Running cf push sub-step commands

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The Cloud Foundry Command Line Interface (cf CLI) includes commands that provide detailed control over app pushes. When you use these commands, you can follow only some steps of the cf push procedure or you can perform specific actions between the steps that are normally part of running cf push.

Here are some example use cases for the sub-step commands:

  • Updating a third-party system before staging an app
  • Retrying failed stagings without incurring downtime
  • Calling external services to report audit data during push
  • Scanning a droplet before deploy
  • Integrating with a change request system

To support these custom push workflows, Cloud Foundry divides apps into smaller building blocks.

The following table describes the building blocks as resources and lists the command associated with each one.

For information about using these commands, see Example workflows.

Important The cf CLI v6 commands described in this topic are experimental and unsupported, but are supported in cf CLI v7. The latest supported cf CLI release is cf CLI v8. To upgrade to cf CLI v7, see Upgrading to cf CLI v7. To upgrade to cf CLI v8, see Upgrading to cf CLI v8.

Resource Description Command
App The top-level resource that represents an app and its configuration.
For more information, see Apps in the CAPI documentation.
  • cf CLI v6:
    cf v3-create-app
  • cf CLI v7:
    cf create-app
Package The source code that makes up an app.
For more information, see Packages in the CAPI documentation.
  • cf CLI v6:
    cf v3-create-package
  • cf CLI v7:
    cf create-package
Build Staging the app. Creating a build combines a Package with a Buildpack and builds it into an executable resource.
For more information, see Builds in the CAPI documentation.
  • cf CLI v6:
    cf v3-stage
  • cf CLI v7:
    cf stage-package
Droplet An executable resource that results from a Build.
For more information, see Droplet in the CAPI documentation.
  • cf CLI v6:
    cf v3-set-droplet
  • cf CLI v7:
    cf set-droplet
Manifest A file used when pushing your app to apply bulk configuration to an app and its underlying processes.
For more information, see Space Manifest in the CAPI documentation.
  • cf CLI v6:
    cf v3-apply-manifest
  • cf CLI v7:
    cf create-app-manifest, cf apply-manifest

Example workflows

The following sections describe example workflows for working with the cf push sub-step commands.

Push an app using sub-step commands

This example workflow describes how to push an app using sub-step commands instead of cf push.

  1. Create your app with cf CLI:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf create-app APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name you give your app.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-create-app APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name you give your app.

  2. From your app directory, create a package for your app.

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf create-package APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-create-package APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

  3. Locate and copy the package guid from the output of an earlier step. See the following example output:

    Uploading and creating bits package for app APP-NAME in org test / space test as admin...
     package guid: 0dfca85a-8ed4-4f00-90d0-3ab08852dba8
     OK
    
  4. Stage the package you created:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf stage-package APP-NAME --package-guid PACKAGE-GUID
      

      Where:

      • APP-NAME is the name of your app.
      • PACKAGE-GUID is the package GUID you recorded in an earlier step.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-stage APP-NAME --package-guid PACKAGE-GUID
      

      Where:

      • APP-NAME is the name of your app.
      • PACKAGE-GUID is the package GUID you recorded in an earlier step.

  5. Locate and copy the droplet guid from the output of an earlier step. See the following example output:

    Staging package for APP-NAME in org test / space test as admin...
    ...
    Package staged
     droplet guid: f60d3464-415a-4202-9d40-26a70373a487
     state: staged
     created: Mon 25 Sep 16:37:45 PDT 2018
    
  6. Assign the droplet to your app:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf set-droplet APP-NAME -d DROPLET-GUID
      

      Where:

      • APP-NAME is the name of your app.
      • DROPLET-GUID is the droplet GUID you recorded in an earlier step.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-set-droplet APP-NAME -d DROPLET-GUID
      

      Where:

      • APP-NAME is the name of your app.
      • DROPLET-GUID is the droplet GUID you recorded in an earlier step.

  7. Start your app:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf start APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-start APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

Roll back to a previous droplet

This example workflow describes how to roll back to a previous droplet used by your app. You might want to use this, for example, if you update your app and it has a bug that causes it to fail.

  1. List the droplets for your app:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf droplets APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-droplets APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

  2. In the output, locate and copy the second-to-last GUID.

    In the following example, this is 66524145-5502-40e6-b782-47fe68e13c49.

    Listing droplets of app APP-NAME in org test / space test as admin...
    
    guid state created
        66524145-5502-40e6-b782-47fe68e13c49 staged Mon 25 Sep 16:37:34 PDT 2018
        0677ad93-9f77-4aaa-9a6b-44da022dcd58 staged Mon 25 Sep 16:44:55 PDT 2018
    
  3. Stop your app:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf stop APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

    • If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

      cf v3-stop APP-NAME
      

      Where APP-NAME is the name of your app.

  4. Set the app to use the previous droplet:

    • If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

      cf set-droplet APP-NAME -d PREVIOUS-DROPLET-GUID
      

      Where:

      • APP-NAME is the name of your app.
      • PREVIOUS-DROPLET-GUID is the droplet GUID you recorded in an earlier step.

* If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

    ```
    cf v3-set-droplet APP-NAME -d PREVIOUS-DROPLET-GUID
    ```

    Where:
    <ul>
      <li><code>APP-NAME</code> is the name of your app.</li>
      <li><code>PREVIOUS-DROPLET-GUID</code> is the droplet GUID you recorded in an earlier step.</li>
    </ul>
  1. Start your app:
* If you are using cf CLI v7, run:

    ```
    cf start APP-NAME
    ```

    Where `APP-NAME` is the name of your app.

* If you are using cf CLI v6, run:

    ```
    cf v3-start APP-NAME
    ```

    Where `APP-NAME` is the name of your app.
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