# CLI reference

The command line is thin: every process takes three flags, configuration lives in the toml files under etc/, and there are no subcommands for managing rules.

Last reviewed 2026-10-10

Nightingale's command line is **thin** — configuration lives in the toml files under `etc/`, and there are three flags. There are no subcommands for managing alert rules and the like; that is what the [HTTP API](https://n9e.github.io/docs/reference/http-api.md) is for.

## The four service processes[​](#the-four-service-processes "Direct link to The four service processes")

`n9e` (Center), `n9e-alert`, `n9e-pushgw` and `n9e-edge` take exactly the same flags:

| Flag                 | Meaning                                                 | Default |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| `--configs <dir>`    | Configuration directory. Also settable as `N9E_CONFIGS` | `etc`   |
| `--crypto-key <key>` | Key for decrypting encrypted fields in the config file  | empty   |
| `--version`          | Print the version and exit                              |         |

```
./n9e --configs /etc/n9e

N9E_CONFIGS=/etc/n9e ./n9e

./n9e --version
```

A process needs only the `etc/` and `integrations/` directories next to the binary.

## `n9e-cli` is not an operations tool[​](#n9e-cli-is-not-an-operations-tool "Direct link to n9e-cli-is-not-an-operations-tool")

The `n9e-cli` in the release does **one thing: migrate v5 configuration to v6**.

| Flag              | Meaning                      |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `--config <path>` | Path to a v5.x `webapi.conf` |
| `--upgrade`       | Run the migration            |
| `--version`       | Print the version            |

Useful if you are still on v5, irrelevant otherwise.

## Building from source[​](#building-from-source "Direct link to Building from source")

```
make            # download and embed the frontend, then build center

make build      # build center only (when the frontend is already embedded)

make build-edge

make build-alert

make build-pushgw

make build-cli
```

`make` starts with `fe.sh`, which copies `docker/initsql/a-n9e.sql` to `n9e.sql`, downloads the frontend release from GitHub **only when `./pub` does not exist**, and then embeds `pub/` into `front/statik` with `statik`. Drop your own `pub/` in place and nothing is downloaded.

## Related[​](#related "Direct link to Related")

* [Configuration reference](https://n9e.github.io/docs/reference/configuration.md)
* [HTTP API](https://n9e.github.io/docs/reference/http-api.md)
* [Binary packages](https://n9e.github.io/docs/install/binary.md)