MACHINECTL(1) machinectl MACHINECTL(1)
NAME
machinectl - Control the systemd machine manager
SYNOPSIS
machinectl [OPTIONS...] {COMMAND} [NAME...]
DESCRIPTION
machinectl may be used to introspect and control the state of the
systemd(1) virtual machine and container registration manager systemd-
machined.service(8).
OPTIONS
The following options are understood:
-p, --property=
When showing machine or image properties, limit the output to
certain properties as specified by the argument. If not specified,
all set properties are shown. The argument should be a property
name, such as "Name". If specified more than once, all properties
with the specified names are shown.
-a, --all
When showing machine or image properties, show all properties
regardless of whether they are set or not.
When listing VM or container images, do not suppress images
beginning in a dot character (".").
-l, --full
Do not ellipsize process tree entries.
--no-ask-password
Do not query the user for authentication for privileged operations.
--kill-who=
When used with kill, choose which processes to kill. Must be one of
leader, or all to select whether to kill only the leader process of
the machine or all processes of the machine. If omitted, defaults
to all.
-s, --signal=
When used with kill, choose which signal to send to selected
processes. Must be one of the well-known signal specifiers, such as
SIGTERM, SIGINT or SIGSTOP. If omitted, defaults to SIGTERM.
--mkdir
When used with bind creates the destination directory before
applying the bind mount.
--read-only
When used with bind applies a read-only bind mount.
-n, --lines=
When used with status, controls the number of journal lines to
show, counting from the most recent ones. Takes a positive integer
argument. Defaults to 10.
-o, --output=
When used with status, controls the formatting of the journal
entries that are shown. For the available choices, see
journalctl(1). Defaults to "short".
--verify=
When downloading a container or VM image, specify whether the image
shall be verified before it is made available. Takes one of "no",
"checksum" and "signature". If "no" no verification is done. If
"checksum" is specified the download is checked for integrity after
transfer is complete, but no signatures are verified. If
"signature" is specified, the checksum is verified and the images's
signature is checked against a local keyring of trustable vendors.
It is strongly recommended to set this option to "signature" if the
server and protocol support this. Defaults to "signature".
--force
When downloading a container or VM image, and a local copy by the
specified local machine name already exists, delete it first and
replace it by the newly downloaded image.
-H, --host=
Execute the operation remotely. Specify a hostname, or a username
and hostname separated by "@", to connect to. The hostname may
optionally be suffixed by a container name, separated by ":", which
connects directly to a specific container on the specified host.
This will use SSH to talk to the remote machine manager instance.
Container names may be enumerated with machinectl -H HOST.
-M, --machine=
Execute operation on a local container. Specify a container name to
connect to.
--no-pager
Do not pipe output into a pager.
--no-legend
Do not print the legend, i.e. column headers and the footer with
hints.
-h, --help
Print a short help text and exit.
--version
Print a short version string and exit.
COMMANDS
The following commands are understood:
Machine Commands
list
List currently running (online) virtual machines and containers. To
enumerate container images that can be started, use list-images
(see below).
status NAME...
Show terse runtime status information about one or more virtual
machines and containers, followed by the most recent log data from
the journal. This function is intended to generate human-readable
output. If you are looking for computer-parsable output, use show
instead. Note that the log data shown is reported by the virtual
machine or container manager, and frequently contains console
output of the machine, but not necessarily journal contents of the
machine itself.
show NAME...
Show properties of one or more registered virtual machines or
containers or the manager itself. If no argument is specified,
properties of the manager will be shown. If an NAME is specified,
properties of this virtual machine or container are shown. By
default, empty properties are suppressed. Use --all to show those
too. To select specific properties to show, use --property=. This
command is intended to be used whenever computer-parsable output is
required. Use status if you are looking for formatted
human-readable output.
start NAME...
Start a container as a system service, using systemd-nspawn(1).
This starts systemd-nspawn@.service, instantiated for the specified
machine name, similar to the effect of systemctl start on the
service name. systemd-nspawn looks for a container image by the
specified name in /var/lib/machines/ (and other search paths, see
below) and runs it. Use list-images (see below), for listing
available container images to start.
Note that systemd-machined.service(8) also interfaces with a
variety of other container and VM managers, systemd-nspawn is just
one implementation of it. Most of the commands available in
machinectl may be used on containers or VMs controlled by other
managers, not just systemd-nspawn. Starting VMs and container
images on those managers requires manager-specific tools.
To interactively start a container on the command line with full
access to the container's console, please invoke systemd-nspawn
directly. To stop a running container use machinectl poweroff, see
below.
login NAME
Open an interactive terminal login session to a container. This
will create a TTY connection to a specific container and asks for
the execution of a getty on it. Note that this is only supported
for containers running systemd(1) as init system.
This command will open a full login prompt on the container, which
then asks for username and password. Use systemd-run(1) with the
--machine= switch to invoke a single command, either interactively
or in the background within a local container.
enable NAME..., disable NAME...
