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Chapter 1. Getting started with the CLI

1.1. About the CLI
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With the OpenShift Container Platform command-line interface (CLI), you can create applications and manage OpenShift Container Platform projects from a terminal. The CLI is ideal in situations where you:

  • Work directly with project source code.
  • Script OpenShift Container Platform operations.
  • Are restricted by bandwidth resources and can not use the web console.

1.2. Installing the CLI
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You can install the CLI in order to interact with OpenShift Container Platform using a command-line interface.

Procedure

  1. From the Infrastructure Provider page on the Red Hat OpenShift Cluster Manager site, navigate to the page for your installation type and click Download Command-line Tools.
  2. Click the folder for your operating system and architecture and click the compressed file.
  3. Save the file to your file system.
  4. Extract the compressed file.
  5. Place it in a directory that is on your PATH.

After you install the CLI, it is available using the oc command: 

$ oc <command>
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1.3. Logging in to the CLI
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You can log in to the oc CLI to access and manage your cluster.

Prerequisites

  • You must have access to an OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
  • You must have installed the CLI.

Procedure

  • Log in to the CLI using the oc login command and enter the required information when prompted. 

    $ oc login
Server [https://localhost:8443]: https://openshift.example.com:6443
    1 
    
The server uses a certificate signed by an unknown authority.
You can bypass the certificate check, but any data you send to the server could be intercepted by others.
Use insecure connections? (y/n): y
    2 
    

Authentication required for https://openshift.example.com:6443 (openshift)
Username: user1
    3 
    
Password:
    4 
    
Login successful.

You don't have any projects. You can try to create a new project, by running

    oc new-project <projectname>

Welcome! See 'oc help' to get started.
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    1
    Enter the OpenShift Container Platform server URL.
    2
    Enter whether to use insecure connections.
    3
    Enter the user name to log in as.
    4
    Enter the user’s password.

You can now create a project or issue other commands for managing your cluster.

1.4. Using the CLI
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Review the following sections to learn how to complete common tasks using the CLI.

1.4.1. Creating a project
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Use the oc new-project command to create a new project. 

$ oc new-project my-project
Now using project "my-project" on server "https://openshift.example.com:6443".
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1.4.2. Creating a new app
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Use the oc new-app command to create a new application. 

$ oc new-app https://github.com/sclorg/cakephp-ex
--> Found image 40de956 (9 days old) in imagestream "openshift/php" under tag "7.2" for "php"

...

    Run 'oc status' to view your app.
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1.4.3. Viewing pods
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Use the oc get pods command to view the pods for the current project. 

$ oc get pods -o wide
NAME                  READY   STATUS      RESTARTS   AGE     IP            NODE                           NOMINATED NODE
cakephp-ex-1-build    0/1     Completed   0          5m45s   10.131.0.10   ip-10-0-141-74.ec2.internal    <none>
cakephp-ex-1-deploy   0/1     Completed   0          3m44s   10.129.2.9    ip-10-0-147-65.ec2.internal    <none>
cakephp-ex-1-ktz97    1/1     Running     0          3m33s   10.128.2.11   ip-10-0-168-105.ec2.internal   <none>
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1.4.4. Viewing pod logs
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Use the oc logs command to view logs for a particular pod. 

$ oc logs cakephp-ex-1-deploy
--> Scaling cakephp-ex-1 to 1
--> Success
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1.4.5. Viewing the current project
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Use the oc project command to view the current project. 

$ oc project
Using project "my-project" on server "https://openshift.example.com:6443".
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1.4.6. Viewing the status for the current project
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Use the oc status command to view information about the current project, such as Services, DeploymentConfigs, and BuildConfigs. 

$ oc status
In project my-project on server https://openshift.example.com:6443

svc/cakephp-ex - 172.30.236.80 ports 8080, 8443
  dc/cakephp-ex deploys istag/cakephp-ex:latest <-
    bc/cakephp-ex source builds https://github.com/sclorg/cakephp-ex on openshift/php:7.2
    deployment #1 deployed 2 minutes ago - 1 pod

3 infos identified, use 'oc status --suggest' to see details.
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1.4.7. Listing supported API resources
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Use the oc api-resources command to view the list of supported API resources on the server. 

$ oc api-resources
NAME                                  SHORTNAMES       APIGROUP                              NAMESPACED   KIND
bindings                                                                                     true         Binding
componentstatuses                     cs                                                     false        ComponentStatus
configmaps                            cm                                                     true         ConfigMap
...
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1.5. Getting help
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You can get help with CLI commands and OpenShift Container Platform resources in the following ways.

  • Use oc help to get a list and description of all available CLI commands:

    Example: Get general help for the CLI

    $ oc help
OpenShift Client

This client helps you develop, build, deploy, and run your applications on any OpenShift or Kubernetes compatible
platform. It also includes the administrative commands for managing a cluster under the 'adm' subcommand.

Usage:
  oc [flags]

Basic Commands:
  login           Log in to a server
  new-project     Request a new project
  new-app         Create a new application

...
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  • Use the --help flag to get help about a specific CLI command:

    Example: Get help for the oc create command

    $ oc create --help
Create a resource by filename or stdin

JSON and YAML formats are accepted.

Usage:
  oc create -f FILENAME [flags]

...
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  • Use the oc explain command to view the description and fields for a particular resource:

    Example: View documentation for the Pod resource

    $ oc explain pods
KIND:     Pod
VERSION:  v1

DESCRIPTION:
     Pod is a collection of containers that can run on a host. This resource is
     created by clients and scheduled onto hosts.

FIELDS:
   apiVersion	<string>
     APIVersion defines the versioned schema of this representation of an
     object. Servers should convert recognized schemas to the latest internal
     value, and may reject unrecognized values. More info:
     https://git.k8s.io/community/contributors/devel/api-conventions.md#resources

...
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1.6. Logging out of the CLI
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You can log out the CLI to end your current session.

  • Use the oc logout command. 

    $ oc logout
Logged "user1" out on "https://openshift.example.com"
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This deletes the saved authentication token from the server and removes it from your configuration file.

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