CLI: stac (deprecated)

StackState Self-hosted v5.1.x

Overview

The new sts CLI replaces the stac CLI. It's advised to install the new sts CLI and upgrade any installed instance of the old sts CLI to stac. For details see:

• Which version of the sts CLI am I running?

• Install the new sts CLI and upgrade the old sts CLI to stac

• Comparison between the CLIs

The StackState stac CLI provides easy access to the functionality provided by the StackState APIs. It can be used to configure StackState, work with data, automate using StackState data and help with developing StackPacks. You can configure the CLI to work with multiple instances of StackState.

Install the stac CLI

A standalone executable is available to run the stac CLI on Linux and Windows. You can also run the stac CLI inside a Docker container on Linux, Windows or macOS.

You can install and run the stac CLI on the same machine as the new sts CLI.

Linux install

The steps below describe how to install the stac CLI on Linux using the standalone executable file. If you prefer, you can run the stac CLI inside a Docker container .

Requirements:

• Access to the StackState APIs.

Installation:

1. Download the Linux executable sts-cli-VERSION-linux64 from https://download.stackstate.com where the VERSION is the same as the StackState version you are running. For example, download sts-cli-5.0.0-linux64 if you are running StackState v5.0.0.

2. Rename the downloaded file to be stac and make it executable:

   mv sts-cli-VERSION-linux64 stac
   chmod +x stac

3. (optional) Add the file to your PATH to use stac CLI commands from anywhere on the command line.

4. To configure the StackState CLI, do one of the following:

   • Launch the configuration wizard (recommended).

   • Manually add configuration.

Windows install

The steps below describe how to install the StackState CLI on Windows using the standalone executable file. If you prefer, you can run the stac CLI inside a Docker container .

Requirements:

• Access to the StackState APIs.

Installation:

1. Download the executable sts-cli-VERSION-windows.exe from https://download.stackstate.com where the VERSION is the same as the StackState version you are running. For example, download sts-cli-5.0.0-windows.exe if you are running StackState v5.0.0.
2. Rename the downloaded file to be stac.exe.

3. (optional) Add the file to your PATH to use stac CLI commands from anywhere on the command line.
4. To configure the StackState CLI, do one of the following:

   • Launch the configuration wizard (recommended).
   • Manually add configuration.

Docker install (macOS, Linux, Windows)

The StackState CLI can be run inside a Docker container on Linux, Windows or macOS. The ZIP archive provided contains scripts that run the CLI without needing to worry about Docker invocations.

Requirements:

• Access to the StackState APIs.

• Docker installed (docker.com).
• Internet connection for first time run.

Installation:

1. Download the ZIP file sts-cli-VERSION.zip from https://download.stackstate.com where the VERSION is the same as the StackState version you are running. For example, download sts-cli-5.0.0.zip if you are running StackState v5.0.0.

   The ZIP archive contains the following files:

   .
   +-- bin
   |   +-- sts     # Script to run the stac CLI in Docker for bash
   |   +-- sts.ps1 # Script to run the stac CLI in Docker for Powershell
   +-- conf.d
   |   +-- conf.yaml.example # Example stac CLI configuration
   |   +-- VERSION           # The stac CLI version to retrieve from Docker hub
   +-- templates
   |   +-- topology   # Topology templates in a format specific to the stac CLI
   +-- release_notes.md  # Changelog of the stac CLI
   +-- usage.md          # How to configure and use this package

2. Rename the bash and Powershell scripts in the bin directory to use the new stac name:

   • Script to run the CLI in Docker for bash: Rename from sts to stac.

   • Script to run the CLI in Docker for Powershell: Rename from sts.ps1 to stac.ps1.

3. (optional) Add the bin directory to your PATH to use stac CLI commands from anywhere on the command line.
4. To configure the StackState CLI, manually add configuration.

Configure the stac CLI

After a new installation, the stac CLI must be configured with the API connection details for your StackState instance. If you upgraded from a previous version of the CLI, it isn't necessary to configure the CLI again, the existing CLI configuration will be used.

