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Introduction

A container running in Reduced Isolation mode is managed directly by containerd on the node, rather than by a shim-VM. Because there is no associated shim-VM, standard VNC or EdgeView console access does not apply to these containers. To connect to the container’s console or shell, you must access the node’s EVE-OS (Edge Virtualization Engine) CLI over SSH and use the ctr (containerd CLI) tool. Use this procedure when your container does not have a web UI or SSH port exposed, and you need temporary access to its shell for testing or troubleshooting (for example, to test a configuration change before rebuilding and redeploying the container image).

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Prerequisites

  • The container is configured as a Reduced Isolation container in its edge app image definition.
  • The container image was built with shell support (for example, the Dockerfile includes /bin/sh).
  • The container is running and its status shows Online in Edge Infrastructure Services.
  • SSH access to EVE-OS is enabled for the target node. To enable SSH, see Enable and Disable SSH Access for Nodes.
  • You have the SSH private key and the EVE-OS management IP address for the node.

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Connect to the Container

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Open an SSH session to EVE-OS

Open a terminal and connect to the EVE-OS management IP address using the SSH private key:
For example:

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List running tasks

Run the ctr task ls command to list the running container tasks and identify the task ID:
Example output:
The task ID format is <app-instance-id>.<minor>.<revision>.

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Match the task to your application instance

Match the task ID prefix to the application instance ID shown in the Edge Infrastructure Services console:
  1. Navigate to Infrastructure > Workloads > Applications.
  2. Open the application instance.
  3. On the Details tab, copy the instance ID.
  4. Confirm it matches the beginning of the task ID from the ctr task ls output.

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Connect to the container console

Use ctr task exec with the task ID to open an interactive shell session inside the container:
For example:
The -t flag allocates a pseudo-TTY for interactive use. The --exec-id value (app-console in this example) is an arbitrary label for the exec session.

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Verify the connection

Run a command inside the container to confirm you are in the correct environment:
The output shows the container’s root filesystem. For example:

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Exit the container

Type exit to leave the container shell and return to the EVE-OS CLI:

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Important Notes

  • Temporary access only: use this procedure for testing and troubleshooting. For persistent changes, update the container image and redeploy the application.
  • Task ID format: the task ID includes the application instance ID followed by minor version and revision numbers. If multiple revisions exist, use the task with the RUNNING status.
  • Shell availability: the ctr task exec command requires the container image to include a shell binary (for example, /bin/sh). If the container image does not include a shell, console access is not possible through this method.
  • SSH access requirement: SSH must be enabled on the EVE-OS node. SSH access to EVE-OS is disabled by default for security. Enable it only when needed and disable it when done.

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Next Steps

Enable and Disable SSH Access for Nodes

Enable SSH access to EVE-OS.

Manage an Application Instance

Standard console and remote access options using EdgeView.

Add an Edge App Image

Configure the Reduced Isolation setting on a new container app image.