Virtual Machine Commands

Complete reference for VM and container management operations

Virtual Machine Commands

NikCLI provides comprehensive virtual machine and container management for isolated development environments. These commands enable you to create, manage, and interact with containerized development environments.

Core VM Commands

/vm [action]

Main VM management command with multiple sub-actions.

Syntax:

/vm <action> [options]

Available Actions:

• list - List all VMs
• create - Create new VM
• start - Start VM
• stop - Stop VM
• remove - Remove VM
• connect - Connect to VM
• status - Show VM status
• logs - Show VM logs

Examples:

# Show VM help and status
/vm

# List all VMs
/vm list

# Create new VM
/vm create node:18

# Connect to VM
/vm connect my-vm

# Show VM status
/vm status my-vm

/vm-create [config]

Create a new virtual machine with specified configuration.

Syntax:

/vm-create <image> [options]

Parameters:

• image - Base Docker image or predefined template
• options - VM configuration options

Predefined Templates:

• node - Node.js development environment
• python - Python development environment
• go - Go development environment
• rust - Rust development environment
• java - Java development environment
• php - PHP development environment
• ruby - Ruby development environment
• full-stack - Complete development stack

Examples:

# Create Node.js VM
/vm-create node:18

# Create Python VM
/vm-create python:3.11

# Create custom VM
/vm-create ubuntu:22.04

# Create VM with specific configuration
/vm-create node:18 --name my-dev-env --port 3000:3000 --volume ./src:/app/src

# Create VM from GitHub repository
/vm-create --from-repo https://github.com/user/project

# Create VM with predefined template
/vm-create full-stack --name web-dev

Configuration Options:

• --name <name> - VM name
• --port <host:container> - Port mapping
• --volume <host:container> - Volume mounting
• --env <key=value> - Environment variables
• --memory <size> - Memory limit
• --cpu <count> - CPU limit
• --network <network> - Network configuration

/vm-list

List all virtual machines with detailed information.

Syntax:

/vm-list [options]

Options:

• --all - Show all VMs (including stopped)
• --running - Show only running VMs
• --json - Output in JSON format

Examples:

# List all VMs
/vm-list

# List only running VMs
/vm-list --running

# List with JSON output
/vm-list --json

Output Format:

🖥️  Virtual Machines:

┌──────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┐
│ Name         │ Image       │ Status      │ Ports       │ Created      │
├──────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────┤
│ my-dev-env   │ node:18     │ Running     │ 3000:3000   │ 2h ago       │
│ python-ml    │ python:3.11 │ Stopped     │ 8000:8000   │ 1d ago       │
│ web-stack    │ full-stack  │ Running     │ 80:80,443   │ 3h ago       │
└──────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┘

Total: 3 VMs (2 running, 1 stopped)

/vm-connect [id]

Connect to a running virtual machine.

Syntax:

/vm-connect <vm-name> [options]

Parameters:

• vm-name - Name or ID of the VM to connect to

Options:

• --shell <shell> - Shell to use (bash, zsh, sh)
• --user <user> - User to connect as
• --workdir <path> - Working directory

Examples:

# Connect to VM with default shell
/vm-connect my-dev-env

# Connect with specific shell
/vm-connect my-dev-env --shell zsh

# Connect as specific user
/vm-connect my-dev-env --user developer

# Connect to specific directory
/vm-connect my-dev-env --workdir /app

Interactive Features:

• Full terminal emulation
• File system access
• Port forwarding
• Environment synchronization
• Session persistence

/vm-stop [id]

Stop a running virtual machine.

Syntax:

/vm-stop <vm-name> [options]

Options:

• --force - Force stop (kill)
• --timeout <seconds> - Graceful shutdown timeout

Examples:

# Graceful stop
/vm-stop my-dev-env

# Force stop
/vm-stop my-dev-env --force

# Stop with custom timeout
/vm-stop my-dev-env --timeout 30

/vm-remove [id]

Remove a virtual machine and its data.

Syntax:

/vm-remove <vm-name> [options]

Options:

• --force - Skip confirmation
• --volumes - Remove associated volumes
• --images - Remove associated images

Examples:

# Remove VM with confirmation
/vm-remove my-dev-env

# Force remove without confirmation
/vm-remove my-dev-env --force

# Remove VM and volumes
/vm-remove my-dev-env --volumes

# Remove everything
/vm-remove my-dev-env --force --volumes --images

Advanced VM Commands

/vm-logs [id]

View logs from a virtual machine.