The standalone executable StackState CLI on Linux or Windows includes a wizard to guide you through configuration. If you installed the Docker version of the stac CLI on macOS, Linux or Windows, the configuration file must be manually created.

• Linux or Windows install (standalone executable): Configuration wizard.
• macOS (Docker): Create the configuration file manually.

Configuration wizard (Linux and Windows install)

If the stac CLI was installed on Linux or Windows using a standalone executable file, the first time you run any stac command, a configuration wizard will request the required configuration items. The wizard will then create a configuration file with the entered details and store it under the user's home directory. If a valid configuration file already exists, the stac CLI will use this and the configuration wizard won't run.

The configuration wizard isn't available when the stac CLI is run inside a Docker container on macOS, Linux or Windows.

To configure the stac CLI, you will need your authentication credentials.

Example configuration wizard:

$ stac graph list-types
No config was found. Would you like to configure the CLI using this wizard? (Y/n): Y

StackState URL: https://company.stackstate.com/
Your API token (see https://company.stackstate.com/#/cli ):
Admin API URL (default: https://company.stackstate.com/admin):
Receiver API URL (default: https://company.stackstate.com/receiver):
Receiver API key (default: API_KEY):
Hostname used for receiver ingestion via the CLI (default: mycli):

Thank you! Config file saved to: /Users/myuser/.stackstate/cli/conf.yaml

Manual configuration (Docker)

Follow the steps below to manually create or edit the stac CLI configuration file. A Docker install of the stac CLI must be manually configured. For a Linux or Windows install using a standalone executable file, you can also use the configuration wizard (preferred).

1. Download the ZIP file sts-cli-VERSION.zip from https://download.stackstate.com. If you ran the Docker install, you can skip this step and use the ZIP archive you already downloaded.
2. Copy the file conf.d/conf.example.yaml from the ZIP archive and put it in one of the following directories:

   • Docker:

     • conf.d/ - relative to the directory where the stac CLI is run.

   • Linux or Windows:

     • conf.d/ - relative to the directory where the stac CLI is run.

     • ~/.stackstate/cli/ - relative to the user's home directory.

     • %APPDATA%/StackState/cli/ - relative to the user's home directory.

3. Rename the file to be conf.yaml.

4. Edit the file and add:

   • URLs to the StackState APIs.

   • Any required authentication details for the APIs. The base_api API has support for API tokens. You can copy your private API Token from the CLI page in the StackState UI.
   • Client details.

Example conf.yaml

## The CLI uses an instance of StackState for all its commands.
## Unless the `--instance` argument is passed the CLI will pick the `default` instance as configured below.
## Other instances follow the exact same configuration pattern as the instance below.
instances:
  default:
    base_api:
      url: "https://stackstate.mycompany.com"
      # Get the api token from the user interface, see https://stackstate.mycompany.com/#/cli
      apitoken_auth:
        token: '???'
      ## HTTP basic authentication.
      #basic_auth:
        #username: '???'
        #password: '???'
    receiver_api:
      url: "https://stackstate.mycompany.com/receiver"
      ## HTTP basic authentication.
      #basic_auth:
        #username: '???'
        #password: '???'
    admin_api:
      url: "https://stackstate.mycompany.com/admin"
      # Get the api token from the user interface, see https://stackstate.mycompany.com/#/cli
      apitoken_auth:
        token: '???'
      ## HTTP basic authentication.
      #basic_auth:
        #username: '???'
        #password: '???'

    ## The CLI uses a client configuration to identify who is sending to the StackState instance. The client
    ## is used to send topology and telemetry to the receiver API.
    ##
    ## Unless the `--client` argument is passed the CLI will pick the `default` instance as configured below.
    ## Other clients follow the exact same configuration pattern as the default client. You may simply copy-paste its config and modify whatever is needed.
    clients:
      default:
        api_key: "<STACKSTATE_RECEIVER_API_KEY>"
        ## The name of the host that's passed to StackState when sending. Leave these values unchanged
        ## if you have no idea what to fill here.
        hostname: "hostname"
        internal_hostname: "internal_hostname"

Add multiple configurations

The conf.yaml configuration file for the stac CLI can hold multiple configurations. Other StackState instances can be added on the same level as the default configuration. For example:

instances:
  default:
    base_api:
      ...
    admin_api:
      ...
    receiver_api:
      ...
    clients:
      ...
  Preproduction:
    base_api:
      ...
    clients:
      ...

