Operations CLI

What this page covers

Besides starting the service, the aster_drive executable includes a set of command-line subcommands: doctor for deployment checks, config for offline system settings, node for follower node enrollment, and database-migrate for cross-database migration. Use the admin panel first for day-to-day settings changes. This page is for cases such as “the admin panel is inaccessible”, “I want to script this”, or “I need to switch database backends”.

AsterDrive now includes a set of command-line tools for these scenarios:

• The service is already deployed, but you want to check the database and key settings offline first.
• The admin panel is temporarily inaccessible, and you need to view or modify system settings directly.
• You need to run node enroll on a follower node shell.
• You are preparing to migrate SQLite to PostgreSQL or MySQL, or migrate back the other way.
• You want check results to be handled by scripts, CI, or an operations platform.

These commands are still part of the same aster_drive executable.
Running ./aster_drive directly starts the service. Running it with a subcommand performs an operations task.

Command Quick Reference

What you want to do	Command	When to use it
Check database, migrations, public site URL, mail, and default policies	doctor	New deployment, before launch, after upgrade
Deep-check capacity, blob references, object inventory, and folder tree	doctor --deep	When you suspect data and storage are inconsistent
Automatically fix some counter drift	doctor --deep --fix	After confirming the CLI is allowed to modify counters
View system settings offline	config list / config get	When the admin panel is inaccessible, or for scripts
Modify system settings offline	config set / config import	Maintenance windows, batch configuration, disaster recovery
Complete enrollment on a follower	node enroll	After the primary admin panel generates an enrollment command
Migrate between SQLite / PostgreSQL / MySQL	database-migrate	Switching database backends or rehearsing migration

Back up before letting the CLI write data

doctor --fix, config set, config import, and database-migrate may all change the database. Back up production first. Avoid experimental writes without a backup, because that may turn into a restore incident later.

Prepare the Database URL First

The most common forms are:

sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc
postgres://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/asterdrive
mysql://user:password@127.0.0.1:3306/asterdrive

If you use the official Docker container, the simplest approach is usually to enter the container first, then run these commands:

docker exec -it asterdrive sh

That avoids confusion between SQLite paths, mounted volumes, and actual file locations inside the container.

Use Environment Variables Instead of Common Arguments

In operations scripts, if you do not want to repeat long arguments on every command, use the CLI-specific ASTER_CLI_* environment variables. They only affect the command-line tools and do not change service startup configuration.

Environment variable	Corresponding argument	Applicable commands
ASTER_CLI_DATABASE_URL	--database-url	doctor, config, node enroll
ASTER_CLI_OUTPUT_FORMAT	--output-format	doctor, config, node, database-migrate
ASTER_CLI_MASTER_URL	node enroll --master-url	node enroll
ASTER_CLI_ENROLLMENT_TOKEN	node enroll --token	node enroll
ASTER_CLI_SOURCE_DATABASE_URL	database-migrate --source-database-url	database-migrate
ASTER_CLI_TARGET_DATABASE_URL	database-migrate --target-database-url	database-migrate

doctor also has these script-friendly switches:

ASTER_CLI_DOCTOR_STRICT=true
ASTER_CLI_DOCTOR_DEEP=true
ASTER_CLI_DOCTOR_FIX=true
ASTER_CLI_DOCTOR_SCOPE=blob-ref-counts,storage-objects
ASTER_CLI_DOCTOR_POLICY_ID=3

During database migration, if you need progress output or a smaller batch size, you can also use:

ASTER_CLI_PROGRESS=1
ASTER_CLI_COPY_BATCH_SIZE=100

Service configuration and CLI parameters use separate ENV sets

ASTER__DATABASE__URL overrides the config.toml read by the service. ASTER_CLI_DATABASE_URL is only used as an argument for the operations CLI.

If you start the service and run commands from the same shell, keep these two classes of variables clearly separated. Troubleshooting becomes much easier.

Deployment Check: doctor

After first deployment, or before production launch, run this first:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc"

Default mode checks the places most likely to go wrong:

• whether the database can be connected
• whether pending migrations remain
• if the backend is SQLite, whether the FTS5 + trigram tokenizer search acceleration capability is available, and whether related FTS tables / triggers are complete
• whether runtime system settings can be read normally
• whether Public Site URL is empty or malformed
• whether Public Site URL is still http://, which means production lacks HTTPS
• whether mail delivery configuration is complete
• whether preview application configuration parses correctly
• whether the default storage policy and default policy group are ready

If you want warn to count as failure, add:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --strict

For script processing, add an output format:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --output-format json \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc"

Best uses:

• first acceptance check after a new deployment
• health check after upgrade
• after changing Public Site URL, mail, or preview applications, confirm the config was not broken
• confirm a default SQLite deployment really has search acceleration instead of silently falling back to full table scans

If you suspect existing “data and storage inconsistency” in the database, run a deep check:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --deep

--deep adds these checks:

• storage-usage: compares users.storage_used / teams.storage_used with actual usage from files and historical versions
• blob-ref-counts: compares file_blobs.ref_count with real references from files / file_versions
• storage-objects: scans object paths under each storage policy to find missing blobs, untracked objects, and orphan thumbnails
• folder-tree: checks missing parent folders, cross-workspace parent folders, and folder cycles

