Improve this doc

balena CLI Documentation

The balena CLI is a Command Line Interface for balenaCloud or openBalena. It is a software tool available for Windows, macOS and Linux, used through a command prompt / terminal window. It can be used interactively or invoked in scripts. The balena CLI builds on the balena API and the balena SDK, and can also be directly imported in Node.js applications. The balena CLI is an open-source project on GitHub, and your contribution is also welcome!

Installation

Check the balena CLI installation instructions on GitHub.

Choosing a shell (command prompt/terminal)

On Windows, the standard Command Prompt (cmd.exe) and PowerShell are supported. Alternative shells include:

MSYS2:
- Install additional packages with the command:
  pacman -S git gcc make openssh p7zip
- Set a Windows environment variable: MSYS2_PATH_TYPE=inherit
- Note that a bug in the MSYS2 launch script (msys2_shell.cmd) makes text-based interactive CLI menus to break. Check this Github issue for a workaround.
MSYS
Git for Windows
- During the installation, you will be prompted to choose between "Use MinTTY" and "Use Windows' default console window". Choose the latter, because of the same MSYS2 bug mentioned above (Git for Windows actually uses MSYS2). For a screenshot, check this comment.
Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). In this case, a Linux distribution like Ubuntu is installed via the Microsoft Store, and a balena CLI release for Linux should be selected. See FAQ for using the balena CLI with WSL and Docker Desktop for Windows.

On macOS and Linux, the standard terminal window is supported. Optionally, bash command auto completion may be enabled by copying the balena_comp file to your system's bash_completion directory: check Docker's command completion guide for system setup instructions.

Logging in

Several CLI commands require access to your balenaCloud account, for example in order to push a new release to your fleet. Those commands require creating a CLI login session by running:

$ balena login

Proxy support

HTTP(S) proxies can be configured through any of the following methods, in precedence order (from higher to lower):

The BALENARC_PROXY environment variable in URL format, with protocol (http or https), host, port and optionally basic auth. Examples:
- export BALENARC_PROXY='https://bob:[email protected]:12345'
- export BALENARC_PROXY='http://localhost:8000'
The proxy setting in the CLI config file. It may be:
- A string in URL format, e.g. proxy: 'http://localhost:8000'
- An object in the format:
```
proxy:
    protocol: 'http'
    host: 'proxy.company.com'
    port: 12345
    proxyAuth: 'bob:secret'
```
The HTTPS_PROXY and/or HTTP_PROXY environment variables, in the same URL format as BALENARC_PROXY.

Proxy setup for balena device ssh

In order to work behind a proxy server, the balena device ssh command requires the proxytunnel package (command-line tool) to be installed. proxytunnel is available for Linux distributions like Ubuntu/Debian (apt install proxytunnel), and for macOS through Homebrew. Windows support is limited to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (e.g., by installing Ubuntu through the Microsoft App Store).

Ensure that the proxy server is configured to allow proxy requests to ssh port 22, using SSL encryption. For example, in the case of the Squid proxy server, it should be configured with the following rules in the squid.conf file:
acl SSL_ports port 22
acl Safe_ports port 22

Proxy exclusion

The BALENARC_NO_PROXY variable may be used to exclude specified destinations from proxying.

This feature requires CLI version 11.30.8 or later. In the case of the npm installation option, it also requires Node.js version 10.16.0 or later.

To exclude a balena device ssh target from proxying (IP address or .local hostname), the --noproxy option should be specified in addition to the BALENARC_NO_PROXY variable.

By default (if BALENARC_NO_PROXY is not defined), all private IPv4 addresses and '*.local' hostnames are excluded from proxying. Other hostnames that resolve to private IPv4 addresses are not excluded by default, because matching takes place before name resolution.

localhost and 127.0.0.1 are always excluded from proxying, regardless of the value of BALENARC_NO_PROXY.

The format of the BALENARC_NO_PROXY environment variable is a comma-separated list of patterns that are matched against hostnames or IP addresses. For example:

export BALENARC_NO_PROXY='*.local,dev*.mycompany.com,192.168.*'

Matched patterns are excluded from proxying. Wildcard expressions are documented at matcher. Matching takes place before name resolution, so a pattern like '192.168.*' will not match a hostname that resolves to an IP address like 192.168.1.2.

Support, FAQ and troubleshooting

To learn more, troubleshoot issues, or to contact us for support:

Check the masterclass tutorials
Check our FAQ / troubleshooting document
Ask us a question in the balena forums

For CLI bug reports or feature requests, check the CLI GitHub issues.

Deprecation policy

The balena CLI uses semver versioning, with the concepts of major, minor and patch version releases.

The latest release of a major version of the balena CLI will remain compatible with the balenaCloud backend services for at least one year from the date when the following major version is released. For example, balena CLI v11.36.0, as the latest v11 release, would remain compatible with the balenaCloud backend for one year from the date when v12.0.0 was released.

Half way through to that period (6 months after the release of the next major version), older major versions of the balena CLI will start printing a deprecation warning message when it is used interactively (when stderr is attached to a TTY device file). At the end of that period, older major versions will exit with an error message unless the --unsupported flag is used. This behavior was introduced in CLI version 12.47.0 and is also documented by balena help. To take advantage of the latest backend features and ensure compatibility, users are encouraged to regularly update the balena CLI to the latest version.

CLI Command Reference

API Keys
- api-key generate
- api-key list
- api-key revoke
Apps
- app create
Authentication
- login
- logout
- whoami
Blocks
- block create
Config
- config generate
- config inject
- config read
- config reconfigure
- config write
Deploy
- build
- deploy
Device-type
- device-type list
Devices
- device deactivate
- device detect
- device identify
- device
- device init
- device list
- device local-mode
- device logs
- device move
- device note
- device os-update
- device pin
- device public-url
- device purge
- device reboot
- device register
- device rename
- device restart
- device rm
- device shutdown
- device ssh
- device start-service
- device stop-service
- device track-fleet
- device tunnel
Environment Variables
- env list
- env rename
- env rm
- env set
Fleets
- fleet create
- fleet
- fleet list
- fleet pin
- fleet purge
- fleet rename
- fleet restart
- fleet rm
- fleet track-latest
Local
- local configure
- local flash
Organizations
- organization list
OS
- os build-config
- os configure
- os download
- os initialize
- os versions
Platform
- join
- leave
Preload
- preload
Push
- push
Releases
- release finalize
- release
- release invalidate
- release list
- release validate
Settings
- settings
SSH Keys
- ssh-key add
- ssh-key
- ssh-key list
- ssh-key rm
Support
- support
Tags
- tag list
- tag rm
- tag set
Utilities
- util available-drives
Version
- version

API Keys

api-key generate

Description

Generate a new balenaCloud API key for the current user, with the given name. The key will be logged to the console.

This key can be used to log into the CLI using 'balena login --token ', or to authenticate requests to the API with an 'Authorization: Bearer ' header.

Examples:

$ balena api-key generate "Jenkins Key"

Arguments

NAME

the API key name

api-key list

Aliases

api-keys (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace api-key list with the alias.

Description

Print a list of balenaCloud API keys.

Print a list of balenaCloud API keys for the current user or for a specific fleet with the --fleet option.

Examples:

$ balena api-key list

Options

-u, --user

show API keys for your user

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

api-key revoke

Description

Revoke balenaCloud API keys with the given comma-separated list of ids.

The given balenaCloud API keys will no longer be usable.

Examples:

$ balena api-key revoke 123
$ balena api-key revoke 123,124,456

Arguments

IDS

the API key ids

Apps

app create

Description

Create a new balena app.

You can specify the organization the app should belong to using the --organization option. The organization's handle, not its name, should be provided. Organization handles can be listed with the balena organization list command.

The app's default device type is specified with the --type option. The balena device-type list command can be used to list the available device types.

Interactive dropdowns will be shown for selection if no device type or organization is specified and there are multiple options to choose from. If there is a single option to choose from, it will be chosen automatically. This interactive behavior can be disabled by explicitly specifying a device type and organization.

Examples:

$ balena app create MyApp
$ balena app create MyApp --organization mmyorg
$ balena app create MyApp -o myorg --type raspberry-pi

Arguments

NAME

app name

Options

-o, --organization ORGANIZATION

handle of the organization the app should belong to

-t, --type TYPE

app device type (Check available types with balena device-type list)

Authentication

Description

This command will prompt you to login using the following login types:

Web authorization: open your web browser and prompt to authorize the CLI from the dashboard.
Credentials: using email/password and 2FA.
Token: using a session token or API key from the preferences page.

Examples:

$ balena login
$ balena login --web
$ balena login --token "..."
$ balena login --credentials
$ balena login --credentials --email [email protected] --password secret

Arguments

TOKEN

Options

-w, --web

web-based login

-t, --token

session token or API key

-c, --credentials

credential-based login

-e, --email EMAIL

-u, --user USER

-p, --password PASSWORD

password

-P, --port PORT

TCP port number of local HTTP login server (--web auth only)

-H, --hideExperimentalWarning

Hides warning for experimental features

logout

Description

Logout from your balena account.

