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Serial Console

The serial console is the most direct access path to a Pantavisor device — it works without any network configuration and shows the full boot sequence from bootloader to Pantavisor startup.

Hardware Setup​

Connect a USB-to-TTY adapter to the device's TX/RX/GND serial pins. Open a terminal emulator on your computer:

# Linux — adjust device node as needed (ttyUSB0, ttyUSB1, ttyACM0, …)
sudo minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0

# Alternative
screen /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

Refer to your board's hardware manual for the correct UART pins and baud rate. Most Pantavisor images default to 115200 8N1.

Boot Sequence and Debug Shell​

When the device powers on you will see bootloader output followed by the Linux kernel log, then the Pantavisor banner:

_____           _              _
| ___ \         | |            (_)
| |_/ /_ _ _ __ | |_ __ ___   ___ ___  ___  _ __
|  __/ _` | '_ \| __/ _` \ \ / / / __|/ _ \| '__|
| | | (_| | | | | || (_| |\ V /| \__ \ (_) | |
\_|  \__,_|_| |_|\__\__,_| \_/ |_|___/\___/|_|

Pantavisor (TM) — pantavisor.io

To access the debug shell, press <ENTER>.
To exit the shell, type 'exit' or press CTRL+d.
Useful commands:
    * lxc-ls                 list available containers
    * pventer -c <CONTAINER> access a container's shell

Press Enter to open the debug shell. This is a root shell running in the Pantavisor initramfs — it gives you access to the device before or while containers are starting.

What You Can Do from the Debug Shell​

List containers​

lxc-ls -f

Shows all containers and their LXC state (RUNNING, STOPPED, etc.).

Enter a container's namespace​

pventer -c sensor-app

Drops you into the container's filesystem, process, and network namespaces. Exit with exit or Ctrl-D.

Query device status​

pvcontrol ls                  # full device status, auto-recovery counters
pvcontrol container ls        # container list
pvcontrol daemons ls          # daemon containers
pvcontrol graph ls            # pv-xconnect service mesh
pvcontrol buildinfo           # Pantavisor build info and current revision

View logs​

tail -f /run/pantavisor/pv/logs/0/pantavisor/pantavisor.log
tail -f /run/pantavisor/pv/logs/0/<container>/lxc/console.log

Find credentials for Pantahub claiming​

cat /pv/device-id       # unique device ID
cat /pv/challenge       # one-time claim token

Use these when claiming the device on hub.pantacor.com.

Exiting the Debug Shell​

Type exit or press Ctrl-D. Pantavisor continues starting containers normally after the shell exits. Pressing Enter again reopens the shell at any time.