towbar command manages the control plane installed on a Towbar host. It selects the active release, loads /etc/towbar/towbar.env, and supplies the correct Compose project, images, and release metadata for each operation.
The installer places the executable at /usr/local/bin/towbar. Run host-changing and Docker commands with sudo. Read-only commands that do not access Docker or protected files work without it.
Show CLI help
Install and upgrade
Install the bundled release or move to a reviewed stable release.
Configuration and restart
Find and validate the environment file, then apply a valid change safely.
Diagnostics and logs
Inspect versions, services, logs, access, certificates, and host health.
Advanced service access
Pass commands to the installation’s Docker Compose project or a service
container.
Command reference
towbar update [VERSION] is an alias for towbar upgrade [VERSION]. towbar -h and towbar --help are aliases for towbar help; towbar -v and towbar --version are aliases for towbar version. Running towbar without a command also prints help.
How commands find the installation
The CLI uses these installation-owned paths:
The CLI reads release metadata before invoking Docker Compose. It does not depend on the shell’s current directory, so the commands can be run from any directory on the control-plane host.
The CLI manages the Towbar control plane. Application deployments, resource
operations, backups, and server preparation are requested from the dashboard,
REST API, or MCP rather than from this host CLI.
Exit status and automation
A successful command exits with status0. Invalid arguments, failed validation, unhealthy services, installation problems, or a failed diagnostic check return a nonzero status. towbar doctor still exits successfully when it finds warnings but no failures.
Set NO_COLOR=1 when capturing output in automation:
Capture a plain-text health report
install, upgrade, and restart acquire the Towbar operation lock and stop if another protected operation is active.