Enable or disable a container as a system service to start at
system boot, using systemd-nspawn(1). This enables or disables
systemd-nspawn@.service, instantiated for the specified machine
name, similar to the effect of systemctl enable or systemctl
disable on the service name.
poweroff NAME...
Power off one or more containers. This will trigger a reboot by
sending SIGRTMIN+4 to the container's init process, which causes
systemd-compatible init systems to shut down cleanly. This
operation does not work on containers that do not run a
systemd(1)-compatible init system, such as sysvinit. Use terminate
(see below) to immediately terminate a container or VM, without
cleanly shutting it down.
reboot NAME...
Reboot one or more containers. This will trigger a reboot by
sending SIGINT to the container's init process, which is roughly
equivalent to pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del on a non-containerized system,
and is compatible with containers running any system manager.
terminate NAME...
Immediately terminates a virtual machine or container, without
cleanly shutting it down. This kills all processes of the virtual
machine or container and deallocates all resources attached to that
instance. Use poweroff to issue a clean shutdown request.
kill NAME...
Send a signal to one or more processes of the virtual machine or
container. This means processes as seen by the host, not the
processes inside the virtual machine or container. Use --kill-who=
to select which process to kill. Use --signal= to select the signal
to send.
bind NAME PATH [PATH]
Bind mounts a directory from the host into the specified container.
The first directory argument is the source directory on the host,
the second directory argument the source directory on the host.
When the latter is omitted the destination path in the container is
the same as the source path on the host. When combined with the
--read-only switch a ready-only bind mount is created. When
combined with the --mkdir switch the destination path is first
created before the mount is applied. Note that this option is
currently only supported for systemd-nspawn(1) containers.
copy-to NAME PATH [PATH]
Copies files or directories from the host system into a running
container. Takes a container name, followed by the source path on
the host and the destination path in the container. If the
destination path is omitted the same as the source path is used.
copy-from NAME PATH [PATH]
Copies files or directories from a container into the host system.
Takes a container name, followed by the source path in the
container the destination path on the host. If the destination path
is omitted the same as the source path is used.
Image Commands
list-images
Show a list of locally installed container and VM images. This
enumerates all raw disk images and container directories and
subvolumes in /var/lib/machines/ (and other search paths, see
below). Use start (see above) to run a container off one of the
listed images. Note that by default containers whose name begins
with a dot (".") are not shown. To show these too, specify --all.
Note that a special image ".host" always implicitly exists and
refers to the image the host itself is booted from.
image-status NAME...
Show terse status information about one or more container or VM
images. This function is intended to generate human-readable
output. Use show-image (see below) to generate computer-parsable
output instead.
show-image NAME...
Show properties of one or more registered virtual machine or
container images, or the manager itself. If no argument is
specified, properties of the manager will be shown. If an NAME is
specified, properties of this virtual machine or container image
are shown. By default, empty properties are suppressed. Use --all
to show those too. To select specific properties to show, use
--property=. This command is intended to be used whenever
computer-parsable output is required. Use image-status if you are
looking for formatted human-readable output.
clone NAME NAME
Clones a container or disk image. The arguments specify the name of
the image to clone and the name of the newly cloned image. Note
that plain directory container images are cloned into subvolume
images with this command. Note that cloning a container or VM image
is optimized for btrfs file systems, and might not be efficient on
others, due to file system limitations.
rename NAME NAME
Renames a container or disk image. The arguments specify the name
of the image to rename and the new name of the image.
read-only NAME [BOOL]
Marks or (unmarks) a container or disk image read-only. Takes a VM
or container image name, followed by a boolean as arguments. If the
boolean is omitted, positive is implied, i.e. the image is marked
read-only.
remove NAME...
Removes one or more container or disk images. The special image
".host", which refers to the host's own directory tree may not be
removed.
Image Transfer Commands
pull-tar URL [NAME]
Downloads a .tar container image from the specified URL, and makes
it available under the specified local machine name. The URL must
be of type "http://" or "https://", and must refer to a .tar,
.tar.gz, .tar.xz or .tar.bz2 archive file. If the local machine
name is omitted the name it is automatically derived from the last
component of the URL, with its suffix removed.
The image is verified before it is made available, unless
--verify=no is specified. Verification is done via SHA256SUMS and
SHA256SUMS.gpg files, that need to be made available on the same
web server, under the same URL as the .tar file, but with the last
component (the filename) of the URL replaced. With
--verify=checksum only the SHA256 checksum for the file is
verified, based on the SHA256SUMS file. With --verify=signature the
SHA256SUMS file is first verified with detached GPG signature file
SHA256SUMS.gpg. The public key for this verification step needs to
be available in /usr/lib/systemd/import-pubring.gpg or
/etc/systemd/import-pubring.gpg.
