Apache SkyWalking CLI

The CLI (Command Line Interface) for Apache SkyWalking.

SkyWalking CLI is a command interaction tool for the SkyWalking user or OPS team, as an alternative besides using browser GUI. It is based on SkyWalking GraphQL query protocol, same as GUI.

Download

Go to the download page to download all available binaries, including MacOS, Linux, Windows. If you want to try the latest features, however, you can compile the latest codes yourself, as the guide below.

Install

As SkyWalking CLI is using Makefile, compiling the project is as easy as executing a command in the root directory of the project.

git clone https://github.com/apache/skywalking-cli
cd skywalking-cli
git submodule init
git submodule update
make

Then copy the ./bin/swctl-latest-(darwin|linux|windows)-amd64 to your PATH directory according to your OS, usually /usr/bin/ or /usr/local/bin, or you can copy it to any directory you like, and add that directory to PATH, we recommend you to rename the swctl-latest-(darwin|linux|windows)-amd64 to swctl.

Commands

Commands in SkyWalking CLI are organized into two levels, in the form of swctl --option <level1> --option <level2> --option, there're options in each level, which should follow right after the corresponding command, take the following command as example:

$ swctl --debug service list --start="2019-11-11" --end="2019-11-12"

where --debug is is an option of swctl, and since the swctl is a top-level command, --debug is also called global option, and --start is an option of the third level command list, there is no option for the second level command service.

Generally, the second level commands are entity related, there're entities like service, service instance, metrics in SkyWalking, and we have corresponding sub-command like service; the third level commands are operations on the entities, such as list command will list all the services, service instances, etc.

Common options

There're some common options that are shared by multiple commands, and they follow the same rules in different commands,

--start, --end, --timezone

--start and --end specify a time range during which the query is preformed, they are both optional and their default values follow the rules below:

• when start and end are both absent, start = now - 30 minutes and end = now, namely past 30 minutes;
• when start and end are both present, they are aligned to the same precision by truncating the more precise one, e.g. if start = 2019-01-01 1234, end = 2019-01-01 18, then start is truncated (because it's more precise) to 2019-01-01 12, and end = 2019-01-01 18;
• when start is absent and end is present, will determine the precision of end and then use the precision to calculate start (minus 30 units), e.g. end = 2019-11-09 1234, the precision is MINUTE, so start = end - 30 minutes = 2019-11-09 1204, and if end = 2019-11-09 12, the precision is HOUR, so start = end - 30HOUR = 2019-11-08 06;
• when start is present and end is absent, will determine the precision of start and then use the precision to calculate end (plus 30 units), e.g. start = 2019-11-09 1204, the precision is MINUTE, so end = start + 30 minutes = 2019-11-09 1234, and if start = 2019-11-08 06, the precision is HOUR, so end = start + 30HOUR = 2019-11-09 12;

--timezone specifies the timezone where --start --end are based, in the form of +0800:

• if --timezone is given in the command line option, then it's used directly;
• else if the backend support the timezone API (since 6.5.0), CLI will try to get the timezone from backend, and use it;
• otherwise, the CLI will use the current timezone in the current machine;

All available commands

This section covers all the available commands in SkyWalking CLI and their usages.

swctl

swctl is the top-level command, which has some options that will take effects globally.

option	description	default
--config	from where the default options values will be loaded	~/.skywalking.yml
--debug	enable debug mode, will print more detailed information at runtime	false
--base-url	base url of GraphQL backend	http://127.0.0.1:12800/graphql
--display	display style when printing the query result, supported styles are: json, yaml, table, graph	json

Note that not all display styles (except for json and yaml) are supported in all commands due to data formats incompatibilities and the limits of Ascii Graph, like coloring in terminal, so please use json or yaml instead.

service

service list [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time]

service list lists all the services in the time range of [start, end].

option	description	default
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

instance

instance list [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] [--service-id=service-id] [--service-name=service-name]

instance list lists all the instances in the time range of [start, end] and given --service-id or --service-name.

