🐡 openbsd-up#

A comprehensive CLI tool to manage OpenBSD virtual machines using QEMU with minimal fuss. Create, start, stop, and manage multiple OpenBSD VMs with persistent state tracking.

✨ Features#

• 🚀 Quick Start: Launch OpenBSD VMs with a single command
• 📦 Auto-Download: Automatically fetches OpenBSD ISO images from official CDN or OCI registries
• 🔢 Version Support: Specify any OpenBSD version (e.g., 7.8, 6.4)
• 💾 Flexible Storage: Support for persistent disk images in multiple formats with auto-creation
• 🐳 OCI Support: Push, pull, and manage OpenBSD VM images using OCI registries
• ⚙️ Configurable: Customize CPU, memory, cores, and more via TOML config file
• 🌐 Network Ready: Support for both NAT (SSH port forwarding) and bridge networking
• 🔌 Port Forwarding: Custom port mapping with --port-forward option
• 📝 Serial Console: Direct terminal access via -nographic mode
• 🗃️ VM Management: Persistent state tracking with SQLite database
• 📋 VM Lifecycle: Start, stop, restart, list, and inspect VMs with unique names
• 🗑️ VM Cleanup: Remove VMs and images with rm and rmi commands
• 📊 Logs Management: View and follow VM logs in real-time
• 🔄 Background Mode: Run VMs detached with --detach option
• 🎯 Smart Detection: Automatically detects existing disk images to avoid data loss
• 🔗 Bridge Support: Automatic bridge network creation and QEMU configuration
• 🏷️ Image Tags: Tag and manage VM images with custom names
• 💽 Volume Management: Create, attach, list, and manage persistent volumes
• 🌐 HTTP API: RESTful API server for programmatic VM management

🛠️ Requirements#

• Deno runtime
• QEMU with KVM support (qemu-system-x86_64)
• curl for downloading ISOs
• sudo access (for bridge networking only)

📥 Installation#

deno install -A -g -r -f jsr:@tsiry/openbsd-up

🎯 Usage#

Basic Examples#

# Launch latest default version (7.8) - creates a new VM with random name
openbsd-up

# Launch specific OpenBSD version
openbsd-up 7.6

# Use local ISO file
openbsd-up /path/to/openbsd.iso

# Download from custom URL
openbsd-up https://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/7.8/amd64/install78.iso

VM Management#

# List running VMs
openbsd-up ps

# List all VMs (including stopped)
openbsd-up ps --all

# Start a specific VM by name or ID
openbsd-up start my-vm-name

# Start a VM in the background (detached mode)
openbsd-up start my-vm-name --detach

# Stop a running VM
openbsd-up stop my-vm-name

# Restart a VM
openbsd-up restart my-vm-name

# Remove a VM from state tracking
openbsd-up rm my-vm-name

# Inspect VM details and configuration
openbsd-up inspect my-vm-name

# View VM logs
openbsd-up logs my-vm-name

# Follow VM logs in real-time
openbsd-up logs my-vm-name --follow

Image Management#

# Pull an OpenBSD image from an OCI registry
openbsd-up pull ghcr.io/tsirysndr/openbsd:7.8

# Push an OpenBSD image to an OCI registry
openbsd-up push my-openbsd-image:latest

# Tag a VM
openbsd-up tag vm-name ghcr.io/tsirysndr/openbsd:7.8

# List local images
openbsd-up images

# Remove an image
openbsd-up rmi my-openbsd:latest

# Run a VM from an image
openbsd-up run ghcr.io/tsirysndr/openbsd:7.8

# Inspect image details
openbsd-up inspect ghcr.io/tsirysndr/openbsd:7.8

Volume Management#

# List all volumes
openbsd-up volumes

# Attach a volume to a VM (creates volume if it doesn't exist)
openbsd-up start my-vm --volume data-volume

# Inspect volume details
openbsd-up volume inspect data-volume

# Remove a volume
openbsd-up volume rm data-volume

Configuration File#

# Initialize a vmconfig.toml configuration file
openbsd-up init

# Start VM using configuration from vmconfig.toml
openbsd-up

Advanced Configuration#

# Custom VM with persistent disk (auto-created if needed)
openbsd-up 7.8 \
  --cpus 4 \
  --memory 4G \
  --cpu host \
  --image disk.img \
  --disk-format qcow2 \
  --size 40G

# Run VM in background (detached mode)
openbsd-up 7.8 --detach

# Bridge networking (requires sudo)
openbsd-up 7.8 --bridge br0

# Custom port forwarding (host:guest port mappings)
openbsd-up 7.8 --port-forward 8080:80,3000:3000

# Save downloaded ISO to specific location
openbsd-up 7.8 --output ~/isos/openbsd-78.iso

🎛️ Command Line Options#

Global Options#

Subcommands#

🖥️ Console Setup#

When OpenBSD boots, you'll see the boot loader prompt, enter the following command:

set tty com0
boot

🔌 Networking#

The tool supports two networking modes:

NAT Mode (Default)#

• SSH Port Forward: localhost:2222 → VM port 22 (default)
• Custom Port Forwarding: Configure with --port-forward option
• Network Device: Intel E1000 emulated NIC
• No special privileges required

