Output formats and Getting Help – MacStadium

Using Built-in Help

Global Help

Every command in the Orka CLI has built-in help documentation that you can access using the --help or -h flag.

# Get help for the main command
orka3 --help

# Get help for a specific command
orka3 vm --help

# Get help for a sub-command
orka3 vm deploy --help

# Get help for configuration commands
orka3 config --help

Command Structure

The help output for each command typically includes:

Synopsis: A brief description of what the command does
Usage: The command syntax with required and optional parameters
Options: Available flags and their descriptions
Examples: Common usage examples
Sub-commands: Related commands (if applicable)

Finding Commands

Start with the main help to browse available command groups:

orka3 --help

Then drill down into specific command groups:

# View all VM-related commands
orka3 vm --help

# View all image-related commands
orka3 image --help

# View all node-related commands
orka3 node --help

Understanding Output Formats

Many Orka CLI commands support multiple output formats to suit different use cases.

Available Output Formats

Format	Flag	Description	Best For
Table	`--output table` (default)	Human-readable table with essential information	Terminal viewing, quick status checks
Wide	`--output wide`	Extended table with additional columns and details	Detailed troubleshooting, viewing all properties
JSON	`--output json`	Machine-readable JSON format	Scripting, automation, parsing with jq

Using Output Formats

# Default table output
orka3 vm list

# Extended table with more details
orka3 vm list --output wide

# JSON output for scripting
orka3 vm list --output json

# Short form
orka3 vm list -o json

Commands Supporting Output Formats

The following command groups support the --output flag:

orka3 vm list
orka3 vm-config list
orka3 node list
orka3 namespace list
orka3 image list
orka3 imagecache list
orka3 imagecache info
orka3 iso list
orka3 serviceaccount list
orka3 rolebinding list-subjects
orka3 registrycredential list

Working with JSON Output

JSON output is particularly useful for automation and scripting. You can use tools like jq to parse and filter the results:

# Get all VM names
orka3 vm list -o json | jq -r '.items[].name'

# Get VMs with more than 4 CPUs
orka3 vm list -o json | jq '.items[] | select(.cpu > 4)'

# Count total VMs
orka3 vm list -o json | jq '.items | length'

# Get node IPs
orka3 node list -o json | jq -r '.items[].ip'

Common Help Patterns

Discovering Available Commands

# List all main command groups
orka3 --help

# List all VM commands
orka3 vm --help

# List all image commands
orka3 image --help

Understanding Flags

# See all flags for a command
orka3 vm deploy --help

# See namespace-related options
orka3 vm list --help | grep namespace

# See output format options
orka3 node list --help | grep output

Finding Examples

Most command help includes an "Examples" section with common use cases:

# View examples for VM deployment
orka3 vm deploy --help

# View examples for image management
orka3 image copy --help

# View examples for namespace management
orka3 namespace create --help

Quick Tips

Command Aliases

Many commands have short aliases for faster typing:

Full Command	Alias
`orka3 vm-config`	`orka3 vmc`
`orka3 serviceaccount`	`orka3 sa`
`orka3 rolebinding`	`orka3 rb`
`orka3 registrycredential`	`orka3 regcred`
`orka3 imagecache`	`orka3 ic`

Flag Shortcuts

Full Flag	Short Flag
`--help`	`-h`
`--output`	`-o`
`--namespace`	`-n`
`--image`	`-i`
`--cpu`	`-c`
`--memory`	`-m`

Checking Async Operations

Some operations are asynchronous. Here's how to check their status:

Image operations: orka3 image list IMAGE_NAME
ISO operations: orka3 iso list ISO_NAME
Image caching: orka3 imagecache info IMAGE_NAME
Image push: orka3 vm get-push-status JOB_NAME