InfluxDB CLI/Shell

The InfluxDB’s command line interface (influx) is an interactive shell for the HTTP API. Use influx to write data (manually or from a file), query data interactively, and view query output in different formats.

• Launch influx
• influx Arguments
• influx Commands

Launch influx

If you install InfluxDB via a package manager, the CLI is installed at /usr/bin/influx (/usr/local/bin/influx on macOS).

To access the CLI, first launch the influxd database process and then launch influx in your terminal. Once you’ve entered the shell and successfully connected to an InfluxDB node, you’ll see the following output:

$ influx
Connected to http://localhost:8086 version 0.12.x
InfluxDB shell 0.12.x

influx Arguments

There are several arguments you can pass into influx when starting. List them with $ influx --help. The list below offers a brief discussion of each option. We provide detailed information on -execute, -format, and -import at the end of this section.

-compressed
Set to true if the import file is compressed. Use with -import.

-consistency 'any|one|quorum|all'
Set the write consistency level.

-database 'database name'
The database to which influx connects.

-execute 'command'
Execute an InfluxQL command and quit. See -execute.

-format 'json|csv|column'
Specifies the format of the server responses. See -format.

-host 'host name'
The host to which influx connects. By default, InfluxDB runs on localhost.

-import
Import new data from a file or import a previously exported database from a file. See -import.

-password 'password'
The password influx uses to connect to the server. influx will prompt for a password if you leave it blank (-password '').

-path
The path to the file to import. Use with -import.

-port 'port #'
The port to which influx connects. By default, InfluxDB runs on port 8086.

-pps
How many points per second the import will allow. By default, pps is zero and influx will not throttle importing. Use with -import.

-precision 'rfc3339|h|m|s|ms|u|ns'
Specifies the format/precision of the timestamp: rfc3339 (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.nnnnnnnnnZ), h (hours), m (minutes), s (seconds), ms (milliseconds), u (microseconds), ns (nanoseconds). Precision defaults to nanoseconds.

Note: Setting the precision to rfc3339 (-precision rfc3339) works with the -execute option, but it does not work with the -import option. All other precision formats (e.g. h,m,s,ms,u, and ns) work with the -execute and -import options.

-pretty
Turns on pretty print for the json format.

-ssl
Use https for requests.

-username 'username'
The username influx uses to connect to the server.

-version
Display the InfluxDB version and exit.

Execute an InfluxQL command and quit with -execute

Execute queries that don’t require a database specification:

$ influx -execute 'SHOW DATABASES'
name: databases
---------------
name
NOAA_water_database
_internal
telegraf
pirates

Execute queries that do require a database specification, and change the timestamp precision:

$ influx -execute 'SELECT * FROM h2o_feet LIMIT 3' -database=NOAA_water_database -precision=rfc3339
name: h2o_feet
--------------
time			               level description	    location	     water_level
2015-08-18T00:00:00Z	 below 3 feet		        santa_monica	 2.064
2015-08-18T00:00:00Z	 between 6 and 9 feet  coyote_creek  8.12
2015-08-18T00:06:00Z	 between 6 and 9 feet  coyote_creek  8.005

Specify the format of the server responses with -format

The default format is column:

$ influx -format=column
[...]
> SHOW DATABASES
name: databases
---------------
name
NOAA_water_database
_internal
telegraf
pirates

Change the format to csv:

$ influx -format=csv
[...]
> SHOW DATABASES
name,name
databases,NOAA_water_database
databases,_internal
databases,telegraf
databases,pirates

Change the format to json:

$ influx -format=json
[...]
> SHOW DATABASES
{"results":[{"series":[{"name":"databases","columns":["name"],"values":[["NOAA_water_database"],["_internal"],["telegraf"],["pirates"]]}]}]}

Change the format to json and turn on pretty print:

$ influx -format=json -pretty
[...]
> SHOW DATABASES
{
    "results": [
        {
            "series": [
                {
                    "name": "databases",
                    "columns": [
                        "name"
                    ],
                    "values": [
                        [
                            "NOAA_water_database"
                        ],
                        [
                            "_internal"
                        ],
                        [
                            "telegraf"
                        ],
                        [
                            "pirates"
                        ]
                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Import data from a file with -import

The import file has two sections:

• DDL (Data Definition Language): Contains the InfluxQL commands for creating the relevant database and managing the retention policy. If your database and retention policy already exist, your file can skip this section.
• DML (Data Manipulation Language): Lists the relevant database and (if desired) retention policy and contains the data in line protocol.