option	description	default
--service-id	Query by service id (priority over --service-name)
--service-name	Query by service name if --service-id is absent
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

instance search [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] [--regex=instance-name-regex] [--service-id=service-id] [--service-name=service-name]

instance search filter the instance in the time range of [start, end] and given --regex --service-id or --service-name.

option	description	default
--regex	Query regex of instance name
--service-id	Query by service id (priority over --service-name)
--service-name	Query by service name if service-id is absent
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

endpoint

endpoint list [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] --service-id=service-id [--limit=count] [--keyword=search-keyword]

endpoint list lists all the endpoints of the given service id in the time range of [start, end].

option	description	default
--service-id	whose endpoints are to be searched
--limit	returns at most endpoints (default: 100)	100
--keyword	of the endpoint name to search for, empty to search all	""

metrics

metrics linear

metrics linear [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] --name=metrics-name --service=service-name

option	description	default
--name	Metrics name, defined in OAL.
--service	The name of the service.	""
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

metrics multiple-linear

metrics multiple-linear [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] --name=metrics-name [--service=service-name] [--num=number-of-linear-metrics]

option	description	default
--name	Metrics name that ends with _percentile, defined in OAL, such as all_percentile, etc.
--service	The name of the service, when scope is All, no name is required.	""
--num	Number of the linear metrics to fetch	5
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

metrics single

metrics single [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] --name=metrics-name --service=service-name

option	description	default
--name	Metrics name, defined in OAL, such as service_sla, etc.
--service	The name of the service.	""
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

metrics top <n>

metrics top 5 [--start=start-time] [--end=end-time] --name=metrics-name [--service=parent-service] [--order=DES]

option	description	default
arguments	The first argument is the number of top entities	5
--name	Metrics name, defined in OAL, such as service_sla, etc.
--service	The name of the parent service, could be null if query the global top N.	""
--order	The order of metrics, DES or ASC.	DES
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

metrics thermodynamic

metrics thermodynamic [--name=metrics-name]

option	description	default
--name	Metrics name that ends with _heatmap, defined in OAL, such as all_heatmap, etc.	all_heatmap
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

metrics list

metrics list [--regex=regular-expression]

option	description	default
--regex	Filter metrics with a regular expression	""

trace

trace [trace id]

trace displays the spans of a given trace.

argument	description	default
trace id	The trace id whose spans are to displayed

trace ls

trace ls

argument	description	default
--trace-id	The trace id whose spans are to displayed
--service-id	The service id whose trace are to displayed
--service-instance-id	The service instance id whose trace are to displayed
--tags	Only tags defined in the core/default/searchableTagKeys are searchable. Check more details on the Configuration Vocabulary page	See Configuration Vocabulary page
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

dashboard

dashboard global-metrics

dashboard global-metrics [--template=template]

dashboard global-metrics displays global metrics in the form of a dashboard.

argument	description	default
--template	The template file to customize how to display information	templates/Dashboard.Global.json
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

You can imitate the content of the default template file to customize the dashboard.

dashboard global

dashboard global [--template=template]

dashboard global displays global metrics, global response latency and global heat map in the form of a dashboard.

argument	description	default
--template	The template file to customize how to display information	templates/dashboard/global.yml
--refresh	The interval of auto-refresh (s). When start and end are both present, auto-refresh is disabled.	6
--start	See Common options	See Common options
--end	See Common options	See Common options

You can imitate the content of the default template file to customize the dashboard.

checkHealth

checkHealth [--grpc=true/false] [--grpcAddr=host:port] [--grpcTLS=true/false]

argument	description	default
--grpc	Enable/Disable check gRPC endpoint	true
--grpcAddr	The address of gRPC endpoint	127.0.0.1:11800
--grpcTLS	Enable/Disable TLS to access gRPC endpoint	false

*Notice: Once enable gRPC TLS, checkHealth command would ignore server's cert.

