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layout: default
navsection: userguide
title: Getting started at the command line
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Copyright (C) The Arvados Authors. All rights reserved.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-3.0
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Many operations in Arvados can be performed using either the web Workbench or through command line tools.  Some operations can only be done using the command line.

To use the command line tools, you can either log into an Arvados virtual machine where those tools are pre-installed, or install the Arvados tools on your own system.

h2. Option 1: Using an Arvados virtual machine

This is the command line interface we recommend for most day-to-day work, because the tools are all preinstalled and preconfigured for you. You can log in to any virtual machine where you have permission by using:

* "the Webshell client":{{site.baseurl}}/user/getting_started/vm-login-with-webshell.html accessible through Arvados Workbench
* "Unix SSH clients":{{site.baseurl}}/user/getting_started/ssh-access-unix.html
* "Windows SSH clients":{{site.baseurl}}/user/getting_started/ssh-access-windows.html

h2. Option 2: Installing Arvados tools on your own system

This option gives you more flexibility in your work, but takes more time to set up.

h3. Configure Arvados package repositories for your system

Doing this isn't strictly required for most tools, but will streamline the installation process. Follow the "Arvados package repository instructions":{{site.baseurl}}/install/packages.html.

h3. Install individual tool packages

Here are the client packages you can install on your system. You can skip any you don't want or need except for the Python SDK (most other tools require it).

* "Python SDK":{{site.baseurl}}/sdk/python/sdk-python.html: This provides an Arvados API client in Python, as well as low-level command line tools.
* "Command-line SDK":{{site.baseurl}}/sdk/cli/install.html: This provides the high-level @arv@ command and user interface to the Arvados API.
* "FUSE Driver":{{site.baseurl}}/sdk/fuse/install.html: This provides the @arv-mount@ command and FUSE driver that lets you access Keep using standard Linux filesystem tools.
* "CWL Runner":{{site.baseurl}}/sdk/python/arvados-cwl-runner.html: This provides the @arvados-cwl-runner@ command to register and run workflows in Crunch.
* "crunchstat-summary":{{site.baseurl}}/user/cwl/crunchstat-summary.html: This tool provides performance reports for Crunch containers.
* "arvados-client":{{site.baseurl}}/user/debugging/container-shell-access.html: This tool provides subcommands for inspecting Crunch containers, both interactively while they're running and after they've finished.

h2. After Installation: Check your environment

Once you are logged in or have command line tools installed, move on to "getting an API token":{{site.baseurl}}/user/reference/api-tokens.html and "checking your environment":{{site.baseurl}}/user/getting_started/check-environment.html.