3.2.6. VM connection commands

virtctl console <vm_name>

Connect to the serial console of a VM.

virtctl expose vm <vm_name> --name <service_name> --type <ClusterIP|NodePort|LoadBalancer> --port <port>

Create a service that forwards a designated port of a VM and expose the service on the specified port of the node.

Example: virtctl expose vm rhel9_vm --name rhel9-ssh --type NodePort --port 22

virtctl scp -i <ssh_key> <file_name> <user_name>@vm/<vm_name>

Copy a file from your machine to a VM. This command uses the private key of an SSH key pair. The VM must be configured with the public key.

virtctl scp -i <ssh_key> <user_name@vm/<vm_name>:<file_name> .

Copy a file from a VM to your machine. This command uses the private key of an SSH key pair. The VM must be configured with the public key.

virtctl ssh -i <ssh_key> <user_name>@vm/<vm_name>

Open an SSH connection with a VM. This command uses the private key of an SSH key pair. The VM must be configured with the public key.

virtctl vnc <vm_name>

Connect to the VNC console of a VM.

You must have virt-viewer installed.

virtctl vnc --proxy-only=true <vm_name>

Display the port number and connect manually to a VM by using any viewer through the VNC connection.

virtctl vnc --port=<port-number> <vm_name>

Specify a port number to run the proxy on the specified port, if that port is available.

If a port number is not specified, the proxy runs on a random port.