Open a shell in a running LXC container (ssh + pct enter) #2

2026-11-02T20:43:52+01:00

Duckboot commented

2026-11-02 20:43:52 +01:00

What

Press t on a running LXC container to open an interactive shell in it. The TUI suspends and runs ssh -t root@<node> pct enter <vmid>. Typing exit brings you back to the table, which then reloads.

cv4pve-cli 2.4.0 has no shell, console or exec command for LXC, and the Proxmox API has no LXC exec, so this goes through SSH instead. It needs key-based root SSH to the PVE node. Design: the "LXC shell" section of docs/plans/guest-tui-mvp.md.

Notable points

VMs, stopped containers and busy guests get a warning instead of a shell.
The terminal is reset (ESC c) right before ssh, so the container shell starts on a clean screen.
Only exit code 255 (ssh itself failed) is reported as an error. Any other code is just the last status of the container's shell.
An OSError from ssh is caught inside suspend(). Textual 8.2.8's suspend() has no try/finally, so an exception escaping it would leave the app suspended.

Verification

115 tests pass; ssh and suspend are mocked.
ruff check and ruff format --check report no issues.
betterleaks found no secrets.
Read-only SSH check: pct status 104 over BatchMode returned status: running.
Tested interactively by the user on CT 104: the screen was clean and exit returned to the table.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 noreply@anthropic.com

## What Press `t` on a running LXC container to open an interactive shell in it. The TUI suspends and runs `ssh -t root@<node> pct enter <vmid>`. Typing `exit` brings you back to the table, which then reloads. `cv4pve-cli` 2.4.0 has no shell, console or exec command for LXC, and the Proxmox API has no LXC exec, so this goes through SSH instead. It needs key-based root SSH to the PVE node. Design: the "LXC shell" section of `docs/plans/guest-tui-mvp.md`. ## Notable points - VMs, stopped containers and busy guests get a warning instead of a shell. - The terminal is reset (`ESC c`) right before ssh, so the container shell starts on a clean screen. - Only exit code 255 (ssh itself failed) is reported as an error. Any other code is just the last status of the container's shell. - An `OSError` from ssh is caught inside `suspend()`. Textual 8.2.8's `suspend()` has no try/finally, so an exception escaping it would leave the app suspended. ## Verification - 115 tests pass; ssh and `suspend` are mocked. - `ruff check` and `ruff format --check` report no issues. - `betterleaks` found no secrets. - Read-only SSH check: `pct status 104` over BatchMode returned `status: running`. - Tested interactively by the user on CT 104: the screen was clean and `exit` returned to the table. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Duckboot added 3 commits 2026-11-02 20:43:52 +01:00

Add LXC shell via ssh and pct enter 40feb125b4

Press t on a running container to suspend the TUI and run
`ssh -t root@<node> pct enter <vmid>`. cv4pve-cli has no shell or exec
for LXC, so this goes around it and needs key-based root SSH to the
PVE node.

- VMs, stopped containers and busy guests get a warning instead.
- Only exit code 255 (ssh failed) is reported as an error. Other codes
  are the last status of the container's shell.
- OSError is caught inside suspend(). Textual's suspend() has no
  try/finally, so an exception escaping it would leave the app
  suspended.
- The guest table reloads when the shell returns.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Reset the terminal before opening the LXC shell cccdaf7209

Write ESC c, the sequence `reset` sends, inside suspend() right before
ssh. The container shell then starts on a clean screen with no
leftover TUI terminal modes. It runs locally, so the container does
not need `reset` installed and `pct enter` is unchanged.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Mark the LXC shell interactive test as done in the plan 70bcb9e7b7

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Duckboot merged commit 70bcb9e7b7 into main

2026-11-02 20:44:00 +01:00

Sign in to join this conversation.

1 Participants

Notifications

Due Date

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference: Duckboot/cv4pve-cli-tui#2