generated: '2026-08-28'
method: searched
source: https://www.haproxy.com/documentation/haproxy-data-plane-api/reference/cli-reference/
provider: HAProxy
providerId: haproxy
description: >-
  HAProxy Technologies ships two first-party command-line surfaces, and neither is an API
  client in the usual sense. `dataplaneapi` is the server binary — it is configured
  entirely by flags at startup, 75 of them, and then serves the REST API. `haproxy` is the
  load balancer itself. There is no first-party CLI that CALLS the Data Plane API; the
  documented client is curl.
clis:
  - name: dataplaneapi
    role: server binary for the Data Plane API
    reference: https://www.haproxy.com/documentation/haproxy-data-plane-api/reference/cli-reference/
    source: https://github.com/haproxytech/dataplaneapi
    subcommands: []
    flag_count: 75
    install:
      - method: package
        detail: Bundled with HAProxy Enterprise and available in the HAProxy Technologies packages.
      - method: source
        detail: go install from https://github.com/haproxytech/dataplaneapi
      - method: container
        detail: Included in the haproxytech container images.
    flag_groups:
      - group: Core configuration
        flags:
          - flag: --config-file, -c
            description: Path to the HAProxy configuration file to manage.
          - flag: -f
            description: Path to the Data Plane API's own configuration file.
          - flag: --haproxy-bin, -b
            description: Path to the HAProxy binary.
      - group: Listening
        flags:
          - flag: --host
            description: IP address to listen on.
          - flag: --port
            description: Port for non-secure connections. Documented default 5555.
          - flag: --socket-path
            description: UNIX domain socket path to listen on.
          - flag: --tls-host
            description: IP address for TLS connections.
          - flag: --tls-port
            description: Port for secure connections.
      - group: TLS
        flags:
          - flag: --tls-certificate
            description: TLS certificate file.
          - flag: --tls-key
            description: TLS private key file.
          - flag: --tls-ca
            description: TLS certificate authority file.
      - group: Authentication
        flags:
          - flag: --userlist, -u
            description: Userlist used for HTTP Basic authentication.
          - flag: --userlist-file
            description: External userlist file.
      - group: Transactions and storage
        flags:
          - flag: --transaction-dir, -t
            description: >-
              Directory where open transactions are staged. This is where an uncommitted,
              still-reversible change set physically lives.
          - flag: --backups-dir
            description: Directory for configuration backup files.
          - flag: --maps-dir, -p
            description: Map files directory.
          - flag: --ssl-certs-dir
            description: SSL certificates directory.
          - flag: --spoe-dir
            description: SPOE directory.
          - flag: --dataplane-storage-dir
            description: Internal storage directory.
      - group: Reload and restart
        flags:
          - flag: --reload-cmd, -r
            description: Command used to reload HAProxy.
          - flag: --restart-cmd, -s
            description: Command used to restart HAProxy.
          - flag: --reload-delay, -d
            description: >-
              Minimum delay between reloads. This is the delay the force_reload query
              parameter bypasses.
          - flag: --reload-strategy
            description: systemd, s6 or custom.
          - flag: --validate-cmd
            description: Custom configuration validation command.
      - group: Timeouts
        flags:
          - flag: --read-timeout
          - flag: --write-timeout
          - flag: --keep-alive
          - flag: --cleanup-timeout
          - flag: --graceful-timeout
      - group: Logging
        flags:
          - flag: --log-level
            description: trace, debug, info, warning or error.
          - flag: --log-format
            description: text or JSON.
          - flag: --log-to
            description: stdout, file or syslog.
          - flag: --log-file
          - flag: --syslog-address
          - flag: --syslog-facility
          - flag: --syslog-level
          - flag: --syslog-protocol
          - flag: --syslog-tag
      - group: Process
        flags:
          - flag: --uid
          - flag: --gid
          - flag: --pid-file
          - flag: --master-runtime, -m
            description: Master Runtime API socket.
      - group: Utility
        flags:
          - flag: --help, -h
          - flag: --version, -v
          - flag: --show-system-info, -i
            description: Display system information on the info endpoint.
  - name: haproxy
    role: the load balancer binary itself
    reference: https://docs.haproxy.org/
    source: https://github.com/haproxy/haproxy
    note: >-
      Not an API client. Included because the Runtime API is reached through the socket
      this binary opens, and because `haproxy -c` is the configuration check the Data Plane
      API's --validate-cmd wraps.
api_client:
  first_party: false
  documented_client: curl
  detail: >-
    Every example in the Data Plane API tutorials uses curl with --user for Basic auth.
    There is no first-party `haproxyctl`-style CLI that speaks to the REST API.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com