Examples:

$ balena logout

whoami

Description

Get the username and email address of the currently logged in user.

Examples:

$ balena whoami

Blocks

block create

Description

Create a new balena block.

You can specify the organization the block should belong to using the --organization option. The organization's handle, not its name, should be provided. Organization handles can be listed with the balena organization list command.

The block's default device type is specified with the --type option. The balena device-type list command can be used to list the available device types.

Examples:

$ balena block create MyBlock
$ balena block create MyBlock --organization mmyorg
$ balena block create MyBlock -o myorg --type raspberry-pi

Arguments

NAME

block name

Options

-o, --organization ORGANIZATION

handle of the organization the block should belong to

-t, --type TYPE

block device type (Check available types with balena device-type list)

Config

config generate

Description

Generate a config.json file for a device or fleet.

The target balenaOS version must be specified with the --version option.

The '--dev' option is used to configure balenaOS to operate in development mode, allowing anauthenticated root ssh access and exposing network ports such as balenaEngine's 2375 (unencrypted). This option causes "developmentMode": true to be inserted in the 'config.json' file in the image's boot partion. Development mode (as a configurable option) is applicable to balenaOS releases from early 2022. Older releases have separate development and production balenaOS images that cannot be reconfigured through 'config.json' or the '--dev' option. Do not confuse the balenaOS "development mode" with a device's "local mode", the latter being a supervisor feature that allows the "balena push" command to push a user's application directly to a device in the local network.

The '--secureBoot' option is used to configure a balenaOS installer image to opt-in secure boot and disk encryption.

To configure an image for a fleet of mixed device types, use the --fleet option alongside the --deviceType option to specify the target device type.

To avoid interactive questions, specify a command line option for each question that would otherwise be asked.

Fleets may be specified by fleet name or slug. Fleet slugs are the recommended option, as they are unique and unambiguous. Slugs can be listed with the balena fleet list command. Note that slugs may change if the fleet is renamed. Fleet names are not unique and may result in "Fleet is ambiguous" errors at any time (even if it "used to work in the past"), for example if the name clashes with a newly created public fleet, or with fleets from other balena accounts that you may be invited to join under any role. For this reason, fleet names are especially discouraged in scripts (e.g. CI environments).

Examples:

$ balena config generate --device 7cf02a6 --version 2.12.7
$ balena config generate --device 7cf02a6 --version 2.12.7 --generate-device-api-key
$ balena config generate --device 7cf02a6 --version 2.12.7 --deviceApiKey <existingDeviceKey>
$ balena config generate --device 7cf02a6 --version 2.12.7 --output config.json
$ balena config generate --fleet myorg/fleet --version 2.12.7 --dev
$ balena config generate --fleet myorg/fleet --version 2.12.7 --secureBoot
$ balena config generate --fleet myorg/fleet --version 2.12.7 --deviceType fincm3
$ balena config generate --fleet myorg/fleet --version 2.12.7 --output config.json
$ balena config generate --fleet myorg/fleet --version 2.12.7 --network wifi --wifiSsid mySsid --wifiKey abcdefgh --appUpdatePollInterval 15

Options

--version VERSION

a balenaOS version

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

--dev

Configure balenaOS to operate in development mode

--secureBoot

Configure balenaOS installer to opt-in secure boot and disk encryption

-d, --device DEVICE

device UUID

-k, --deviceApiKey DEVICEAPIKEY

custom device key - note that this is only supported on balenaOS 2.0.3+

--deviceType DEVICETYPE

device type slug (run 'balena device-type list' for possible values)

--generate-device-api-key

generate a fresh device key for the device

-o, --output OUTPUT

path of output file

--network NETWORK

the network type to use: ethernet or wifi

--wifiSsid WIFISSID

the wifi ssid to use (used only if --network is set to wifi)

--wifiKey WIFIKEY

the wifi key to use (used only if --network is set to wifi)

--appUpdatePollInterval APPUPDATEPOLLINTERVAL

supervisor cloud polling interval in minutes (e.g. for device variables)

--provisioning-key-name PROVISIONING-KEY-NAME

custom key name assigned to generated provisioning api key

--provisioning-key-expiry-date PROVISIONING-KEY-EXPIRY-DATE

expiry date assigned to generated provisioning api key (format: YYYY-MM-DD)

config inject

Description

Inject a 'config.json' file to a balenaOS image file or attached SD card or USB stick.

Documentation for the balenaOS 'config.json' file can be found at: https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/configuration/

Examples:

$ balena config inject my/config.json
$ balena config inject my/config.json --drive /dev/disk2

Arguments

FILE

the path to the config.json file to inject

Options

-d, --drive DRIVE

path to OS image file (e.g. balena.img) or block device (e.g. /dev/disk2)

config read

Description

Read the 'config.json' file of a balenaOS image file or attached SD card or USB stick.

Documentation for the balenaOS 'config.json' file can be found at: https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/configuration/

Examples:

$ balena config read
$ balena config read --drive /dev/disk2
$ balena config read --drive balena.img

Options

-d, --drive DRIVE

path to OS image file (e.g. balena.img) or block device (e.g. /dev/disk2)

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

config reconfigure

Description

Interactively reconfigure a balenaOS image file or attached media.

This command extracts the device UUID from the 'config.json' file of the chosen balenaOS image file or attached media, and then passes the UUID as the '--device' argument to the 'balena os configure' command.

For finer-grained or scripted control of the operation, use the 'balena config read' and 'balena os configure' commands separately.

Examples:

$ balena config reconfigure
$ balena config reconfigure --drive /dev/disk3
$ balena config reconfigure --drive balena.img --advanced

Options

-d, --drive DRIVE

path to OS image file (e.g. balena.img) or block device (e.g. /dev/disk2)

-v, --advanced

show advanced commands

--version VERSION

balenaOS version, for example "2.32.0" or "2.44.0+rev1"

config write

Description

Write a key-value pair to the 'config.json' file of a balenaOS image file or attached SD card or USB stick.

Documentation for the balenaOS 'config.json' file can be found at: https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/configuration/

Examples:

$ balena config write ntpServers "0.resinio.pool.ntp.org 1.resinio.pool.ntp.org"
$ balena config write --drive /dev/disk2 hostname custom-hostname
$ balena config write --drive balena.img os.network.connectivity.interval 300

Arguments

KEY

the key of the config parameter to write

VALUE

the value of the config parameter to write

Options

-d, --drive DRIVE

path to OS image file (e.g. balena.img) or block device (e.g. /dev/disk2)

Deploy

build

Description

Use this command to build an image or a complete multicontainer project with the provided docker daemon in your development machine or balena device. (See also the balena push command for the option of building images in the balenaCloud build servers.)

You must specify either a fleet, or the device type and architecture.

This command will look into the given source directory (or the current working directory if one isn't specified) for a docker-compose.yml file, and if found, each service defined in the compose file will be built. If a compose file isn't found, it will look for a Dockerfile[.template] file (or alternative Dockerfile specified with the --dockerfile option), and if no dockerfile is found, it will try to generate one.

REGISTRY SECRETS
The --registry-secrets option specifies a JSON or YAML file containing private Docker registry usernames and passwords to be used when pulling base images. Sample registry-secrets YAML file:

    'my-registry-server.com:25000':
        username: ann
        password: hunter2
    '':  # Use the empty string to refer to the Docker Hub
        username: mike
        password: cze14
    'eu.gcr.io':  # Google Container Registry
        username: '_json_key'
        password: '{escaped contents of the GCR keyfile.json file}'

For a sample project using registry secrets with the Google Container Registry, check: https://github.com/balena-io-examples/sample-gcr-registry-secrets

If the --registry-secrets option is not specified, and a secrets.yml or secrets.json file exists in the balena directory (usually $HOME/.balena), this file will be used instead.

DOCKERIGNORE AND GITIGNORE FILES
By default, the balena CLI will use a single ".dockerignore" file (if any) at the project root (--source directory) in order to decide which source files to exclude from the "build context" (tar stream) sent to balenaCloud, Docker daemon or balenaEngine. In a microservices (multicontainer) fleet, the source directory is the directory that contains the "docker-compose.yml" file.

The --multi-dockerignore (-m) option may be used with microservices (multicontainer) fleets that define a docker-compose.yml file. When this option is used, each service subdirectory (defined by the build or build.context service properties in the docker-compose.yml file) is filtered separately according to a .dockerignore file defined in the service subdirectory. If no .dockerignore file exists in a service subdirectory, then only the default .dockerignore patterns (see below) apply for that service subdirectory.

