The vctl commands are divided into function categories.

The following tables list vctl commands and their function. Options enclosed in square brackets are optional. The vertical bar indicates a keyword choice.
Note: Use --help to review all the available command options.

The vctl Commands to Manage the Container Runtime Resource

Command Description
vctl system config [OPTIONS] Configures and initializes the host OS environment for the Nautilus Container Engine.
The command performs the following tasks:
  • Creates a <Home_Folder_of_Your_Account>/.vctl folder if it doesn't exist.
  • Updates the config.yaml file in the .vctl folder with the customized configurations specified by the command options.
  • Prepares the storage according to the configuration in config.yaml file and mounts the storage.
  • Prepares the container network.
  • Checks the availability of the VMware Fusion application.
Note: The vctl system config command doesn't start containerd daemon.
vctl system info [OPTIONS] Displays the Nautilus Container Engine information.
vctl system start [OPTIONS] Starts the Container Engine.

The command performs the following tasks:

  • Creates a <Home_Folder_of_Your_Account>/.vctl folder if it doesn't exist.
  • Updates the config.yaml file in the .vctl folder with the customized configurations specified by the command options.
  • Prepares the storage according to the configuration in config.yaml file and mounts the storage.
  • Prepares the container network.
  • Checks the availability of the VMware Fusion application
  • Starts the containerd daemon.
vctl system stop [OPTIONS] Stops the Nautilus Container Engine.

The vctl Commands to Manage the Image Resource

Command Description
vctl build [OPTIONS] PATH Builds a container image using a Dockerfile.
Note: If the RUN instructions in the Dockerfile run network-related commands, add ENV instruction into the Dockerfile to set network proxy, for example: ENV https_proxy <Proxy_Server>:Proxy_Port for the network operations to succeed.
vctl images [OPTIONS] [IMAGE...] Lists container images and displays basic information about the container images.
vctl push [OPTIONS] IMAGE [REMOTE_URL] Pushes the container image to the registry.
vctl rmi [OPTIONS] ([IMAGE...]|--all) Deletes one or more container images.
vctl tag [OPTIONS] SOURCE_IMAGE TARGET_IMAGE [TARGET_IMAGE...] Tags container images. It creates an image alias with the TARGET_IMAGE.

The vctl Commands to Manage the Container Resource

Command Description
vctl create [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARGUMENTS...] Creates a new container from a container image.
Note: Ensure the following when you use the --volume option:
  • Provide the folder paths for both the host and the container.
  • Specify paths to the folder. The --volume doesn't support path to files.
  • Use absolute path. Relative paths are not supported.
  • Don't specify the access permission (ro, rw) of the mounted volume because it is not supported.
  • If VOLUME instructions are provided in the Dockerfile of the container image, use --volume option to mount a folder from host to the container for the container to run.
Note: Ensure the following when you use the --publish option:
  • The --publish option is only available with Fusion Pro.

  • The vctl utility doesn't have a subnet or a link feature to connect multiple containers to a subnet.

    To enable communication between multiple containers, start the container with the --publish option. This binds the container port to the host port so that the service provided by the container is accessible from the outside.
vctl describe [OPTIONS] CONTAINER Displays details about the container.
vctl exec [OPTIONS] CONTAINER COMMAND [ARGUMENTS...] Runs a command inside a running container.
vctl ps [OPTIONS][CONTAINER...] Lists the containers and displays basic information about the container.
vctl rm [OPTIONS] ([CONTAINER...]|--all) Deletes one or more containers.
vctl run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARGUMENTS...] Runs a new container from a container image.
Note: Ensure the following when you use the --volume option:
  • Provide the folder paths for both the host and the container.
  • Specify paths to the folder. The --volume doesn't support path to files.
  • Use absolute path. Relative paths are not supported.
  • Don't specify the access permission (ro, rw) of the mounted volume because it is not supported.
  • If VOLUME instructions are provided in the Dockerfile of the container image, use --volume option to mount a folder from host to the container for the container to run.
Note: Ensure the following when you use the --publish option:
  • The --publish option is only available with Fusion Pro.

  • The vctl utility doesn't have a subnet or a link feature to connect multiple containers to a subnet.

    To enable communication between multiple containers, start the container with the --publish option. This binds the container port to the host port so that the service provided by the container is accessible from the outside.
vctl start [OPTIONS] CONTAINER Starts a created or stopped container.
vctl stop [OPTIONS] CONTAINER Stops the container.

The vctl Commands to Manage the CRX VM Resource

Command Description
vctl execvm [OPTIONS] (vmx|-c=CONTAINER) COMMAND [ARGUMENTS...] Runs commands from inside a running virtual machine that hosts the container.