Openshift Local: crc command lines guide

Here’s a clean and well-structured table listing all the crc commands along with their descriptions:

Here’s a complete breakdown of each crc command, including explanations and multiple practical examples for each. This will help you master the crc CLI when working with your local OpenShift 4.x cluster.

🔧 crc – Overview

CRC (CodeReady Containers) allows you to spin up a local single-node OpenShift 4 cluster ideal for testing and development. You run commands using:

crc <command> [flags]
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

✅ 1. crc start

Starts the local OpenShift cluster.

🔹Usage:

crc start

🔹Examples:

crc start --memory 12288 --cpus 4

Start the cluster with 12GB RAM and 4 CPUs.

crc start --log-level debug

Start with detailed logs for troubleshooting.

🛑 2. crc stop

Stops the running OpenShift cluster.

🔹Usage:

crc stop

🔹Examples:

crc stop

Gracefully stops the cluster, freeing up system resources.

❌ 3. crc delete

Completely deletes the CRC VM and data (non-reversible).

🔹Usage:

crc delete
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

🔹Examples:

crc delete --force
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Forcefully delete CRC without confirmation prompt.

⚙️ 4. crc setup

Prepares your system for running CRC (sets DNS, network, etc.).

🔹Usage:

crc setup

🔹Examples:

crc setup

Run this once before the first crc start.

📊 5. crc status

Shows the current state of the CRC VM and OpenShift cluster.

🔹Usage:

crc status

🔹Examples:

crc status --log-level debug

View detailed status info for debugging.

🌐 6. crc console

Opens the OpenShift web console in your default browser.

🔹Usage:

crc console
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

🔹Examples:

crc console --credentials
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Displays login credentials along with opening the console.

🔧 7. crc config

View and modify CRC config settings.

🔹Usage:

crc config <subcommand>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

🔹Examples:

crc config view

See all current config settings.

crc config set memory 8192
crc config set cpus 4
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Set RAM and CPU for the cluster.

crc config unset memory
Code language: PHP (php)

Remove a previously set value.

🔍 8. crc version

Displays CRC, OpenShift, and bundle versions.

🔹Usage:

crc version

🔹Examples:

crc version

Useful for support or checking compatibility.

🌍 9. crc ip

Gets the IP address of the running cluster.

🔹Usage:

crc ip

🔹Examples:

export CRC_IP=$(crc ip)
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Store the IP in a shell variable for use in scripts.

🔄 10. crc oc-env

Outputs environment variables to use oc CLI.

🔹Usage:

crc oc-env

🔹Examples:

eval $(crc oc-env)
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Sets up the shell so you can run oc commands directly.

🍻 11. crc podman-env

Sets up environment for podman CLI to work with CRC.

🔹Usage:

crc podman-env

🔹Examples:

eval $(crc podman-env)
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Sets environment variables to use podman with the CRC container runtime.

🧹 12. crc cleanup

Reverts changes CRC made to your system (use cautiously).

🔹Usage:

crc cleanup

🔹Examples:

crc cleanup

Removes system DNS, network, and other tweaks made by CRC setup.

📦 13. crc bundle

Manage OpenShift bundles (images and VM base files).

🔹Usage:

crc bundle <subcommand>
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

🔹Examples:

crc bundle list
Code language: PHP (php)

List available bundles.

crc bundle add ~/Downloads/crc_libvirt_4.13.9.crcbundle
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Add a new bundle manually.

🔁 14. crc completion

Generate shell completion scripts for bash, zsh, etc.

🔹Usage:

crc completion bash

🔹Examples:

crc completion zsh > ~/.crc-completion.sh

Then source the file in your .zshrc.

🆘 15. crc help

Displays help for any command.

🔹Usage:

crc help
crc <command> --help
Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

🔹Examples:

crc help start

Detailed help for the start command.

✅ Flags (Global)

• --log-level (debug, info, warn, error)
• --help – Show help for commands

Would you like me to generate a cheat sheet image or step-by-step beginner tutorial for this?

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