When the --multi-dockerignore (-m) option is used, the .dockerignore file (if any) defined at the overall project root will be used to filter files and subdirectories other than service subdirectories. It will not have any effect on service subdirectories, whether or not a service subdirectory defines its own .dockerignore file. Multiple .dockerignore files are not merged or added together, and cannot override or extend other files. This behavior maximizes compatibility with the standard docker-compose tool, while still allowing a root .dockerignore file (at the overall project root) to filter files and folders that are outside service subdirectories.

balena CLI v11 also took .gitignore files into account. This behavior was deprecated in CLI v12 and removed in CLI v13. Please use .dockerignore files instead.

Default .dockerignore patterns
A few default/hardcoded dockerignore patterns are "merged" (in memory) with the patterns found in the applicable .dockerignore files, in the following order:

    **/.git
    < user's patterns from the applicable '.dockerignore' file, if any >
    !**/.balena
    !**/.resin
    !**/Dockerfile
    !**/Dockerfile.*
    !**/docker-compose.yml

These patterns always apply, whether or not .dockerignore files exist in the project. If necessary, the effect of the **/.git pattern may be modified by adding exception patterns to the applicable .dockerignore file(s), for example !mysubmodule/.git. For documentation on pattern format, see:

Examples:

$ balena build --fleet myFleet
$ balena build ./source/ --fleet myorg/myfleet
$ balena build --deviceType raspberrypi3 --emulated
$ balena build --deviceType raspberrypi3 --arch armv7hf --emulated
$ balena build --docker /var/run/docker.sock --fleet myFleet   # Linux, Mac
$ balena build --docker //./pipe/docker_engine --fleet myFleet # Windows
$ balena build --dockerHost my.docker.host --dockerPort 2376 --ca ca.pem --key key.pem --cert cert.pem -f myFleet

Arguments

SOURCE

path of project source directory

Options

-A, --arch ARCH

the architecture to build for

-d, --deviceType DEVICETYPE

the type of device this build is for

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-e, --emulated

Use QEMU for ARM architecture emulation during the image build

--dockerfile DOCKERFILE

Alternative Dockerfile name/path, relative to the source folder

--nologs

Hide the image build log output (produce less verbose output)

-m, --multi-dockerignore

Have each service use its own .dockerignore file. See "balena help build".

--noparent-check

Disable project validation check of 'docker-compose.yml' file in parent folder

-R, --registry-secrets REGISTRY-SECRETS

Path to a YAML or JSON file with passwords for a private Docker registry

--noconvert-eol

Don't convert line endings from CRLF (Windows format) to LF (Unix format).

-n, --projectName PROJECTNAME

Name prefix for locally built images. This is the 'projectName' portion in 'projectName_serviceName:tag'. The default is the directory name.

-t, --tag TAG

Tag locally built Docker images. This is the 'tag' portion in 'projectName_serviceName:tag'. The default is 'latest'.

-B, --buildArg BUILDARG

[Deprecated] Set a build-time variable (eg. "-B 'ARG=value'"). Can be specified multiple times.

--cache-from CACHE-FROM

Comma-separated list (no spaces) of image names for build cache resolution. Implements the same feature as the "docker build --cache-from" option.

--nocache

Don't use docker layer caching when building

--pull

Pull the base images again even if they exist locally

--squash

Squash newly built layers into a single new layer

-P, --docker DOCKER

Path to a local docker socket (e.g. /var/run/docker.sock)

-h, --dockerHost DOCKERHOST

Docker daemon hostname or IP address (dev machine or balena device)

-p, --dockerPort DOCKERPORT

Docker daemon TCP port number (hint: 2375 for balena devices)

--ca CA

Docker host TLS certificate authority file

--cert CERT

Docker host TLS certificate file

--key KEY

Docker host TLS key file

deploy

Description

Usage: deploy <fleet> ([image] | --build [--source build-dir])

Use this command to deploy an image or a complete multicontainer project to a fleet, optionally building it first. The source images are searched for (and optionally built) using the docker daemon in your development machine or balena device. (See also the balena push command for the option of building the image in the balenaCloud build servers.)

Unless an image is specified, this command will look into the current directory (or the one specified by --source) for a docker-compose.yml file. If one is found, this command will deploy each service defined in the compose file, building it first if an image for it doesn't exist. Image names will be looked up according to the scheme: <projectName>_<serviceName>.

If a compose file isn't found, the command will look for a Dockerfile[.template] file (or alternative Dockerfile specified with the -f option), and if yet that isn't found, it will try to generate one.

To deploy to a fleet where you are a collaborator, use fleet slug including the organization: balena deploy <organization>/<fleet>.

    'my-registry-server.com:25000':
        username: ann
        password: hunter2
    '':  # Use the empty string to refer to the Docker Hub
        username: mike
        password: cze14
    'eu.gcr.io':  # Google Container Registry
        username: '_json_key'
        password: '{escaped contents of the GCR keyfile.json file}'

For a sample project using registry secrets with the Google Container Registry, check: https://github.com/balena-io-examples/sample-gcr-registry-secrets

If the --registry-secrets option is not specified, and a secrets.yml or secrets.json file exists in the balena directory (usually $HOME/.balena), this file will be used instead.

balena CLI v11 also took .gitignore files into account. This behavior was deprecated in CLI v12 and removed in CLI v13. Please use .dockerignore files instead.

Default .dockerignore patterns
A few default/hardcoded dockerignore patterns are "merged" (in memory) with the patterns found in the applicable .dockerignore files, in the following order:

    **/.git
    < user's patterns from the applicable '.dockerignore' file, if any >
    !**/.balena
    !**/.resin
    !**/Dockerfile
    !**/Dockerfile.*
    !**/docker-compose.yml

Examples:

$ balena deploy myFleet
$ balena deploy myorg/myfleet --build --source myBuildDir/
$ balena deploy myorg/myfleet --build --source myBuildDir/ --note "this is the note for this release"
$ balena deploy myorg/myfleet myRepo/myImage
$ balena deploy myFleet myRepo/myImage --release-tag key1 "" key2 "value2 with spaces"

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

IMAGE

the image to deploy

Options

-s, --source SOURCE

specify an alternate source directory; default is the working directory

-b, --build

force a rebuild before deploy

--nologupload

don't upload build logs to the dashboard with image (if building)

--release-tag RELEASE-TAG

Set release tags if the image deployment is successful. Multiple arguments may be provided, alternating tag keys and values (see examples). Hint: Empty values may be specified with "" (bash, cmd.exe) or '""' (PowerShell).

--draft

Deploy the release as a draft. Draft releases are ignored by the 'track latest' release policy but can be used through release pinning. Draft releases can be marked as final through the API. Releases are created as final by default unless this option is given.

--note NOTE

The notes for this release

-e, --emulated

Use QEMU for ARM architecture emulation during the image build

--dockerfile DOCKERFILE

Alternative Dockerfile name/path, relative to the source folder

--nologs

Hide the image build log output (produce less verbose output)

-m, --multi-dockerignore

Have each service use its own .dockerignore file. See "balena help build".

--noparent-check

Disable project validation check of 'docker-compose.yml' file in parent folder

-R, --registry-secrets REGISTRY-SECRETS

Path to a YAML or JSON file with passwords for a private Docker registry

--noconvert-eol

Don't convert line endings from CRLF (Windows format) to LF (Unix format).

-n, --projectName PROJECTNAME

Name prefix for locally built images. This is the 'projectName' portion in 'projectName_serviceName:tag'. The default is the directory name.

-t, --tag TAG

Tag locally built Docker images. This is the 'tag' portion in 'projectName_serviceName:tag'. The default is 'latest'.

-B, --buildArg BUILDARG

[Deprecated] Set a build-time variable (eg. "-B 'ARG=value'"). Can be specified multiple times.

--cache-from CACHE-FROM

Comma-separated list (no spaces) of image names for build cache resolution. Implements the same feature as the "docker build --cache-from" option.

--nocache

Don't use docker layer caching when building

--pull

Pull the base images again even if they exist locally

--squash

Squash newly built layers into a single new layer

-P, --docker DOCKER

Path to a local docker socket (e.g. /var/run/docker.sock)

-h, --dockerHost DOCKERHOST

Docker daemon hostname or IP address (dev machine or balena device)

-p, --dockerPort DOCKERPORT

Docker daemon TCP port number (hint: 2375 for balena devices)

--ca CA

Docker host TLS certificate authority file

--cert CERT

Docker host TLS certificate file

--key KEY

Docker host TLS key file

Device-type

device-type list

Aliases

devices supported (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device-type list with the alias.

Description

List the device types supported by balena (like 'raspberrypi3' or 'intel-nuc').

By default, only actively supported device types are listed. The --all option can be used to list all device types, including those that are no longer supported by balena.

The --json option is recommended when scripting the output of this command, because the JSON format is less likely to change and it better represents data types like lists and empty strings (for example, the ALIASES column contains a list of zero or more values). The 'jq' utility may be helpful in shell scripts (https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/).

Examples:

$ balena device-type list
$ balena device-type list --all
$ balena device-type list --json

Options

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

--all

include device types no longer supported by balena

Devices

device deactivate

Description

Deactivate a device.

Note this command asks for confirmation interactively. You can avoid this by passing the --yes option.

