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The following table includes global vss-cli options related to account and ` username and password, API endpoint and MFA TOTP token.

Name

Option

Environment Variable

Description

Username

--username

VSS_USER

 User to interact with the VSS API.

Password

--password

VSS_USER_PASS

 User password.

MFA TOTP Token

--totp

VSS_USER_OTP

If MFA enabled, will be prompted.

Config­uration Path

--config

VSS_CONFIG

Altern­ative config­uration path.

Request Timeout

--timeout

VSS_TIMEOUT

Request timeout in seconds.

API endpoint

--endpoint

VSS_ENDPOINT

ITS Private Cloud endpoint instance.

Global options (format)

The following table includes the global vss-cli options to customize output format.

Name

Option

Environment Variable

Description

Table format to use

--tabl­e-f­ormat

VSS_TABLE

csv, fancy_­grid, github, grid, html, jira...

Custom columns

--columns

-

Any VM attribute: 

moref,­nam­e,c­pu_­cou­nt,­ip_­address,folder.path,power_state,networks[*].name

Truncates column values

--colu­mns­-width

VSS_COL_WIDTH

0: auto, -1: disable

Don't use headers

--no-h­eaders

-

When printing tables

Sort output

--sort-by

-

Sort table by the jsonpath expres­sion.

Output

--output

VSS_OUTPUT

json|y­aml­|ta­ble­|au­to|­ndjson

...

Action

Description

Command

CPU

Update VM CPU count.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} cpu count {n}

CPU hot-add

Update VM cpu hot-add settings.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} cpu hot-add {on|off}

Memory

Update VM memory size.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} memory size {nGiB}

Memory hot-add

Update VM memory hot-add settings.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} memory hot-add {on|off}

Disk New (basic)

Create single or multiple disks.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} disk mk \
-i {nGiB} -i {nGiB}

Power State:

Turn off, on, reset. Shutdown and reboot (VMware Tools required)

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} state \
{on|of­f|r­ebo­ot|­res­et|­shu­tdo­wn|­sus­­pend}

Disk New (adv.)

Create single or multiple disks using specific SCSI controller

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} disk mk \
-i '{"c­apa­cit­y_g­b": 100, "­scs­i": 1}'

Disk Copy (adv.)

Copy and attach disks to VM from vskey-stor user space.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} disk cp -i \
'{"capacity_gb": 100, "backing_vmdk": "[XXNN] VM/vmdk"}'

Disk Update

Update VM disk N capacity in GB.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} disk up \
 {diskN} --capacity {nGiB}

Disk Update (adv.)

Update VM disk N capacity in GB, SCSI bus N and add metadata notes to the disk.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} disk up \
{diskN} --capacity {nGiB} --scsi {busN} \
--notes "data disk e:/"

Disk Delete

Delete VM disk(s). Confirmation will be prompted.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} disk rm {diskN} {diskN}

NIC New

Create new network interface specifying Network name.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} nic mk --net {network}

NIC new (adv.)

Create new network interface specifying Network name and Type.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} nic mk --net {NetName}={NICType}

NIC Update Network:

Update network interface network.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} nic up {nicN} --network {netName}

NIC Update State

Update network interface state to either connect or disconnect

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} nic up {nicN} --state {conne­ct|­dis­con­­nect}

NIC Update Type

Update network interface adapter type. defaults to vmxnet3.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} nic up {nicN} --adapter {type}

NIC Delete

Delete network interface adapter(s)

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} nic rm {nicN} {nicN}

CD/ISO Create

Create CD drive with attached ISO image from Content Library or client.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} cd mk --backing {iso}
vss-cli compute vm set {id} cd mk cd mk --backing client

CD/ISO Update

Update CD drive to connect to a different ISO or disconnect.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} cd up {cdN} --backing {iso}
vss-cli compute vm set {id} cd up {cdN} --backing client

Floppy Drive Create

Create virtual floppy drive with given image or client.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} floppy mk --backing {image}
vss-cli compute vm set {id} floppy mk --backing client

Floppy Drive Update

Update virtual floppy backing with a different image or client.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} floppy up {flpN} --backing {image}
vss-cli compute vm set {id} floppy up {flpN} --backing client

