Installing doctl CLI | DigitalOcean Deployment

What is doctl?

doctl is DigitalOcean's official command-line interface:

bash
# Create a Droplet
doctl compute droplet create myserver --image ubuntu-22-04-x64 --size s-1vcpu-1gb

# Deploy an app
doctl apps create --spec app.yaml

# Manage databases
doctl databases create mydb --engine pg

Why Use doctl?

Automation - Script your infrastructure
Speed - Faster than the web UI
CI/CD - Integrate with pipelines
Consistency - Same commands everywhere

Installation

Authentication

Step 1: Get Your API Token

Go to cloud.digitalocean.com/account/api/tokens
Click Generate New Token
Name it (e.g., "CLI Access")
Select Read and Write
Copy the token

Step 2: Authenticate

bash
doctl auth init

Paste your API token when prompted.

Verify Authentication

bash
# Check account
doctl account get

# Output:
# Email             Droplet Limit    Email Verified    UUID    Status
# [email protected]   25               true              xxx     active

Using Environment Variable

bash
# Set in your shell profile
export DIGITALOCEAN_ACCESS_TOKEN="your-token-here"

# Or pass directly
doctl compute droplet list --access-token "your-token"

Multiple Contexts

Manage multiple accounts:

bash
# Add a context
doctl auth init --context work
doctl auth init --context personal

# List contexts
doctl auth list

# Switch context
doctl auth switch --context work

Output Formats

bash
# Table format (default)
doctl compute droplet list

# JSON format
doctl compute droplet list --output json

# Text format (for scripting)
doctl compute droplet list --format "ID,Name,PublicIPv4" --no-header

Common Commands

Account

bash
doctl account get                    # Account info
doctl account ratelimit              # API rate limits
doctl balance get                    # Current balance

Droplets (Virtual Machines)

bash
doctl compute droplet list           # List Droplets
doctl compute droplet create         # Create Droplet
doctl compute droplet delete ID      # Delete Droplet
doctl compute droplet-action         # Power on/off, reboot

App Platform

bash
doctl apps list                      # List apps
doctl apps create --spec app.yaml    # Create app
doctl apps update APP_ID --spec      # Update app
doctl apps create-deployment APP_ID  # Trigger deploy
doctl apps logs APP_ID               # View logs

Databases

bash
doctl databases list                 # List databases
doctl databases create               # Create database
doctl databases connection DB_ID     # Get connection string

Networking

bash
doctl compute domain list            # List domains
doctl compute domain create          # Add domain
doctl compute firewall list          # List firewalls
doctl compute load-balancer list     # List load balancers

SSH Keys

bash
doctl compute ssh-key list           # List SSH keys
doctl compute ssh-key create         # Add SSH key
doctl compute ssh ID                 # SSH into Droplet

Droplet Management

Create Droplet

bash
# Basic Droplet
doctl compute droplet create myserver \
  --image ubuntu-22-04-x64 \
  --size s-1vcpu-1gb \
  --region nyc1

# With SSH key
doctl compute droplet create myserver \
  --image ubuntu-22-04-x64 \
  --size s-1vcpu-1gb \
  --region nyc1 \
  --ssh-keys $(doctl compute ssh-key list --format ID --no-header | head -1)

# With user data script
doctl compute droplet create myserver \
  --image ubuntu-22-04-x64 \
  --size s-1vcpu-1gb \
  --region nyc1 \
  --user-data-file ./startup.sh

Available Images

bash
# List available images
doctl compute image list --public

# Common images:
# ubuntu-22-04-x64
# ubuntu-24-04-x64
# debian-12-x64
# centos-stream-9-x64
# docker-20-04

Available Sizes

bash
# List sizes
doctl compute size list

# Common sizes:
# s-1vcpu-512mb-10gb  - $4/mo
# s-1vcpu-1gb         - $6/mo
# s-1vcpu-2gb         - $12/mo
# s-2vcpu-2gb         - $18/mo
# s-2vcpu-4gb         - $24/mo