Examples:

$ balena device deactivate 7cf02a6
$ balena device deactivate 7cf02a6 --yes

Arguments

UUID

the UUID of the device to be deactivated

Options

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

device detect

Aliases

scan (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device detect with the alias.

Description

Scan for balenaOS devices on your local network.

The output includes device information collected through balenaEngine for devices running a development image of balenaOS. Devices running a production image do not expose balenaEngine (on TCP port 2375), which is why less information is printed about them.

Examples:

$ balena device detect
$ balena device detect --timeout 120
$ balena device detect --verbose

Options

-v, --verbose

display full info

-t, --timeout TIMEOUT

scan timeout in seconds

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

device identify

Description

Identify a device by making the ACT LED blink (Raspberry Pi).

Examples:

$ balena device identify 23c73a1

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to identify

device

Description

Show information about a single device.

The --json option is recommended when scripting the output of this command, because field names are less likely to change in JSON format and because it better represents data types like arrays, empty strings and null values. The 'jq' utility may be helpful for querying JSON fields in shell scripts (https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/).

Examples:

$ balena device 7cf02a6
$ balena device 7cf02a6 --view
$ balena device 7cf02a6 --json

Arguments

UUID

the device uuid

Options

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

--view

open device dashboard page

device init

Description

Register a new device in the selected fleet, download the OS image for the fleet's default device type, configure the image and write it to an SD card. This command effectively combines several other balena CLI commands in one, namely:

'balena device register' 'balena os download' 'balena os build-config' or 'balena config generate' 'balena os configure' 'balena os local flash'

Possible arguments for the '--fleet', '--os-version' and '--drive' options can be listed respectively with the commands:

'balena fleet list' 'balena os versions' 'balena util available-drives'

If the '--fleet' or '--drive' options are omitted, interactive menus will be presented with values to choose from. If the '--os-version' option is omitted, the latest released OS version for the fleet's default device type will be used.

Image configuration questions will be asked interactively unless a pre-configured 'config.json' file is provided with the '--config' option. The file can be generated with the 'balena config generate' or 'balena os build-config' commands.

Examples:

$ balena device init
$ balena device init -f myorg/myfleet
$ balena device init --fleet myFleet --os-version 2.101.7 --drive /dev/disk5 --config config.json --yes
$ balena device init --fleet myFleet --os-version 2.83.21+rev1.prod --drive /dev/disk5 --config config.json --yes

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

-v, --advanced

show advanced configuration options

--os-version OS-VERSION

exact version number, or a valid semver range, or 'latest' (includes pre-releases), or 'default' (excludes pre-releases if at least one stable version is available), or 'recommended' (excludes pre-releases, will fail if only pre-release versions are available), or 'menu' (will show the interactive menu)

-d, --drive DRIVE

the drive to write the image to, eg. /dev/sdb or /dev/mmcblk0. Careful with this as you can erase your hard drive. Check balena util available-drives for available options.

--config CONFIG

path to the config JSON file, see balena os build-config

--provisioning-key-name PROVISIONING-KEY-NAME

custom key name assigned to generated provisioning api key

--provisioning-key-expiry-date PROVISIONING-KEY-EXPIRY-DATE

expiry date assigned to generated provisioning api key (format: YYYY-MM-DD)

device list

Aliases

devices (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device list with the alias.

Description

List all of your devices.

Devices can be filtered by fleet with the --fleet option.

Examples:

$ balena device list
$ balena device list --fleet MyFleet
$ balena device list -f myorg/myfleet

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

device local-mode

Description

Output current local mode status, or enable/disable local mode for specified device.

Examples:

$ balena device local-mode 23c73a1
$ balena device local-mode 23c73a1 --enable
$ balena device local-mode 23c73a1 --disable
$ balena device local-mode 23c73a1 --status

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to manage

Options

--enable

enable local mode

--disable

disable local mode

--status

output boolean indicating local mode status

device logs

Aliases

logs (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device logs with the alias.

Description

Show logs for a specific device.

By default, the command prints all log messages and exits.

To continuously stream output, and see new logs in real time, use the --tail option.

If an IP or .local address is passed to this command, logs are displayed from a local mode device with that address. Note that --tail is implied when this command is provided a local mode device.

Logs from a single service can be displayed with the --service flag. Just system logs can be shown with the --system flag. Note that these flags can be used together.

Note: --service and --system flags must come after the device parameter, as per examples.

Examples:

$ balena device logs 23c73a1
$ balena device logs 23c73a1 --tail

$ balena device logs 192.168.0.31
$ balena device logs 192.168.0.31 --service my-service
$ balena device logs 192.168.0.31 --service my-service-1 --service my-service-2

$ balena device logs 23c73a1.local --system
$ balena device logs 23c73a1.local --system --service my-service

Arguments

DEVICE

device UUID, IP, or .local address

Options

--max-retry MAX-RETRY

Maximum number of reconnection attempts on "connection lost" errors (use 0 to disable auto reconnection).

-t, --tail

continuously stream output

-s, --service SERVICE

Reject logs not originating from this service. This can be used in combination with --system or other --service flags.

-S, --system

Only show system logs. This can be used in combination with --service.

device move

Description

Move one or more devices to another fleet.

If --fleet is omitted, the fleet will be prompted for interactively.

Examples:

$ balena device move 7cf02a6
$ balena device move 7cf02a6,dc39e52
$ balena device move 7cf02a6 --fleet MyNewFleet
$ balena device move 7cf02a6 -f myorg/mynewfleet

Arguments

UUID

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of device UUIDs to be moved

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

device note

Aliases

notes (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device note with the alias.

Description

Set or update a device note. If the note argument is not provided, it will be read from stdin.

To view device notes, use the balena device <uuid> command.

Examples:

$ balena device note "My useful note" --device 7cf02a6
$ cat note.txt | balena device note --device 7cf02a6

Arguments

NOTE

note content

Options

-d, --device DEVICE

device UUID

--dev DEV

device os-update

Description

Start a Host OS update for a device.

Note this command will ask for confirmation interactively. This can be avoided by passing the --yes option.

Requires balenaCloud; will not work with openBalena or standalone balenaOS.

Examples:

$ balena device os-update 23c73a1
$ balena device os-update 23c73a1 --version 2.101.7
$ balena device os-update 23c73a1 --version 2.31.0+rev1.prod
$ balena device os-update 23c73a1 --include-draft

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to update

Options

--version VERSION

a balenaOS version

--include-draft

include pre-release balenaOS versions

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

device pin

Description

Pin a device to a release.

Note, if the commit is omitted, the currently pinned release will be printed, with instructions for how to see a list of releases

Examples:

$ balena device pin 7cf02a6
$ balena device pin 7cf02a6 91165e5

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to pin to a release

RELEASETOPINTO

the commit of the release for the device to get pinned to

device public-url

Description

This command will output the current public URL for the specified device. It can also enable or disable the URL, or output the enabled status, using the respective options.

Examples:

$ balena device public-url 23c73a1
$ balena device public-url 23c73a1 --enable
$ balena device public-url 23c73a1 --disable
$ balena device public-url 23c73a1 --status

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to manage

Options

--enable

enable the public URL

--disable

disable the public URL

--status

determine if public URL is enabled

device purge

Description

Purge data from a device. This will clear the device's "/data" directory.

Multiple devices may be specified with a comma-separated list of values (no spaces).

Examples:

$ balena device purge 23c73a1
$ balena device purge 55d43b3,23c73a1

Arguments

UUID

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of device UUIDs

device reboot

Description

Remotely reboot a device.

Examples:

$ balena device reboot 23c73a1

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to reboot

Options

-f, --force

force action if the update lock is set

device register

Description

If --uuid is not provided, a new UUID will be automatically assigned.

Examples:

$ balena device register MyFleet
$ balena device register MyFleet --uuid <uuid>
$ balena device register myorg/myfleet --uuid <uuid>
$ balena device register myorg/myfleet --uuid <uuid> --deviceType <deviceTypeSlug>

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

Options

-u, --uuid UUID

custom uuid

--deviceType DEVICETYPE

device type slug (run 'balena device-type list' for possible values)

device rename

Description

Rename a device.

Note, if the name is omitted, it will be prompted for interactively.

Examples:

$ balena device rename 7cf02a6
$ balena device rename 7cf02a6 MyPi

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to rename

NEWNAME

the new name for the device

device restart

Description

Restart containers on a device. If the --service flag is provided, then only those services' containers will be restarted, otherwise all containers on the device will be restarted.

Multiple devices and services may be specified with a comma-separated list of values (no spaces).

Note this does not reboot the device, to do so use instead balena device reboot.

Examples:

$ balena device restart 23c73a1
$ balena device restart 55d43b3,23c73a1
$ balena device restart 23c73a1 --service myService
$ balena device restart 23c73a1 -s myService1,myService2

Arguments

UUID

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of device UUIDs to restart

Options

-s, --service SERVICE

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of service names to restart

device rm

Description

Remove one or more devices from balena.

