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Operations for users

This page covers the client-side operational tasks an end user or support engineer may perform on a machine running Aether CLI.

Use it when the runtime is already active or when you already know which command family you need.

If the failure mode is still unclear, start with Troubleshooting before you dive into these command families.

Logs​

Use the CLI log commands and log-level settings to inspect client behavior.

Relevant settings:

  • AFS_AETHER_LOG / log_level
  • AFS_AETHER_LOG_FORMAT / [logging].format

Common patterns:

aether logs --help
aether logs tail

aether logs tail reads from the resolved log file path. If the runtime is logging to stdout/stderr instead, tailing is unavailable and you should inspect the process output directly.

Use json log format when another tool will ingest the output.

Metrics​

Aether CLI can expose client metrics.

Relevant setting:

  • AFS_AETHER_CLIENT_METRICS_ADDR / metrics_addr

Common commands:

aether metrics show
aether metrics --help

aether metrics show prints the resolved metrics endpoint and scrape URL.

If metrics are enabled, prefer binding to a local interface unless you intentionally want broader network visibility.

Cache management​

Aether CLI maintains client-side cache state and can also participate in shared cache layouts depending on your configuration.

Relevant settings:

  • AFS_AETHER_CACHE_DIR / cache_dir
  • AFS_AETHER_CACHE_SHARED_ROOT / shared_cache_root

Useful commands:

aether cache --help
aether cache hosts --help

Use dedicated cache roots for automation, CI, or shared machines so cleanup and ownership remain clear.

Journals, tracing, and debug commands​

The CLI also exposes advanced operational families such as:

  • aether journal
  • aether trace
  • aether debug
  • aether wal
  • aether transport
  • aether fuse

These commands are valuable for support and diagnosis, but you should still treat them as client-side tooling, not as documentation of server internals.

For a sharper escalation path that combines these commands with concrete failure-mode guidance, see Validation and runbooks.

Support handoff​

Use Troubleshooting as the authoritative first-pass checklist for support capture.

Come back to this page when you need the command-family context behind that capture, or continue with Validation and runbooks when the issue needs deeper escalation.