Scripting & Automation with Acquia CLI

Use when:

• Automating acli commands in shell scripts
• Integrating acli into CI/CD pipelines
• Running acli non-interactively

Use acli in scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and automation workflows to manage Acquia Cloud resources programmatically.

Non-Interactive Commands

All acli commands can run non-interactively by providing options. This is essential for scripts and CI/CD.

Basic pattern

# Interactive - prompts for missing information
acli ide:create

# Non-interactive - provides all info upfront
acli ide:create \
  --application=abc123 \
  --label="Automated IDE"

Common options

# No prompts - fails if info is missing
acli <command> --no-interaction

# Don't wait for async operations
acli <command> --no-wait

# Skip confirmations
acli <command> --yes

Simple Automation Examples

Example 1: Deploy on schedule

#!/bin/bash
# deploy.sh - Deploy to staging nightly

BRANCH="develop"
ENVIRONMENT="staging"
ENV_ID="<environment-id>"

acli api:environments:code-switch $ENV_ID $BRANCH

# Verify Drupal status
acli remote:drush status

Run via cron:

# crontab -e
# Deploy every night at 2am
0 2 * * * /path/to/deploy.sh >> /tmp/deploy.log 2>&1

Example 2: Cache clearing workflow

#!/bin/bash
# cache-clear.sh - Clear caches across environments

set -e  # Exit on any error

acli remote:drush cr
echo "Caches cleared!"

CI/CD Integration

GitHub Actions

Deploy on push to main:

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy to Acquia

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Install acli
        run: |
          curl -fsSL https://github.com/acquia/cli/releases/latest/download/acli \
            -o /usr/local/bin/acli
          chmod +x /usr/local/bin/acli
      
      - name: Authenticate
        env:
          ACQUIA_KEY: ${{ secrets.ACQUIA_KEY }}
          ACQUIA_SECRET: ${{ secrets.ACQUIA_SECRET }}
        run: |
          mkdir -p ~/.acquia
          cat > ~/.acquia/credentials.json <<EOF
          {
            "acquia-cloud-api": {
              "key": "$ACQUIA_KEY",
              "secret": "$ACQUIA_SECRET"
            }
          }
          EOF
      
      - name: Deploy to production
        run: |
          acli api:environments:code-switch ${{ vars.ACQUIA_PROD_ENV_ID }} main

GitLab CI/CD

# .gitlab-ci.yml
deploy_production:
  stage: deploy
  image: ubuntu:latest
  before_script:
    - curl -fsSL https://github.com/acquia/cli/releases/latest/download/acli \
        -o /usr/local/bin/acli
    - chmod +x /usr/local/bin/acli
    - mkdir -p ~/.acquia
    - |
      cat > ~/.acquia/credentials.json <<EOF
      {
        "acquia-cloud-api": {
          "key": "$ACQUIA_KEY",
          "secret": "$ACQUIA_SECRET"
        }
      }
      EOF
  script:
    - acli api:environments:code-switch $ACQUIA_PROD_ENV_ID $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH
  only:
    - main

Error Handling

Check exit codes

#!/bin/bash

acli ide:create --application=abc123

if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "IDE created successfully"
else
    echo "IDE creation failed"
    exit 1
fi

Handle errors gracefully

#!/bin/bash
set -e  # Exit on first error

trap 'echo "Error occurred on line $LINENO"' ERR

acli api:environments:code-switch $ENV_ID main
echo "Deploy successful!"

Retry logic

#!/bin/bash

retry_count=0
max_retries=3

while [ $retry_count -lt $max_retries ]; do
    if acli remote:drush updatedb; then
        echo "Database updates completed"
        exit 0
    fi
    retry_count=$((retry_count + 1))
    if [ $retry_count -lt $max_retries ]; then
        echo "Attempt $retry_count failed. Retrying..."
        sleep 10
    fi
done

echo "Failed after $max_retries attempts"
exit 1

Logging & Monitoring

Log output

#!/bin/bash

LOGFILE="/var/log/acli-deploy.log"

{
    echo "=== Deploy started at $(date) ==="
    acli api:environments:code-switch $ENV_ID main
    echo "=== Deploy finished at $(date) ==="
} >> $LOGFILE 2>&1

Send notifications

#!/bin/bash

SLACK_WEBHOOK="$SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL"

send_slack() {
    curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK \
        -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
        -d "{
            \"text\": \"Acquia deployment: $1\",
            \"channel\": \"#deployments\"
        }"
}

if acli api:environments:code-switch $ENV_ID main; then
    send_slack "✓ Production deployment successful"
else
    send_slack "✗ Production deployment failed"
    exit 1
fi

Advanced: API Key Authentication

For automation on servers, use API keys instead of browser authentication.

Generate API credentials

In Acquia Cloud UI:

1. Go to Settings → API Tokens
2. Generate a new token
3. Copy the Key and Secret

Use with acli

# Method 1: Environment variables
export ACQUIA_KEY="your-key-here"
export ACQUIA_SECRET="your-secret-here"
acli api:applications:list

# Method 2: Credentials file
mkdir -p ~/.acquia
cat > ~/.acquia/credentials.json <<EOF
{
  "acquia-cloud-api": {
    "key": "your-key-here",
    "secret": "your-secret-here"
  }
}
EOF

acli api:applications:list

Secure credential management

# Option 1: AWS Secrets Manager
aws secretsmanager get-secret-value --secret-id acquia-cli-key

# Option 2: HashiCorp Vault
vault kv get secret/acquia/cli-key

# Option 3: GitHub Secrets (for Actions)
# Set ACQUIA_KEY and ACQUIA_SECRET as repository secrets

Best Practices

1. Use `--no-interaction` — Always pass this in scripts to prevent prompts from blocking the process.
2. Use `set -e` — Exit immediately on any error so failures don't silently continue.
3. Store credentials securely — Use environment variables or secrets managers, never hardcode.
4. Use `app:task-wait` — After async operations, wait for completion before the next step.

Troubleshooting

Authentication fails in CI

Set the ACLI_NO_INTERACTION environment variable and supply credentials explicitly:

export ACLI_NO_INTERACTION=1
export ACLI_KEY=your-api-key
export ACLI_SECRET=your-api-secret
acli api:applications:list

Command hangs waiting for input

Always pass --no-interaction in scripts:

acli ide:create --application=abc123 --label="CI IDE" --no-interaction

Exit code not propagated correctly

Use set -e at the top of your script:

#!/bin/bash
set -e
acli auth:login --no-interaction
acli api:environments:code-switch $ENV_ID main