Use Cases

Query a specific service by name

# query the service named projectC
$ ./bin/swctl service ls projectC
[{"id":"4","name":"projectC"}]

Query instances of a specific service

If you have already got the id of the service:

$ ./bin/swctl instance ls --service-id=3
[{"id":"3","name":"projectD-pid:7909@skywalking-server-0001","attributes":[{"name":"os_name","value":"Linux"},{"name":"host_name","value":"skywalking-server-0001"},{"name":"process_no","value":"7909"},{"name":"ipv4s","value":"192.168.252.12"}],"language":"JAVA","instanceUUID":"ec8a79d7cb58447c978ee85846f6699a"}]

otherwise,

$ ./bin/swctl instance ls --service-name=projectC
[{"id":"3","name":"projectD-pid:7909@skywalking-server-0001","attributes":[{"name":"os_name","value":"Linux"},{"name":"host_name","value":"skywalking-server-0001"},{"name":"process_no","value":"7909"},{"name":"ipv4s","value":"192.168.252.12"}],"language":"JAVA","instanceUUID":"ec8a79d7cb58447c978ee85846f6699a"}]

Query endpoints of a specific service

If you have already got the id of the service:

$ ./bin/swctl endpoint ls --service-id=3

otherwise,

./bin/swctl service ls projectC | jq '.[].id' | xargs ./bin/swctl endpoint ls --service-id 
[{"id":"22","name":"/projectC/{value}"}]

Query a linear metrics graph for an instance

$ ./bin/swctl --display=graph metrics linear --name=service_instance_resp_time --service "load balancer1.system"

otherwise

$ ./bin/swctl instance ls --service-name=projectC | jq '.[] | select(.name == "projectC-pid:7895@skywalking-server-0001").id' | xargs ./bin/swctl --display=graph metrics linear --name=service_instance_resp_time --service-id

Query a single metrics value for a specific endpoint

$ ./bin/swctl service ls projectC | jq '.[0].id' | xargs ./bin/swctl endpoint ls --service-id | jq '.[] | [.id] | join(",")' | xargs ./bin/swctl metrics single --name endpoint_cpm --ids
[{"id":"22","value":116}]

Query metrics single values for all endpoints of service of id 3

$ ./bin/swctl service ls projectC | jq '.[0].id' | xargs ./bin/swctl endpoint ls --service-id | jq '.[] | [.id] | join(",")' | xargs ./bin/swctl metrics single --name endpoint_cpm --end='2019-12-02 2137' --ids
[{"id":"3","value":116}]

Query multiple metrics values for all percentiles

$ ./bin/swctl --display=graph --debug metrics multiple-linear --name all_percentile

Query the top 5 services whose sla is largest

$ ./bin/swctl metrics top 5 --name service_sla
[{"name":"load balancer1.system","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"load balancer2.system","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectB.business-zone","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectC.business-zone","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectD.business-zone","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null}]

Query the top 5 instances whose sla is largest

$ ./bin/swctl metrics top 5 --name service_instance_sla     
[{"name":"load balancer1.system - load balancer1.system","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"load balancer2.system - load balancer2.system","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectA.business-zone - [email protected]","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectB.business-zone - [email protected]","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectB.business-zone - [email protected]","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null}]

Query the top 5 endpoints whose sla is largest

$ ./bin/swctl metrics top 5 --name endpoint_sla  
[{"name":"load balancer1.system - /projectA/test","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"load balancer1.system - /","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"load balancer2.system - /projectA/test","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"load balancer2.system - /","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null},{"name":"projectA.business-zone - /projectA/{name}","id":"","value":"10000","refId":null}]