If you only want part of the deep checks, narrow the scope:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --scope blob-ref-counts,storage-objects

If you only want to check a specific storage policy, add:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --scope storage-objects \
  --policy-id 3

When counter drift is found, the CLI can fix it directly:

./aster_drive doctor \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --deep \
  --fix

Pay attention to four things:

• --scope only affects deep checks. It does not disable base checks such as database connection, migrations, and runtime configuration.
• --policy-id only applies to blob-ref-counts and storage-objects; storage-usage and folder-tree still check the whole database.
• --fix currently only repairs storage_used and file_blobs.ref_count counters. It does not automatically delete objects or modify folder structure.
• Deep scans run in database batches and object storage pages, but they only validate path-level existence. They do not read object contents or calculate checksums.

Offline System Settings: config

For normal settings changes, prefer Admin -> System Settings.
config is better for these cases:

• the admin panel is temporarily inaccessible
• you do not want to use a web page during a maintenance window
• you want to export, validate, or import system settings in bulk

List current items:

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  list

View one item:

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  get \
  --key public_site_url

Validate first, then write to the database:

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  validate \
  --key public_site_url \
  --value '["https://drive.example.com"]'

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  set \
  --key public_site_url \
  --value '["https://drive.example.com"]'

public_site_url supports multiple public origins. When writing from the command line, pass a JSON string array:

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  set \
  --key public_site_url \
  --value '["https://drive.example.com","https://panel.example.com"]'

For bulk import, the input file can be either of these JSON shapes:

[
  { "key": "public_site_url", "value": ["https://drive.example.com", "https://panel.example.com"] },
  { "key": "auth_cookie_secure", "value": "true" }
]

{
  "configs": [
    { "key": "public_site_url", "value": ["https://drive.example.com", "https://panel.example.com"] },
    { "key": "auth_cookie_secure", "value": "true" }
  ]
}

Import example:

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  import \
  --input-file ./runtime-config.json

Export existing config like this:

./aster_drive config \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --output-format pretty-json \
  export

The export result is better suited for review, backup, or script processing.
If you plan to import it again, first normalize it into the “key/value array” shape above or the {"configs": [...]} shape, then pass it to import.

If you only want to confirm whether a value is valid, prefer validate. Do not use set directly.

Follower Node Enrollment: node enroll

This command is only for follower nodes. After the primary admin panel generates an enrollment token, run this on the follower machine:

./aster_drive node enroll \
  --master-url https://drive.example.com \
  --token enr_xxxxx

If you do not pass the database URL explicitly, the command reads [database].url from the current data/config.toml. You can also specify it directly:

./aster_drive node enroll \
  --master-url https://drive.example.com \
  --token enr_xxxxx \
  --database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc"

It performs these steps:

• confirms the current config is [server].start_mode = "follower"
• if the current directory has no config file, generates a default data/config.toml in follower mode first
• exchanges the token with the primary for local binding information, and writes it into the follower database
• outputs the current listen address, config file path, and next connectivity check hints

The command does not create the primary node’s default remote storage target for you, and it does not start the HTTP service. After it succeeds, restart the follower process, then return to the primary admin panel to create or apply the default remote storage target.

For Docker followers, using startup environment variables to auto-enroll is recommended instead of entering the container manually to run this command. See Docker Follower Node Deployment.

Cross-Database Migration: database-migrate

This command is for “switching database backends”.
It is not the automatic schema migration that runs during normal startup. It copies existing business data from one database to another.

Common scenarios:

• SQLite to PostgreSQL
• SQLite to MySQL
• switching between PostgreSQL and MySQL

Recommended sequence:

1. Run --dry-run first.
2. Prepare a downtime window so the source database is not written during migration.
3. Run the real migration.
4. Only cut production over to the new database after ready_to_cutover = true.

Trial run:

./aster_drive database-migrate \
  --source-database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --target-database-url "postgres://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/asterdrive_new" \
  --dry-run

Real run:

./aster_drive database-migrate \
  --source-database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --target-database-url "postgres://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/asterdrive_new"

Verify target database only:

./aster_drive database-migrate \
  --source-database-url "sqlite:///var/lib/asterdrive/data/asterdrive.db?mode=rwc" \
  --target-database-url "postgres://user:password@127.0.0.1:5432/asterdrive_new" \
  --verify-only

This command currently handles:

• checking migration state for source and target databases
• automatically bringing the target schema up to the current version
• copying business tables in a fixed order
• validating row counts, unique constraints, and foreign keys
• writing checkpoints into the target database so the same command can resume after interruption

Remember three things when using it:

• The source database must already be at the “current schema”; pending migrations cause immediate refusal.
• Do not continue writing new data into the source database during migration.
• Only ready_to_cutover = true in the report means the target database is ready for switching.

When to Read This Page First

• Deployment is complete, but you are not ready to launch confidently.
• The admin panel cannot open, and you urgently need to inspect configuration.
• A follower node has an enrollment token and needs to enroll from the shell.
• You are preparing to move from SQLite to PostgreSQL / MySQL.
• You want to turn checks into scripts.