Tanzu CLI Command Reference

The table below lists all of the commands and options of the Tanzu CLI, and provides links to the section in which they are documented.

To install the Tanzu CLI, see Install the Tanzu CLI and Other Tools.

Note: If you use vSphere with Tanzu, you need Tanzu CLI v1.5.x and your vSphere with Tanzu clusters must use the v1alpha2 API to run the node-pool commands successfully. For more information, see the vSphere with Tanzu documentation.

Command	Options	Description
`tanzu *`
	`-h`, `–help`	Common Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Options
`tanzu completion *`		Output shell completion code for the specified shell
`tanzu cluster *`
	`–log-file` `-v,`, `–verbose`
`tanzu cluster available-upgrades get`		Upgrade Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster create`
	`-d`, `–dry-run`	Create Tanzu Kubernetes Cluster Manifest Files
	`-f`, `–file`	Deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
	`–tkr`	Deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters with Different Kubernetes Versions Add a vSphere with Tanzu Supervisor Cluster as a Management Cluster
`tanzu cluster credentials update`
	`-n`, `–namespace` `–vsphere-password` `–vsphere-user`	Manage Cluster Secrets
`tanzu cluster delete`
	`-n`, `–namespace` `-y`, `–yes`	Delete Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster get`
	`–disable-grouping` `–disable-no-echo` `-n`, `–namespace` `–show-all-conditions`	Deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster kubeconfig get`		Deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Connect to and Examine Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
	`–admin` `–export-file` `-n`, `–namespace`	Connect to and Examine Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Upgrade Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster list`
	`–include-management-cluster`	Connect to and Examine Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Upgrade Management Clusters Upgrade Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
	`-n`, `–namespace` `-o`, `–output`	Connect to and Examine Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster machinehealthcheck`		Configure Machine Health Checks for Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster node-pool set`
	`-f`, `–file` `–namespace` `–machine-deployment-base`	Manage Node Pools of Different VM Types
`tanzu cluster node-pool list`
	`-n`, `–namespace` `-o`, `–output`	Manage Node Pools of Different VM Types
`tanzu cluster node-pool delete`
	`-n`, `–name` `–namespace`	Manage Node Pools of Different VM Types
`tanzu cluster scale`
	`-c`, `–controlplane-machine-count` `-n`, `–namespace` `-p`, `–node-pool name` `-w`, `–worker-machine-count`	Manage Your Management Clusters Manage Node Pools of Different VM Types Scale Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters
`tanzu cluster upgrade`
	`-n`, `–namespace` `–os-arch` `–os-name` `–os-version` `-t`, `–timeout` `–tkr` `-y`, `–yes`	Upgrade Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters with Different Kubernetes Versions
`tanzu config get`		Shows the current configuration
`tanzu config init`		Initializes the configuration with defaults
`tanzu config server delete`
	`-y`, `–yes`	Delete Management Clusters from Your Tanzu CLI Configuration
`tanzu config server list`		Delete Management Clusters from Your Tanzu CLI Configuration
`tanzu config set`		Sets configuration parameters in the Tanzu CLI configuration file, `_{/.config/tanzu/config.yaml}`
`tanzu config unset`		Unsets configuration parameters in the Tanzu CLI configuration file, `/.config/tanzu/config.yaml`
`tanzu init`		Initializes the Tanzu CLI
`tanzu kubernetes-release get` `tanzu kubernetes-release available-upgrades get`		Deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters with Different Kubernetes Versions Upgrade Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Add a vSphere with Tanzu Supervisor Cluster as a Management Cluster
`tanzu kubernetes-release os get`
	`–region`
`tanzu login`
	`–apiToken` `–context` `–endpoint` `–kubeconfig` `–name` `–server`	Connect to and Examine Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Manage Your Management Clusters Add a vSphere with Tanzu Supervisor Cluster as a Management Cluster
`tanzu mc ceip-participation get` `tanzu mc ceip-participation set`		Opt In or Out of the VMware CEIP
`tanzu mc create`
	`-b`, `–bind` `–browser` `-u`, `–ui`	Deploy Management Clusters with the Installer Interface
	`-f`, `–file` `-t`, `–timeout` `-y`, `–yes` `–dry-run`	Deploy Management Clusters from a Configuration File
	`-e`, `–use-existing-bootstrap-cluster`	Use an Existing Bootstrap Cluster to Deploy and Delete Management Clusters
`tanzu mc credentials update`		Manage Cluster Secrets
`tanzu mc delete`		Delete Management Clusters
`tanzu mc get`		Connect to and Examine Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters Examine the Management Cluster Deployment Manage Your Management Clusters Upgrade Management Clusters
`tanzu mc import`. This command is not used in TKG 1.4.		Upgrade Tanzu Kubernetes Grid
`tanzu mc kubeconfig get`
	`–admin` `–export-file`	Examine the Management Cluster Deployment Configure RBAC
`tanzu mc permissions aws generate-cloudformation-template` `tanzu mc permissions aws set`		Prepare to Deploy Management Clusters to AWS
`tanzu mc upgrade`
	`–os-arch` `–os-name` `–os-version` `-t`, `–timeout` `-y`, `–yes`	Upgrade Management Clusters
`tanzu package *`		Installs and manages packages and package repositories
`tanzu pinniped-auth *`		Pinniped authentication operations
`tanzu pinniped-auth login *`
	`–ca-bundle strings`, `–client-id string`, `–concierge-authenticator-name string`, `–concierge-authenticator-type`, `–concierge-ca-bundle-data string`, `–concierge-authenticator-name string`, `–concierge-authenticator-type`, `–concierge-ca-bundle-data string`, `–concierge-endpoint string`, `–concierge-namespace string`, `–enable-concierge`, `–issuer string`, `–listen-port uint16`, `–request-audience string`, `–scopes strings`, `–session-cache string`, `–skip-browser`	Log in using an OpenID Connect provider
`tanzu plugin clean` `tanzu plugin install` `tanzu plugin list`		Install the Tanzu CLI
`tanzu plugin delete *`		Deletes a Tanzu plugin
`tanzu plugin describe *`		Describes a Tanzu plugin
`tanzu plugin sync`		Syncs Plugins
`tanzu plugin upgrade *`		Upgrades a Tanzu plugin
`tanzu secret registry`
	`–help`
`tanzu secret registry add`		Adds a registry authentication secret
	`–server` `–username` `–export-to-all-namespaces`
`tanzu secret registry list`		Lists the registry authentication secrets in a workload cluster
	`–namespace`
`tanzu secret registry delete`		Deletes a registry authentication secret in a workload cluster
	`–namespace`
`tanzu secret registry update`		Updates a registry authentication secret in a workload cluster
	`–export-to-all-namespaces`
`tanzu update *`		Updates the Tanzu CLI
`tanzu version`		Shows the current Tanzu CLI version. This is the same as the current version of Tanzu Framework, which includes the Tanzu CLI.

