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CorsinvestCorsinvestcv4pve-pepper
# install
PS> winget install Corsinvest.cv4pve.pepper
PS> winget install RedHat.VirtViewer

# open the console of VM 100
PS> cv4pve-pepper --host=pve01 --api-token='pepper@pve!console=…' --vmid=100 `
PS>   --viewer="C:\Program Files\VirtViewer v11.0-256\bin\remote-viewer.exe"

The console of any Proxmox VE VM, one command away

Runs outside the nodes, API only. cv4pve-pepper finds the VM or container by id or name, starts it if you ask, and opens its SPICE or VNC console in remote-viewer — no web interface, no .vv file to download.
Get startedSPICE or VNC?

Why

Section titled “Why”

In Proxmox VE the console of a VM is a few clicks away in the web interface: log in, find the VM, open Console, or download a .vv file for SPICE and open it before its ticket expires. That is fine once. It is not when the same people open the same VMs every day, when a script has to show a console, or when a user should only get an icon on the desktop, not the whole web interface.

cv4pve-pepper does those steps in one command. It asks the API for a console ticket, writes the file for the viewer and starts remote-viewer with it — so the console can be a shortcut, a line in a script or a menu entry.

One command. Any VM. SPICE or VNC.

Section titled “One command. Any VM. SPICE or VNC.”

SPICE for the full desktop experience, VNC for every running VM and container — switch with a single flag.

cv4pve-pepper --host=pve01 --api-token='pepper@pve!console=…' --vmid=webserver --viewer=/usr/bin/remote-viewer
remote-viewer showing the SPICE console of container 105, at the login prompt
  1. pepper connects to pve01 and looks up webserver in the cluster, on whichever node it runs.
  2. For SPICE it asks Proxmox VE for a SPICE ticket and writes a .vv file in the temporary folder; for VNC (--vnc) it opens a local bridge to the console.
  3. It starts remote-viewer, which opens the console window and deletes the .vv file once read.
  4. With SPICE pepper exits at once and the viewer stays open; with VNC pepper keeps the bridge open until you close the viewer.

Where it fits

Section titled “Where it fits”

cv4pve-pepper opens one console, from the command line. Its companion cv4pve-vdi is the desktop application for people who pick their VM from a list. Both use the same console code, so SPICE and VNC behave the same way.

cv4pve-pepper cv4pve-vdi
What it is Command-line tool Desktop application
You choose the VM On the command line or in a parameter file From the list of the VMs you may use
Consoles SPICE, VNC SPICE, VNC, plus RDP, SSH and custom services
Login API token or user and password, in options or a file User and password, per person
Best for Shortcuts, scripts, one console per icon Users working on several VMs every day
Access Proxmox VE API only, from outside the nodes Proxmox VE API only, from outside the nodes

Outside the nodes, API only

Section titled “Outside the nodes, API only”

cv4pve-pepper runs on the computer where the console should appear and talks only to the Proxmox VE REST API on port 8006 — plus the SPICE proxy on port 3128 for SPICE. Nothing is installed on the nodes and no SSH is needed: an account with the privileges in Permissions is enough. Give it more than one node and it connects to the first one that answers.

What it does for you

Section titled “What it does for you”
01

SPICE or VNC

SPICE for VMs with a SPICE display and for containers; --vnc for any running VM or container, with no display setting to change.

02

By id or by name

--vmid takes the id, the name (any case) or a part of the name, so a shortcut keeps working when the VM moves to another node.

03

Starts it for you

--start-or-resume starts a stopped guest or resumes a paused one, waits for the start task and opens the console.

04

One icon per VM

Put the connection and the VM in a parameter file and make a desktop shortcut to it: one double-click opens the console.

05

VNC through the API port

The VNC console travels inside the API connection on port 8006: nothing else to open in the firewall.

06

Any node as SPICE proxy

SPICE goes through the spiceproxy on port 3128 of the node you connect to, or of the node you name with --proxy.

Part of the cv4pve suite →

Open your first console

Install cv4pve-pepper and remote-viewer, point it at any node, name the VM.

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