Get started with the CrashPlancommand-line interface (CLI)

Licensing
Installation
Authentication
Troubleshooting and Support

Licensing

This project uses the MIT License.

Installation

You can install the CrashPlan CLI from PyPI, from source, or from distribution.

From PyPI

The easiest and most common way is to use pip:

python3 -m pip install crashplancli

To install a previous version of the CrashPlan CLI via pip, add the version number. For example, to install version 1.0.0, enter:

python3 -m pip install crashplancli==1.0.0

Visit the project history on PyPI to see all published versions.

From source

Alternatively, you can install the CrashPlan CLI directly from source code:

git clone https://github.com/CrashPlan-Labs/crashplancli.git

When it finishes downloading, from the root project directory, run:

python setup.py install

From distribution

If you want create a .tar ball for installing elsewhere, run the following command from the project’s root directory:

python setup.py sdist

After it finishes building, the .tar ball will be located in the newly created dist directory. To install it, enter:

python3 -m pip install crashplancli-[VERSION].tar.gz

Updates

To update the CLI, use the pip --upgrade flag.

python3 -m pip install crashplancli --upgrade

Authentication

Important

The CrashPlan CLI currently only supports token-based authentication.

Create a user in CrashPlan to authenticate (basic authentication) and access data via the CLI. The CLI returns data based on the roles assigned to this user. To ensure that the user’s rights are not too permissive, create a user with the lowest level of privilege necessary. See our Role assignment use cases for information on recommended roles. We recommend you test to confirm that the user can access the right data.

If you choose not to store your password in the CLI, you must enter it for each command that requires a connection.

The CrashPlan CLI supports local accounts with MFA (multi-factor authentication) enabled. The Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) must be provided at every invocation of the CLI, either via the --totp option or when prompted.

The CrashPlan CLI currently does not support SSO login providers or any other identity providers such as Active Directory or Okta.

Proxy Support

Note

Proxy support was added in crashplancli version 1.16.0

The CrashPlan CLI will attempt to connect through a proxy if the https_proxy/HTTPS_PROXY environment variable is set.

Windows and Mac

For Windows and Mac systems, the CLI uses Keyring when storing passwords.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux

To use Keyring to store the credentials you 2enter in the CrashPlan CLI, enter the following commands before installing.

yum -y install python-pip python3 dbus-python gnome-keyring libsecret dbus-x11
pip3 install crashplancli

If the following directories do not already exist, create them:

mkdir -p ~/.cache
mkdir -p ~/.local/share/keyring

In the following commands, replace the example value \n with the Keyring password (if the default Keyring already exists).

eval "$(dbus-launch --sh-syntax)"
eval "$(printf '\n' | gnome-keyring-daemon --unlock)"
eval "$(printf '\n' | /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start)"

Close out your D-bus session and GNOME Keyring:

pkill gnome
pkill dbus

If you do not use Keyring to store your credentials, the CrashPlan CLI will ask permission to store your credentials in a local flat file with read/write permissions for only the operating system user who set the password. Alternatively, you can enter your password with each command you enter.

Ubuntu

If Keyring doesn’t support your Ubuntu system, the CrashPlan CLI will ask permission to store your credentials in a local flat file with read/write permissions for only the operating system user who set the password. Alternatively, you can enter your password with each command you enter.

To learn more about authenticating in the CLI, follow the Configure profile guide.

Troubleshooting and support

CrashPlan command not found

If your python installation has added itself to your environment’s PATH variable, then running crashplan should just work.

However, if after installation the crashplan command is not found, the CLI has some helpers for this (added in version 1.10):

You can execute the CLI by calling the python module directly:

python3 -m crashplancli

And the base crashplan command now has a --script-dir option that will print out the directory the crashplan script was installed into, so you can manually add it to your PATH, enabling the crashplan command to work.

On Mac/Linux:

Run the following to make crashplan visible in your shell’s PATH (to persist the change, add it to your shell’s configuration file):

export PATH=$PATH:$(python3 -m crashplancli --script-dir)

On Windows:

$env:Path += ";$(python -m crashplancli --script-dir)"

To persist the change, add the updated PATH to your registry:

Set-ItemProperty -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment' -Name PATH -Value $env:Path

Debug mode

Debug mode may be useful if you are trying to determine if you are experiencing permissions issues. When debug mode is on, the CLI logs HTTP request data to the console. Use the -d flag to enable debug mode for a particular command. -d can appear anywhere in the command chain:

crashplan <command> <subcommand> <args> -d

File an issue on GitHub

If you are experiencing an issue with the CrashPlan CLI, select New issue at the project repository to create an issue. See the Github guide on creating an issue for more information.

Contact CrashPlan Support

If you don’t have a GitHub account and are experiencing issues, contact crashplan support.

What’s next?

Learn how to Set up a profile.