Obtain General Virtual Container Host Information and Connection Details

You can obtain general information about a virtual container host (VCH) and its connection details by using the vic-machine inspect command.

In addition to the common options described in Common vic-machine Options, the vic-machine inspect command only includes one option, --tls-cert-path.

• You must specify the user name and optionally the password, either in the --target option or separately in the --user and --password options.
• If the VCH has a name other than the default name, virtual-container-host, you must specify the --name or --id option.
• If multiple compute resources exist in the datacenter, you must specify the --compute-resource or --id option.

• If your vSphere environment uses untrusted, self-signed certificates, you must specify the thumbprint of the vCenter Server instance or ESXi host in the --thumbprint option. For information about how to obtain the certificate thumbprint, see Obtain vSphere Certificate Thumbprints.

  Use upper-case letters and colon delimitation in the thumbprint. Do not use space delimitation.

• If the VCH implements server and client authentication (tlsverify) and uses a non-default location to store its certificates, specify the --tls-cert-path option. If you do not specify --tls-cert-path, vic-machine inspect looks for valid certificates in $PWD, $PWD/$vch_name and $HOME/.docker.

Examples

The following example includes the options required to obtain information about a named instance of a VCH from a simple vCenter Server environment.

$ vic-machine-operating_system inspect
    --target vcenter_server_username:password@vcenter_server_address
    --thumbprint certificate_thumbprint
    --name vch_name

The following example includes the --tls-cert-path option, for a VCH that stores client certificates in a non-default location.

$ vic-machine-operating_system inspect
    --target vcenter_server_username:password@vcenter_server_address
    --thumbprint certificate_thumbprint
    --name vch_name
    --tls-cert-path path_to_certificates

Output

The vic-machine inspect command displays general information about the VCH, its version and upgrade status, and details about how to connect to the VCH:

• The VCH ID:

  VCH ID: VirtualMachine:vm-101

  The vSphere Managed Object Reference, or moref, of the VCH. You can use the VCH ID when you run the vic-machine delete, configure, or debug commands. Using a VCH ID reduces the number of options that you need to specify when you run those commands.

• The version of the vic-machine utility and the version of the VCH that you are inspecting.

  Installer version: vic_machine_version-vic_machine_build-git_commit
  VCH version: vch_version-vch_build-git_commit

• The upgrade status of the VCH:

  VCH upgrade status: 
  Installer has same version as VCH
  No upgrade available with this installer version

  If vic-machine inspect reports a difference between the version or build number of vic-machine and the version or build number of the VCH, the upgrade status is Upgrade available.

• The address of the VCH Admin portal for the VCH.

  VCH Admin Portal:
  https://vch_address:2378

• The address at which the VCH publishes ports.

  vch_address

• The Docker environment variables that container developers can use when connecting to this VCH, depending on the the level of security that the VCH implements.
  • VCH with server and client authentication (tlsverify):

    DOCKER_TLS_VERIFY=1 
    DOCKER_CERT_PATH=path_to_certificates
    DOCKER_HOST=vch_address:2376

    If vic-machine inspect is unable to find the appropriate client certificates, either in the default location or in a location that you specify in the --tls-cert-path option, the output includes a warning.

    Unable to find valid client certs
    DOCKER_CERT_PATH must be provided in environment or certificates specified individually via CLI arguments

  • VCH with TLS server authentication but without client authentication (no-tlsverify):

    DOCKER_HOST=vch_address:2376

  • VCH with no TLS authentication (no-tls):

    DOCKER_HOST=vch_address:2375

• The Docker command to use to connect to the Docker endpoint, depending on the the level of security that the VCH implements.
  • VCH with server and client authentication (tlsverify):

    docker -H vch_address:2376 --tlsverify info

  • VCH with TLS server authentication but without client authentication (no-tlsverify):

    docker -H vch_address:2376 --tls info

  • VCH with no TLS authentication (no-tls):

    docker -H vch_address:2375 info