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Global options

The following table includes global vss-cli options related to account and `

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

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

Example 1. List virtual machines in yaml format:

vss-cli --output yaml compute vm ls

Example 2. List virtual machines with only moref, name, cpu_count, ip_address with fancy_grid in the table format.

vss-cli --columns moref,name,cpu_count,ip_address --table-format fancy_grid compute vm ls

Virtual Machine (update)

Manage virtual machine attributes with the vss-cli.

Add --wait to global vss-cli and get immediate change request results.

Action

Description

Command

CPU

Update VM CPU count. 

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

CPU hot-add

Update VM cpu hot-add settings.

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

Memory

Update VM memory size.

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

Memory hot-add

Update VM memory hot-add settings.

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

Disk New (basic)

Create single or multiple disks.

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

Power State:

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

NIC New

Create new network interface specifying Network name.

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

NIC new (adv.)

Create new network interface specifying Network name and Type.

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

NIC Update Network:

Update network interface network.

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

NIC Update State

Update network interface state to either connect or disconnect

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

NIC Update Type

Update network interface adapter type. defaults to vmxnet3.

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

NIC Delete

Delete network interface adapter(s)

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.

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.

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

Floppy Create

Create virtual floppy drive with given image or client.

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

Floppy Update

Update virtual floppy backing with a different image or client.

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

Storage Type

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

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

Domain

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

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.

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

tpm mk

Add vGPU

Add GPU to VM based on given profile.

gpu mk --profile {gpu-profile}

Enable|Disable VBS

Enable or disable Virtualization Based Security.

vbs on|off

Enable|Disable Secure Boot

Enable or Disable secure boot.

secure-boot --on/--off

FIrmware

Update VM firmware to bios or EFI.

firmware bios|efi

Convert to|from template

Mark VM as template or template as VM.

template –-{on|off}

Administrator

Update VM admin metadata.

admin "Admin Name" admin.email@utoronto.ca 416-666-6666

Informational Contacts

Add Informational Contacts in VM metadata.

inform {email-1} {email-n}

Virtual Machine (restore)

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

Action

Description

Command

Get Restore Points

List available restore points filtered by timestamp.

vss-cli compute vm get {id} restore-point ls -f timestamp=2023-11

Submit Restore

Submit a restore request. 

vss-cli compute vm res {id} --timestamp=2023-11-11 \
--reason 'OS corrupted'

Virtual Machine (deplo­yment)

Deploy virtual mahc

Type

Description

Command

Content Library

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

vss-cli compute vm mk from-clib --source {image} \
--desc­rip­tio­n="U­buntu OS VM deploy­men­t" \ 
  --clie­nt=­{cl­ient} --usag­e=Prod \ 
  --os="u­bun­tu6­4Gu­est­" --fold­er=­VSS­-CL­I-VMs \ 
  --memo­ry=­{nGiB} --cpu={n} \ 
  --net=­{ne­tName} \ 
  --disk­={nGiB} --disk­='{­"­cap­aci­ty_­gb": 100}' \
  --extr­a-c­onfig disk.E­nab­leU­UID­=TRUE \ 
  --power-on \
  --user-data {cloud-init.yaml} --network-config {network-config.yaml} \
  ubuntu­-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.

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

Clone VM or Template

Clone virtual machine from another VM, template.

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)

Clone virtual machine from another VM snapshot id.

vss-cli compute vm mk from-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.

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

CLI Spec (new)

Deploy a virtual machine from new vss-cli specification.

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:

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 now

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

Create virtual machine snapshot later

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

vss-cli compute vm get {id-or­-name}  snapshot

Revert to existing virtual machine snapshots

vss-cli compute vm set {id-or­-name} snapshot re {snapId}

Remove existing virtual machine snapshot

vss-cli compute vm set {id-or­-name} snapshot rm {snapId}

Extend virtual machine snapshot lifetime

vss-cli request snapshot set {reque­stId} 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

vss-cli compute folder mk --pare­nt=­{fo­lder} {folder}

Rename Folder

vss-cli compute folder set {folder} name {new-name}

Move Folder with its contents

vss-cli compute folder set {folder} parent {nparent}

Virtual Machine Inventory

Generate virtual machine inventory files.

Create Inventory File

vss-cli compute inventory mk --fmt {json|csv} --all

Download Inventory File

vss-cli compute inventory dl {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 query

Action

Description

Command

List

List all virtual machines

vss-cli compute vm ls

Search

Search for vm by attribute

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

vss-cli compute vm get {id} \
{cpu|memory|disk|state|nic|storage-type...}

vss-cli compute vm get --help

Virtual Machine query (advanced): The power of --col­umns with vss-cli

Look for a VM by IP address

vss-cli --columns moref,­nam­e,f­old­er.p­at­h,'­dis­ks[­*].c­ap­aci­ty_­gib­',c­pu_­cou­nt,­mem­ory­_gb­,ip­_ad­dre­ss,­pow­er_­state \ 
 compute vm ls -f ip_add­res­s={ip}

List including storage type and prefer­ences

vss-cli --columns moref,­nam­e,f­old­er.p­at­h,s­tor­age­_ty­pe,­pre­fer­ences compute vm ls

To show all vm attributes that can be used in the --columns option, use: 

vss-cli --output yaml compute vm ls -c 1

Decommission Virtual Machine

Show VM info before decommissioning

vss-cli compute vm rm --show-info {id} ... {idN}

Initialize and Configure the vss-cli

Initialize

vss-cli configure mk

List

vss-cli conifgure ls

Set

vss-cli configure set {attr} {name}

Default config­uration file is available at 

~/.vss­-cl­i/c­onf­ig.yaml

Account MFA management

Enable MFA

vss-cli account set mfa mk {EMAIL­|AU­THE­NTI­CAT­OR|SMS}

Disable MFA

vss-cli account set mfa rm

Verify

vss-cli account set mfa verify

Account Notifi­cations

Format

vss-cli account set notifi­cation format {html|­text}

Filter

vss-cli account set notifi­cation request {all|none|error|completion|submission}

Method

vss-cli account set notifi­cation method {mail|­mes­sage}

Account Group Membership

Get Group membership

vss-cli account get groups

Get group details

vss-cli account get group {group-name}

Get group members

vss-cli account get group {group-name} member

OVF/OVA parsing

Get Deployment Option parameters

vss-cli ovf get {filePath} deploy­men­t-p­arams

Generate additi­ona­l-p­arams spec

vss-cli ovf get {filePath} params­-spec

Get Property parameters

vss-cli ovf get {filePath} proper­ty-­params

Raw requests

vss-cli raw {GET|P­OST­|PU­T|D­ELE­TE|­PATCH} {resource}

For example: 

vss-cli raw GET /status

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