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Introduction

The vCluster CLI (vcluster) is the primary tool for managing virtual Kubernetes clusters. It provides commands for creating, connecting to, managing, and deleting virtual clusters.

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Installation

See the Installation Guide for detailed installation instructions.

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Global Flags

All vCluster commands support the following global flags:
FlagDescriptionDefault
--context stringThe kubernetes config context to useCurrent context
--namespace string, -nThe kubernetes namespace to usevcluster
--config stringPath to vcluster config file~/.vcluster/config.json
--debugEnable debug loggingfalse
--silentRun in silent modefalse

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Driver Selection

Many commands support a --driver flag to specify how to manage the virtual cluster:
  • helm - Manage vCluster using Helm (default)
  • platform - Use vCluster Platform for management
  • docker - Run vCluster locally in Docker
The driver can also be configured in the vCluster config file.

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Core Commands

Here’s a quick overview of the main vCluster commands:

create

Create a new virtual cluster

connect

Connect to an existing virtual cluster

list

List all virtual clusters

delete

Delete a virtual cluster

pause

Pause a running virtual cluster

resume

Resume a paused virtual cluster

upgrade

Upgrade vCluster components

snapshot

Create and manage snapshots

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Management Commands

describe

Describe a virtual cluster

info

Show CLI information

node

Manage virtual cluster nodes

token

Manage authentication tokens

debug

Debug virtual cluster issues

restore

Restore from a snapshot

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Common Workflows

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Creating and Connecting

# Create and auto-connect
vcluster create my-vcluster -n team-x

# Create without connecting
vcluster create my-vcluster -n team-x --connect=false

# Connect later
vcluster connect my-vcluster -n team-x

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Listing and Managing

# List all vclusters
vcluster list

# List in specific namespace
vcluster list -n team-x

# JSON output
vcluster list --output json

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Cleanup

# Delete a vcluster
vcluster delete my-vcluster -n team-x

# Delete without confirmation
vcluster delete my-vcluster -n team-x --delete-namespace

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Output Formats

Many commands support different output formats:
  • table (default) - Human-readable table format
  • json - JSON output for scripting
  • yaml - YAML output

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Exit Codes

The vCluster CLI uses standard exit codes:
  • 0 - Success
  • 1 - General error
  • 2 - Command-line usage error

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Environment Variables

The CLI respects these environment variables:
VariableDescription
KUBECONFIGPath to kubeconfig file
VCLUSTER_TELEMETRYDisable telemetry (false)

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Getting Help

For detailed help on any command: 
vcluster [command] --help

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Next Steps

Create Command

Learn how to create virtual clusters with all available options

Configuration

Explore configuration options for customizing your virtual clusters

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