Dapr CLI

The Dapr CLI allows you to setup Dapr on your local dev machine or on a Kubernetes cluster, provides debugging support, launches and manages Dapr instances.

Getting started

Prerequisites

On default, during initialization the Dapr CLI will install the Dapr binaries as well as setup a developer environment to help you get started easily with Dapr. This environment uses Docker containers, therefore Docker needs to be installed. If you prefer to run Dapr without this environment and no dependency on Docker, after installation of the CLI make sure to follow the instructions to initialize Dapr using slim init.

Note, if you are a new user, it is strongly recommended to install Docker and use the regular init command.

• Install Docker

Note: On Windows, Docker must be running in Linux Containers mode

Installing Dapr CLI

Using script to install the latest release

Windows

Install the latest windows Dapr CLI to c:\dapr and add this directory to User PATH environment variable. Use -DaprRoot [path] to change the default installation directory

powershell -Command "iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/cli/master/install/install.ps1 | iex"

Linux

Install the latest linux Dapr CLI to /usr/local/bin

wget -q https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/cli/master/install/install.sh -O - | /bin/bash

MacOS

Install the latest darwin Dapr CLI to /usr/local/bin

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/cli/master/install/install.sh | /bin/bash

From the Binary Releases

Each release of Dapr CLI includes various OSes and architectures. These binary versions can be manually downloaded and installed.

1. Download the Dapr CLI
2. Unpack it (e.g. dapr_linux_amd64.tar.gz, dapr_windows_amd64.zip)
3. Move it to your desired location.
   • For Linux/MacOS - /usr/local/bin
   • For Windows, create a directory and add this to your System PATH. For example create a directory called c:\dapr and add this directory to your path, by editing your system environment variable.

Install Dapr on your local machine (self-hosted)

In self-hosted mode, dapr can be initialized using the CLI with the placement, redis and zipkin containers enabled by default(recommended) or without them which also does not require docker to be available in the environment.

Initialize Dapr

(Prerequisite: Docker is available in the environment - recommended)

Use the init command to initialize Dapr. On init, multiple default configuration files and containers are installed along with the dapr runtime binary. Dapr runtime binary is installed under $HOME/.dapr/bin for Mac, Linux and %USERPROFILE%.dapr\bin for Windows.

dapr init

For Linux users, if you run your docker cmds with sudo, you need to use "sudo dapr init"

Output should look like so:

⌛  Making the jump to hyperspace...
✅  Downloaded binaries and completed components set up.
ℹ️  daprd binary has been installed to  $HOME/.dapr/bin.
ℹ️  dapr_placement container is running.
ℹ️  dapr_redis container is running.
ℹ️  dapr_zipkin container is running.
ℹ️  Use `docker ps` to check running containers.
✅  Success! Dapr is up and running. To get started, go here: https://aka.ms/dapr-getting-started

Note: To see that Dapr has been installed successfully, from a command prompt run the docker ps command and check that the daprio/dapr:latest, dapr_redis and dapr_zipkin container images are all running.

This step creates the following defaults:

1. components folder which is later used during dapr run unless the --components-path option is provided. For Linux/MacOS, the default components folder path is $HOME/.dapr/components and for Windows it is %USERPROFILE%\.dapr\components.
2. component files in the components folder called pubsub.yaml and statestore.yaml.
3. default config file $HOME/.dapr/config.yaml for Linux/MacOS or for Windows at %USERPROFILE%\.dapr\config.yaml to enable tracing on dapr init call. Can be overridden with the --config flag on dapr run.

Slim Init

Alternatively to the above, to have the CLI not install any default configuration files or run Docker containers, use the --slim flag with the init command. Only Dapr binaries will be installed.

dapr init --slim

Output should look like so:

⌛  Making the jump to hyperspace...
✅  Downloaded binaries and completed components set up.
ℹ️  daprd binary has been installed to $HOME/.dapr/bin.
ℹ️  placement binary has been installed.
✅  Success! Dapr is up and running. To get started, go here: https://aka.ms/dapr-getting-started

Note: When initializing Dapr with the --slim flag only the Dapr runtime binary and the placement service binary are installed. An empty default components folder is created with no default configuration files. During dapr run user should use --components-path to point to a components directory with custom configurations files or alternatively place these files in the default directory. For Linux/MacOS, the default components directory path is $HOME/.dapr/components and for Windows it is %USERPROFILE%\.dapr\components.

Install a specific runtime version

You can install or upgrade to a specific version of the Dapr runtime using dapr init --runtime-version. You can find the list of versions in Dapr Release.

