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    Elastic Container Instance:Common commands for VNodectl

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    Elastic Container Instance:Common commands for VNodectl

    Last Updated:Apr 01, 2026

    VNodectl is the command-line tool for managing VNodes and add-ons in an Elastic Container Instance (ECI) environment. Use VNodectl after you have installed and configured the tool to create, inspect, update, and delete VNodes, manage add-ons, and clean up cluster configurations.

    Before you begin

    All VNode management commands require the ~/.vnode/config file to exist and be correctly configured. Make sure the file exists and its configurations are correct before running any vnode command.

    Global flags

    Two flags apply to all vnode commands:

    FlagDescription
    --dryRuns client-side verification without making any changes. Use this to check for configuration errors before running the actual command.
    --kubernetes-versionSpecifies the Kubernetes version of the cluster. Add this flag when you encounter an API version compatibility error.

    Manage VNodes

    create

    Creates a VNode. All parameters are optional — run vnode create without parameters to use your default configuration.

    Syntax

    vnode create [--vswitch-id] [--security-group-id] [--custom-resources] [--cluster-dns] [--cluster-domain]

    Parameters

    ParameterDescriptionExample
    --vswitch-idID of the vSwitch to connect the VNode to--vswitch-id vsw-7xv2yk45qp5etidgf****
    --security-group-idID of the security group for the VNode--security-group-id sg-7xv5tcch4kjdr65t****
    --custom-resourcesCustom resources the VNode advertises, in <Resource name>=<Count> format. Pods requesting this resource are scheduled to this VNode. Separate multiple resources with commas (,).--custom-resources example1.com=10000,example2.com=20000
    --cluster-dnsIP addresses of the Alibaba Cloud DNS server. Used when a pod's dnsPolicy is ClusterFirst. Separate multiple addresses with commas (,).--cluster-dns 192.168.XX.XX
    --cluster-domainDomain name of the cluster. When set alongside the host's search domain, kubelet configures all containers to search this domain.--cluster-domain example.com

    Example 1: Create a VNode without parameters

    vnode create

    Example 2: Create a VNode with custom resources

    vnode create1

    After the VNode is created, run kubectl describe node to verify. The resources you configured appear in the Capacity and Allocatable sections.

    vnode create1-1

    Example 3: Create a VNode with cluster DNS and cluster domain

    vnode create2

    After the VNode is created, run kubectl describe pod on a pod scheduled to this VNode. The clusterDNS and clusterDomain values appear in the annotations section.

    vnode create2-1

    list

    Lists all VNodes and their current status. Use list for a quick status overview across all VNodes.

    Syntax

    vnode list

    Example

    vnode list

    describe

    Shows the full configuration and status for a specific VNode. Use describe when you need complete details on a single VNode.

    Syntax

    vnode describe <vnode-id>

    Example

    vnode describe

    update

    Updates the configuration of an existing VNode. You can update the vSwitch, security group, custom resources, cluster DNS, and cluster domain.

    Important

    Update operations overwrite existing values — they do not append. For example, if a VNode already has --custom-resources example1.com=10000 and you want to add example2.com=10000, specify both resources: --custom-resources example1.com=10000,example2.com=10000.

    Syntax

    vnode update <vnode-id> [--vswitch-id] [--security-group-id] [--custom-resources] [--cluster-dns] [--cluster-domain]

    Parameters

    ParameterDescriptionExample
    --vswitch-idID of the vSwitch to connect the VNode to--vswitch-id vsw-7xv2yk45qp5etidgf****
    --security-group-idID of the security group for the VNode--security-group-id sg-7xv5tcch4kjdr65t****
    --custom-resourcesCustom resources the VNode advertises, in <Resource name>=<Count> format. Separate multiple resources with commas (,).--custom-resources example1.com=10000,example2.com=20000
    --cluster-dnsIP addresses of the Alibaba Cloud DNS server. Separate multiple addresses with commas (,).--cluster-dns 192.168.XX.XX
    --cluster-domainDomain name of the cluster.--cluster-domain example.com

    Example

    vnode update

    delete

    Deletes a VNode.

    Important

    Before deleting a VNode, make sure no elastic container instances are running on it.

    Syntax

    vnode delete <vnode-id>

    Example

    vnode delete

    Manage add-ons

    VNodectl manages two add-ons: the eci-profile component and the vnode-approver component.

    addon list

    Lists all available add-ons and their current state.

    Syntax

    vnode addon list --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig

    Example

    vnode addon list

    addon enable

    Loads an add-on.

    Syntax

    vnode addon enable <add-on-name> --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig

    Example

    addon enable

    addon disable

    Uninstalls an add-on.

    Syntax

    vnode addon disable <add-on-name> --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig

    Example

    vnode addon disable

    Clear cluster configurations

    cluster clean

    Removes all VNode-related configurations from a cluster. Run this command when you no longer use VNodes in the cluster.

    The command supports two modes depending on how you originally configured the cluster:

    ModeWhen to use
    Regular modeYou configured the cluster without TLS bootstrapping
    TLS bootstrapping modeYou configured the cluster using the --bootstrap flag during setup

    Syntax

    vnode cluster clean --kubeconfig <path-to-kubeconfig> [--bootstrap]

    Regular mode

    vnode cluster clean --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig

    TLS bootstrapping mode

    vnode cluster clean --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig --bootstrap