Pulsar command-line tools

Pulsar offers several command-line tools that you can use for managing Pulsar installations, performance testing, using command-line producers and consumers, and more.

All Pulsar command-line tools can be run from the bin directory of your installed Pulsar package. The following tools are currently documented:

pulsar
pulsar-client
pulsar-daemon
pulsar-perf
bookkeeper
broker-tool

Getting help

You can get help for any CLI tool, command, or subcommand using the --help flag, or -h for short. Here's an example:

$ bin/pulsar broker --help

`pulsar`

The pulsar tool is used to start Pulsar components, such as bookies and ZooKeeper, in the foreground.

These processes can also be started in the background, using nohup, using the pulsar-daemon tool, which has the same command interface as pulsar.

Usage:

$ pulsar command

Commands:

bookie
broker
compact-topic
discovery
configuration-store
initialize-cluster-metadata
proxy
standalone
websocket
zookeeper
zookeeper-shell

Example:

$ PULSAR_BROKER_CONF=/path/to/broker.conf pulsar broker

The table below lists the environment variables that you can use to configure the pulsar tool.

Variable	Description	Default
`PULSAR_LOG_CONF`	Log4j configuration file	`conf/log4j2.yaml`
`PULSAR_BROKER_CONF`	Configuration file for broker	`conf/broker.conf`
`PULSAR_BOOKKEEPER_CONF`	description: Configuration file for bookie	`conf/bookkeeper.conf`
`PULSAR_ZK_CONF`	Configuration file for zookeeper	`conf/zookeeper.conf`
`PULSAR_CONFIGURATION_STORE_CONF`	Configuration file for the configuration store	`conf/global_zookeeper.conf`
`PULSAR_DISCOVERY_CONF`	Configuration file for discovery service	`conf/discovery.conf`
`PULSAR_WEBSOCKET_CONF`	Configuration file for websocket proxy	`conf/websocket.conf`
`PULSAR_STANDALONE_CONF`	Configuration file for standalone	`conf/standalone.conf`
`PULSAR_EXTRA_OPTS`	Extra options to be passed to the jvm
`PULSAR_EXTRA_CLASSPATH`	Extra paths for Pulsar's classpath
`PULSAR_PID_DIR`	Folder where the pulsar server PID file should be stored
`PULSAR_STOP_TIMEOUT`	Wait time before forcefully killing the Bookie server instance if attempts to stop it are not successful

`bookie`

Starts up a bookie server

Usage:

$ pulsar bookie options

Options

Option	Description	Default
`-readOnly`	Force start a read-only bookie server	false
`-withAutoRecovery`	Start auto-recover service bookie server	false

Example

$ PULSAR_BOOKKEEPER_CONF=/path/to/bookkeeper.conf pulsar bookie \
  -readOnly \
  -withAutoRecovery

`broker`

Starts up a Pulsar broker

Usage

$ pulsar broker options

Options

Option	Description	Default
`-bc` , `--bookie-conf`	Configuration file for BookKeeper
`-rb` , `--run-bookie`	Run a BookKeeper bookie on the same host as the Pulsar broker	false
`-ra` , `--run-bookie-autorecovery`	Run a BookKeeper autorecovery daemon on the same host as the Pulsar broker	false

Example

$ PULSAR_BROKER_CONF=/path/to/broker.conf pulsar broker

`compact-topic`

Run compaction against a Pulsar topic (in a new process)

Usage

$ pulsar compact-topic options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-t` , `--topic`	The Pulsar topic that you would like to compact

Example

$ pulsar compact-topic --topic topic-to-compact

`discovery`

Run a discovery server

Usage

$ pulsar discovery

Example

$ PULSAR_DISCOVERY_CONF=/path/to/discovery.conf pulsar discovery

`configuration-store`

Starts up the Pulsar configuration store

Usage

$ pulsar configuration-store

Example

$ PULSAR_CONFIGURATION_STORE_CONF=/path/to/configuration_store.conf pulsar configuration-store

`initialize-cluster-metadata`

One-time cluster metadata initialization

Usage

$ pulsar initialize-cluster-metadata options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-ub` , `--broker-service-url`	The broker service URL for the new cluster
`-tb` , `--broker-service-url-tls`	The broker service URL for the new cluster with TLS encryption
`-c` , `--cluster`	Cluster name
`--configuration-store`	The configuration store quorum connection string
`-uw` , `--web-service-url`	The web service URL for the new cluster
`-tw` , `--web-service-url-tls`	The web service URL for the new cluster with TLS encryption
`-zk` , `--zookeeper`	The local ZooKeeper quorum connection string

