linode-cli

The Linode Command Line Interface. Built from linode/linode-cli⁠.

Docker Usage

Using a Linode API Token:

docker run --rm -it -e LINODE_CLI_TOKEN=$LINODE_TOKEN linode/cli:latest linodes list

Using an existing config file:

docker run --rm -it -v $HOME/.config/linode-cli:/home/cli/.config/linode-cli linode/cli:latest linodes list

Usage

The Linode CLI is invoked with the linode-cli. The CLI accepts two primary arguments, command and action:

linode-cli <command> <action>

command is the part of the CLI you are interacting with, for example "linodes". You can see a list of all available commands by using `--help`:

linode-cli --help

action is the action you want to perform on a given command, for example "list". You can see a list of all available actions for a command with the --help for that command:

linode-cli linodes --help

Some actions don't require any parameters, but many do. To see details on how to invoke a specific action, use --help for that action:

linode-cli linodes create --help

The first time you invoke the CLI, you will be asked to configure (see "Configuration" below for details), and optionally select some default values for "region," "image," and "type." If you configure these defaults, you may omit them as parameters to actions and the default value will be used.

Common Operations

List Linodes:

linode-cli linodes list

List Linodes in a Region:

linode-cli linodes list --region us-east

Make a Linode:

linode-cli linodes create --type g5-standard-2 --region us-east --image linode/debian9 --label cli-1 --root_pass

Make a Linode using Default Settings:

linode-cli linodes create --label cli-2 --root_pass

Reboot a Linode:

linode-cli linodes reboot 12345

View available Linode types:

linode-cli linodes types

View your Volumes:

linode-cli volumes list

View your Domains:

linode-cli domains list

View records for a single Domain:

linode-cli domains records-list 12345

View your user:

linode-cli profile view

Configuration

The first time the CLI runs, it will prompt you to configure it. The CLI defaults to using web-based configuration, which is fast and convenient for users who have access to a browser.

To manually configure the CLI or reconfigure it if your token expires, you can run the configure command:

linode-cli configure

If you prefer to provide a token directly through the terminal, possibly because you don't have access to a browser where you're configuring the CLI, pass the --token flag to the configure command as shown:

linode-cli configure --token

When configuring multiple users using web-based configuration, you may need to log out of cloud.linode.com before configuring a second user.

Specifying List Arguments

When running certain commands, you may need to specify multiple values for a list argument. This can be done by specifying the argument multiple times for each value in the list. For example, to create a Linode with multiple tags you can execute the following:

linode-cli linodes create --region us-east --type g6-nanode-1 --tags tag1 --tags tag2

Specifying Nested Arguments

When running certain commands, you may need to specify an argument that is nested in another field. These arguments can be specified using a . delimited path to the argument. For example, to create a firewall with an inbound policy of DROP and an outbound policy of ACCEPT, you can execute the following:

linode-cli firewalls create --label example-firewall --rules.outbound_policy ACCEPT --rules.inbound_policy DROP

Suppressing Defaults

If you configured default values for image, authorized_users, region, and Linode type, they will be sent for all requests that accept them if you do not specify a different value. If you want to send a request without these arguments, you must invoke the CLI with the --no-defaults option.

For example, to create a Linode with no image after a default Image has been configured, you would do this:

linode-cli linodes create --region us-east --type g5-standard-2 --no-defaults

Suppressing Warnings

In some situations, like when the CLI is out of date, it will generate a warning in addition to its normal output. If these warnings can interfere with your scripts or you otherwise want them disabled, simply add the --suppress-warnings flag to prevent them from being emitted.

Shell Completion

To generate a completion file for a given shell type, use the completion command; for example to generate completions for bash run:

linode-cli completion bash

The output of this command is suitable to be included in the relevant completion files to enable command completion on your shell.

Environment Variables

If you prefer, you may store your token in an environment variable named LINODE_CLI_TOKEN instead of using the configuration file. Doing so allows you to bypass the initial configuration, and subsequent calls to linode-cli configure will allow you to set defaults without having to set a token. Be aware that if the environment variable should be unset, the Linode CLI will stop working until it is set again or the CLI is reconfigured with a token.

You may also use environment variables to store your Object Storage Keys for the obj plugin that ships with the CLI. To do so, simply set LINODE_CLI_OBJ_ACCESS_KEY and LINODE_CLI_OBJ_SECRET_KEY to the appropriate values. This allows using Linode Object Storage through the CLI without having a configuration file, which is desirable in some situations.

Multiple Users

If you use the Linode CLI to manage multiple Linode accounts, you may configure additional users using the linode-cli configure command. The CLI will automatically detect that a new user is being configured based on the token given.

Displaying Configured Users

To see what users are configured, simply run the following:

linode-cli show-users

The user who is currently active will be indicated by an asterisk.

Changing the Active User

You may change the active user for all requests as follows:

linode-cli set-user USERNAME

Subsequent CLI commands will be executed as that user by default.

Should you wish to execute a single request as a different user, you can supply the --as-user argument to specify the username you wish to act as for that command. This will not change the active user.

Removing Configured Users

To remove a user from you previously configured, run:

linode-cli remove-user USERNAME

Once a user is removed, they will need to be reconfigured if you wish to use the CLI for them again.

Customizing Output

Changing Output Fields

By default, the CLI displays on some pre-selected fields for a given type of response. If you want to see everything, just ask:

linode-cli linodes list --all

Using --all will cause the CLI to display all returned columns of output. Note that this will probably be hard to read on normal-sized screens for most actions.

If you want even finer control over your output, you can request specific columns be displayed:

linode-cli linodes list --format 'id,region,status,disk,memory,vcpus,transfer'

This will show some identifying information about your Linode as well as the resources it has access to. Some of these fields would be hidden by default -that's ok. If you ask for a field, it'll be displayed.

Output Formatting

While the CLI by default outputs human-readable tables of data, you can use the CLI to generate output that is easier to process.

Machine Readable Output

To get more machine-readable output, simply request it:

linode-cli linodes list --text

If a tab is a bad delimiter, you can configure that as well:

linode-cli linodes list --text --delimiter ';'

You may also disable header rows (in any output format):

linode-cli linodes list --no-headers --text

JSON Output

To get JSON output from the CLI, simple request it:

linode-cli linodes list --json --all

While the --all is optional, you probably want to see all output fields in your JSON output. If you want your JSON pretty-printed, we can do that too:

linode-cli linodes list --json --pretty --all

Plugins

The Linode CLI allows its features to be expanded with plugins. Some official plugins come bundled with the CLI and are documented above. Additionally, anyone can write and distribute plugins for the CLI - these are called Third Party Plugins.

To register a Third Party Plugin, use the following command:

linode-cli register-plugin PLUGIN_MODULE_NAME

Plugins should give the exact command required to register them.

Once registered, the command to invoke the Third Party Plugin will be printed, and it will appear in the plugin list when invoking linode-cli --help.

To remove a previously registered plugin, use the following command:

linode-cli remove-plugin PLUGIN_NAME

This command accepts the name used to invoke the plugin in the CLI as it appears in linode-cli --help, which may not be the same as the module name used to register it.

Developing Plugins

For information on how To write your own Third Party Plugin, see the Plugins documentation⁠.