Note this command asks for confirmation interactively. You can avoid this by passing the --yes option.

Examples:

$ balena device rm 7cf02a6
$ balena device rm 7cf02a6,dc39e52
$ balena device rm 7cf02a6 --yes

Arguments

UUID

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of device UUIDs to be removed

Options

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

device shutdown

Description

Remotely shutdown a device.

Examples:

$ balena device shutdown 23c73a1

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to shutdown

Options

-f, --force

force action if the update lock is set

device ssh

Aliases

ssh (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device ssh with the alias.

Description

Start a shell on a local or remote device. If a service name is not provided, a shell will be opened on the host OS.

If a fleet is provided, an interactive menu will be presented for the selection of an online device. A shell will then be opened for the host OS or service container of the chosen device.

For local devices, the IP address and .local domain name are supported. If the device is referenced by IP or .local address, the connection is initiated directly to balenaOS on port 22222 via an openssh-compatible client. Otherwise, any connection initiated remotely traverses the balenaCloud VPN.

Commands may be piped to the standard input for remote execution (see examples). Note however that remote command execution on service containers (as opposed to the host OS) is not currently possible when a device UUID is used (instead of an IP address) because of a balenaCloud backend limitation.

Note: balena ssh requires an openssh-compatible client to be correctly installed in your shell environment. For more information (including Windows support) please check: https://github.com/balena-io/balena-cli/blob/master/INSTALL.md#additional-dependencies,

Examples:

$ balena device ssh MyFleet
$ balena device ssh f49cefd
$ balena device ssh f49cefd my-service
$ balena device ssh f49cefd --port <port>
$ balena device ssh 192.168.0.1 --verbose
$ balena device ssh f49cefd.local my-service
$ echo "uptime; exit;" | balena device ssh f49cefd
$ echo "uptime; exit;" | balena device ssh 192.168.0.1 myService

Arguments

FLEETORDEVICE

fleet name/slug, device uuid, or address of local device

SERVICE

service name, if connecting to a container

Options

-p, --port PORT

SSH server port number (default 22222) if the target is an IP address or .local hostname. Otherwise, port number for the balenaCloud gateway (default 22).

-t, --tty

force pseudo-terminal allocation (bypass TTY autodetection for stdin)

-v, --verbose

increase verbosity

--noproxy

bypass global proxy configuration for the ssh connection

device start-service

Description

Start containers on a device.

Multiple devices and services may be specified with a comma-separated list of values (no spaces).

Examples:

$ balena device start-service 23c73a1 myService
$ balena device start-service 23c73a1 myService1,myService2

Arguments

UUID

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of device UUIDs

SERVICE

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of service names

device stop-service

Description

Stop containers on a device.

Multiple devices and services may be specified with a comma-separated list of values (no spaces).

Examples:

$ balena device stop-service 23c73a1 myService
$ balena device stop-service 23c73a1 myService1,myService2

Arguments

UUID

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of device UUIDs

SERVICE

comma-separated list (no blank spaces) of service names

device track-fleet

Description

Make a device track the fleet's pinned release.

Examples:

$ balena device track-fleet 7cf02a6

Arguments

UUID

the uuid of the device to make track the fleet's release

device tunnel

Aliases

tunnel (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace device tunnel with the alias.

Description

Use this command to open local TCP ports that tunnel to listening sockets in a balenaOS device.

For example, this command could be used to expose the ssh server of a balenaOS device (port number 22222) on the local machine, or to expose a web server running on the device. The port numbers do not have be the same between the device and the local machine, and multiple ports may be tunneled in a single command line.

Port mappings are specified in the format: [:[localIP:]localPort] localIP defaults to 'localhost', and localPort defaults to the specified remotePort value.

Note: the -p (--port) flag must be provided at the end of the command line, as per examples.

In the case of openBalena, the tunnel command in CLI v12.38.5 or later requires openBalena v3.1.2 or later. Older CLI versions work with older openBalena versions.

Examples:

# map remote port 22222 to localhost:22222
$ balena device tunnel myFleet -p 22222

# map remote port 22222 to localhost:222
$ balena device tunnel 2ead211 -p 22222:222

# map remote port 22222 to any address on your host machine, port 22222
$ balena device tunnel 1546690 -p 22222:0.0.0.0

# map remote port 22222 to any address on your host machine, port 222
$ balena device tunnel myFleet -p 22222:0.0.0.0:222

# multiple port tunnels can be specified at any one time
$ balena device tunnel myFleet -p 8080:3000 -p 8081:9000

Arguments

DEVICEORFLEET

device UUID or fleet name/slug

Options

-p, --port PORT

port mapping in the format [:[localIP:]localPort]

Environment Variables

env list

Aliases

envs (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace env list with the alias.

Description

List the environment or configuration variables of a fleet, device or service, as selected by the respective command-line options. (A service corresponds to a Docker image/container in a microservices fleet.)

The results include fleet-wide (multiple devices), device-specific (multiple services on a specific device) and service-specific variables that apply to the selected fleet, device or service. It can be thought of as including inherited variables; for example, a service inherits device-wide variables, and a device inherits fleet-wide variables.

The printed output may include DEVICE and/or SERVICE columns to distinguish between fleet-wide, device-specific and service-specific variables. An asterisk in these columns indicates that the variable applies to "all devices" or "all services".

The --config option is used to list "configuration variables" that control balena platform features, as opposed to custom environment variables defined by the user. The --config and the --service options are mutually exclusive because configuration variables cannot be set for specific services.

The --json option is recommended when scripting the output of this command, because the JSON format is less likely to change and it better represents data types like lists and empty strings. The 'jq' utility may be helpful in shell scripts (https://stedolan.github.io/jq/manual/). When --json is used, an empty JSON array ([]) is printed instead of an error message when no variables exist for the given query. When querying variables for a device, note that the fleet name may be null in JSON output (or 'N/A' in tabular output) if the fleet that the device belonged to is no longer accessible by the current user (for example, in case the current user was removed from the fleet by the fleet's owner).

Examples:

$ balena env list --fleet myorg/myfleet
$ balena env list --fleet MyFleet --json
$ balena env list --fleet MyFleet --service MyService
$ balena env list --fleet MyFleet --config
$ balena env list --device 7cf02a6
$ balena env list --device 7cf02a6 --json
$ balena env list --device 7cf02a6 --config --json
$ balena env list --device 7cf02a6 --service MyService

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-c, --config

show configuration variables only

-d, --device DEVICE

device UUID

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

-s, --service SERVICE

service name

env rename

Description

Change the value of a configuration or environment variable for a fleet, device or service, as selected by command-line options.

Variables are selected by their database ID (as reported by the 'balena env list' command) and one of six database "resource types":

fleet environment variable
fleet configuration variable (--config)
fleet service variable (--service)
device environment variable (--device)
device configuration variable (--device --config)
device service variable (--device --service)

The --device option selects a device-specific variable instead of a fleet variable.

The --config option selects a configuration variable. Configuration variable names typically start with the 'BALENA_' or 'RESIN_' prefixes and are used to configure balena platform features.

The --service option selects a service variable, which is an environment variable that applies to a specifc service (container) in a microservices (multicontainer) fleet.

The --service and --config options cannot be used together, but they can be used alongside the --device option to select a device-specific service or configuration variable.

Examples:

$ balena env rename 123123 emacs
$ balena env rename 234234 emacs --service
$ balena env rename 345345 emacs --device
$ balena env rename 456456 emacs --device --service
$ balena env rename 567567 1 --config
$ balena env rename 678678 1 --device --config

Arguments

ID

variable's numeric database ID

VALUE

variable value; if omitted, use value from this process' environment

Options

-c, --config

select a configuration variable (may be used together with the --device option)

-d, --device

select a device-specific variable instead of a fleet variable

-s, --service

select a service variable (may be used together with the --device option)

env rm

Description

Remove a configuration or environment variable from a fleet, device or service, as selected by command-line options.

Variables are selected by their database ID (as reported by the 'balena env list' command) and one of six database "resource types":

fleet environment variable
fleet configuration variable (--config)
fleet service variable (--service)
device environment variable (--device)
device configuration variable (--device --config)
device service variable (--device --service)

The --device option selects a device-specific variable instead of a fleet variable.

The --config option selects a configuration variable. Configuration variable names typically start with the 'BALENA_' or 'RESIN_' prefixes and are used to configure balena platform features.

The --service option selects a service variable, which is an environment variable that applies to a specifc service (container) in a microservices (multicontainer) fleet.

The --service and --config options cannot be used together, but they can be used alongside the --device option to select a device-specific service or configuration variable.

Interactive confirmation is normally asked before the variable is deleted. The --yes option disables this behavior.