`proxy`

Manages the Pulsar proxy

Usage

$ pulsar proxy options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--configuration-store`	Configuration store connection string
`-zk` , `--zookeeper-servers`	Local ZooKeeper connection string

Example

$ PULSAR_PROXY_CONF=/path/to/proxy.conf pulsar proxy \
  --zookeeper-servers zk-0,zk-1,zk2 \
  --configuration-store zk-0,zk-1,zk-2

`standalone`

Run a broker service with local bookies and local ZooKeeper

Usage

$ pulsar standalone options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-a` , `--advertised-address`	The standalone broker advertised address
`--bookkeeper-dir`	Local bookies’ base data directory	data/standalone/bookkeeper
`--bookkeeper-port`	Local bookies’ base port	3181
`--no-broker`	Only start ZooKeeper and BookKeeper services, not the broker	false
`--num-bookies`	The number of local bookies	1
`--only-broker`	Only start the Pulsar broker service (not ZooKeeper or BookKeeper)
`--wipe-data`	Clean up previous ZooKeeper/BookKeeper data
`--zookeeper-dir`	Local ZooKeeper’s data directory	data/standalone/zookeeper
`--zookeeper-port`	Local ZooKeeper’s port	2181

Example

$ PULSAR_STANDALONE_CONF=/path/to/standalone.conf pulsar standalone

`websocket`

Usage

$ pulsar websocket

Example

$ PULSAR_WEBSOCKET_CONF=/path/to/websocket.conf pulsar websocket

`zookeeper`

Starts up a ZooKeeper cluster

Usage

$ pulsar zookeeper

Example

$ PULSAR_ZK_CONF=/path/to/zookeeper.conf pulsar zookeeper

`zookeeper-shell`

Connects to a running ZooKeeper cluster using the ZooKeeper shell

Usage

$ pulsar zookeeper-shell options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-c`, `--conf`	Configuration file for ZooKeeper
`-server`	Configuration zk address, eg: `127.0.0.1:2181`

`pulsar-client`

The pulsar-client tool

Usage

$ pulsar-client command

Commands

produce
consume

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--auth-params`	Authentication parameters, whose format is determined by the implementation of method `configure` in authentication plugin class, for example "key1:val1,key2:val2" or "{"key1":"val1","key2":"val2"}"	{"saslJaasClientSectionName":"PulsarClient", "serverType":"broker"}
`--auth-plugin`	Authentication plugin class name	org.apache.pulsar.client.impl.auth.AuthenticationSasl
`--proxy-protocol`	Proxy protocol to select type of routing at proxy
`--proxy-url`	Proxy-server URL to which to connect
`--url`	Broker URL to which to connect	pulsar://localhost:6650/ ws://localhost:8080
`-h`, `--help`	Show this help

`produce`

Send a message or messages to a specific broker and topic

Usage

$ pulsar-client produce topic options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-f`, `--files`	Comma-separated file paths to send; either -m or -f must be specified	[]
`-m`, `--messages`	Comma-separated string of messages to send; either -m or -f must be specified	[]
`-n`, `--num-produce`	The number of times to send the message(s); the count of messages/files * num-produce should be below 1000	1
`-r`, `--rate`	Rate (in messages per second) at which to produce; a value 0 means to produce messages as fast as possible	0.0
`-c`, `--chunking`	Split the message and publish in chunks if the message size is larger than the allowed max size	false
`-s`, `--separator`	Character to split messages string with.	","
`-k`, `--key`	Message key to add	key=value string, like k1=v1,k2=v2.
`-p`, `--properties`	Properties to add. If you want to add multiple properties, use the comma as the separator, e.g. `k1=v1,k2=v2`.

`consume`

Consume messages from a specific broker and topic

Usage

$ pulsar-client consume topic options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--hex`	Display binary messages in hexadecimal format.	false
`-n`, `--num-messages`	Number of messages to consume, 0 means to consume forever.	1
`-r`, `--rate`	Rate (in messages per second) at which to consume; a value 0 means to consume messages as fast as possible	0.0
`--regex`	Indicate the topic name is a regex pattern	false
`-s`, `--subscription-name`	Subscription name
`-t`, `--subscription-type`	The type of the subscription. Possible values: Exclusive, Shared, Failover, Key_Shared.	Exclusive
`-p`, `--subscription-position`	The position of the subscription. Possible values: Latest, Earliest.	Latest
`-q`, `--queue-size`	The size of consumer's receiver queue.	0
`-mc`, `--max_chunked_msg`	Max pending chunk messages.	0
`-ac`, `--auto_ack_chunk_q_full`	Auto ack for the oldest message in consumer's receiver queue if the queue full.	false

`pulsar-daemon`

A wrapper around the pulsar tool that’s used to start and stop processes, such as ZooKeeper, bookies, and Pulsar brokers, in the background using nohup.

pulsar-daemon has a similar interface to the pulsar command but adds start and stop commands for various services. For a listing of those services, run pulsar-daemon to see the help output or see the documentation for the pulsar command.