To use the stac CLI with a non-default instance, specify the instance name in the stac command:

stac --instance <instance_name> ...

Authentication

The stac CLI uses three StackState APIs: the Base API, the Admin API and the Receiver API. These APIs are secured differently and need to have separate authentication details provided in the stac CLI configuration file.

API key - Receiver API

StackState receives topology, telemetry and trace data via the Receiver API. If you want to push information to StackState using the stac CLI, you will need a Receiver API key. This is the same API key used by the StackState Agent and is available from your administrator.

API token - Base API and Admin API

Base API and Admin API authentication using username/password will be deprecated.

The stac CLI will issue a warning when username/password authentication is used for the Base API and the Admin API. It's recommended to switch to token based authentication as described below.

The stac CLI authenticates against the Base API and the Admin API using a unique API token auto-generated for your StackState user account. The same API token should be entered in the stac CLI configuration file for both the Base API and the Admin API.

• The Base API is used for most operations. All users have access to this API, although the available operations will be restricted in accordance with the permissions assigned to each role.

• The Admin API is used for some operations that affect the global configuration of StackState, such as the configuration of StackGraph's retention. Only users with the permission access-admin-api will have access to the Admin API and the associated operations.

You can find your API token in the StackState UI, go to Main menu > CLI.

➡️ Learn more about StackState permissions

Custom tool authentication

If you are using a custom tool instead of the CLI, you can authenticate with the same API token used by the CLI. For example, this can be done by including the following header in a curl request:

curl -H "Authorization: ApiToken <token>" <stackstate-api-endpoint>

Upgrade

Follow the steps below to upgrade an installed version of the CLI. Note that it isn't necessary to configure the CLI again after the upgraded version is installed, the existing CLI configuration will be used.

1. Delete the existing CLI files:

   • Windows and Linux:

     • Version 4.6 and older: The file was downloaded as sts-cli-VERSION-linux64 and renamed to sts.

     • Version 5.0 and above: The file was downloaded as sts-cli-VERSION-linux64 and renamed to stac.

   • Docker:

     • The zip archive was downloaded as sts-cli-VERSION.zip and extracted. All files extracted from the zip archive should be removed.

2. Follow the instructions to download and install the upgraded CLI:

   • Linux install
   • Windows install
   • Docker install (macOS, Linux, Windows)
3. It isn't necessary to configure the CLI again, the existing CLI configuration will be used.

Uninstall

To uninstall an installed version of the stac CLI:

1. Delete the old CLI files:

   • Linux or Windows:

     1. Version 4.6 and older: The file was downloaded as sts-cli-VERSION-linux64 and renamed to sts.

     2. Version 5.0 and above: The file was downloaded as sts-cli-VERSION-linux64 and renamed to stac.

   • Docker:

     • The zip archive was downloaded as sts-cli-VERSION.zip and extracted. All files extracted from the zip archive should be removed.

2. Delete any stac CLI configuration files:

   • Linux or Windows:

     • conf.d/conf.yaml - relative to the directory where the CLI is run.

     • ~/.stackstate/cli/conf.yaml - relative to the user's home directory.

     • %APPDATA%/StackState/cli/conf.yaml - relative to the user's home directory.

   • Docker:

     • conf.d/conf.yaml - relative to the directory where the CLI would run. Should have been removed together with the old CLI files in step 1.

3. If you added the CLI file or directory to your path (an optional installation step), remove it.

Use the stac CLI

For details on how to work with the StackState CLI, refer to the help provided in the CLI.

stac --help

License

The stac CLI can be used to check your license validity and update a license key when needed, for example, in case of expiration.

# check license key validity
stac subscription show
# Update license key
stac subscription update new-license-key

Note that it isn't necessary to do this using the CLI. StackState will also offer this option in the UI when a license is about to expire or has expired.