Syntax:

/vm-logs <vm-name> [options]

Options:

• --follow - Follow logs in real-time
• --tail <lines> - Show last N lines
• --since <time> - Show logs since timestamp

Examples:

# Show recent logs
/vm-logs my-dev-env

# Follow logs in real-time
/vm-logs my-dev-env --follow

# Show last 100 lines
/vm-logs my-dev-env --tail 100

# Show logs from last hour
/vm-logs my-dev-env --since 1h

/vm-status [id]

Show detailed status information for a VM.

Syntax:

/vm-status <vm-name> [options]

Options:

• --json - Output in JSON format
• --detailed - Show detailed information

Examples:

# Show basic status
/vm-status my-dev-env

# Show detailed status
/vm-status my-dev-env --detailed

# JSON output
/vm-status my-dev-env --json

Status Information:

• Container state and health
• Resource usage (CPU, memory, disk)
• Network configuration
• Volume mounts
• Environment variables
• Process list
• Port mappings

/vm-exec [id] [command]

Execute commands inside a virtual machine.

Syntax:

/vm-exec <vm-name> "<command>" [options]

Options:

• --user <user> - Execute as specific user
• --workdir <path> - Set working directory
• --env <key=value> - Set environment variables
• --interactive - Interactive mode

Examples:

# Execute simple command
/vm-exec my-dev-env "ls -la"

# Execute with specific user
/vm-exec my-dev-env "whoami" --user root

# Execute in specific directory
/vm-exec my-dev-env "npm install" --workdir /app

# Interactive command execution
/vm-exec my-dev-env "bash" --interactive

# Execute with environment variables
/vm-exec my-dev-env "echo $NODE_ENV" --env NODE_ENV=production

/vm-dashboard

Show a comprehensive dashboard of all VMs.

Syntax:

/vm-dashboard [options]

Options:

• --refresh <seconds> - Auto-refresh interval
• --compact - Compact view

Examples:

# Show VM dashboard
/vm-dashboard

# Auto-refresh every 5 seconds
/vm-dashboard --refresh 5

# Compact view
/vm-dashboard --compact

Dashboard Features:

• Real-time resource usage
• VM status overview
• Network activity
• Performance metrics
• Quick action buttons

VM Management Commands

/vm-mode

Switch to VM development mode.

Syntax:

/vm-mode [options]

Features:

• Automatic VM selection
• Context switching
• Resource optimization
• Session management

Examples:

# Enter VM mode
/vm-mode

# VM mode with specific VM
/vm-mode --vm my-dev-env

/vm-switch

Switch between different VMs.

Syntax:

/vm-switch [vm-name]

Examples:

# Interactive VM selection
/vm-switch

# Switch to specific VM
/vm-switch my-dev-env

/vm-select [args]

Select and configure active VM.

Syntax:

/vm-select <vm-name> [options]

Examples:

# Select VM
/vm-select my-dev-env

# Select with configuration
/vm-select my-dev-env --auto-connect

VM Utility Commands

/vm-ls [id]

List files in VM filesystem.

Syntax:

/vm-ls <vm-name> [path] [options]

Examples:

# List root directory
/vm-ls my-dev-env /

# List specific directory
/vm-ls my-dev-env /app

# List with details
/vm-ls my-dev-env /app -la

/vm-broadcast [message]

Send message to all running VMs.

Syntax:

/vm-broadcast "<message>" [options]

Examples:

# Broadcast message
/vm-broadcast "System maintenance in 10 minutes"

# Broadcast command
/vm-broadcast "npm update" --execute

/vm-health

Check health of all VMs.

Syntax:

/vm-health [options]

Examples:

# Check all VM health
/vm-health

# Detailed health check
/vm-health --detailed

# Health check with auto-repair
/vm-health --repair

/vm-backup [id]

Create backup of VM state.

Syntax:

/vm-backup <vm-name> [options]

Options:

• --name <backup-name> - Backup name
• --compress - Compress backup
• --exclude <patterns> - Exclude patterns

Examples:

# Create backup
/vm-backup my-dev-env

# Named backup
/vm-backup my-dev-env --name "before-update"

# Compressed backup
/vm-backup my-dev-env --compress

# Backup excluding node_modules
/vm-backup my-dev-env --exclude "node_modules,*.log"

/vm-stats [id]

Show VM statistics and metrics.

