pvectl

pvectl is a single CLI tool for managing a Proxmox VE cluster from the terminal. It is kubectl-inspired: kubeconfig-style contexts, a resource-oriented command hierarchy, and a unified output layer.

Instead of keeping the web UI open in a dozen tabs or hand-rolling wrappers around pvesh/qm/pct, pvectl gives you one static binary that works the same against a local homelab cluster and a production one.

Features

• Kubeconfig-style contexts — switch between multiple clusters with a single command; authenticate via API token or login ticket.
• Resource inspection — nodes, VMs, containers, storage, tasks, and cluster state in table, json, yaml, or wide output.
• Lifecycle management — start, stop, reboot, and edit the configuration of VMs and containers, with async task tracking.
• Snapshots & backups — create, roll back, and rotate snapshots by retention policy; run, restore, and prune backups, including a freshness report for monitoring.
• Cluster operations — migrate, clone, manage templates, run bulk operations by tag, and drain a node for maintenance.
• ZFS — pool health, dataset snapshot rotation, and scrub triggering.

Installation

# from a release
curl -L https://github.com/eltaline/pvectl/releases/latest/download/pvectl_linux_amd64 -o /usr/local/bin/pvectl
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/pvectl

# or from source
go install github.com/eltaline/pvectl@latest

Quick start

# connect a cluster
pvectl config set-cluster home --server https://pve.local:8006
pvectl config set-credentials home --token 'user@pam!cli=xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx'
pvectl config set-context home --cluster home --user home
pvectl config use-context home

# look around
pvectl node list
pvectl vm list
pvectl ct list

# basic operations
pvectl vm start 100 --wait
pvectl ct snapshot create 200 --name pre-upgrade
pvectl backup report --max-age 24h

Status

Under active development. Expect breaking changes before v1.0.

License

MIT