Floppy Drive Remove

Remove virtual floppy

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} floppy rm {flpN}

Storage Type

Update VM storage type to either ssd or hdd. This action will perform storage vMotion within the Compute Domain.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} storag­e-type {ssd|hdd}

Domain

Update VM compute domain. This action will perform vMotion and storage vMotion.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} domain {name-or-id}

Operating System

Update VM operating system settings. This setting is responsible to present the right virtual hardware to the guest OS.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} os {name-or-id}

Add vTPM

Add virtual Trusted Platform Module to VM. Virtualization Based Security, EFI and secure boot will be also en

Code Block
tpm mkvss-cli compute vm set {id} tpm mk

Add vGPU

Add GPU to VM based on given profile.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} gpu mk --profile {gpu-profile}

Enable|Disable VBS

Enable or disable Virtualization Based Security.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} vbs on|off

Enable|Disable Secure Boot

Enable or Disable secure boot.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} secure-boot --on/--off

FIrmware

Update VM firmware to bios or EFI.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} firmware bios|efi

Convert to|from template

Mark VM as template or template as VM.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} template –-{on|off}

Administrator

Update VM admin metadata.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} admin "Admin Name" admin.email@utoronto.ca 416-666-6666

Informational Contacts

Add Informational Contacts in VM metadata.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id} inform {email-1} {email-n}

Virtual Machine (

...

deplo­yment)

Restore Deploy virtual machine from ZFS snapshots. More information about Restore Requests available here: Request Virtual Machine Restore

...

machines from content library, clone, template, shell, file specification and more.

Type

Description

Command

Get Restore Points

List available restore points filtered by timestamp

Content Library

Deploy a virtual machine from an OVA image with pre-installed operating system from our Content Library.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm
get
mk from-clib --source {
id
image} \
restore
-
point ls -f timestamp=2023-11

Submit Restore

Submit a restore request.

Code Blockvss-cli compute vm res {id
-desc­rip­tio­n="U­buntu OS VM deploy­men­t" \ 
  --clie­nt=­{cl­ient} --
timestamp=2023-11-11 \ --reason 'OS corrupted'

Virtual Machine (deplo­yment)

Deploy virtual mahc

Create virtual machine snapshot nowpower-onuser-data {cloud-init.yamlnetwork-config {network-config.yaml} \ubuntu­20­04-vm

Note. --user-data and --network-config will generate a seed iso that must be taken by the guest operating system, i.e. Ubuntu.

Clone virtual machine from another VM snapshot idclonesnapshot {snapId} \ -- cust­omspec vm-clo­ne-­spe­c.yaml \ power-on file {cli-s­pec­}.{­jso­n|yaml}

Type

Description

Command

Content Library

Deploy a virtual machine from an OVA image with pre-installed operating system from our Content Library.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-clib --source {image} \
--desc­rip­tio­n="U­buntu OS VM deploy­men­t"usag­e=Prod \ 
  --os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­" --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMs \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiB} --cpu={n} \ 
  --net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --clie­ntdisk­=­{cl­ientnGiB} --usag­e=Proddisk­='{­"­cap­aci­ty_­gb": 100}' \
   --extr­a-os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­"c­onfig disk.E­nab­leU­UID­=TRUE \ 
  --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMspower-on \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiBuser-data {cloud-init.yaml} --network-cpu={nconfig {network-config.yaml} \
   --net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --disk­={nGiB} --disk­='{­"­cap­aci­ty_­gb": 100}' \
  --extr­a-c­onfig disk.E­nab­leU­UID­=TRUEubuntu­-20­04-vm

Note. --user-data and --network-config will generate a seed iso that must be taken by the guest operating system, i.e. Ubuntu.

Shell VM

Deploy an empty virtual machine to be manually installed by the mounted iso.

Code Block
 vss-cli compute vm mk shell \ 
  --
desc­rip­tio­n="U­buntu OS VM deploy­men­t" \ 
  --
clie­nt=­{cl­ient} --
usag­e=Prod \ 
  
-

Shell VM

Deploy an empty virtual machine to be manually installed by the mounted iso.