# Install v1.0.0 runtime
$ dapr init --runtime-version 1.0.0

# Check the versions of CLI and runtime
$ dapr --version
CLI version: v1.0.0
Runtime version: v1.0.0

Install to a specific Docker network

You can install the Dapr runtime to a specific Docker network in order to isolate it from the local machine (e.g. to use Dapr from within a Docker container).

# Create Docker network
$ docker network create dapr-network

# Install Dapr to the network
$ dapr init --network dapr-network

Note: When installed to a specific Docker network, you will need to add the --placement-host-address arguments to dapr run commands run in any containers within that network. The format of --placement-host-address argument is either <hostname> or <hostname>:<port>. If the port is omitted, the default port 6050 for Windows and 50005 for Linux/MacOS applies.

Uninstall Dapr in a standalone mode

Uninstalling will remove daprd binary and the placement container (if installed with Docker or the placement binary if not).

dapr uninstall

For Linux users, if you run your docker cmds with sudo, you need to use "sudo dapr uninstall" to remove the containers.

The command above won't remove the redis or zipkin containers by default in case you were using it for other purposes. It will also not remove the default dapr folder that was created on dapr init. To remove all the containers (placement, redis, zipkin) and also the default dapr folder created on init run:

dapr uninstall --all

The above command can also be run when Dapr has been installed in a non-docker environment, it will only remove the installed binaries and the default dapr folder in that case.

NB: The dapr uninstall command will always try to remove the placement binary/service and will throw an error is not able to.

You should always run a dapr uninstall before running another dapr init.

Uninstall Dapr from a specific Docker network

If previously installed to a specific Docker network, Dapr can be uninstalled with the --network argument:

dapr uninstall --network dapr-network

Install Dapr on Kubernetes

The init command will install Dapr to a Kubernetes cluster. For more advanced use cases, use our Helm Chart.

Note: The default namespace is dapr-system. The installation will appear under the name dapr for Helm

$ dapr init -k

⌛  Making the jump to hyperspace...
ℹ️  Note: To install Dapr using Helm, see here:  https://docs.dapr.io/getting-started/install-dapr/#install-with-helm-advanced

✅  Deploying the Dapr control plane to your cluster...
✅  Success! Dapr has been installed to namespace dapr-system. To verify, run "dapr status -k" in your terminal. To get started, go here: https://aka.ms/dapr-getting-started

Supplying Helm values

All available Helm Chart values can be set by using the --set flag:

dapr init -k --set global.tag=1.0.0 --set dapr_operator.logLevel=error  

Installing to a custom namespace

dapr init -k -n my-namespace

Installing with a highly available control plane config

dapr init -k --enable-ha=true

Installing with mTLS disabled

dapr init -k --enable-mtls=false

Waiting for the Helm install to complete (default timeout is 300s/5m)

dapr init -k --wait --timeout 600

Uninstall Dapr on Kubernetes

To remove Dapr from your Kubernetes cluster, use the uninstall command with --kubernetes flag or the -k shorthand.

dapr uninstall -k

The default timeout is 300s/5m and can be overridden using the --timeout flag.

dapr uninstall -k --timeout 600

To remove all Dapr Custom Resource Definitions:

dapr uninstall -k --all

Warning: this will remove any components, subscriptions or configurations that are applied in the cluster at the time of deletion.

Upgrade Dapr on Kubernetes

To perform a zero downtime upgrade of the Dapr control plane:

dapr upgrade -k --runtime-version=1.0.0

The example above shows how to upgrade from your current version to version 1.0.0.

Supplying Helm values

All available Helm Chart values can be set by using the --set flag:

dapr upgrade -k --runtime-version=1.0.0 --set global.tag=my-tag --set dapr_operator.logLevel=error  

Note: do not use the dapr upgrade command if you're upgrading from 0.x versions of Dapr

Launch Dapr and your app

The Dapr CLI lets you debug easily by launching both Dapr and your app. Logs from both the Dapr Runtime and your app will be displayed in real time!

Example of launching Dapr with a node app:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp node app.js

Example of launching Dapr with a node app listening on port 3000:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js

Example of launching Dapr on HTTP port 6000:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 --dapr-http-port 6000 node app.js

Example of launching Dapr on gRPC port 50002:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 --dapr-grpc-port 50002 node app.js

Example of launching Dapr within a specific Docker network:

dapr init --network dapr-network
dapr run --app-id nodeapp --placement-host-address dapr_placement node app.js

Note: When in a specific Docker network, the Redis, Zipkin and placement service containers are given specific network aliases, dapr_redis, dapr_zipkin and dapr_placement, respectively. The default configuration files reflect the network alias rather than localhost when a docker network is specified.

Use gRPC

If your app uses gRPC instead of HTTP to receive Dapr events, run the CLI with the following command:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-protocol grpc --app-port 6000 node app.js

The example above assumed your app port is 6000.

