Run a Command - Cloudilio

Guides

HOW-TO GUIDE

Run something once in your app

Some jobs happen once, by hand. Examples are updating the database, creating an admin user and fixing a batch of records. The Run a command box runs one command with your app's code, packages, secrets and saved data, and shows you what it printed.

Step 1. Publish your app

Commands run in the published version of your app. An app that has never been published has nothing to run them in.

Step 2. Type the command

Open your app and go to the Tasks page. Type the command under Run a command, the way you would in a terminal. The buttons under the box fill in common commands for your framework.

To do this	Run this
Apply Django database changes	`python manage.py migrate`
Create a Django admin user	`python manage.py createsuperuser --noinput --username admin --email you@example.com`
Apply Flask-Migrate database changes	`flask db upgrade`
Run a script from your project	`python scripts/fix_prices.py`
List the files your app has saved	`ls -la /app/data`
See installed packages	`pip list`

Step 3. Pick a time limit and press Run

Choose how long the command may run: 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes or 1 hour. Cloudilio stops the command when the time is up. Then press Run. The page shows a spinner and updates by itself when the command finishes.

Step 4. Read the result

You see everything the command printed, how long it took and one of three results.

Finished means the command ended normally.
Failed means the command reported an error. The page shows its exit code, and the output usually says what went wrong.
Stopped means it ran out of time. You still see what it printed before that.

Each app keeps its last 20 commands. Open Earlier commands to read any of them again, with the time and the person who ran it.

How commands run

Beside your app. Each command runs in a temporary copy of your app. Your website keeps running while it works.
With your app's settings. The command gets the same code, packages, secrets and memory limit as your app.
On your real data. The command reads and writes the same data folder, /app/data. Create a backup on the Data & backups page before a command that changes or deletes data.
Only the data folder keeps changes. Files written anywhere else disappear when the command ends.
One at a time. An app runs one command at a time. Wait for it to finish before you start the next.
Owners and developers only. People with view-only access can't run commands.

Commands can't ask questions

A command has no keyboard attached, so it can't wait for you to type an answer. Pass every answer as an option or a secret. For Django, add --noinput.

To create a Django admin user, add a secret named DJANGO_SUPERUSER_PASSWORD on the Secrets page. Then run this command, and delete the secret afterwards.

CREATE AN ADMIN USER

python manage.py createsuperuser --noinput --username admin --email you@example.com

Run two commands in a row

The box runs one program. Shell symbols such as &&, | and > don't work by themselves. To use them, give the whole line to a shell.

TWO COMMANDS

sh -c "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py clearsessions"

Which tool to use

Tool	When it runs	Where to find it
Run a command	Once, when you press Run	Tasks page
Run before each publish	Every publish, before the new version goes live	Overview page, Advanced settings
Scheduled task	On a timetable	Tasks page
Background worker	All the time	Tasks page

Fix common problems

"Publish the app first"

Publish your app once. After that, the box works.

"A command is still running"

Wait for the current command to finish or reach its time limit. Then run the next one.

"That command has a quote that is never closed"

Every " or ' needs a partner. Check the command for a missing quote.

The command stops with an error about input, or runs until its time limit

It is waiting for an answer nobody can type. Add the option that skips questions, such as --noinput or --yes.

"No such file or directory"

The command runs in your project's main folder. Give paths from there, such as python scripts/fix_prices.py. Use ls to see what is in the folder.

The command was force-stopped with exit code 137

It used more memory than your plan allows. Process records in smaller batches, or move to a plan with more memory.

Our post How to Run One-Off Commands in a Deployed Python App has more examples and six habits for working safely on live data.