Examples:

$ balena env rm 123123
$ balena env rm 234234 --yes
$ balena env rm 345345 --config
$ balena env rm 456456 --service
$ balena env rm 567567 --device
$ balena env rm 678678 --device --config
$ balena env rm 789789 --device --service --yes

Arguments

ID

variable's numeric database ID

Options

-c, --config

select a configuration variable (may be used together with the --device option)

-d, --device

select a device-specific variable instead of a fleet variable

-s, --service

select a service variable (may be used together with the --device option)

-y, --yes

do not prompt for confirmation before deleting the variable

env set

Aliases

env add (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace env set with the alias.

Description

Add or update an environment or config variable to one or more fleets, devices or services, as selected by the respective command-line options. Either the --fleet or the --device option must be provided, and either may be be used alongside the --service option to define a service-specific variable. (A service corresponds to a Docker image/container in a microservices fleet.) When the --service option is used in conjunction with the --device option, the service variable applies to the selected device only. Otherwise, it applies to all devices of the selected fleet. If the --service option is omitted, the variable applies to all services.

If VALUE is omitted, the CLI will attempt to use the value of the environment variable of same name in the CLI process' environment. In this case, a warning message will be printed. Use --quiet to suppress it.

'BALENA_' or 'RESIN_' are reserved variable name prefixes used to identify "configuration variables". Configuration variables control balena platform features and are treated specially by balenaOS and the balena supervisor running on devices. They are also stored differently in the balenaCloud API database. Configuration variables cannot be set for specific services, therefore the --service option cannot be used when the variable name starts with a reserved prefix. When defining custom fleet variables, please avoid these reserved prefixes.

Examples:

$ balena env set TERM --fleet MyFleet
$ balena env set EDITOR vim -f myorg/myfleet
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --fleet MyFleet,MyFleet2
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --fleet MyFleet --service MyService
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --fleet MyFleet,MyFleet2 --service MyService,MyService2
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --device 7cf02a6
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --device 7cf02a6,d6f1433
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --device 7cf02a6 --service MyService
$ balena env set EDITOR vim --device 7cf02a6,d6f1433 --service MyService,MyService2

Arguments

NAME

environment or config variable name

VALUE

variable value; if omitted, use value from this process' environment

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-d, --device DEVICE

device UUID

-q, --quiet

suppress warning messages

-s, --service SERVICE

service name

Fleets

fleet create

Description

Create a new balena fleet.

You can specify the organization the fleet should belong to using the --organization option. The organization's handle, not its name, should be provided. Organization handles can be listed with the balena organization list command.

The fleet's default device type is specified with the --type option. The balena device-type list command can be used to list the available device types.

Examples:

$ balena fleet create MyFleet
$ balena fleet create MyFleet --organization mmyorg
$ balena fleet create MyFleet -o myorg --type raspberry-pi

Arguments

NAME

fleet name

Options

-o, --organization ORGANIZATION

handle of the organization the fleet should belong to

-t, --type TYPE

fleet device type (Check available types with balena device-type list)

fleet

Description

Display detailed information about a single fleet.

Examples:

$ balena fleet MyFleet
$ balena fleet myorg/myfleet
$ balena fleet myorg/myfleet --view

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

Options

--view

open fleet dashboard page

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

fleet list

Aliases

fleets (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace fleet list with the alias.

Description

List all your balena fleets.

For detailed information on a particular fleet, use balena fleet <fleet>

Examples:

$ balena fleet list

Options

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

fleet pin

Description

Pin a fleet to a release.

Note, if the commit is omitted, the currently pinned release will be printed, with instructions for how to see a list of releases

Examples:

$ balena fleet pin myfleet
$ balena fleet pin myorg/myfleet 91165e5

Arguments

SLUG

the slug of the fleet to pin to a release

RELEASETOPINTO

the commit of the release for the fleet to get pinned to

fleet purge

Description

Purge data from all devices belonging to a fleet. This will clear the fleet's '/data' directory.

Examples:

$ balena fleet purge MyFleet
$ balena fleet purge myorg/myfleet

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

fleet rename

Description

Rename a fleet.

Note, if the newName parameter is omitted, it will be prompted for interactively.

Examples:

$ balena fleet rename OldName
$ balena fleet rename OldName NewName
$ balena fleet rename myorg/oldname NewName

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

NEWNAME

the new name for the fleet

fleet restart

Description

Restart all devices belonging to a fleet.

Examples:

$ balena fleet restart MyFleet
$ balena fleet restart myorg/myfleet

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

fleet rm

Description

Permanently remove a fleet.

The --yes option may be used to avoid interactive confirmation.

Examples:

$ balena fleet rm MyFleet
$ balena fleet rm MyFleet --yes
$ balena fleet rm myorg/myfleet

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

Options

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

fleet track-latest

Description

Make this fleet track the latest release.

Examples:

$ balena fleet track-latest myorg/myfleet
$ balena fleet track-latest myfleet

Arguments

SLUG

the slug of the fleet to make track the latest release

Local

local configure

Description

Configure or reconfigure a balenaOS drive or image.

Examples:

$ balena local configure /dev/sdc
$ balena local configure path/to/image.img

Arguments

TARGET

path of drive or image to configure

local flash

Description

Flash a balenaOS image to a drive. Image file may be one of: .img|.zip|.gz|.bz2|.xz

If --drive is not specified, then it will interactively show a list of available drives for selection.

Examples:

$ balena local flash path/to/balenaos.img
$ balena local flash path/to/balenaos.img --drive /dev/disk2
$ balena local flash path/to/balenaos.img --drive /dev/disk2 --yes

Arguments

IMAGE

path to OS image

Options

-d, --drive DRIVE

the drive to write the image to, eg. /dev/sdb or /dev/mmcblk0. Careful with this as you can erase your hard drive. Check balena util available-drives for available options.

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

Organizations

organization list

Aliases

orgs (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace organization list with the alias.

Description

list all the organizations that you are a member of.

Examples:

$ balena organization list

OS

os build-config

Description

Interactively generate a configuration file that can then be used as non-interactive input by the 'balena os configure' command.

Examples:

$ balena os build-config ../path/rpi3.img raspberrypi3 --output rpi3-config.json
$ balena os configure ../path/rpi3.img --device 7cf02a6 --config rpi3-config.json

Arguments

IMAGE

os image

DEVICE-TYPE

device type

Options

-v, --advanced

show advanced configuration options

-o, --output OUTPUT

path to output JSON file

os configure

Description

Configure a previously downloaded balenaOS image for a specific device type or fleet.

Configuration settings such as WiFi authentication will be taken from the following sources, in precedence order:

Command-line options like --config-wifi-ssid
A given config.json file specified with the --config option.
User input through interactive prompts (text menus).

The --device-type option is used to override the fleet's default device type, in case of a fleet with mixed device types.

The '--secureBoot' option is used to configure a balenaOS installer image to opt-in secure boot and disk encryption.

The --system-connection (-c) option is used to inject NetworkManager connection profiles for additional network interfaces, such as cellular/GSM or additional WiFi or ethernet connections. This option may be passed multiple times in case there are multiple files to inject. See connection profile examples and reference at: https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/network/2.x/ https://developer.gnome.org/NetworkManager/stable/ref-settings.html

Examples:

$ balena os configure ../path/rpi3.img --device 7cf02a6
$ balena os configure ../path/rpi3.img --fleet myorg/myfleet
$ balena os configure ../path/rpi3.img --fleet MyFleet --version 2.12.7
$ balena os configure ../path/rpi3.img -f MyFinFleet --device-type raspberrypi3
$ balena os configure ../path/rpi3.img -f MyFinFleet --device-type raspberrypi3 --config myWifiConfig.json

Arguments

IMAGE

path to a balenaOS image file, e.g. "rpi3.img"

Options

-v, --advanced

ask advanced configuration questions (when in interactive mode)

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

--config CONFIG

path to a pre-generated config.json file to be injected in the OS image

--config-app-update-poll-interval CONFIG-APP-UPDATE-POLL-INTERVAL

supervisor cloud polling interval in minutes (e.g. for variable updates)

--config-network CONFIG-NETWORK

device network type (non-interactive configuration)

--config-wifi-key CONFIG-WIFI-KEY

WiFi key (password) (non-interactive configuration)

--config-wifi-ssid CONFIG-WIFI-SSID

WiFi SSID (network name) (non-interactive configuration)

--dev

Configure balenaOS to operate in development mode

--secureBoot

Configure balenaOS installer to opt-in secure boot and disk encryption

-d, --device DEVICE

device UUID

--device-type DEVICE-TYPE

device type slug (e.g. "raspberrypi3") to override the fleet device type

--initial-device-name INITIAL-DEVICE-NAME

This option will set the device name when the device provisions

--version VERSION

balenaOS version, for example "2.32.0" or "2.44.0+rev1"

-c, --system-connection SYSTEM-CONNECTION

paths to local files to place into the 'system-connections' directory

--provisioning-key-name PROVISIONING-KEY-NAME

custom key name assigned to generated provisioning api key

--provisioning-key-expiry-date PROVISIONING-KEY-EXPIRY-DATE

expiry date assigned to generated provisioning api key (format: YYYY-MM-DD)

os download

Description

Download an unconfigured OS image for the specified device type. Check available device types with 'balena device-type list'.

