Interactive Console

By default, OpenVMM will connect the guests's COM1 serial port to the current terminal session, forwarding all keystrokes directly to the VM.

To enter OpenVMM's interactive command mode, launch OpenVMM, and type ctrl-q.

You can then type the following commands (followed by return):

Command reference

This page summarizes the interactive commands. Enter help in the interactive console for the commands supported by the running binary.

  • q / quit: quit the program.

  • I / input-mode: switch to input mode (Ctrl-Q returns to command mode).

  • i <LINE> / input <LINE>: write input to the VM console.

  • R / restart: restart the VM worker (experimental).

  • n / nmi: inject an NMI.

  • p / pause: pause the VM.

  • r / resume: resume the VM.

  • d / add-disk: hot add a disk to the VTL0 guest. Provide either --ram <SIZE> for a RAM-backed disk or a file <PATH> as the backing store. Usage:

    add-disk [--ro] [--dvd] [--path <INDEX>] [--target <INDEX>] [--lun <INDEX>] [--ram <SIZE>] [<PATH>]

  • D / rm-disk --target <INDEX> --path <INDEX> --lun <INDEX>: hot remove a disk from the VTL0 guest.

  • x / inspect [-r] [-l <LIMIT>] [-v] [path] [-u <VALUE>]: inspect runtime state using the Inspect trait infrastructure.

  • V / restart-vnc: restart the VNC worker.

  • v / hvsock [--term <PATH>] <PORT>: start an hvsocket terminal window.

  • snap / save-snapshot <DIR>: save a snapshot to a directory. Requires file-backed guest memory (--memory file=<FILE>).

  • psr / pulse-save-restore: do a pulsed save-restore cycle.

  • reset: reset the VM.

  • shutdown [-r] [-h] [-f]: send a shutdown/reboot/hibernate request to the VM.

  • ch / clear-halt: clear the current halt condition.

  • read-memory <GPA> <SIZE> [-f <FILE>]: read guest memory.

  • write-memory <GPA> [HEX] [-f <FILE>]: write guest memory.

  • panic: inject an artificial panic into OpenVMM.

  • help: show full command list.