Upgrading to CLI 4.0

Version 4.0 of the arcsecond tool changes how an installation is operated. The installation itself — your folder, .env, docker-compose.yml, the database, the data — needs no change and is not touched by the upgrade.

pip3 install --upgrade arcsecond
arcsecond setup       # once, in the Arcsecond folder: records its location, adds new .env keys
arcsecond update      # brings the installation to the latest release

No more docker commands

Everything these pages used to ask for as a docker compose … line has an arcsecond command:

Before 4.0	Since 4.0
docker compose up -d	arcsecond start — waits for the backend, prints the address
docker compose stop	arcsecond stop
docker compose up -d --force-recreate backend worker beat	arcsecond restart backend worker beat (or just arcsecond restart)
docker compose ps, docker ps	arcsecond status
docker compose logs --tail 50 backend, docker logs -f arcsecond-alerts	arcsecond logs backend --tail 50, arcsecond logs alerts -f
arcsecond setup + docker compose pull + docker compose up -d	arcsecond update
docker compose up -d alerts	arcsecond restart alerts
echo <PAT> | docker login ghcr.io …	arcsecond token set (and arcsecond setup asks)

These commands find the installation in the current folder, or in the folder arcsecond setup last ran in — so they work from a PowerShell opened anywhere — or where --dir points. arcsecond start also explains the failures the Troubleshooting page used to: a port already taken, a user not in the docker group, Docker Desktop not running.

Since 4.2 there is no docker command left to type at all: arcsecond setup asks for the access token Arcsecond gave your observatory, and arcsecond token set enters it again.

The server is a pointer, not an option

--api <name> is gone from every command. The CLI points at one server, and every command follows that pointer:

arcsecond api            # list the servers, * marks the current one
arcsecond api use local  # every command now talks to your installation
arcsecond api use cloud  # …and back

arcsecond setup registers local for you. A server registered the old way (arcsecond api <name> <address>) is still there and still registers; arcsecond api add is the new spelling. For scripts, ARCSECOND_API=<name> in the environment selects a server for that process alone.

In Python, ArcsecondConfig() with no name follows the pointer too; ArcsecondConfig(api_name="local") behaves as before.

Renamed and removed

• arcsecond upload-data is arcsecond upload. The old name still works, hidden.
• arcsecond me is gone: arcsecond login tells you who you are logged in as, and where.
• arcsecond netcam is gone; a network camera is a webcam (arcsecond webcam add rtsp://…).
• Errors are sentences: a command that cannot do what it was asked says why and exits, instead of printing a traceback.

The live-image proxy comes back after a reboot

A proxy started with arcsecond proxy start now registers itself to start again when you log in, and arcsecond proxy stop cancels that. A proxy that was running when the machine went down comes back; one you stopped stays stopped. arcsecond proxy start --no-autostart opts out. See Live-Image Proxy.

Other computers on the network

arcsecond setup --lan-host 192.168.1.42 writes the address other computers reach the installation at, which the backend needs for the links in invitation and password-reset emails. Editing .env by hand still works. See Access from Other Computers.