pcf-command.html.md.erb

---
title: pcf Command Line Utility
owner: Services
---

<strong><%= modified_date %></strong>

The `pcf` utility provides a command line interface to Pivotal Cloud Foundry for
the purpose of deploying and testing tiles. Its primary reason for existence is
to enable Ops Manager access from CI pipelines, but developers also find it
convenient to use this CLI rather than the Ops manager GUI.

The `pcf` utility also allows you to test your tile's BOSH errands
directly from your CLI, without going through Ops Manager and BOSH. This greatly
reduces the time it takes to deploy/test each iteration of your software components.

##<a id="install"></a> Installation

The `pcf` utility comes bundled with the Tile Generator tool. To
install the `pcf` utility, follow the
[Tile Generator installation instructions](tile-generator.html#how-to).

##<a id="auth"></a> Authentication

The `pcf` utility looks for a file called `metadata` in the current directory.
This file is expected to provide the URL and credentials to connect to
Ops Manager, in the following format:

```yaml
---
opsmgr:
    url: https://opsmgr.example.com
    username: admin
    password: <redacted>
```

The reason for this file naming is because this is how Concourse passes
credentials of a "claimed" PCF pool resource to the CI pipeline scripts.
For interactive use, this means that you will have to create a `metadata`
file in the directory where you run the `pcf` command.

<p class='note'>Pivotal recommends that you do <strong>not</strong> create this file inside your git or other version control system repository, as you do not want to accidentally commit these credentials to version control.</p>

##<a id="commands"></a> Commands

The `pcf` utility implements many different commands. To see available commands:

```bash
$ pcf --help
Usage: pcf [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

Options:
  --help  Show this message and exit.

Commands:
  apply-changes
  cf-info
  changes
  configure
  delete-unused-products
  import
  install
  is-available
  is-installed
  logs
  products
  settings
  target
  test-errand
  uninstall
```

##<a id="ops-man-settings"></a> Checking Ops Manager Settings

To see which products are currently available and installed in Ops Manager:

```bash
$ pcf products
- p-bosh 1.7.0.0 (installed)
- cf 1.7.0-build.258 (installed)
- test-tile 0.3.95
```

To test if a specific product is available or installed from within a script:

```bash
$ pcf is-available test-tile && echo "Product test-tile is available"
$ pcf is-installed test-tile && echo "Product test-tile is installed"
```

You can retrieve the settings for a specific product (this will give you a *lot* of json):

```bash
$ pcf settings test-tile
{
    "network_reference": "669e213111ab5aa1008a",
    "guid": "test-tile-be3e50cf26c530acca6e",
    "jobs": [
        {
            "instance": {
                "identifier": "instances"
            },
            "identifier": "compilation",
            "guid": "compilation-066a85d82fbcd936f9d7",
            "installation_name": "compilation",
            "vm_credentials": {
                "password": <redacted>,
                "salt": <redacted>,
                "identity": "vcap"
            }
        },
        {
            "guid": "deploy-all-b83a7cb7be00ebfd26d6",
            "vm_credentials": {
    ...
```

##<a id="deploy-tiles"></a> Deploying Tiles

After your software works and correctly deploys using `test-errand`, you can go
through the real Ops Manager deployment process from the CLI, as you would
normally do through the Ops Manager GUI.

Import your .pivotal file into Ops Manager:

```bash
$ pcf import sample/product/test-tile-0.0.2.pivotal
```

Install the uploaded version of your product:

```bash
$ pcf install test-tile 0.0.2
```

Where you would normally configure the tile settings in the GUI, the `configure`
command lets you pass in any user-specified properties as a .yml file. This command
also sets the stemcell for the tile to the same one used by your Elastic Runtime,
to avoid the need to upload a tile-specific stemcell.

```bash
$ pcf configure test-tile sample/missing-properties.yml
- Using stemcell bosh-vsphere-esxi-ubuntu-trusty-go_agent version 3215
```

The property file looks like this:

```yaml
---
customer_name: Jimmy's Johnnys
street_address: Cartaway Alley
city: New Jersey
country: US
username: SpongeBob
password: { 'secret': Square'Pants }
app2:
  persistence_store_type: none
# In PCF 1.8+, BOSH-job-specific configuration is supported:
jobs:
  a_job:
    # Job resource configuration:
    resource_config:
      persistent_disk:
        size_mb: "10240"
    # Job-specific property configuration:
    job_property: property_value
```

You must define any `secret` type property value as a hash, in curly brackets. Specifying a simple
string value for a field of this type results in a `500 System Error` being returned from `pcf configure`. 
The `secret` type property values can contain special characters.

To see what changes are ready to be applied:

```bash
$ pcf changes
install: test-tile-207b165fcb7dc8b2597b
delete:  
```

To apply these changes:

```bash
$ pcf apply-changes
  ===== 2016-04-21 18:45:05 UTC Running "bosh-init deploy /var/tempest/workspaces/default/deployments/bosh.yml"
  Deployment manifest: '/var/tempest/workspaces/default/deployments/bosh.yml'
  Deployment state: '/var/tempest/workspaces/default/deployments/bosh-state.json'

  Started validating
    Validating release 'bosh'... Finished (00:00:08)
    Validating release 'bosh-vsphere-cpi'... Finished (00:00:00)
    Validating release 'uaa'... Finished (00:00:06)
    Validating cpi release... Finished (00:00:00)
    Validating deployment manifest... Finished (00:00:00)
```

`pcf apply-changes` automatically tails the logs for the installation process
it started. If this gets aborted for any reason, you can always tail the logs
of the most recent installation:

```bash
$ pcf logs
```

##<a id="remove"></a> Removing Tiles

To uninstall a tile:

```bash
$ pcf uninstall test-tile
```

If you accumulate a lot of uninstalled tiles or old versions, you can clean
up Ops Manager's available products (and disk space):

```bash
$ pcf delete-unused-products
```

##<a id="access-ert"></a> Accessing Elastic Runtime

To see details about the Elastic Runtime of your PCF environment:

```bash
$ pcf cf-info
- admin_password: <redacted>
- admin_username: admin
- apps_domain: cfapps-04.example.com
- system_domain: run-04.example.com
- system_services_password: <redacted>
- system_services_username: system_services
```

To target your `cf` command line at this PCF environment:

```bash
$ pcf target
Setting api endpoint to api.example.com...
OK

API endpoint:   https://api.example.com (API version: 2.52.0)   
User:           admin   
Org:            my-org
Space:          my-space
API endpoint: https://api.example.com
Authenticating...
OK

...
```