SSH into Droplet

bash
# SSH by Droplet ID
doctl compute ssh DROPLET_ID

# SSH by name
doctl compute ssh myserver

Droplet Actions

bash
# Power off
doctl compute droplet-action power-off DROPLET_ID

# Power on
doctl compute droplet-action power-on DROPLET_ID

# Reboot
doctl compute droplet-action reboot DROPLET_ID

# Resize
doctl compute droplet-action resize DROPLET_ID --size s-2vcpu-2gb

# Snapshot
doctl compute droplet-action snapshot DROPLET_ID --snapshot-name "backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

App Platform Commands

Create App from Spec

bash
doctl apps create --spec .do/app.yaml

List Apps

bash
doctl apps list

Get App Details

bash
doctl apps get APP_ID

Trigger Deployment

bash
doctl apps create-deployment APP_ID

View Logs

bash
# Real-time logs
doctl apps logs APP_ID --follow

# Build logs
doctl apps logs APP_ID --type BUILD

# Deploy logs
doctl apps logs APP_ID --type DEPLOY

Update App Spec

bash
doctl apps update APP_ID --spec .do/app.yaml

Database Commands

Create Database

bash
# PostgreSQL
doctl databases create mydb \
  --engine pg \
  --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb \
  --region nyc1 \
  --num-nodes 1

# MySQL
doctl databases create mydb \
  --engine mysql \
  --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb

# Redis
doctl databases create myredis \
  --engine redis \
  --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb

Get Connection Info

bash
doctl databases connection DB_ID

# Output includes:
# - Host
# - Port
# - User
# - Password
# - Database name
# - Connection URI

Manage Users

bash
# Create user
doctl databases user create DB_ID myuser

# List users
doctl databases user list DB_ID

Scripting Examples

Create Complete Stack

bash
#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Configuration
PROJECT_NAME="myapp"
REGION="nyc1"

# Create database
echo "Creating database..."
DB_ID=$(doctl databases create ${PROJECT_NAME}-db \
  --engine pg \
  --size db-s-1vcpu-1gb \
  --region $REGION \
  --output json | jq -r '.[0].id')

echo "Database ID: $DB_ID"

# Wait for database to be ready
echo "Waiting for database..."
while true; do
  STATUS=$(doctl databases get $DB_ID --format Status --no-header)
  if [ "$STATUS" = "online" ]; then
    break
  fi
  sleep 10
done

# Get connection string
CONNECTION_URI=$(doctl databases connection $DB_ID --format URI --no-header)
echo "Connection: $CONNECTION_URI"

# Create app with database
cat > app.yaml << EOF
name: $PROJECT_NAME
region: $REGION
services:
  - name: web
    github:
      repo: username/myapp
      branch: main
    envs:
      - key: DATABASE_URL
        value: "$CONNECTION_URI"
        type: SECRET
EOF

doctl apps create --spec app.yaml

echo "Stack created successfully!"

Backup All Droplets

bash
#!/bin/bash

# Get all Droplet IDs
DROPLETS=$(doctl compute droplet list --format ID --no-header)

for ID in $DROPLETS; do
  NAME=$(doctl compute droplet get $ID --format Name --no-header)
  SNAPSHOT_NAME="${NAME}-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)"

  echo "Creating snapshot: $SNAPSHOT_NAME"
  doctl compute droplet-action snapshot $ID --snapshot-name "$SNAPSHOT_NAME"
done

Shell Completion

bash
# Bash
doctl completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/doctl

# Zsh
doctl completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_doctl"

# Fish
doctl completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/doctl.fish

Troubleshooting

"Unable to authenticate"

bash
# Re-authenticate
doctl auth init

# Check token
doctl account get

"Rate limit exceeded"

bash
# Check rate limits
doctl account ratelimit

# Wait and retry, or use caching

"Command not found"

bash
# Check installation
which doctl

# Add to PATH
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/bin

Debug Mode

bash
# Enable verbose output
doctl --verbose compute droplet list

Note

Checkpoint: Run doctl account get to verify you're authenticated and connected to your DigitalOcean account.