Example:

File (datarrr.txt):

# DDL
CREATE DATABASE pirates
CREATE RETENTION POLICY oneday ON pirates DURATION 1d REPLICATION 1

# DML
# CONTEXT-DATABASE: pirates
# CONTEXT-RETENTION-POLICY: oneday

treasures,captain_id=dread_pirate_roberts value=801 1439856000
treasures,captain_id=flint value=29 1439856000
treasures,captain_id=sparrow value=38 1439856000
treasures,captain_id=tetra value=47 1439856000
treasures,captain_id=crunch value=109 1439858880

Command:

$influx -import -path=datarrr.txt -precision=s

Results:

2015/12/22 12:25:06 Processed 2 commands
2015/12/22 12:25:06 Processed 5 inserts
2015/12/22 12:25:06 Failed 0 inserts

Note: For large datasets, influx writes out a status message every 100,000 points. For example:

2015/08/21 14:48:01 Processed 3100000 lines.
Time elapsed: 56.740578415s.
Points per second (PPS): 54634

Things to note about -import:

• Allow the database to ingest points by using -pps to set the number of points per second allowed by the import. By default, pps is zero and influx does not throttle importing.
• Imports work with .gz files, just include -compressed in the command.
• If your data file has more than 5,000 points, it may be necessary to split that file into several files in order to write your data in batches to InfluxDB. By default, the HTTP request times out after five seconds. InfluxDB will still attempt to write the points after that time out but there will be no confirmation that they were successfully written.

Note: For how to export data from InfluxDB version 0.8.9, see Exporting from 0.8.9.

influx Commands

Enter help in the CLI for a partial list of the available commands.

Commands

The list below offers a brief discussion of each command. We provide detailed information on insert at the end of this section.

auth
Prompts you for your username and password. influx uses those credentials when querying a database.

connect <host:port>
Connect to a different server without exiting the shell. By default, influx connects to localhost:8086. If you do not specify either the host or the port, influx assumes the default setting for the missing attribute.

consistency <level>
Sets the write consistency level: any, one, quorum, or all.

exit
Quits the influx shell.

format <format>
Specifies the format of the server responses: json, csv, or column. See the description of -format for examples of each format.

history
Displays your command history. To use the history while in the shell, simply use the “up” arrow. influx stores your last 1,000 commands in your home directory in .influx_history.

insert
Write data using line protocol. See insert.

precision <format>
Specifies the format/precision of the timestamp: rfc3339 (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.nnnnnnnnnZ), h (hours), m (minutes), s (seconds), ms (milliseconds), u (microseconds), ns (nanoseconds). Precision defaults to nanoseconds.

pretty
Turns on pretty print for the json format.

settings
Outputs the current settings for the shell including the Host, Username, Database, Pretty status, Format, and Write Consistency.

use <db_name>
Sets the current database. Once influx sets the current database, there is no need to specify that database in queries. influx automatically queries the current database and its DEFAULT retention policy.

Write data to InfluxDB with insert

Enter insert followed by the data in line protocol to write data to InfluxDB. Use insert into <retention policy> <line protocol> to write data to a specific retention policy.

Write data to a single field in the measurement treasures with the tag captain_id = pirate_king. influx automatically writes the point to the database’s DEFAULT retention policy.

> INSERT treasures,captain_id=pirate_king value=2
>

Write the same point to the already-existing retention policy oneday:

> INSERT INTO oneday treasures,captain_id=pirate_king value=2
Using retention policy oneday
>

Note that once you specify a retention policy with INSERT INTO, influx automatically writes data to that retention policy. This occurs even for later INSERT entries that do not include an INTO clause. Restarting the CLI will revert to using the DEFAULT retention policy.

Queries

Execute all InfluxQL queries in influx. See Data Exploration, Schema Exploration, Database Management, Authentication and Authorization for InfluxQL documentation.