CLI reference

Complete command-line reference for kar.

Synopsis

kar [flags]

Flags

Flag	Short	Default	Description
--kubevirt-vm-template	-t	vm-template	VirtualMachine template name used to create VirtualMachineInstances
--kubevirt-vm-template-namespace	-n	default	Namespace where the VirtualMachine template exists
--runner-name	-r	runner	Runner name used for generated resources
--actions-runner-input-jitconfig	-c	empty	Opaque just-in-time runner configuration payload

Environment variable mapping for flags

Flag values can be provided through environment variables. The CLI maps flag names by replacing - with _ and using uppercase names.

Examples:

• KUBEVIRT_VM_TEMPLATE maps to --kubevirt-vm-template
• KUBEVIRT_VM_TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE maps to --kubevirt-vm-template-namespace
• RUNNER_NAME maps to --runner-name
• ACTIONS_RUNNER_INPUT_JITCONFIG maps to --actions-runner-input-jitconfig

If both a flag and an environment variable are provided, the explicit flag value is used.

Runtime behavior

Execution sequence:

1. Create VM-backed runner resources.
2. Wait for the target VirtualMachineInstance to complete.
3. Delete resources created by the runner.

When interrupted by SIGTERM or Ctrl-C, the runner enters cleanup and attempts to remove created resources within the configured cleanup timeout.

Centralized template strategy

--kubevirt-vm-template-namespace lets you retrieve the VM template from a namespace that is different from the runner execution namespace. Use this to centralize templates as a single golden image source, reduce template duplication, and keep template lifecycle management in one place.