The container image will be downloaded and stored in a read-only
subvolume in /var/lib/machines/, that is named after the specified
URL and its HTTP etag. A writable snapshot is then taken from this
subvolume, and named after the specified local name. This behaviour
ensures that creating multiple container instances of the same URL
is efficient, as multiple downloads are not necessary. In order to
create only the read-only image, and avoid creating its writable
snapshot, specify "-" as local machine name.
Note that the read-only subvolume is prefixed with .tar-, and is
thus now shown by list-images, unless --all is passed.
Note that pressing C-c during execution of this command will not
abort the download. Use cancel-transfer, described below.
pull-raw URL [NAME]
Downloads a .raw container or VM disk image from the specified URL,
and makes it available under the specified local machine name. The
URL must be of type "http://" or "https://". The container image
must either be a .qcow2 or raw disk image, optionally compressed as
.gz, .xz, or .bz2. If the local machine name is omitted the name it
is automatically derived from the last component of the URL, with
its suffix removed.
Image verification is identical for raw and tar images (see above).
If the the downloaded image is in .qcow2 format it es converted
into a raw image file before it is made available.
Downloaded images of this type will be placed as read-only .raw
file in /var/lib/machines/. A local, writable (reflinked) copy is
then made under the specified local machine name. To omit creation
of the local, writable copy pass "-" as local machine name.
Similar to the behaviour of pull-tar, the read-only image is
prefixed with .raw-, and thus now shown by list-images, unless
--all is passed.
Note that pressing C-c during execution of this command will not
abort the download. Use cancel-transfer, described below.
list-transfers
Shows a list of container or VM image downloads that are currently
in progress.
cancel-transfers ID...
Aborts download of the container or VM image with the specified ID.
To list ongoing transfers and their IDs, use list-transfers.
FILES AND DIRECTORIES
Machine images are preferably stored in /var/lib/machines/, but are
also searched for in /usr/local/lib/machines/ and /usr/lib/machines/.
For compatibility reasons the directory /var/lib/container/ is
searched, too. Note that images stored below /usr are always considered
read-only. It is possible to symlink machines images from other
directories into /var/lib/machines/ to make them available for control
with machinectl.
Disk images are understood by systemd-nspawn(1) and machinectl in three
formats:
o A simple directory tree, containing the files and directories of
the container to boot.
o A subvolume (on btrfs file systems), which are similar to the
simple directories, described above. However, they have additional
benefits, such as efficient cloning and quota reporting.
o "Raw" disk images, i.e. binary images of disks with a GPT or MBR
partition table. Images of this type are regular files with the
suffix ".raw".
See systemd-nspawn(1) for more information on image formats, in
particular it's --directory= and --image= options.
EXAMPLES
Example 1. Download an Ubuntu image and open a shell in it
# machinectl pull-tar https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/trusty/current/trusty-server-cloudimg-amd64-root.tar.gz
# systemd-nspawn -M trusty-server-cloudimg-amd64-root
This downloads and verifies the specified .tar image, and then uses
systemd-nspawn(1) to open a shell in it.
Example 2. Download a Fedora image, set a root password in it, start it
as service
# machinectl pull-raw --verify=no http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/fedora/linux/releases/21/Cloud/Images/x86_64/Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21.x86_64.raw.xz
# systemd-nspawn -M Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21
# passwd
# exit
# machinectl start Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21
# machinectl login Fedora-Cloud-Base-20141203-21
This downloads the specified .raw image with verification disabled.
Then a shell is opened in it and a root password is set. Afterwards the
shell is left, and the machine started as system service. With the last
command a login prompt into the container is requested.
EXIT STATUS
On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code otherwise.
ENVIRONMENT
$SYSTEMD_PAGER
Pager to use when --no-pager is not given; overrides $PAGER.
Setting this to an empty string or the value "cat" is equivalent to
passing --no-pager.
$SYSTEMD_LESS
Override the default options passed to less ("FRSXMK").
$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE
Takes a boolean argument. When true, the "secure" mode of the pager
is enabled; if false, disabled. If $SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE is not set
at all, secure mode is enabled if the effective UID is not the same
as the owner of the login session, see geteuid(2) and
sd_pid_get_owner_uid(3). In secure mode, LESSSECURE=1 will be set
when invoking the pager, and the pager shall disable commands that
open or create new files or start new subprocesses. When
$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE is not set at all, pagers which are not known
to implement secure mode will not be used. (Currently only less(1)
implements secure mode.)
Note: when commands are invoked with elevated privileges, for
example under sudo(8) or pkexec(1), care must be taken to ensure
that unintended interactive features are not enabled. "Secure" mode
for the pager may be enabled automatically as describe above.
Setting SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE=0 or not removing it from the inherited
environment allows the user to invoke arbitrary commands. Note that
if the $SYSTEMD_PAGER or $PAGER variables are to be honoured,
$SYSTEMD_PAGERSECURE must be set too. It might be reasonable to
completly isable the pager using --no-pager instead.
SEE ALSO
systemd-machined.service(8), systemd-nspawn(1), systemd.special(7)
systemd 219 MACHINECTL(1)
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