Usage

$ pulsar-daemon command

Commands

start
stop

`start`

Start a service in the background using nohup.

Usage

$ pulsar-daemon start service

`stop`

Stop a service that’s already been started using start.

Usage

$ pulsar-daemon stop service options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
-force	Stop the service forcefully if not stopped by normal shutdown.	false

`pulsar-perf`

A tool for performance testing a Pulsar broker.

Usage

$ pulsar-perf command

Commands

consume
produce
read
websocket-producer
managed-ledger
monitor-brokers
simulation-client
simulation-controller
help

Environment variables

The table below lists the environment variables that you can use to configure the pulsar-perf tool.

Variable	Description	Default
`PULSAR_LOG_CONF`	Log4j configuration file	conf/log4j2.yaml
`PULSAR_CLIENT_CONF`	Configuration file for the client	conf/client.conf
`PULSAR_EXTRA_OPTS`	Extra options to be passed to the JVM
`PULSAR_EXTRA_CLASSPATH`	Extra paths for Pulsar's classpath

`consume`

Run a consumer

Usage

$ pulsar-perf consume options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--auth-params`	Authentication parameters, whose format is determined by the implementation of method `configure` in authentication plugin class. For example, `key1:val1,key2:val2` or `{"key1":"val1","key2":"val2"}`.
`--auth_plugin`	Authentication plugin class name
`-ac`, `--auto_ack_chunk_q_full`	Auto ack for the oldest message in consumer's receiver queue if the queue full	false
`--acks-delay-millis`	Acknowlegments grouping delay in millis	100
`-k`, `--encryption-key-name`	The private key name to decrypt payload
`-v`, `--encryption-key-value-file`	The file which contains the private key to decrypt payload
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false
`--conf-file`	Configuration file
`-e`, `--expire_time_incomplete_chunked_messages`	The expiration time for incomplete chunk messages (in milliseconds)	0
`-c`, `--max-connections`	Max number of TCP connections to a single broker	100
`-mc`, `--max_chunked_msg`	Max pending chunk messages	0
`-n`, `--num-consumers`	Number of consumers (per topic)	1
`-t`, `--num-topic`	The number of topics	1
`-r`, `--rate`	Simulate a slow message consumer (rate in msg/s)	0
`-q`, `--receiver-queue-size`	Size of the receiver queue	1000
`--replicated`	Whether the subscription status should be replicated	false
`-u`, `--service-url`	Pulsar service URL
`-i`, `--stats-interval-seconds`	Statistics interval seconds. If 0, statistics will be disabled	0
`-s`, `--subscriber-name`	Subscriber name prefix	sub
`-st`, `--subscription-type`	Subscriber type. Possible values are Exclusive, Shared, Failover, Key_Shared.	Exclusive
`-sp`, `--subscription-position`	Subscriber position. Possible values are Latest, Earliest.	Latest
`-time`, `--test-duration`	Test duration (in seconds). If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps consuming messages	0
`--trust-cert-file`	Path for the trusted TLS certificate file