Note: Currently this command only works with balenaCloud, not openBalena. If using openBalena, please download the OS from: https://www.balena.io/os/

The '--version' option is used to select the balenaOS version. If omitted, the latest released version is downloaded (and if only pre-release versions exist, the latest pre-release version is downloaded).

Use '--version menu' or '--version menu-esr' to interactively select the OS version. The latter lists ESR versions which are only available for download on Production and Enterprise plans. See also: https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/extended-support-release/

Development images can be selected by appending .dev to the version.

Examples:

$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version 2.101.7
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version 2022.7.0
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version ^2.90.0
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version 2.60.1+rev1
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version 2.60.1+rev1.dev
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version 2021.10.2.prod
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version latest
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version default
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version menu
$ balena os download raspberrypi3 -o ../foo/bar/raspberry-pi.img --version menu-esr

Arguments

TYPE

the device type

Options

-o, --output OUTPUT

output path

--version VERSION

version number (ESR or non-ESR versions), or semver range (non-ESR versions only), or 'latest' (includes pre-releases), or 'default' (excludes pre-releases if at least one released version is available), or 'recommended' (excludes pre-releases, will fail if only pre-release versions are available), or 'menu' (interactive menu, non-ESR versions), or 'menu-esr' (interactive menu, ESR versions)

os initialize

Description

Initialize an os image for a device with a previously configured operating system image and flash the an external storage drive or the device's storage medium depending on the device type.

Note: Initializing the device may ask for administrative permissions because we need to access the raw devices directly.

Examples:

$ balena os initialize ../path/rpi.img --type raspberry-pi

Arguments

IMAGE

path to OS image

Options

-t, --type TYPE

device type (Check available types with balena device-type list)

-d, --drive DRIVE

the drive to write the image to, eg. /dev/sdb or /dev/mmcblk0. Careful with this as you can erase your hard drive. Check balena util available-drives for available options.

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

os versions

Description

Show the available balenaOS versions for the given device type. Check available types with balena device-type list.

balenaOS ESR versions can be listed with the '--esr' option. See also: https://www.balena.io/docs/reference/OS/extended-support-release/

Examples:

$ balena os versions raspberrypi3

Arguments

TYPE

device type

Options

--esr

select balenaOS ESR versions

--include-draft

include pre-release balenaOS versions

Platform

join

Description

Move a local device to a fleet on another balena server, causing the device to "join" the new server. The device must be running balenaOS.

For example, you could provision a device against an openBalena installation where you perform end-to-end tests and then move it to balenaCloud when it's ready for production.

To move a device between fleets on the same server, use the balena device move command instead of balena join.

If you don't specify a device hostname or IP, this command will automatically scan the local network for balenaOS devices and prompt you to select one from an interactive picker. This may require administrator/root privileges. Likewise, if the fleet option is not provided then a picker will be shown.

Examples:

$ balena join
$ balena join balena.local
$ balena join balena.local --fleet MyFleet
$ balena join balena.local -f myorg/myfleet
$ balena join 192.168.1.25
$ balena join 192.168.1.25 --fleet MyFleet

Arguments

DEVICEIPORHOSTNAME

the IP or hostname of device

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-i, --pollInterval POLLINTERVAL

the interval in minutes to check for updates

leave

Description

Remove a local device from its balena fleet, causing the device to "leave" the server it is provisioned on. This effectively makes the device "unmanaged". The device must be running balenaOS.

The device entry on the server is preserved after running this command, so the device can subsequently re-join the server if needed.

Examples:

$ balena leave
$ balena leave balena.local
$ balena leave 192.168.1.25

Arguments

DEVICEIPORHOSTNAME

the device IP or hostname

Preload

preload

Description

Preload a release (service images/containers) from a balena fleet, and optionally a balenaOS splash screen, in a previously downloaded '.img' balenaOS image file in the local disk (a zip file is only accepted for the Intel Edison device type). After preloading, the balenaOS image file can be flashed to a device's SD card. When the device boots, it will not need to download the release, as it was preloaded. This is usually combined with release pinning (https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/deploy/release-strategy/release-policy/) to avoid the device downloading a newer release straight away, if available. Check also the Preloading and Preregistering section of the balena CLI's advanced masterclass document: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/advanced-cli/#5-preloading-and-preregistering

Note that the this command requires Docker to be installed, as further detailed in the balena CLI's installation instructions: https://github.com/balena-io/balena-cli/blob/master/INSTALL.md The --dockerHost and --dockerPort flags allow a remote Docker engine to be used, however the image file must be accessible to the remote Docker engine on the same path given on the command line. This is because Docker's bind mount feature is used to "share" the image with a container that performs the preload.

Examples:

$ balena preload balena.img --fleet MyFleet --commit e1f2592fc6ee949e68756d4f4a48e49bff8d72a0
$ balena preload balena.img --fleet myorg/myfleet --splash-image image.png
$ balena preload balena.img

Arguments

IMAGE

the image file path

Options

-f, --fleet FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

-c, --commit COMMIT

The commit hash of the release to preload. Use "current" to specify the current release (ignored if no appId is given). The current release is usually also the latest, but can be pinned to a specific release. See: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/deploy/release-strategy/release-policy/ https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/more/masterclasses/fleet-management/#63-pin-using-the-api https://github.com/balena-io-examples/staged-releases

-s, --splash-image SPLASH-IMAGE

path to a png image to replace the splash screen

--dont-check-arch

disable architecture compatibility check between image and fleet

-p, --pin-device-to-release

pin the preloaded device to the preloaded release on provision

--additional-space ADDITIONAL-SPACE

expand the image by this amount of bytes instead of automatically estimating the required amount

--add-certificate ADD-CERTIFICATE

Add the given certificate (in PEM format) to /etc/ssl/certs in the preloading container. The file name must end with '.crt' and must not be already contained in the preloader's /etc/ssl/certs folder. Can be repeated to add multiple certificates.

-P, --docker DOCKER

Path to a local docker socket (e.g. /var/run/docker.sock)

-h, --dockerHost DOCKERHOST

Docker daemon hostname or IP address (dev machine or balena device)

--dockerPort DOCKERPORT

Docker daemon TCP port number (hint: 2375 for balena devices)

--ca CA

Docker host TLS certificate authority file

--cert CERT

Docker host TLS certificate file

--key KEY

Docker host TLS key file

Push

push

Description

Build release images on balenaCloud servers or on a local mode device.

When building on the balenaCloud servers, the given source directory will be sent to the remote server. This can be used as a drop-in replacement for the "git push" deployment method.

When building on a local mode device, the given source directory will be built on the device, and the resulting containers will be run on the device. Logs will be streamed back from the device as part of the same invocation. The web dashboard can be used to switch a device to local mode: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/develop/local-mode/ Note that local mode requires a supervisor version of at least v7.21.0. The logs from only a single service can be shown with the --service flag, and showing only the system logs can be achieved with --system. Note that these flags can be used together.

When pushing to a local device a live session will be started. The project source folder is watched for filesystem events, and changes to files and folders are automatically synchronized to the running containers. The synchronization is only in one direction, from this machine to the device, and changes made on the device itself may be overwritten. This feature requires a device running supervisor version v9.7.0 or greater.

    'my-registry-server.com:25000':
        username: ann
        password: hunter2
    '':  # Use the empty string to refer to the Docker Hub
        username: mike
        password: cze14
    'eu.gcr.io':  # Google Container Registry
        username: '_json_key'
        password: '{escaped contents of the GCR keyfile.json file}'

For a sample project using registry secrets with the Google Container Registry, check: https://github.com/balena-io-examples/sample-gcr-registry-secrets

If the --registry-secrets option is not specified, and a secrets.yml or secrets.json file exists in the balena directory (usually $HOME/.balena), this file will be used instead.

balena CLI v11 also took .gitignore files into account. This behavior was deprecated in CLI v12 and removed in CLI v13. Please use .dockerignore files instead.

Default .dockerignore patterns
A few default/hardcoded dockerignore patterns are "merged" (in memory) with the patterns found in the applicable .dockerignore files, in the following order:

    **/.git
    < user's patterns from the applicable '.dockerignore' file, if any >
    !**/.balena
    !**/.resin
    !**/Dockerfile
    !**/Dockerfile.*
    !**/docker-compose.yml

Note: the --service and --env flags must come after the fleetOrDevice parameter, as per examples.