^* Some tanzu plugin commands such as tanzu plugin repo and tanzu plugin update are not functional in the current release.

The alias mc is short for management-cluster.

Tanzu CLI Configuration

The Tanzu CLI configuration file, ~/.config/tanzu/config.yaml, contains your Tanzu CLI configuration, including:

Sources for CLI plugin discovery
Global and plugin-specific configuration options, or features
Names, contexts, and kubeconfig locations for the management clusters that the CLI knows about, and which is the current one

You can use the tanzu config set PATH VALUE and tanzu config unset PATH commands to customize your CLI configuration, as described in the table below. Running these commands updates the ~/.config/tanzu/config.yaml file.

Path	Value	Description
`env.VARIABLE`	Your variable value; for example, `Standard_D2s_v3`	This path sets or unsets global environment variables for the CLI. Variables set by running `tanzu config set` persist until you unset them with `tanzu config unset`. You can set any of the variables listed in Tanzu CLI Configuration File Variable Reference. For example, `tanzu config set env.AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE Standard_D2s_v3`.
`features.global.FEATURE`	`true` or `false`	This path activates or deactivates global features in your CLI configuration. Use only if you want to change or restore the defaults. For example, `tanzu config set features.global.context-aware-cli-for-plugins true`.
`features.PLUGIN.FEATURE`	`true` or `false`	This path activates or deactivates plugin-specific features in your CLI configuration. Use only if you want to change or restore the defaults; some of these features are experimental and intended for evaluation and test purposes only. For example, running `tanzu config set features.cluster.dual-stack-ipv4-primary true` sets the `dual-stack-ipv4-primary` feature of the `cluster` CLI plugin to `true`. By default, only production-ready plugin features are set to `true` in the CLI. For more information, see Experimental Tanzu CLI Features.
`unstable-versions`	`none` (default), `alpha`, `experimental`, and `all`	This path sets the `clientOptions.cli.unstableVersionSelector` property in the CLI configuration file. By default, the CLI uses only stable versions of CLI plugins. You can modify this behavior by setting `unstable-versions` to `alpha`, `experimental`, or `all`: `none`: Allows only stable plugin versions. `clientOptions.cli.unstableVersionSelector` is set to `none` by default. `alpha`: Allows stable and alpha plugin versions. `experimental`: Allows stable and pre-release plugin versions, including alpha versions. `all`: Allows all plugin versions, including stable, pre-release, and build-tagged versions. To restore the default, set `unstable-versions` to `none`.

The table below lists the global and plugin-specific features that you can configure in the Tanzu CLI.

