.nornir/cli-thin-client-for-idiots.md · nordisk/nornir

nornir CLI thin client — for idiots

Copy-paste recipes for driving nornir against a running server. The full design is in cli-client-modes.md. One rule to remember:

--server = talk to the server (thin). No --server = read local files (fat).

1. Talk to a server (thin client)

nornir repos --server http://oden:7878 --token <TOK>

Bare host:port is fine too: --server oden:7878 (it adds http://).
No --token? It uses $NORNIR_SERVER_TOKEN, then ~/.nornir/token. So often:

nornir repos --server oden:7878         # token read from ~/.nornir/token

Flags go anywhere — both of these work:

nornir test run nornir --server oden:7878 --token <TOK>
nornir --server oden:7878 --token <TOK> test run nornir

2. Pick the workspace

A server hosts many workspaces (holger, nordisk, korp, …). Three ways to say which one — the name is the bit after workspace_ (workspace_nordisk → nordisk):

# a) stand in the workspace dir — auto-detected:
cd /…/git/workspace_nordisk && nornir repos --server oden:7878

# b) name it explicitly from anywhere:
nornir repos --server oden:7878 --workspace nordisk

# c) set it once for your shell:
export NORNIR_WORKSPACE=nordisk

Forget to pick one?

In a terminal → you get a numbered menu: type 2 (or the name).
In a script/pipe → you get an error that lists the served workspaces, so the script fails fast instead of hanging.

Typo a name? The error tells you the real ones:

workspace `nordsk` is not served
  workspaces served by http://oden:7878: holger, knut, korp, njord, nordisk, skade, znippy
  → pass --workspace <name>, or cd into a workspace_<name>/ dir

3. Read local files instead (fat / embedded)

Just drop --server (and don't set $NORNIR_SERVER):

cd /…/git/workspace_holger
nornir repos          # reads the local ~/.nornir warehouse directly, no server

Use this offline or when no server is running. Don't run it against a warehouse a server is actively using.

4. See which workspaces exist on a server

nornir workspace ls --server oden:7878 --token <TOK>

Gotchas

"workspace git is not served" used to happen — that bug is fixed; the client now sends the real workspace_<name> suffix.
The viz uses the same rule and the same server — nornir viz --server … and the CLI agree on the workspace.