Examples:

$ balena push myFleet
$ balena push myFleet --source <source directory>
$ balena push myFleet -s <source directory>
$ balena push myFleet --source <source directory> --note "this is the note for this release"
$ balena push myFleet --release-tag key1 "" key2 "value2 with spaces"
$ balena push myorg/myfleet

$ balena push 10.0.0.1
$ balena push 10.0.0.1 --source <source directory>
$ balena push 10.0.0.1 --service my-service
$ balena push 10.0.0.1 --env MY_ENV_VAR=value --env my-service:SERVICE_VAR=value
$ balena push 10.0.0.1 --nolive

$ balena push 23c73a1.local --system
$ balena push 23c73a1.local --system --service my-service

Arguments

FLEETORDEVICE

fleet name or slug, or local device IP address or ".local" hostname

Options

-s, --source SOURCE

Source directory to be sent to balenaCloud or balenaOS device (default: current working dir)

-e, --emulated

Don't use the faster, native balenaCloud ARM builders; force slower QEMU ARM emulation on Intel x86-64 builders. This flag is sometimes used to investigate suspected issues with the balenaCloud backend.

--dockerfile DOCKERFILE

Alternative Dockerfile name/path, relative to the source folder

-c, --nocache

Don't use cached layers of previously built images for this project. This ensures that the latest base image and packages are pulled. Note that build logs may still display the message _"Pulling previous images for caching purposes" (as the cloud builder needs previous images to compute delta updates), but the logs will not display the "Using cache" lines for each build step of a Dockerfile.

--pull

When pushing to a local device, force the base images to be pulled again. Currently this option is ignored when pushing to the balenaCloud builders.

--noparent-check

Disable project validation check of 'docker-compose.yml' file in parent folder

-R, --registry-secrets REGISTRY-SECRETS

Path to a local YAML or JSON file containing Docker registry passwords used to pull base images. Note that if registry-secrets are not provided on the command line, a secrets configuration file from the balena directory will be used (usually $HOME/.balena/secrets.yml|.json)

--nolive

Don't run a live session on this push. The filesystem will not be monitored, and changes will not be synchronized to any running containers. Note that both this flag and --detached are required to cause the process to end once the initial build has completed.

-d, --detached

When pushing to the cloud, this option will cause the build to start, then return execution back to the shell, with the status and release ID (if applicable). When pushing to a local mode device, this option will cause the command to not tail logs when the build has completed.

--service SERVICE

Reject logs not originating from this service. This can be used in combination with --system and other --service flags. Only valid when pushing to a local mode device.

--system

Only show system logs. This can be used in combination with --service. Only valid when pushing to a local mode device.

--env ENV

When performing a push to device, run the built containers with environment variables provided with this argument. Environment variables can be applied to individual services by adding their service name before the argument, separated by a colon, e.g: --env main:MY_ENV=value Note that if the service name cannot be found in the composition, the entire left hand side of the = character will be treated as the variable name.

--noconvert-eol

Don't convert line endings from CRLF (Windows format) to LF (Unix format).

-m, --multi-dockerignore

Have each service use its own .dockerignore file. See "balena help push".

--release-tag RELEASE-TAG

Set release tags if the image build is successful (balenaCloud only). Multiple arguments may be provided, alternating tag keys and values (see examples). Hint: Empty values may be specified with "" (bash, cmd.exe) or '""' (PowerShell).

--draft

Instruct the builder to create the release as a draft. Draft releases are ignored by the 'track latest' release policy but can be used through release pinning. Draft releases can be marked as final through the API. Releases are created as final by default unless this option is given.

--note NOTE

The notes for this release

Releases

release finalize

Description

Finalize a release. Releases can be "draft" or "final", and this command changes a draft release into a final release. Draft releases can be created with the --draft option of the balena build or balena deploy commands.

Draft releases are not automatically deployed to devices tracking the latest release. For a draft release to be deployed to a device, the device should be explicity pinned to that release. Conversely, final releases may trigger immediate deployment to unpinned devices (subject to a device's polling period) and, for this reason, final releases cannot be changed back to draft status.

Examples:

$ balena release finalize a777f7345fe3d655c1c981aa642e5555
$ balena release finalize 1234567

Arguments

COMMITORID

the commit or ID of the release to finalize

release

Description

Examples:

$ balena release a777f7345fe3d655c1c981aa642e5555
$ balena release 1234567
$ balena release d3f3151f5ad25ca6b070aa4d08296aca --json

Arguments

COMMITORID

the commit or ID of the release to get information

Options

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

-c, --composition

Return the release composition

release invalidate

Description

Invalidate a release.

Invalid releases are not automatically deployed to devices tracking the latest release. For an invalid release to be deployed to a device, the device should be explicity pinned to that release.

Examples:

$ balena release invalidate a777f7345fe3d655c1c981aa642e5555
$ balena release invalidate 1234567

Arguments

COMMITORID

the commit or ID of the release to invalidate

release list

Aliases

releases (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace release list with the alias.

Description

List all releases of the given fleet.

Fleets may be specified by fleet name or slug. Slugs are recommended because they are unique and unambiguous. Slugs can be listed with the balena fleet list command. Note that slugs may change if the fleet is renamed. Fleet names are not unique and may result in "Fleet is ambiguous" errors at any time (even if "it used to work in the past"), for example if the name clashes with a newly created public/open fleet, or with fleets from other balena accounts that you may be invited to join under any role. For this reason, fleet names are especially discouraged in scripts (e.g. CI environments).

Examples:

$ balena release list myorg/myfleet
$ balena release list myorg/myfleet --json

Arguments

FLEET

fleet name or slug (preferred)

Options

-j, --json

produce JSON output instead of tabular output

release validate

Description

Validate a release.

Valid releases are automatically deployed to devices tracking the latest release if they are finalized.

Examples:

$ balena release validate a777f7345fe3d655c1c981aa642e5555
$ balena release validate 1234567

Arguments

COMMITORID

the commit or ID of the release to validate

Settings

settings

Description

Use this command to display the current balena CLI settings.

Examples:

$ balena settings

SSH Keys

ssh-key add

Aliases

key add (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace ssh-key add with the alias.

Description

Add an SSH key to the balenaCloud account of the logged in user.

If path is omitted, the command will attempt to read the SSH key from stdin.

About SSH keys An "SSH key" actually consists of a public/private key pair. A typical name for the private key file is "id_rsa", and a typical name for the public key file is "id_rsa.pub". Both key files are saved to your computer (with the private key optionally protected by a password), but only the public key is saved to your balena account. This means that if you change computers or otherwise lose the private key, you cannot recover the private key through your balena account. You can however add new keys, and delete the old ones.

To generate a new SSH key pair, a nice guide can be found in GitHub's docs: https://help.github.com/en/articles/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent Skip the step about adding the key to a GitHub account, and instead add it to your balena account.

Examples:

$ balena ssh-key add Main ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub
$ cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | balena ssh-key add Main
# Windows 10 (cmd.exe prompt) example
$ balena ssh-key add Main %userprofile%.sshid_rsa.pub

Arguments

NAME

the SSH key name

PATH

the path to the public key file

ssh-key

Aliases

key (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace ssh-key with the alias.

Description

Display a single SSH key registered in balenaCloud for the logged in user.

Examples:

$ balena ssh-key 17

Arguments

ID

balenaCloud ID for the SSH key

ssh-key list

Aliases

keys (deprecated)
key list (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace ssh-key list with the alias.

Description

List all SSH keys registered in balenaCloud for the logged in user.

Examples:

$ balena ssh-key list

ssh-key rm

Aliases

key rm (deprecated)

To use one of the aliases, replace ssh-key rm with the alias.

Description

Remove a single SSH key registered in balenaCloud for the logged in user.

The --yes option may be used to avoid interactive confirmation.

Examples:

$ balena ssh-key rm 17
$ balena ssh-key rm 17 --yes

Arguments

ID

balenaCloud ID for the SSH key

Options

-y, --yes

answer "yes" to all questions (non interactive use)

Support

support

Description

Grant or revoke balena support agent access to devices or fleets on balenaCloud. (This command does not apply to openBalena.) Access will be automatically revoked once the specified duration has elapsed.

Duration defaults to 24h, but can be specified using --duration flag in days or hours, e.g. '12h', '2d'.

Both --device and --fleet flags accept multiple values, specified as a comma-separated list (with no spaces).

Examples:

balena support enable --device ab346f,cd457a --duration 3d
balena support enable --fleet myFleet --duration 12h
balena support disable -f myorg/myfleet

Arguments

ACTION

enable|disable support access

Options

-d, --device DEVICE

comma-separated list (no spaces) of device UUIDs

-f, --fleet FLEET

comma-separated list (no spaces) of fleet names or slugs (preferred)

-t, --duration DURATION

length of time to enable support for, in (h)ours or (d)ays, e.g. 12h, 2d

Utilities

util available-drives

Description

List available drives which are usable for writing an OS image to. Does not list system drives.

Version

version

Description

Display version information for the balena CLI and/or Node.js. Note that the balena CLI executable installers for Windows and macOS, and the standalone zip packages, ship with a built-in copy of Node.js. In this case, the reported version of Node.js regards this built-in copy, rather than any other node engine that may also be available on the command prompt.

This command can also be invoked with 'balena --version' or 'balena -v'.

Examples:

$ balena version
$ balena version -a
$ balena version -j
$ balena --version
$ balena -v