Install the VAST DataEngine CLI tools

ℹ️ Info

Outcome: The vastde CLI is installed, authenticated, and able to query the VAST DataEngine environment.

Before you begin: Enable DataEngine on the tenant, install Docker, and have the tenant user’s temporary password available.

Previous: Connect DataEngine to the Kubernetes Cluster and Registry  |  Next: Run a “Hello World” Pipeline

Sign in to DataEngine and change the temporary password

ℹ️ Info

You must log into the GUI with your user and change the password prior to proceeding. You also must have an S3 key created in the tenant in order to use vastde cli.

1. Browse to your Tenant Dashboard https://<vms-ip>/#/login/<tenant name> (for example https://10.143.12.206/#/login/de-lab-tenant)

2. Sign in with the DataEngine username and temporary password from your lab worksheet

3. Change the temporary password to a unique password that meets your organization’s policy

4. Choose “Save Password”

The DataEngine Tenant Dashboard will appear

ℹ️ Info

It may show “failure” when the page loads. Simply refresh and you should see the blank screen below.

Create S3 access keys

If you have not created an S3 access key for this user or if you need additional access keys:

Go to the User Menu in the upper right of the page.

Choose “Manage Access Keys”

Choose “Generate Another Key”.

• Copy the Access and Secret Keys and store them in a safe place.

Choose “Done” to return to the DataEngine Dashboard.

Configure Docker

ℹ️ Info

Before you Proceed you will need Docker Desktop (Mac/PC) or docker.io (linux) installed. This guide does not cover that step. Podman is not currently supported.

Edit your docker daemon.json to set the min-api-version and to trust the insecure registry (if you have been following this series of guides)

For Mac with Docker Desktop

Go to Settings-> Docker Engine

{
  "min-api-version": "1.24",
  "builder": {
    "gc": {
      "defaultKeepStorage": "20GB",
      "enabled": true
    }
  },
  "experimental": false,
  "insecure-registries": [
    "10.144.19.8:5000"
  ]
}

For Linux with docker.io

mkdir -p /etc/docker

sudo tee /etc/docker/daemon.json >/dev/null <<'EOF'
{
  "min-api-version": "1.24",
  "features": {
    "containerd-snapshotter": false
  },
  "storage-driver": "overlay2",
  "builder": {
    "gc": {
      "defaultKeepStorage": "20GB",
      "enabled": true
    }
  },
  "experimental": false,
  "insecure-registries": [
    "10.144.10.6:5000"
  ]
}
EOF

dockerd --validate --config-file=/etc/docker/daemon.json

sudo systemctl restart docker
sudo systemctl status docker --no-pager

sudo docker info | grep -A3 'Storage Driver'
sudo docker info | grep -A5 'Insecure Registries'

Installing the Vast DataEngine CLI on your laptop or a development machine

vastde is a command-line tool for building serverless functions for the VAST DataEngine.

Download and Install

Download the vastde binary for your platform from the releases page, or use the instructions below.

macOS (Apple Silicon)

cd ~
curl -fsSL -o release_darwin_arm64.tar.gz https://github.com/vast-data/dataengine-cli/releases/download/v5.5.0-sp2/release_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzvf release_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
cd release_darwin_arm64/
chmod +x vastde_darwin_arm64
sudo mv vastde_darwin_arm64 /usr/local/bin/vastde

Linux (x86_64)

cd ~
curl -fsSL -o release_linux_amd64.tar.gz https://github.com/vast-data/dataengine-cli/releases/download/v5.5.0-sp2/release_linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzvf release_linux_amd64.tar.gz
cd release_linux_amd64/
chmod +x vastde_linux_amd64
sudo mv vastde_linux_amd64 /usr/local/bin/vastde

Linux (ARM64), macOS (Intel), and Windows x86_64 versions are also available.

Verify Installation

Make note of the version of vastde

vastde version

Example Output

Cannot read config file: /Users/<username>/.vast/config.toml
Call 'vastde config init' to create a new config file
v5.4.3-sp4-hf21

Configure the client to connect to your VAST Cluster

Initialize the configuration

vastde config init

Example Output

Cannot read config file: /Users/<username>/.vast/config.toml
Call 'vastde config init' to create a new config file
Created config file: /Users/<username>/.vast/config.toml
Configuration updated successfully!

Point the client to your VAST Cluster

Use the Vast VMS address for --vms-url

 vastde config set --vms-url https://10.143.12.206

Expected Output

Configuration updated successfully!

Set up Authentication Credentials

We will utilize the user we created earlier

U: de-lab-user

P: <dataengine-user-password> (remember the password was changed at login)

vastde config set --username de-lab-user --password <dataengine-user-password> --tenant de-lab-tenant

Expected Output

Configuration updated successfully!

Set up the Vast Builder Image URL

1. Go to https://hub.docker.com/r/vastdataorg/vast-builder/tags

2. find the image that matches your vastde version (for example vastdataorg/vast-builder:v5.4.3-sp4-hf21)

vastde config set --builder-image-url vastdataorg/vast-builder:v5.4.3-sp4-hf21

Expected Output

Configuration updated successfully!

Test the configuration

1. View the config

vastde config view

Example Output

Tenant Name: de-lab-tenant
Username: de-lab-user
Password: ***
Builder Image URL: vastdataorg/vast-builder:v5.4.3-sp4-hf21
VMS URL: https://10.143.12.206

1. Run a query with vastde

vastde compute-clusters list

Example Output

Compute Cluster     Description                          GUID                                    Updated at
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
de-lab-rke2         None                                 45de65fb-1f32-4e09-87a4-077c4e6ef979    2026-08-12 17:33

Verification

The CLI is ready when vastde version returns the installed version and vastde compute-clusters list returns the connected cluster.