CLI commands
The vac host-ops CLI — the commands the installer adds to manage the stack from the shell.
The installer adds a small vac command at /usr/local/bin/vac. It's a host-ops wrapper
around docker compose for the VAC stack — start, stop, upgrade, tail logs, toggle features.
vac manages the control plane, not your apps. Creating apps, setting env vars, deploying, and attaching domains all happen in the dashboard (or via the REST API). There is no vac apps create / vac login / vac env.
If you ran the installer with --grant (the default), your sudo user can run vac without
sudo; otherwise prefix commands with sudo.
Stack lifecycle
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
vac status | Show the running stack (docker compose ps). |
vac up | Start the stack. |
vac down | Stop the stack. |
vac restart [service] | Restart the whole stack, or one service. |
vac logs [service] | Tail logs (follow, last 100 lines), optionally for one service. |
vac pull | Pull the latest images. |
vac version | Show the pinned version (from .env) and the running version. |
vac config | Print the .env configuration. |
Upgrades
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
vac upgrade | Pull images and recreate the stack. |
vac upgrade <version> | Pin a specific version in .env, then pull and recreate. |
See Updates & upgrades.
Configuration toggles
These edit .env and restart vac-api so the change takes effect:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
vac set-domain <domain> | Set the base domain; prints the DNS records to create. |
vac unset-domain | Clear the base domain (back to http://<host>:9393). |
vac managed-services on|off | Toggle backups, managed databases, and the add-on catalog. |
vac container-shell on|off | Toggle the in-dashboard root shell into app containers. |
vac security-agent on|off | Install/remove the read-only host posture agent (needs root). |
vac security-check firewall|fail2ban on|off | Toggle the posture warning for a check. |
Accounts
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
vac reset-password <username> | Reset an operator's password (runs inside vac-api). |
Uninstall
vac uninstall is tiered and safe by default — it stops the stack but keeps your data unless
you ask otherwise.
| Flag | Effect |
|---|---|
| (none) | Remove the VAC stack; keep volumes, apps, and the install directory. |
--apps | Also remove all VAC-deployed app containers, networks, and volumes. |
--purge | Also remove named volumes (database, certs), the install dir, and the vac command. |
--backup DIR | Snapshot database + certs + install dir into DIR before removing anything. |
--yes, -y | Skip confirmation prompts. |
snapshot everything, then completely remove VACsudo vac uninstall --purge --apps --backup /mnt/backups --yesSee Disaster recovery for using --backup as a snapshot tool.