Publish/Subscribe

To use pub-sub with your app, make sure that your app has a POST HTTP endpoint with some name, say myevent. This sample assumes your app is listening on port 3000.

Launch Dapr and your app:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js

Publish a message:

The --pubsub parameter takes in the name of the pub/sub. The default name of the pub/sub configed by the CLI is "pubsub".

Publish a message:

• Linux/Mac

dapr publish --publish-app-id nodeapp --pubsub pubsub --topic myevent --data '{ "name": "yoda" }'

• Windows

dapr publish --publish-app-id nodeapp --pubsub pubsub --topic myevent --data "{ \"name\": \"yoda\" }"

Invoking

To test your endpoints with Dapr, simply expose any HTTP endpoint. For this sample, we'll assume a node app listening on port 3000 with a /mymethod endpoint.

Launch Dapr and your app:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js

Note: To choose a non-default components folder, use the --components-path option.

Invoke your app:

dapr invoke --app-id nodeapp --method mymethod

Specify a verb:

By default, Dapr will use the POST verb. If your app uses Dapr for gRPC, you should use POST.

dapr invoke --app-id nodeapp --method mymethod --verb GET

List

To list all Dapr instances running on your machine:

dapr list

To list all Dapr instances running in a Kubernetes cluster:

dapr list --kubernetes

To list all Dapr instances but return output as JSON or YAML (e.g. for consumption by other tools):

dapr list --output json
dapr list --output yaml

Check system services (control plane) status

Check Dapr's system services (control plane) health status in a Kubernetes cluster:

dapr status --kubernetes

Check mTLS status

To check if Mutual TLS is enabled in your Kubernetes cluster:

dapr mtls --kubernetes

Export TLS certificates

To export the root cert, issuer cert and issuer key created by Dapr from a Kubernetes cluster to a local path:

dapr mtls export

This will save the certs to the working directory.

To specify a custom directory:

dapr mtls export -o certs

Check root certificate expiry

dapr mtls expiry

This can be used when upgrading to a newer version of Dapr, as it's recommended to carry over the existing certs for a zero downtime upgrade.

List Components

To list all Dapr components on Kubernetes:

dapr components --kubernetes

Use non-default Components Path

To use a custom path for component definitions

dapr run --components-path [custom path]

List Configurations

To list all Dapr configurations on Kubernetes:

dapr configurations --kubernetes

Stop

Use dapr list to get a list of all running instances. To stop a Dapr app on your machine:

dapr stop myAppID

You can also stop multiple Dapr apps

dapr stop myAppID1 myAppID2

Enable profiling

In order to enable profiling, use the enable-profiling flag:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js --enable-profiling

Dapr will automatically assign a profile port for you. If you want to manually assign a profiling port, use the profile-port flag:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js --enable-profiling --profile-port 7777

Set metrics server port

To change the metrics server port used by Dapr, set the metrics-port flag:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js --metrics-port 5040

Set log level

In order to set the Dapr runtime log verbosity level, use the log-level flag:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js --log-level debug

This sets the Dapr log level to debug. The default is info.

Enable SSL when invoking an app

If your app is listening on https or has a gRPC TLS configuration enabled, use the following app-ssl flag:

dapr run --app-id nodeapp --app-port 3000 node app.js --app-ssl

This will have Dapr invoke the app over an insecure SSL channel.

The default is false.

Running sidecar only

You can run Dapr's sidecar only (daprd) by omitting the application's command in the end:

dapr run --app-id myapp --dapr-http-port 3005 --dapr-grpc-port 50001

Generate shell completion scripts

To generate shell completion scripts:

dapr completion

Enable Unix domain socket

In order to enable Unix domain socket to connect Dapr API server, use the --unix-domain-socket flag:

$ dapr run --app-id nodeapp --unix-domain-socket node app.js

Dapr will automatically create a Unix domain socket to connect Dapr API server.

If you want to invoke your app, also use this flag:

$ dapr invoke --app-id nodeapp --unix-domain-socket --method mymethod

Enable Unix domain socket

In order to enable Unix domain socket to connect Dapr API server, use the --unix-domain-socket flag:

$ dapr run --app-id nodeapp --unix-domain-socket node app.js

Dapr will automatically create a Unix domain socket to connect Dapr API server.

If you want to invoke your app, also use this flag:

$ dapr invoke --app-id nodeapp --unix-domain-socket --method mymethod

For more details, please run the command and check the examples to apply to your shell.

Reference for the Dapr CLI

See the Reference Guide for more information about individual Dapr commands.

Contributing to Dapr CLI

See the Development Guide to get started with building and developing.

Code of Conduct

Please refer to our Dapr Community Code of Conduct