`produce`

Run a producer

Usage

$ pulsar-perf produce options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--auth-params`	Authentication parameters, whose format is determined by the implementation of method `configure` in authentication plugin class. For example, `key1:val1,key2:val2` or `{"key1":"val1","key2":"val2"}`.
`--auth_plugin`	Authentication plugin class name
`-b`, `--batch-time-window`	Batch messages in a window of the specified number of milliseconds	1
`-bb`, `--batch-max-bytes`	Maximum number of bytes per batch	4194304
`-bm`, `--batch-max-messages`	Maximum number of messages per batch	1000
`-ch`, `--chunking`	Split the message and publish in chunks if the message size is larger than allowed max size	false
`-d`, `--delay`	Mark messages with a given delay in seconds	0s
`-z`, `--compression`	Compress messages’ payload. Possible values are NONE, LZ4, ZLIB, ZSTD or SNAPPY.
`--conf-file`	Configuration file
`-k`, `--encryption-key-name`	The public key name to encrypt payload
`-v`, `--encryption-key-value-file`	The file which contains the public key to encrypt payload
`-ef`, `--exit-on-failure`	Exit from the process on publish failure	false
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false
`-c`, `--max-connections`	Max number of TCP connections to a single broker	100
`-o`, `--max-outstanding`	Max number of outstanding messages	1000
`-p`, `--max-outstanding-across-partitions`	Max number of outstanding messages across partitions	50000
`-m`, `--num-messages`	Number of messages to publish in total. If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps publishing messages.	0
`-n`, `--num-producers`	The number of producers (per topic)	1
`-threads`, `--num-test-threads`	Number of test threads	1
`-t`, `--num-topic`	The number of topics	1
`-f`, `--payload-file`	Use payload from an UTF-8 encoded text file and a payload will be randomly selected when publishing messages
`-e`, `--payload-delimiter`	The delimiter used to split lines when using payload from a file	\n
`-r`, `--rate`	Publish rate msg/s across topics	100
`-u`, `--service-url`	Pulsar service URL
`-s`, `--size`	Message size (in bytes)	1024
`-i`, `--stats-interval-seconds`	Statistics interval seconds. If 0, statistics will be disabled.	0
`-time`, `--test-duration`	Test duration (in seconds). If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps publishing messages.	0
`--trust-cert-file`	Path for the trusted TLS certificate file
`--warmup-time`	Warm-up time in seconds	1

`read`

Run a topic reader

Usage

$ pulsar-perf read options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--auth-params`	Authentication parameters, whose format is determined by the implementation of method `configure` in authentication plugin class. For example, `key1:val1,key2:val2` or `{"key1":"val1","key2":"val2"}`.
`--auth_plugin`	Authentication plugin class name
`--conf-file`	Configuration file
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false
`-c`, `--max-connections`	Max number of TCP connections to a single broker	100
`-t`, `--num-topic`	The number of topics	1
`-r`, `--rate`	Simulate a slow message reader (rate in msg/s)	0
`-q`, `--receiver-queue-size`	Size of the receiver queue	1000
`-u`, `--service-url`	Pulsar service URL
`-m`, `--start-message-id`	Start message id. This can be either 'earliest', 'latest' or a specific message id by using 'lid:eid'	earliest
`-i`, `--stats-interval-seconds`	Statistics interval seconds. If 0, statistics will be disabled.	0
`-time`, `--test-duration`	Test duration (in seconds). If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps consuming messages.	0
`--trust-cert-file`	Path for the trusted TLS certificate file
`--use-tls`	Use TLS encryption on the connection	false

`websocket-producer`

Run a websocket producer

Usage

$ pulsar-perf websocket-producer options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--auth-params`	Authentication parameters, whose format is determined by the implementation of method `configure` in authentication plugin class. For example, `key1:val1,key2:val2` or `{"key1":"val1","key2":"val2"}`.
`--auth_plugin`	Authentication plugin class name
`--conf-file`	Configuration file
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false
`-m`, `--num-messages`	Number of messages to publish in total. If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps publishing messages	0
`-t`, `--num-topic`	The number of topics	1
`-f`, `--payload-file`	Use payload from a file instead of empty buffer
`-u`, `--proxy-url`	Pulsar Proxy URL, e.g., "ws://localhost:8080/"
`-r`, `--rate`	Publish rate msg/s across topics	100
`-s`, `--size`	Message size in byte	1024
`-time`, `--test-duration`	Test duration (in seconds). If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps publishing messages	0

`managed-ledger`

Write directly on managed-ledgers

Usage

$ pulsar-perf managed-ledger options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-a`, `--ack-quorum`	Ledger ack quorum	1
`-dt`, `--digest-type`	BookKeeper digest type. Possible Values: [CRC32, MAC, CRC32C, DUMMY]	CRC32C
`-e`, `--ensemble-size`	Ledger ensemble size	1
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false
`-c`, `--max-connections`	Max number of TCP connections to a single bookie	1
`-o`, `--max-outstanding`	Max number of outstanding requests	1000
`-m`, `--num-messages`	Number of messages to publish in total. If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps publishing messages	0
`-t`, `--num-topic`	Number of managed ledgers	1
`-r`, `--rate`	Write rate msg/s across managed ledgers	100
`-s`, `--size`	Message size in byte	1024
`-time`, `--test-duration`	Test duration (in seconds). If the value is 0 or smaller than 0, it keeps publishing messages	0
`--threads`	Number of threads writing	1
`-w`, `--write-quorum`	Ledger write quorum	1
`-zk`, `--zookeeperServers`	ZooKeeper connection string

`monitor-brokers`

Continuously receive broker data and/or load reports

Usage

$ pulsar-perf monitor-brokers options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--connect-string`	A connection string for one or more ZooKeeper servers
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false

`simulation-client`

Run a simulation server acting as a Pulsar client. Uses the client configuration specified in conf/client.conf.

