Visual Web Terminal

You can use the Visual Web Terminal to run many commands across your IBM® Cloud Private environment. When categorized data is returned, such as when you enter a search command, it is returned in an interactive tabular format.

The Visual Web Terminal is particularly useful when troubleshooting issues that require running multiple commands, and navigating the results of the commands in an easy way. The information that is provided in the Visual Web Terminal is limited by the permissions of the user. When you run a command, only the items that you have permission to view are displayed.

Starting a session

You can access the Visual Web Terminal by completing the following steps:

Log in to your management console.
Select the Terminal icon in the header.
Select the Visual Web Terminal to connect to your cloud and start entering commands. Remember: The Visual Web Terminal connects to the cloud that you are already logged into with the console.

Supported command list

The following table provides information and examples for the command types that are supported by the Visual Web Terminal:

Command	Description	Example
`!!`	Run the previous command again	`!!`
`bash` commands	Run the following basic `bash` commands: `base64`, `basename`, `cat`, `cksum`, `cp`, `cut`, `date`, `dirname`, `echo`, `grep`, `head`, `ls`, `mkdir`, `mv`, `printf`, `readlink`, `rm`, `sed`, `tail`, `touch`, `uname`, `vi`, and `vim`	`mkdir new_directory`
`cd`	Change the current working directory for local filesystem changes	`cd dir_name`
`clear`	Clear the screen of previous commands and output	`clear`
`cloudctl`	Run supported `cloudctl` commands that are used with IBM Multicloud Manager and IBM Cloud Private. Tip: See the Managing your cluster with the IBM Cloud Private CLI (cloudctl) topic in the IBM Knowledge Center for more information about the `cloudctl` commands.	`cloudctl version`
`export`	Export the output of the command to an external file	`export search search_criteria`
`helm`	Run supported `helm` commands. Tip: See the helm commands topic in the Helm documentation for more information about the Helm commands.	`helm list --chart-name`
`help`	Display additional information about a command that is supported in the Visual Web Terminal	`help`
`history`	Displays the previous 25 commands that were run during the current session. Tip: You can limit the search criteria by adding it to the end of the command. For example, `history help` displays the last 25 commands that contained the string help.	`history`
`istioctl`	Run supported `istioctl` commands. Tip: See the Istioctl topic in the Istio documentation for more information about the `istioctl` commands.	`istioctl get policy`
`kubectl`	Run supported `kubectl` commands. Tip: See the Kubectl reference for more information about the `kubectl` commands.	`kubectl get pods`
`oc`	Runs Red Hat OpenShift `oc` commands. Tip: See Red Hat OpenShift CLI Operations for more information about the `oc` commands.	`oc get svc`
`run`	Runs an external script	`run script_name`
`search`	Searches your Kubernetes resources for the specified string	`search pod`
`savedsearches`	Displays your saved searches that you created and saved by using the management console.	`savedsearches` Tip: You can specify a string after the `savedsearches` command to limit the data that is returned. For example, `savedsearches projectA` displays the saved searches that contain the string projectA.
`sleep`	Pauses activity during a session. Note: Requires a `sleepTime` parameter that identifies the number of seconds that it pauses	`sleep 20`
`themes`	Displays the contrast theme options of the interface, which you can set to either `light` or `dark`	`themes`

Searching

The Visual Web Terminal Search function provides visibility into your IBM Multicloud Manager resources across all your clusters.

You can only search for resources based on your role-based access control level assignment. If you save and share a Search query with another user, returned results for that user depend on his or her access level. For more information on role access, see Role-based access control.

Start a Visual Web Terminal session.
In the command entry field of the Visual Web Terminal, type: search.
Add a space after the search command. The list of filters that are available for the search is displayed. Remember: The list of filters might be empty, because it is dependent on the resources that are available in your environment and your role permissions.
Select one of the filters from the list. The selected filter is added to the search criteria on your command line, and the next level of filters for that selection are displayed. Tip: You can also enter a string after the search command, rather than selecting a filter from the list.
Optional: Add filters by entering a single space after each filter entry until your command contains all of the required filters.
When you are finished adding your search criteria, press Enter to run the search.

You can refine your results with specific fields. See the following example:

Search for a single field, such as kind:pod to find all pod resources.
Search for multiple fields, such as kind:pod namespace:default to find the pods in the default namespace.

You can also search with conditions using characters, such as (>, >=, <, <=, !=).

See the following examples:

Search for kind:pod status:!Running to find all pod resources where the status is not Running.
Search for kind:pod restarts:>1 to find all pods that have restarted at least twice.

The search returns resources that meet the criteria of your search request, as well as links to view related resources. Viewing all of them helps you visualize how the resources interact with other resources in the system.

Your search results are grouped by kind and each resource kind is grouped in a table. You can reorder the data in the tables by selecting the row and column headings.

You can use a search that was saved in the console by entering the savedsearches command and selecting the search that you want to run. Remember: You cannot save a search directly that you created in the Visual Web Terminal.