Alauda Container Platform

Getting Started with ACP CLI

TOC

About ACP CLI

With ACP CLI (ac), you can manage ACP platforms and clusters from a terminal. ACP CLI provides a kubectl-like experience optimized for ACP's centralized, proxy-based multi-cluster architecture.

ACP CLI is ideal in the following situations:

  • Working with ACP platforms and multiple clusters from a unified interface
  • Working directly with project source code Scripting ACP platform operations and automating workflows
  • Managing projects while restricted by bandwidth resources and the web console is unavailable
  • Managing applications across different ACP environments (production, staging, development)

Installation

Installing from Binary

You can install ACP CLI (ac) by downloading the binary for your operating system.

Follow these steps to download the correct package:

  1. Open the Alauda Cloud download page in your browser.
  2. Choose CLI Tools to enter the CLI download page.
  3. Locate the ACP CLI (ac) section.
  4. Download the binary that matches your operating system and CPU architecture (for example, ac-linux-amd64).

Installing ACP CLI on Linux

  1. Complete the download steps above to obtain the Linux binary (for example, ac-linux-amd64 or ac-linux-arm64).
  2. Make the binary executable: 
    chmod +x ac-linux-amd64
    Replace ac-linux-amd64 with the filename you downloaded.
  3. Move the binary into your PATH and rename it to ac: 
    sudo mv ac-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/ac
    Adjust the filename if you downloaded a different variant.
  4. Verify the installation: 
    ac version

Installing ACP CLI on macOS

  1. Complete the download steps above to obtain the macOS binary (for example, ac-darwin-amd64 or ac-darwin-arm64).
  2. Make the binary executable: 
    chmod +x ac-darwin-amd64
    Replace ac-darwin-amd64 with the filename you downloaded.
  3. Move the binary into your PATH and rename it to ac: 
    sudo mv ac-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/ac
    Adjust the filename if you downloaded a different variant.
  4. Verify the installation: 
    ac version

Installing ACP CLI on Windows

  1. Complete the download steps above to obtain the Windows binary (for example, ac-windows-amd64.exe).
  2. Move the ac-windows-amd64.exe binary to a directory in your PATH and rename it to ac.exe if desired. Keep the original name if you prefer; just ensure the file's directory is in your PATH.
  3. Verify the installation: 
    ac version

First Steps

Logging into ACP Platform

The ac login command is your entry point for connecting to ACP platforms. It handles authentication and automatically configures access to all available clusters.

Interactive Login

For the simplest experience, run ac login without parameters and follow the interactive prompts:

$ ac login
Platform URL: https://prod.acp.com
Session name: prod
Username: user@example.com
Password: [hidden]
✔ Login successful. Welcome, user@example.com!

Your kubeconfig has been configured for the 'prod' platform.
+ Default context 'prod/global' has been created and activated.

To switch clusters within this session, use:
  ac config use-cluster <cluster_name>

To switch between platforms, use:
  ac config get-sessions          # Discover all configured sessions
  ac config use-session <name>    # Switch to different platform

Login Using Parameters

You can also provide parameters directly:

ac login https://prod.acp.com --name prod --username user@example.com

Login Using Environment Variables

For automation and scripting, use environment variables:

export AC_LOGIN_PLATFORM_URL=https://prod.acp.com
export AC_LOGIN_SESSION=prod
export AC_LOGIN_USERNAME=user@example.com
export AC_LOGIN_PASSWORD=your-password
ac login

Quick Configuration Management

Once logged in, ACP CLI provides convenient commands for daily operations:

View Current Status

Use ac namespace to see your current operational context:

$ ac namespace
You are currently in namespace "default" (no namespace set in context).

Context:   prod/global
Cluster:   acp:prod:global
Server:    https://acp.prod.example.com/kubernetes/global/

Switch Clusters

Switch between clusters within your current session:

$ ac config use-cluster workload-a
Switched to context "prod/workload-a".

$ ac config use-cluster global
Switched to context "prod/global".

Switch Namespaces

Change your active namespace:

$ ac namespace my-app-dev
Now using namespace "my-app-dev" in context "prod/global".

Basic Resource Operations

Use standard kubectl commands to manage resources:

# List pods in current namespace
$ ac get pods

# Describe a specific pod
$ ac describe pod my-pod

# Get services across all namespaces
$ ac get services --all-namespaces

# Apply a configuration file
$ ac apply -f deployment.yaml

Managing Multiple Environments

For users working with multiple ACP platforms:

List all configured sessions:

$ ac config get-sessions
CURRENT   SESSION    PLATFORM                              USER                  CLUSTERS
*         prod       https://acp.prod.example.com          user@example.com      3
          staging    https://staging.acp.example.com       user@example.com      2

Switch between platforms:

$ ac config use-session staging
Switched to session "staging".
Context "staging/global" activated.

Your First Application

Let's create and view a simple application to verify everything is working:

Create a Simple Pod

  1. Create a basic pod configuration:

    cat > test-pod.yaml << EOF
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: test-pod
  labels:
    app: test
spec:
  containers:
  - name: nginx
    image: nginx:1.20
    ports:
    - containerPort: 80
EOF

  2. Apply the configuration:

    $ ac apply -f test-pod.yaml
pod/test-pod created

View Application Status

  1. List pods to see your application:

    $ ac get pods
NAME       READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
test-pod   1/1     Running   0          30s

  2. Get detailed information about the pod:

    $ ac describe pod test-pod

  3. View pod logs:

    $ ac logs test-pod

Clean Up

Remove the test pod when finished:

ac delete -f test-pod.yaml

Getting Help

Built-in Help System

ACP CLI provides comprehensive help at multiple levels:

General Help

Get an overview of all available commands:

ac help

Command-Specific Help

Get detailed help for any specific command:

ac login --help
ac config --help
ac get --help

Resource Documentation

Get information about Kubernetes resources:

ac explain pod
ac explain deployment
ac explain service

Logging Out

When you're finished working or need to switch to different credentials, use the logout command:

$ ac logout
✔ Successfully logged out from 'prod' platform.

All session configurations have been removed.
To reconnect, run: ac login https://prod.acp.com --name prod

The logout command:

  • Removes authentication tokens from your local configuration
  • Cleans up all cluster and context entries for the session
  • Revoke currently used tokens in the ACP
  • Ensures no orphaned configuration remains