Custom Port Forwarding Examples#

# Forward host port 8080 to VM port 80
openbsd-up 7.8 --port-forward 8080:80

# Multiple port forwards
openbsd-up 7.8 --port-forward 8080:80,3000:3000,2222:22

# Access services after VM is running
curl http://localhost:8080  # Access VM's port 80
ssh -p 2222 user@localhost  # SSH to VM

Bridge Mode#

• Direct Bridge Access: VM gets IP from bridge network
• Network Device: Intel E1000 emulated NIC with custom MAC
• Requires sudo privileges for QEMU bridge access
• Automatically creates bridge network if it doesn't exist
• Sets up QEMU bridge configuration in /etc/qemu/bridge.conf

Connect via SSH after installation:

# NAT mode
ssh -p 2222 user@localhost

# Bridge mode (use VM's actual IP)
ssh user@<vm-ip-address>

�️ VM State Management#

openbsd-up automatically tracks VM state using a SQLite database stored in ~/.openbsd-up/state.sqlite. Each VM gets:

• Unique ID: Auto-generated CUID for reliable identification
• Random Name: Human-readable names (e.g., ancient-butterfly) for easy reference
• Persistent Config: CPU, memory, disk, and network settings preserved
• Status Tracking: RUNNING/STOPPED status with process ID tracking
• MAC Address: Consistent network identity across restarts

The state database allows you to:

• Resume VMs exactly as configured
• List all VMs with their current status
• Start/stop VMs by name or ID
• Inspect detailed VM configurations

💡 Tips#

• 🐏 Allocate at least 2GB RAM for smooth installation
• 💿 ISOs are cached - re-running with same version skips download
• 📀 Disk images are auto-created if --image path doesn't exist
• 🔒 Tool detects non-empty disk images and skips ISO mounting to prevent data loss
• 🏷️ Use VM names for easy management: openbsd-up start my-web-server
• 🌉 Bridge networking requires sudo but provides direct network access
• 📊 Use openbsd-up ps --all to see both running and stopped VMs
• 🔄 Use --detach mode to run VMs in the background
• 🔗 Configure custom port forwarding with --port-forward host:guest
• 📝 Monitor VM activity with openbsd-up logs <name> --follow
• 🗑️ Clean up unused VMs with openbsd-up rm <name>
• 💽 Use volumes for shared persistent storage across VMs
• ⚙️ Use vmconfig.toml configuration file for consistent VM setups
• 🌐 Enable HTTP API for automation and integration with other tools

Creating Persistent VMs#

# Create a VM with persistent storage
openbsd-up 7.8 --image my-server.qcow2 --disk-format qcow2 --size 40G

# Run a VM in the background
openbsd-up 7.8 --detach --image background-vm.img

# Later, restart the same VM (no ISO needed for installed systems)
openbsd-up start <vm-name>

# Monitor the VM logs
openbsd-up logs <vm-name> --follow

🌐 HTTP API#

openbsd-up includes a RESTful HTTP API server for programmatic VM management:

# Start the API server (default port: 8891)
openbsd-up serve

# Start on a custom port
openbsd-up serve --port 3000

Authentication#

The API uses Bearer token authentication. Set your token via environment variable:

export OPENBSD_UP_API_TOKEN="your-secret-token"
openbsd-up serve

If not set, a random token will be generated and displayed at startup.

API Endpoints#

The API provides endpoints for managing:

• Machines: /machines/* - Create, start, stop, list, and inspect VMs
• Images: /images/* - Pull, push, tag, list, and remove images
• Volumes: /volumes/* - Create, list, inspect, and remove volumes

Example Usage#

# List all VMs
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" http://localhost:8891/machines

# Start a VM
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" \
  http://localhost:8891/machines/my-vm/start

# List volumes
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-token" http://localhost:8891/volumes

📝 Configuration File#

Create a vmconfig.toml file to define default VM settings:

# Initialize configuration file
openbsd-up init

Example vmconfig.toml:

[vm]
iso = "https://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/7.8/amd64/install78.iso"
cpu = "host"
cpus = 4
memory = "4G"
image = "openbsd.qcow2"
disk_format = "qcow2"
size = "40G"

[network]
port_forward = "2222:22,8080:80"

[options]
detach = false

Once configured, simply run openbsd-up to start the VM with your settings.

🔧 Architecture#

Built with modern TypeScript and Deno, featuring:

• CLI Framework: Cliffy for robust command-line interface
• HTTP Framework: Hono for fast and lightweight API server
• Database: SQLite with Kysely query builder for type-safe operations
• State Management: Persistent VM state tracking with migrations
• Dependencies: Minimal runtime dependencies, leveraging Deno's built-in capabilities
• Unique IDs: CUID2 for collision-resistant VM identifiers
• Human Names: Moniker for memorable VM names

📄 License#

See LICENSE file for details. Licensed under Mozilla Public License v2.0.

🤝 Contributing#

Issues and pull requests welcome!

Made with 🐡 for OpenBSD enthusiasts