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File Director command line interface

The command line interface (CLI) provides a set of commands for administrators to perform actions using a Virtual Terminal (VT) or Secure Shell (SSH).

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Access the CLI using the Virtual Terminal

  1. Start your appliance.
  2. In the VM console, press Alt+F2.

    The CLI displays.

  3. Enter your appliance password.
  4. Enter the required command.

To exit the CLI and return to the appliance VM console, press Alt+F1.

Access the CLI using Secure Shell

  1. Start your appliance and go to the main menu.
  2. Select Toggle SSH access to CLI (support user).

    The screen displays 'SSH Enabled' to confirm that the CLI can be accessed.

  3. Open the CLI on the required operating system:
    • Windows - Windows does not have a built in SSH client but there are many free applications that can be used to access the File Director CLI, for example, PuTTY.
    • macOS - To access the File Director CLI on macOS using Terminal, press command+spacebar and type terminal. When Terminal opens, enter:

      ssh support@<appliance>

      Where <appliance> is the hostname or IP address of the File Director appliance.

  4. In the CLI, at the login as: prompt, enter support.
  5. Enter your password - this is the same as your appliance password.

    For further details, see Start the appliance and change your password.

Commands

The following commands are available in the File Director CLI:

Command Parameters  

filedirector

kdc If you have Kerberos configured, use this command to test the connection to your Active Directory server.
restart Restart the File Director application on the current node.
lookup <hostname> Forward lookup of hostname. This is compared to the output of the host command from the full shell to validate output. The command returns all IPV4 addresses that the appliance can resolve.
ping <hostname> The hostname is resolved and the ping result displayed.
restart - Restart your File Director appliance.
shutdown - Shutdown your File Director appliance.
logout - Log out from the command line.
help or ? - Displays the available commands and their descriptions. Prefix a command with ? or help to display the description for that particular command.

For example, ? filedirector or help filedirector returns information about what the datanow kdc and datanow restart commands do.

Related topics

SSH Access (Advanced Configuration Options)