Features

Name	Default	Description
Global features:
`context-aware-cli-for-plugins`	`true`	Enables auto-discovery of CLI plugins.
`management-cluster` plugin features:
`custom-nameservers`	`false`	(Experimental, vSphere only) Allows you to configure custom DNS servers for control plane and worker nodes. This feature is in development.
`dual-stack-ipv4-primary`	`false`	(Experimental, vSphere only) Allows you to deploy dual-stack clusters, with IPv4 as the primary protocol. This feature is in development.
`dual-stack-ipv6-primary`	`false`	(Experimental, vSphere only) Allows you to deploy dual-stack clusters, with IPv6 as the primary protocol. This feature is in development.
`export-from-confirm`	`true`	Enables the Export Configuration button in the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid installer interface.
`import`	`false`	Allows you to import the cluster configuration file into the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid installer interface. This feature is not available in Tanzu Kubernetes Grid v1.5.
`standalone-cluster-mode`	`false`	Enables you to deploy standalone clusters in Tanzu Community Edition. This feature is not available in Tanzu Kubernetes Grid.
`cluster` plugin features:
`custom-nameservers`	`false`	See above.
`dual-stack-ipv4-primary`	`false`	See above.
`dual-stack-ipv6-primary`	`false`	See above.

Configuration Value Precedence

When the Tanzu CLI creates a cluster, it reads in values for the variables listed in Tanzu CLI Configuration File Variable Reference from multiple sources. If those sources conflict, it resolves conflicts in the following order of descending precedence:

Processing layers, ordered by descending precedence	Source	Examples
1. Management cluster configuration variables set in the installer interface	Entered in the installer interface launched by the `–ui` option, and written to cluster configuration files. File location defaults to `_{/.config/tanzu/tkg/clusterconfigs/}`.
2. Cluster configuration variables set in your local environment	Set in shell.	`export AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE=Standard_D2s_v3`
3. Cluster configuration variables set in the Tanzu CLI, with `tanzu config set env.`	Set in shell; saved in the global Tanzu CLI configuration file, `/.config/tanzu/config.yaml`.	`tanzu config set env.AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE Standard_D2s_v3`
4. Cluster configuration variables set in the cluster configuration file	Set in the file passed to the `–file` option of `tanzu management-cluster create` or `tanzu cluster create`. File defaults to `~/.config/tanzu/tkg/cluster-config.yaml`.	`AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE: Standard_D2s_v3`
5. Factory default configuration values	Set in `providers/config_default.yaml`. Do not modify this file.	`AZURE_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE: “Standard_D2s_v3”`

The Tanzu CLI also uses component version configuration from:

Global cluster configuration file, ~/.config/tanzu/tkg/config.yaml
Tanzu Kubernetes Grid and Tanzu Kubernetes release Bill of Materials (BoM) files, in ~/.config/tanzu/tkg.

Do not modify these files.

Renew CLI Certificate

On the bootstrap machine, the CLI uses a certificate that is stored locally to authenticate with the management cluster. If the certificate expires, you will see failed error messages when running tkg or tanzu CLI commands.

Therefore, when the certificate nears expiration, follow these steps to renew the certificate. The following steps use tanzu CLI commands.

Get the name of the management cluster.

tanzu mc get

Get the cluster configuration data. You will copy the data to populate the ~/.kube-tkg/config file.

kubectl -n tkg-system get secrets <cluster name>-kubeconfig -o 'go-template={{ index .data "value"}}' | base64 -d > mc_kubeconfig.yaml

Where <cluster name> is the name of the management cluster. For example:

apiVersion: v1
clusters:
- cluster:
  certificate-authority-data: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBD<redacted>
  server: https://192.168.100.90:6443
  name: tkg-mgmt
contexts:
- context:
  cluster: tkg-mgmt
  user: tkg-mgmt-admin
  name: tkg-mgmt-admin@tkg-mgmt
current-context: tkg-mgmt-admin@tkg-mgmt
kind: Config
preferences: {}
users:
- name: tkg-mgmt-admin
  user:
  client-certificate-data: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBDRVJUSUZ<redacted>
  client-key-data: LS0tLS1CRUdJTiBSU<redacted>`

Delete the existing management cluster entry from Tanzu managed servers.

tanzu config server delete <cluster-name>
Use tanzu login command to add the management-cluster entry with the new updated kubeconfig.

tanzu login --kubeconfig mc_kubeconfig.yaml --name <cluster-name> --context <cluster-name>-admin@<cluster-name>

Sync New Plugins

The tanzu plugin sync command discovers and downloads new CLI plugins that are associated with either a newer version of Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, or a package installed on your management cluster that your local CLI does not know about, for example if another user installed it.

Run this command when:

You install the Tanzu CLI for the first time or upgrade to a newer version of Tanzu Kubernetes Grid. For more information, see Install the Tanzu CLI Plugins in Install the Tanzu CLI and Other Tools.
You are already logged in to a management cluster and another user installs a package with an associated CLI plugin on the same management cluster. If you are not logged in, these CLI plugins will be installed when you run tanzu login.