+ <term><command>start</command> <replaceable>NAME</replaceable>...</term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Start a container as a
+ system service, using
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
+ This starts
+ <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename>,
+ instantiated for the specified machine
+ name, similar to the effect of
+ <command>systemctl start</command> on
+ the service
+ name. <command>systemd-nspawn</command>
+ looks for a container image by the
+ specified name in
+ <filename>/var/lib/container</filename>
+ and runs it. Use
+ <command>list-images</command> (see
+ below), for listing available
+ container images to start.</para>
+
+ <para>Note that
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-machined.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ also interfaces with a variety of
+ other container and VM managers,
+ <command>systemd-nspawn</command> is
+ just one implementation of it. Most of
+ the commands available in
+ <command>machinectl</command> may be
+ used on containers or VMs controlled
+ by other managers, not just
+ <command>systemd-nspawn</command>. Starting
+ VMs and container images on those
+ managers requires manager-specific
+ tools.</para>
+
+ <para>To interactively start a
+ container on the command line with
+ full access to the container's
+ console, please invoke
+ <command>systemd-nspawn</command>
+ directly. To stop a running container
+ use <command>machinectl
+ poweroff</command>, see
+ below.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><command>login</command> <replaceable>NAME</replaceable></term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Open an interactive terminal login
+ session to a container. This will
+ create a TTY connection to a specific
+ container and asks for the execution of a
+ getty on it. Note that this is only
+ supported for containers running
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ as init system.</para>
+
+ <para>This command will open a full
+ login prompt on the container, which
+ then asks for username and
+ password. Use
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-run</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+ with the <option>--machine=</option>
+ switch to invoke a single command,
+ either interactively or in the
+ background within a local
+ container.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><command>enable</command> <replaceable>NAME</replaceable>...</term>
+ <term><command>disable</command> <replaceable>NAME</replaceable>...</term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Enable or disable a
+ container as a system service to start
+ at system boot, using
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-nspawn</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
+ This enables or disables
+ <filename>systemd-nspawn@.service</filename>,
+ instantiated for the specified machine
+ name, similar to the effect of
+ <command>systemctl enable</command> or
+ <command>systemctl disable</command>
+ on the service name.</para></listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><command>poweroff</command> <replaceable>NAME</replaceable>...</term>
+
+ <listitem><para>Power off one or more
+ containers. This will trigger a reboot
+ by sending SIGRTMIN+4 to the
+ container's init process, which causes
+ systemd-compatible init systems to
+ shut down cleanly. This operation does
+ not work on containers that do not run
+ a
+ <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>-compatible
+ init system, such as sysvinit. Use
+ <command>terminate</command> (see
+ below) to immediately terminate a
+ container or VM, without cleanly
+ shutting it down.</para></listitem>