONN}.
+  {!val:Unix.EAGAIN} and {!val:Unix.EWOULDBLOCK} also cause the iteration to stop.
+
+  The returned value may be less than [len] if EOF was encountered.
+*)
+
+val repeat_write : ('a, string) operation -> ('a, string) operation
+(** [repeat_write op buf off len] repeats [op] on the supplied buffer until a connection error is encountered or the entire buffer is written.
+  The following are treated as connection errors and not reraised:
+  {!val:Unix.ECONNRESET}, {!val:Unix.EPIPE}, {!val:Unix.ENETDOWN}, {!val:Unix.ENETUNREACH}
+  {!val:Unix.EAGAIN} and {!val:Unix.EWOULDBLOCK} also cause the iteration to stop.
+
+  The returned value may be less than [len] if we were not able to complete the write due to a connection error.
+*)
+
 (**/**)
 
 module For_test : sig
diff --git a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.ml b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.ml
index 9e359a9b..d26194cf 100644
--- a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.ml
+++ b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.ml
@@ -59,6 +59,24 @@ let to_unix_kind =
   | #sock ->
       S_SOCK
 
+let of_unix_kind =
+  let open Unix in
+  function
+  | S_REG ->
+      `reg
+  | S_BLK ->
+      `blk
+  | S_CHR ->
+      `chr
+  | S_DIR ->
+      `dir
+  | S_LNK ->
+      `lnk
+  | S_FIFO ->
+      `fifo
+  | S_SOCK ->
+      `sock
+
 let pp_kind fmt = Fmt.using to_unix_kind Safefd.pp_kind fmt
 
 let pp fmt =
diff --git a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.mli b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.mli
index 0afc529c..6b51a3ab 100644
--- a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.mli
+++ b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/properties.mli
@@ -161,6 +161,9 @@ val as_writable_opt : ([< rw], 'a) t -> ([> writable], 'a) t option
 val to_unix_kind : kind -> Unix.file_kind
 (** [to_unix_kind kind] converts the polymorphic variant [kind] to {!type:Unix.file_kind} *)
 
+val of_unix_kind : Unix.file_kind -> kind
+(** [of_unix_kind kind] converts the {!type:Unix.file_kind} to {!type:kind}. *)
+
 (** pipe, FIFO or socket that may raise {!val:Unix.ESPIPE} *)
 type espipe = [fifo | sock]
 
diff --git a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/test/test_operations.ml b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/test/test_operations.ml
index f3c22f36..fa60e5f6 100644
--- a/lib/xapi-fdcaps/test/test_operations.ml
+++ b/lib/xapi-fdcaps/test/test_operations.ml
@@ -227,6 +227,45 @@ let test_creat () =
   let@ fd2 = with_fd @@ openfile_rw `reg name [] in
   pp Fmt.stdout fd2 ; read_fd fd2 ; write_fd fd2
 
+let test_repeat_read () =
+  let buf = String.init 255 Char.chr in
+  let read _ dst off len =
+    let available = String.length buf - off in
+    let len = Int.min len 11 in
+    let len = Int.min len available in
+    Bytes.blit_string buf off dst off len ;
+    len
+  in
+  let dst = Bytes.make 300 '_' in
+  let@ placeholder = with_fd @@ dev_zero () in
+  (* not actually used, just to make the types work, we simulate the read using string ops *)
+  let actual = repeat_read read placeholder dst 0 (Bytes.length dst) in
+  Alcotest.(check' int) ~msg:"amount read" ~actual ~expected:(String.length buf) ;
+  Alcotest.(check' string)
+    ~msg:"contents"
+    ~actual:(Bytes.sub_string dst 0 actual)
+    ~expected:buf
+
+let test_repeat_write () =
+  let buf = Bytes.make 255 '_' in
+  let write _ src off len =
+    let available = Bytes.length buf - off in
+    let len = Int.min len 11 in
+    let len = Int.min len available in
+    Bytes.blit_string src off buf off len ;
+    len
+  in
+  let src = String.init 255 Char.chr in
+  let@ placeholder = with_fd @@ dev_zero () in
+  (* not actually used, just to make the types work, we simulate the read using string ops *)
+  let actual = repeat_write write placeholder src 0 (String.length src) in
+  Alcotest.(check' int)
+    ~msg:"amount written" ~actual ~expected:(Bytes.length buf) ;
+  Alcotest.(check' string)
+    ~msg:"contents"
+    ~actual:(Bytes.sub_string buf 0 actual)
+    ~expected:src
+
 let tests =
   Alcotest.
     [
@@ -238,6 +277,8 @@ let tests =
     ; test_case "socket shutdown write" `Quick test_sock_shutdown_w
     ; test_case "socket shutdown both" `Quick test_sock_shutdown_all
     ; test_case "create" `Quick test_creat
+    ; test_case "repeat_read" `Quick test_repeat_read
+    ; test_case "repeat_write" `Quick test_repeat_write
     ]
 
 (* this must be the last test *)