Using commands and flags with dynctl
Last updated: 10/29/2026Use dynctl to monitor, debug, and troubleshoot a Dynamic Engine cluster and services running in it.
The dynctl commands allow you to
- Check dynctl version.
- Generate shell completion scripts.
- Retrieve cluster details.
- View logs of running services in the Dynamic Engine cluster.
- Diagnose a Dynamic Engine installation.
- Update dynctl.
The dynctl syntax
The general syntax for dynctl commands is:
dynctl [command] [params] [flags]In this syntax:
- command
- Specifies the operation to perform, such as collecting logs or listing environments.
- params
- Provides additional details required for the command, such as resource IDs.
- flags
- Sets additional instructions, such as --kubeconfig to override the default Kubeconfig file.
Information noteImportant: Command-line flags take precedence over default values,
configuration file settings, and environment variables. The order of precedence for
configuration values is:
- Command-line flags (highest priority).
- Environment variables.
- Configuration in YAML file (lowest priority).
The dynctl commands
| Command | Syntax | Description |
|---|---|---|
| version | dynctl version | Shows the current dynctl version. |
| completion | dynctl completion [shell] | Creates shell-specific completion scripts (Bash, Zsh, PowerShell, and Fish). For more details, see Optional: Installing the dynctl auto-completion feature. |
| doctor | dynctl doctor [flags] | Runs automated diagnostics on the Dynamic Engine installation in the cluster and prints a health report. Exits with a non-zero code when a blocker-severity check fails. Available from dynctl 1.1.0. For details, see Diagnosing an installation with dynctl doctor. |
| get | dynctl get [flags] | Retrieves Dynamic Engine details from the cluster. |
| get environment | dynctl get environment <name>
[flags] dynctl get env <name> [flags]
|
Lists Dynamic Engine environments or provides details about a specific environment. |
| help | dynctl help <command> | Gets help for a specific command. |
| logs | dynctl logs [flags] | Displays logs for running Dynamic Engine services in the cluster. |
| logs environment | dynctl logs environment <name>
[flags] dynctl logs env <name> [flags]
|
Displays logs of running services for the specified Dynamic Engine environment. |
| update | dynctl update | Downloads and installs the latest released dynctl for your platform, after verifying its checksum, and replaces the current binary. No cluster access is required. Available from dynctl 1.1.0. For details, see Updating dynctl. |
The dynctl command flags
Flags modify command behavior by overriding default settings. They fall into two categories:
- Global flags: Apply to all commands.
- Command-specific flags: Apply only to designated commands.
- Command-line flags as explained above (highest priority).
- Environment variables.
- Configuration in YAML file (lowest priority).
- Global flags
- --config
- Overrides the default dynctl configuration file, $HOME/.dynctl/config.
- --kubeconfig
- Overrides the default kubectl configuration for cluster connection.
- --kubecontext
- Overrides the Kubernetes context that defaults to default-context in the kubeconfig file.
- -d, --debug
- Enables debug mode, converting dynctl logs from JSON to human-readable format.
- -v, --verbose
- Enables verbose mode, logging all dynctl log levels.
- -h, --help
- Displays help information for the command.
- --no-update-check
- Skips the once-a-day startup check for a newer dynctl version, which suppresses the update notice. Default: false. Applies to all commands. Available from dynctl 1.1.0.
- Command-specific flags for logs and logs environment
- --follow, -f
- Continuously streams logs as they are generated. Default: false.
- --output, -o
- Specifies log output format, either stdout or zip. Default: stdout.
- --output-file
- Sets the path for the output file. Default: autogenerated.
- --service, -s
- Filters logs by specified service. You can use this flag multiple times to filter for multiple services.
- --since
- Shows log output generated within a specified duration, for example, 300ms, -1.5h, 2h45m. Valid time units are ns, us (or µs), ms, s, m, h. Default: all logs.
- --tail
- Specifies the number of log output lines to display. Default: all lines.
- Command-specific flags for doctor
- --category
- Restricts the checks to a single category: cluster-prereqs, dynamic-engine, or environments. Default: all categories.
- --severity
- Sets the minimum severity to show: info, warning, or blocker. Default: info.
- --format
- Sets the output format: text or json. Default: text.
- --quiet
- Hides passing checks in the report. Default: true. Use --quiet=false to show every check.
The dynctl configuration methods
The dynctl tool can be configured using multiple methods, listed in order of precedence:
- Command-line flags as explained above (highest priority).
- Environment variables.
- Default values in YAML file (lowest priority).
| Flag | Environment variable | YAML key | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| --config | DYNCTL_CONFIG | config | $HOME/.dynctl/config | The dynctl configuration file path |
| --kubeconfig | DYNCTL_KUBECONFIG | k8s.config | kubectl's default | Kubernetes configuration file(s) for dynctl |
| --kubecontext | DYNCTL_KUBECONTEXT | k8s.context | kubectl's current context | Kubernetes context for dynctl |
| --debug | DYNCTL_DEBUG | debug | false | Debug mode |
| --verbose | DYNCTL_VERBOSE | verbose | false | Verbose mode |
| --no-update-check | DYNCTL_NO_UPDATE_CHECK | no.update.check | false | Skips the startup check for a newer dynctl version |