Extending IBM Cloud CLI with plug-ins

The IBM Cloud® Command Line Interface supports a plug-in framework to extend its capability. Install a plug-in from a repository, a URL, or install a plug-in binary locally.

For more commands to manage plug-ins, run ibmcloud plugin to see the help messages. For more information, see Adding and removing IBM Cloud CLI plug-ins.

Before you begin

Install the stand-alone IBM Cloud CLI so that you can install CLI plug-ins for IBM Cloud.

Searching for a plug-in

Use the ibmcloud plugin repo-plugins command to discover all the available plug-ins in the repository.

ibmcloud plugin repo-plugins

Status             Name                                        Versions                       Description   
Update Available   container-service/kubernetes-service        0.3.49, 0.3.47, 0.3.34...      IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service for management of Kubernetes clusters   
Update Available   cloud-functions                             1.0.32, 1.0.30, 1.0.29...      Manage Cloud Functions 
...

Installing a plug-in from the IBM Cloud CLI repository

Installing a specific plug-in

Use the ibmcloud plugin install PLUGIN_NAME command to install a specific plug-in. For example, use the following command to install the IBM Cloud Code Engine CLI plug-in:

ibmcloud plugin install code-engine

Looking up 'code-engine' from repository 'IBM Cloud'...
Plug-in 'code-engine 1.23.2' found in repository 'IBM Cloud'
Attempting to download the binary file...
 54.29 MiB / 54.29 MiB [============================================] 100.00% 10s
56929376  bytes downloaded
Installing binary...
OK
Plug-in 'code-engine 1.23.2' was successfully installed into /Users/username/.bluemix/plugins/code-engine. Use 'ibmcloud plugin show code-engine' to show its details.

Installing all plug-ins

Use the plugin install -a command to install all the latest available plug-ins that are in the repository:

ibmcloud plugin install -a

Installing multiple plug-ins

Use the plugin install PLUGIN_NAME@VERSION command to install multiple plug-ins at the same time. For example, use the following command to install the container-service@1.0.506 and the secrets-manager@0.1.25 plug-ins:

ibmcloud plugin install container-service@1.0.506 secrets-manager@0.1.25

For more information, see ibmcloud plugin install.

Confirming installed plug-ins

Use the plugin list command to confirm that all required plug-ins are installed in IBM Cloud CLI. The plugin list command returns the following information for each plug-in that is installed:

The plug-in name
The current version of the plug-in
Whether a more recent version of the plug-in is available
Whether the plug-in version supports private endpoint use

ibmcloud plugin list

Updating installed plug-ins

Use the plugin update command to update the plug-ins that are installed in IBM Cloud CLI. The plugin update command returns the following information for each plug-in that is installed:

The current plug-in version
The latest plug-in version that is available

ibmcloud plugin update

Related information

You can also install a plug-in from a URL, download a plug-in, or install a plug-in binary locally:

To install a plug-in locally or from a URL, see ibmcloud plugin install.
To download a plug-in, see How do I download a plug-in?