Usage

$ pulsar-perf simulation-client options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--port`	Port to listen on for controller	0
`--service-url`	Pulsar Service URL
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false

`simulation-controller`

Run a simulation controller to give commands to servers

Usage

$ pulsar-perf simulation-controller options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`--client-port`	The port that the clients are listening on	0
`--clients`	Comma-separated list of client hostnames
`--cluster`	The cluster to test on
`-h`, `--help`	Help message	false

`help`

This help message

Usage

$ pulsar-perf help

`bookkeeper`

A tool for managing BookKeeper.

Usage

$ bookkeeper command

Commands

autorecovery
bookie
localbookie
upgrade
shell

Environment variables

The table below lists the environment variables that you can use to configure the bookkeeper tool.

Variable	Description	Default
BOOKIE_LOG_CONF	Log4j configuration file	conf/log4j2.yaml
BOOKIE_CONF	BookKeeper configuration file	conf/bk_server.conf
BOOKIE_EXTRA_OPTS	Extra options to be passed to the JVM
BOOKIE_EXTRA_CLASSPATH	Extra paths for BookKeeper's classpath
ENTRY_FORMATTER_CLASS	The Java class used to format entries
BOOKIE_PID_DIR	Folder where the BookKeeper server PID file should be stored
BOOKIE_STOP_TIMEOUT	Wait time before forcefully killing the Bookie server instance if attempts to stop it are not successful

`auto-recovery`

Runs an auto-recovery service

Usage

$ bookkeeper autorecovery options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-c`, `--conf`	Configuration for the auto-recovery

`bookie`

Starts up a BookKeeper server (aka bookie)

Usage

$ bookkeeper bookie options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-c`, `--conf`	Configuration for the auto-recovery
-readOnly	Force start a read-only bookie server	false
-withAutoRecovery	Start auto-recovery service bookie server	false

`localbookie`

Runs a test ensemble of N bookies locally

Usage

$ bookkeeper localbookie N

`upgrade`

Upgrade the bookie’s filesystem

Usage

$ bookkeeper upgrade options

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-c`, `--conf`	Configuration for the auto-recovery
`-u`, `--upgrade`	Upgrade the bookie’s directories

`shell`

Run shell for admin commands. To see a full listing of those commands, run bookkeeper shell without an argument.

Usage

$ bookkeeper shell

Example

$ bookkeeper shell bookiesanity

`broker-tool`

The broker- tool is used for operations on a specific broker.

Usage

$ broker-tool command

Commands

load-report
help

Example Two ways to get more information about a command as below:

$ broker-tool help command
$ broker-tool command --help

`load-report`

Collect the load report of a specific broker. The command is run on a broker, and used for troubleshooting why broker can’t collect right load report.

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-i`, `--interval`	Interval to collect load report, in milliseconds
`-h`, `--help`	Display help information

Getting help​

pulsar​

bookie​

broker​

compact-topic​

discovery​

configuration-store​

initialize-cluster-metadata​

proxy​

standalone​

websocket​

zookeeper​

zookeeper-shell​

pulsar-client​

produce​

consume​

pulsar-daemon​

start​

stop​

pulsar-perf​

consume​

produce​

read​

websocket-producer​

managed-ledger​

monitor-brokers​

simulation-client​

simulation-controller​

help​

bookkeeper​

auto-recovery​

bookie​

localbookie​

upgrade​

shell​

broker-tool​

load-report​

Getting help

`pulsar`

`bookie`

`broker`

`compact-topic`

`discovery`

`configuration-store`

`initialize-cluster-metadata`

`proxy`

`standalone`

`websocket`

`zookeeper`

`zookeeper-shell`

`pulsar-client`

`produce`

`consume`

`pulsar-daemon`

`start`

`stop`

`pulsar-perf`

`consume`

`produce`

`read`

`websocket-producer`

`managed-ledger`

`monitor-brokers`

`simulation-client`

`simulation-controller`

`help`

`bookkeeper`

`auto-recovery`

`bookie`

`localbookie`

`upgrade`

`shell`

`broker-tool`

`load-report`