Code Block
 vss-cli compute vm mk shell-os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­" --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMs \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiB} --cpu={n} \ 
  --desc­rip­tio­n="U­buntu OS VM deploy­men­t" net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --clie­ntdisk­=­{cl­ientnGiB} --usag­e=Prod \ 
  --os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­" --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMsdisk­='{­"­cap­aci­ty_­gb": 100}' \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiB} --cpu={niso {isoName} \ 
  ---net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --disk­={nGiB} --disk­='{­"­cap­aci­ty_­gb": 100}' \ 
  --iso {isoName} \ 
  --extr­a-extr­a-c­onfig disk.E­nab­leU­UID­=TRUE \ 
  --power-on \ 
  --firmware efi \ 
  ubuntu­-20­04-vm

Clone VM Virtual Machine or Deploy from Template

Clone virtual machine from another VM, template.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk {from-­clo­ne|­fro­m-t­emp­late} \ 
  --desc­rip­tio­n={­des­cri­ption} \ 
  --source {sourceVM} \ 
  --cust­om-spec '{"h­ost­nam­e": "­ubu­ntu­-cl­one­", "­dom­ain­": "­loc­al", "­int­erf­ace­s": [{"d­hcp­": true}]}' \ 
  --power-on

Clone VM (from snapshot)

Deploy multiple Virtual Machine in batch

Deploy multiple virtual machines in a single command.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-
template \ 
  --
desc­rip­tio­n={­des­cri­ption} \ 
  
--source {sourceVM} \ 
  
--
power-
on \
  --

CLI Spec (existing)

Deploy a virtual machine from existing vss-cli specification
instances {numberOfInstances}

Clone Virtual machine from snapshot

Clone virtual machine from another VM snapshot id.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-

CLI Spec (new)

Deploy a virtual machine from new vss-cli specification.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-file \
--edit --save --spec­-te­mplate {shell­|cl­ib|­tem­pla­te|­clone}

From Image

Note: Upload OVF and VMDK or OVA to VSKEY-STOR and run vss-cli compute image personal sync ahead of the following command:

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-image \
  --source {image-name} --clie­nt=­{cl­ient} --usag­e=Prod \ 
  --os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­" --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMs \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiB} --cpu={n} \ 
  --net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --disk­={nGiB} \ 
  ubuntu­-20­04-vm

Retirement requests can be added to shell, from-clone, from-template, from-clib as follows: --reti­re-type {timed­elt­a|d­ate­time} : Retirement request type. --reti­re-­warning {n} : Days before retirement date to notify. --reti­re-­value {hours­},{­day­s},­{mo­nths}: Value for given retirement type.

Virtual Machine Snapshot

Virtual Machine Snapshot management:

clone \ 
  --snapshot {snapId} \  
  --desc­rip­tio­n={­des­cri­ption} \  
  --source {sourceVM} \  
  --cust­om-spec vm-clo­ne-­spe­c.yaml \  
  --power-on

CLI Spec (existing)

Deploy a virtual machine from existing vss-cli specification.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-file {cli-s­pec­}.{­jso­n|yaml}

CLI Spec (new)

Deploy a virtual machine from new vss-cli specification.

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-file \
--edit --save --spec­-te­mplate {shell­|cl­ib|­tem­pla­te|­clone}

From Image

Note: Upload OVF and VMDK or OVA to VSKEY-STOR and run vss-cli compute image personal sync ahead of the following command:

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm mk from-image \
  --source {image-name} --clie­nt=­{cl­ient} --usag­e=Prod \ 
  --os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­" --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMs \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiB} --cpu={n} \ 
  --net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --disk­={nGiB} \ 
  ubuntu­-20­04-vm

Retirement requests can be added to shell, from-clone, from-template, from-clib as follows: --reti­re-type {timed­elt­a|d­ate­time} : Retirement request type. --reti­re-­warning {n} : Days before retirement date to notify. --reti­re-­value {hours­},{­day­s},­{mo­nths}: Value for given retirement type.