Query the overall heat map

$ ./bin/swctl metrics thermodynamic
{"values":[{"id":"202008290939","values":[473,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,323,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,436]},{"id":"202008290940","values":[434,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,367,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,427]},{"id":"202008290941","values":[504,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,410,0,5,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,377]},{"id":"202008290942","values":[445,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,350,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,420]},{"id":"202008290943","values":[436,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,367,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,404]},{"id":"202008290944","values":[463,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,353,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,416]},{"id":"202008290945","values":[496,0,2,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,372,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,393]},{"id":"202008290946","values":[460,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,396,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,408]},{"id":"202008290947","values":[533,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,400,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,379]},{"id":"202008290948","values":[539,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,346,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,424]},{"id":"202008290949","values":[476,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,353,0,0,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,435]},{"id":"202008290950","values":[509,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,371,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,398]},{"id":"202008290951","values":[478,0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,367,0,10,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,413]},{"id":"202008290952","values":[564,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,342,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,414]},{"id":"202008290953","values":[476,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,448,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,372]},{"id":"202008290954","values":[502,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,394,0,7,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,392]},{"id":"202008290955","values":[490,0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,383,0,7,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,407]},{"id":"202008290956","values":[474,0,5,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,397,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,393]},{"id":"202008290957","values":[484,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,383,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,402]},{"id":"202008290958","values":[494,0,8,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,361,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,416]},{"id":"202008290959","values":[434,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,354,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,457]},{"id":"202008291000","values":[507,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,384,0,7,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,405]},{"id":"202008291001","values":[456,0,2,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,388,0,7,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,412]},{"id":"202008291002","values":[506,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,385,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,399]},{"id":"202008291003","values":[494,0,8,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,367,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,415]},{"id":"202008291004","values":[459,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,263,0,4,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,474]},{"id":"202008291005","values":[513,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,371,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,426]},{"id":"202008291006","values":[462,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,332,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,435]},{"id":"202008291007","values":[524,0,4,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,365,0,0,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,427]},{"id":"202008291008","values":[442,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,304,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,438]},{"id":"202008291009","values":[584,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,446,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,343]}],"buckets":[{"min":"0","max":"100"},{"min":"100","max":"200"},{"min":"200","max":"300"},{"min":"300","max":"400"},{"min":"400","max":"500"},{"min":"500","max":"600"},{"min":"600","max":"700"},{"min":"700","max":"800"},{"min":"800","max":"900"},{"min":"900","max":"1000"},{"min":"1000","max":"1100"},{"min":"1100","max":"1200"},{"min":"1200","max":"1300"},{"min":"1300","max":"1400"},{"min":"1400","max":"1500"},{"min":"1500","max":"1600"},{"min":"1600","max":"1700"},{"min":"1700","max":"1800"},{"min":"1800","max":"1900"},{"min":"1900","max":"2000"},{"min":"2000","max":"infinite+"}]}

$ ./bin/swctl --display=graph metrics thermodynamic

Display the spans of a trace

$ ./bin/swctl --display graph trace 07841b21-c8ed-4ace-851f-5cf0a635dc9f

Display the traces

$ ./bin/swctl --display graph trace ls

Display the global dashboard

$ ./bin/swctl --display graph db g

Display the global dashboard with a customized template

$ ./bin/swctl --display graph db g --template my-global-template.yml

Automatically convert to server side timezone

if your backend nodes are deployed in docker and the timezone is UTC, you may not want to convert your timezone to UTC every time you type a command, --timezone comes to your rescue.

$ ./bin/swctl --debug --timezone="0" service ls

--timezone="+1200" and --timezone="-0900" are also valid usage.

Check whether OAP server is healthy

if you want to check health status from GraphQL and the gRPC endpoint listening on 10.0.0.1:8843.

$ ./bin/swctl checkHealth --grpcAddr=10.0.0.1:8843

If you only want to query GraphQL.

$ ./bin/swctl checkHealth --grpc=false

Once the gRPC endpoint of OAP encrypts communication by TLS.

$ ./bin/swctl checkHealth --grpcTLS=true

Contributing

For developers who want to contribute to this project, see Contribution Guide

License

Apache 2.0 License.