debugging-vms

name	debugging-vms
description	Debugging running ix VMs: ix ls/shell, rendered units, journals, nix run nixpkgs#tool. Use when a VM service is failing or you need to inspect a guest.

Debugging VMs

Use the real ix CLI to inspect running VMs before inferring from source. Prefer machine-readable host commands when available, such as ix ls --output json.

Run guest commands with ix shell <vm> -- <cmd> .... If command lookup differs from an interactive shell, use absolute paths from the guest.

For service failures, check the rendered unit and the live journal inside the VM. Confirm the unit exists, PID 1 is systemd, and the process is failing after launch before changing image or module code.

When a debugging tool is missing on the host or in the dev shell, run it through nixpkgs with nix run nixpkgs#<tool> -- ... instead of hand-installing it.