Nutanix CVM Commands for Daily Cluster Management (Practical Guide)

Nutanix CVM (Controller VM) commands are essential for cluster operations, health checks, and troubleshooting. This guide highlights practical commands admins use regularly.

Important caution

Run commands from the correct context (CVM vs host) and avoid disruptive actions during production hours unless approved.

1) Cluster health and status

# cluster status
cluster status

# detailed health checks
ncc health_checks run_all

# check alerts
ncli alert ls

2) VM and host visibility

# list VMs
acli vm.list

# show hosts
ncli host ls

# show containers
ncli ctr ls

3) Storage and capacity checks

# storage pool details
ncli sp ls

# container usage
ncli ctr ls

# disk health overview
ncli disk ls

4) Service control and diagnostics

# cluster services status
genesis status

# restart a service (example - use carefully)
genesis restart <service-name>

5) Logs and troubleshooting

# collect cluster logs (support workflows)
logbay collect --duration=30

# inspect recent system logs
journalctl -xe

Operational best practices

• Prefer NCC checks before and after planned changes
• Capture command output when opening support cases
• Document standard runbooks for recurring tasks
• Avoid force operations without clear rollback path

Useful workflow pattern

For most incidents: status → health check → targeted diagnostics → controlled remediation. This avoids unnecessary service disruption.

These commands provide a practical baseline for day-to-day Nutanix CVM administration.