How the interface works

Screen layout

 ◆ virsh-tui  1 Domains  2 Host  3 Networks  4 Storage  5 Events     ⌁ qemu:///system │ host │ ⟳ 1s │ 14:32
 ╭ panels … ╮
 │          │
 ╰──────────╯
 NORMAL  domains › arch-dev   j/k move  ⏎ open  s start  …                       ● 9  ‖ 1  ✗ 1  ○ 4
 ✓ Started k8s-worker-02  ── virsh start k8s-worker-02

• The top bar lists the five views with their number keys, then the connection URI, the host name, the refresh interval and the time. When the connection is lost, the URI is replaced by a red disconnected and virsh-tui keeps retrying with backoff.
• The status bar shows the current mode, where you are (a breadcrumb), the most useful keys for that screen, and domain counts by state.
• The message line shows the result of the last action. When the action ran a command, the command follows the ── separator. :messages shows the full history of messages.

At 153 columns or more the dashboard shows the domain list and the metrics side by side. Between 100 and 152 it stacks the panels and the metrics move to tabs (Overview, CPU, Mem, Disk, Net) under the list. Below 100 × 30 it shows a “terminal too small” notice instead of a broken layout.

Modes

Counts and repeat

A number before a motion repeats it: 5j moves five rows down. The single digits 1 to 5 on their own switch views, after a short pause to see if another digit follows. . repeats the last action that changed something.

The leader key

Space is the leader key. Less common actions live behind it so that single letters stay free for the frequent ones. After you press Space, a popup in the bottom-right corner lists what can follow:

• Space n new domain, Space c clone, Space r rename, Space M migrate
• Space s c / Space s r / Space s d snapshot create, revert, delete
• Space m i / Space m e insert or eject an ISO
• Space d a / Space d r attach or resize a disk
• Space i a / Space i l attach a NIC or toggle its link
• Space x export the XML, Space b edit the boot order

The same popup appears for other prefixes such as g and y.

Every action shows its command

virsh-tui builds each mutation as a plan of one or more virsh (or virt-install) invocations and runs exactly that argument list, without a shell. Before a destructive action, the confirmation dialog shows the command. After any action, the message line shows it, and yc copies the last one to the clipboard.

Some actions prefill the : line with the full virsh command instead of running it, so you can adjust flags first. Disk and NIC attachment (Space d a, Space i a) and migration (Space M) work this way.

Confirmations

D (destroy), R (reset), X (undefine), snapshot revert, volume delete and volume wipe ask for confirmation. Undefine also asks you to type the domain name. Each confirmation can be turned off in the settings (, then Confirmations) or in the [confirmations] table of the config file.

Marks and bulk actions

m marks the selected domain and V starts a visual selection. With marks in place, lifecycle keys such as s, S or p apply to every marked domain, and the confirmation lists them all. Esc leaves visual mode.

Dry run

Start with --dry-run to see what each action would run without executing it. Messages are prefixed with [dry-run]. Queries still run, so the screens show real data. --demo implies dry run and uses example data.