Syntax:

/vm-stats [vm-name] [options]

Options:

• --real-time - Real-time monitoring
• --history - Historical data
• --export - Export data

Examples:

# Show stats for all VMs
/vm-stats

# Show stats for specific VM
/vm-stats my-dev-env

# Real-time monitoring
/vm-stats my-dev-env --real-time

# Historical data
/vm-stats my-dev-env --history 24h

VM Templates and Presets

Predefined Templates

Node.js Development:

/vm-create node-dev --template nodejs
# Includes: Node.js, npm, yarn, git, common dev tools

Python Data Science:

/vm-create python-ds --template data-science
# Includes: Python, Jupyter, pandas, numpy, matplotlib

Full-Stack Web:

/vm-create web-stack --template fullstack
# Includes: Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL, Redis, nginx

Mobile Development:

/vm-create mobile-dev --template mobile
# Includes: Node.js, React Native CLI, Android SDK

Custom Templates

Create custom VM templates:

# Create template from existing VM
/vm-create-template my-dev-env --name custom-node

# Use custom template
/vm-create new-env --template custom-node

VM Networking

Port Management

# Map additional ports
/vm-port-add my-dev-env 8080:8080

# Remove port mapping
/vm-port-remove my-dev-env 8080

# List port mappings
/vm-port-list my-dev-env

Network Configuration

# Create custom network
/vm-network-create dev-network

# Connect VM to network
/vm-network-connect my-dev-env dev-network

# List networks
/vm-network-list

VM Storage

Volume Management

# Create volume
/vm-volume-create my-data

# Mount volume to VM
/vm-volume-mount my-dev-env my-data:/data

# List volumes
/vm-volume-list

# Backup volume
/vm-volume-backup my-data

File Synchronization

# Sync local directory to VM
/vm-sync ./src my-dev-env:/app/src

# Sync VM directory to local
/vm-sync my-dev-env:/app/dist ./dist

# Real-time sync
/vm-sync ./src my-dev-env:/app/src --watch

Performance Optimization

Resource Limits

# Set CPU limit
/vm-limit my-dev-env --cpu 2

# Set memory limit
/vm-limit my-dev-env --memory 4g

# Set disk limit
/vm-limit my-dev-env --disk 20g

Performance Monitoring

# Monitor performance
/vm-monitor my-dev-env

# Performance profiling
/vm-profile my-dev-env --duration 60s

# Resource usage alerts
/vm-alert my-dev-env --cpu 80 --memory 90

Integration Examples

Development Workflow

# 1. Create development environment
/vm-create node:18 --name project-dev --port 3000:3000

# 2. Connect and setup
/vm-connect project-dev
# Inside VM: git clone, npm install, etc.

# 3. Start development
/vm-exec project-dev "npm run dev"

# 4. Monitor and debug
/vm-logs project-dev --follow
/vm-stats project-dev --real-time

Team Collaboration

# 1. Create shared template
/vm-create-template team-env --from project-dev

# 2. Team members create VMs from template
/vm-create team-member-1 --template team-env

# 3. Share configurations
/vm-export-config project-dev > team-config.json
/vm-import-config team-config.json --vm team-member-2

CI/CD Integration

# 1. Create CI environment
/vm-create ci-env --template nodejs --ephemeral

# 2. Run tests
/vm-exec ci-env "npm test"

# 3. Build application
/vm-exec ci-env "npm run build"

# 4. Cleanup
/vm-remove ci-env --force

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

VM won’t start:

# Check Docker daemon
/run docker info

# Check VM configuration
/vm-status my-dev-env --detailed

# Check resource availability
/vm-health --system

Connection issues:

# Check VM status
/vm-status my-dev-env

# Check port mappings
/vm-port-list my-dev-env

# Test connectivity
/vm-exec my-dev-env "ping host.docker.internal"

Performance issues:

# Check resource usage
/vm-stats my-dev-env

# Adjust resource limits
/vm-limit my-dev-env --memory 8g --cpu 4

# Clean up unused resources
/vm-cleanup --unused

Debug Commands

# VM system diagnostics
/diagnostic vm

# VM-specific debugging
/debug vm my-dev-env

# Container inspection
/vm-inspect my-dev-env

# System resource check
/vm-health --system

Best Practices

VM Management

• Use descriptive VM names
• Regular backup of important VMs
• Monitor resource usage
• Clean up unused VMs regularly

Development

• Use appropriate base images
• Mount source code as volumes
• Use environment variables for configuration
• Implement proper logging

Security

• Use non-root users when possible
• Limit resource usage
• Regular security updates
• Network isolation when needed

Performance

• Optimize Docker images
• Use appropriate resource limits
• Monitor and profile regularly
• Use caching strategies