Output formats and Getting Help

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
orka --help

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

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

# Get help for configuration commands
orka 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:

orka --help

Then drill down into specific command groups:

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

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

# View all node-related commands
orka 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
orka vm list

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

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

# Short form
orka vm list -o json

Commands Supporting Output Formats

The following command groups support the --output flag:

orka vm list
orka vm-config list
orka node list
orka namespace list
orka image list
orka imagecache list
orka imagecache info
orka3 iso list (removed in Orka 4.0)
orka serviceaccount list
orka rbac list-subjects (Orka 4.0 or later)
orka rolebinding list-subjects (deprecated in Orka 4.0)
orka registrycredential list
orka emulator list
orka emulator-config list (Orka 4.0 or later)
orka vm get-push-status

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
orka vm list -o json | jq -r '.items[].name'

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

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

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

Common Help Patterns

Discovering Available Commands

# List all main command groups
orka --help

# List all VM commands
orka vm --help

# List all image commands
orka image --help

Understanding Flags

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

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

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

Finding Examples

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

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

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

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

Quick Tips

Command Aliases

Many commands have short aliases for faster typing:

Full Command	Alias
`orka vm-config`	`orka vmc`
`orka serviceaccount`	`orka sa`
`orka rolebinding`	`orka rb` (deprecated in Orka 4.0)
`orka registrycredential`	`orka regcred`
`orka imagecache`	`orka ic`
`orka emulator`	`orka emu`
`orka emulator-config`	`orka emc` (Orka 4.0 or later)

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: orka image list IMAGE_NAME
ISO operations (Orka 3.6 and earlier): orka3 iso list ISO_NAME
Image caching: orka imagecache info IMAGE_NAME
Image push: orka vm get-push-status JOB_NAME

MacStadium

Orka

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IaaS

Output formats and Getting Help

Using Built-in Help

Global Help

Command Structure

Finding Commands

Understanding Output Formats

Available Output Formats

Using Output Formats

Commands Supporting Output Formats

Working with JSON Output

Common Help Patterns

Discovering Available Commands

Understanding Flags

Finding Examples

Quick Tips

Command Aliases

Flag Shortcuts

Checking Async Operations

​Using Built-in Help

​Global Help

​Command Structure

​Finding Commands

​Understanding Output Formats

​Available Output Formats

​Using Output Formats

​Commands Supporting Output Formats

​Working with JSON Output

​Common Help Patterns

​Discovering Available Commands

​Understanding Flags

​Finding Examples

​Quick Tips

​Command Aliases

​Flag Shortcuts

​Checking Async Operations

Using Built-in Help

Global Help

Command Structure

Finding Commands

Understanding Output Formats

Available Output Formats

Using Output Formats

Commands Supporting Output Formats

Working with JSON Output

Common Help Patterns

Discovering Available Commands

Understanding Flags

Finding Examples

Quick Tips

Command Aliases

Flag Shortcuts

Checking Async Operations