Chapter 6. Using the CLI tools


The two primary CLI tools used for managing resources in the cluster are:

  • The OpenShift Virtualization virtctl client
  • The OpenShift Container Platform oc client

6.1. Prerequisites

6.2. Virtctl client commands

The virtctl client is a command-line utility for managing OpenShift Virtualization resources. The following table contains the virtctl commands used throughout the OpenShift Virtualization documentation.

To view a list of options that you can use with a command, run it with the -h or --help flag. For example:

$ virtctl image-upload -h
Table 6.1. virtctl client commands
CommandDescription

virtctl start <vm_name>

Start a virtual machine.

virtctl stop <vm_name>

Stop a virtual machine.

virtctl pause vm|vmi <object_name>

Pause a virtual machine or virtual machine instance. The machine state is kept in memory.

virtctl unpause vm|vmi <object_name>

Unpause a virtual machine or virtual machine instance.

virtctl migrate <vm_name>

Migrate a virtual machine.

virtctl restart <vm_name>

Restart a virtual machine.

virtctl expose <vm_name>

Create a service that forwards a designated port of a virtual machine or virtual machine instance and expose the service on the specified port of the node.

virtctl console <vmi_name>

Connect to a serial console of a virtual machine instance.

virtctl vnc <vmi_name>

Open a VNC connection to a virtual machine instance.

virtctl image-upload dv <datavolume_name> --image-path=</path/to/image> --no-create

Upload a virtual machine image to a DataVolume that already exists.

virtctl image-upload dv <datavolume_name> --size=<datavolume_size> --image-path=</path/to/image>

Upload a virtual machine image to a new DataVolume.

virtctl version

Display the client and server version information.

virtctl help

Display a descriptive list of virtctl commands.

6.3. OpenShift Container Platform client commands

The OpenShift Container Platform oc client is a command-line utility for managing OpenShift Container Platform resources, including the virtual machine (vm) and virtual machine instance (vmi) object types.

Note

You can use the -n <namespace> flag to specify a different project.

Table 6.2. oc commands
CommandDescription

oc login -u <user_name>

Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster as <user_name>.

oc get <object_type>

Display a list of objects for the specified object type in the current project.

oc describe <object_type> <resource_name>

Display details of the specific resource in the current project.

oc create -f <object_config>

Create a resource in the current project from a filename or from stdin.

oc edit <object_type> <resource_name>

Edit a resource in the current project.

oc delete <object_type> <resource_name>

Delete a resource in the current project.

For more comprehensive information on oc client commands, see the OpenShift Container Platform CLI tools documentation.

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