Virtual Machine Snapshot

Virtual Machine Snapshot management:

Create virtual machine snapshot later mk \ --desc­ription {descr­iption} --lifetime {n<72} --memory \ --time­sta­mp=­{YY­YY-­MM-DD HH:MM}Revert to existing virtual machine snapshots

Create virtual machine snapshot now

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id-or­-name} snapshot mk \
--desc­ription {descr­iption} --lifetime {n<72} --memory

Create virtual machine snapshot later

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id-or­-name}  snapshot mk \
--desc­ription {descr­iption} --lifetime {n<72} --memory \
--time­sta­mp=­{YY­YY-­MM-DD HH:MM}

List existing virtual machine snapshots

Code Block
vss-cli compute vm setget {id-or­-name}  snapshot mk \
--desc­ription {descr­iption} --lifetime {n<72} --memory 
Revert to existing virtual machine snapshots
 Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id-or­-name} snapshot re {snapId}
Remove existing virtual machine snapshot
List existing virtual machine snapshots
 Code Block
vss-cli compute vm set {id-or­-name} snapshot rm {snapId}
Extend virtual machine snapshot lifetime
 Code Block
vss-cli computerequest vmsnapshot getset {idreque­stId} duration -or­-name}  snapshot
-lifetime 72
Remember that every change, new vm submission and snapshot request create a unique ID.
Virtual Machine Folders
Manage virtual machine vSphere folders.
Create Folder
 Code Block
vss-cli compute 
vm
folder 
set
mk 
{id
-
or­
-
name
pare­nt=­{fo­lder} 
snapshot re 
{
snapId
folder}
Remove existing virtual machine snapshot
Rename Folder
 Code Block
vss-cli compute 
vm
folder set {
id-or­-name
folder} 
snapshot rm
name {
snapId
new-name}
Extend virtual machine snapshot lifetime
Move Folder with its contents
 Code Block
vss-cli 
request
compute 
snapshot
folder set {
reque­stId
folder} 
duration --lifetime 72
Remember that every change, new vm submission and snapshot request create a unique ID.
Virtual Machine Folders
Manage virtual machine vSphere folders.
Create Folder
parent {nparent}
Virtual Machine Inventory
Generate virtual machine inventory files.
Create Inventory File
 Code Block
vss-cli compute 
folder
inventory mk --
pare­nt=­{fo­lder}
fmt {
folder}Rename Folder
json|csv} --all
Download Inventory File
 Code Block
vss-cli compute 
folder
inventory 
set
dl {
folder} name {new-name}
Move Folder with its contents
 Code Block
vss-cli compute folder set {folder} parent {nparent}
Virtual Machine Inventory
Generate virtual machine inventory files.
Create Inventory File
id}
You can download with the"­Cre­ate­" command by adding --wait to the global vss-cli i.e.  vss-cli --wait compute inventory mk --fmt csv --all
Virtual Machine (restore) 
Restore virtual machine from ZFS snapshots. More information about Restore Requests available here: How-to Request Virtual Machine Restore 
Action
Description
Command
Get Restore Points
List available restore points filtered by timestamp.
 Code Block
vss-cli compute 
inventory
vm 
mk
get 
--fmt {json|csv
{id} 
--all
Download Inventory File
 Code Block
vss-cli compute inventory dl {id}
...
restore-point ls -f timestamp=2023-11
Submit Restore
Submit a restore request. 
 Code Block
vss-cli compute vm res {id} --timestamp=2023-11-11 \
--reason 'OS corrupted'
Virtual Machine query
Action
Description
Command
List
List all virtual machines
 Code Block
vss-cli compute vm ls
Search
Search for vm by attribute
 Code Block
vss-cli compute vm ls -f name={vm-name}
vss-cli compute vm ls -f ip_address={ipAddress}
vss-cli compute vm ls -f folder.path='Public > Path'
Attributes
Get additional info for specific attribute
 Code Block
vss-cli compute vm get {id} \
{cpu|memory|disk|state|nic|storage-type...}

vss-cli compute vm get --help 
...
 Code Block
vss-cli raw GET /status
Downloadable Cheat Sheet
...