Troubleshooting Acquia CLI

Use when:

• Diagnosing acli authentication failures
• Resolving command errors or unexpected output
• Collecting information before contacting support

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General Issues

"Command not found: acli"

Cause: The binary isn't in your system PATH.

Solutions:

# Check if it's installed
which acli

# If nothing, add to PATH
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

# Test
acli --version

# Make permanent (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

"Permission denied" when running acli

Cause: The binary isn't executable.

Solution:

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/acli
acli --version

"acli: command not found" after updating

Cause: Update didn't complete or PATH changed.

Solution:

# Reinstall
curl -fsSL https://github.com/acquia/cli/releases/latest/download/acli \
  -o /usr/local/bin/acli
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/acli

# Verify
acli --version

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Authentication Issues

"Error: Failed to authenticate"

Cause: Your authentication token expired or isn't valid.

Solution:

# Re-authenticate
acli auth:login

# This opens your browser to authorize again

"Error: Access Denied"

Cause: Your account doesn't have permission to access the resource.

Solutions:

1. Check you're logged in with the right account:

   acli auth:me
   

2. Verify you have access in Acquia Cloud UI:

   • Go to https://cloud.acquia.com
   • Check if you can see the application or resource

3. Log out and back in:

   acli auth:logout
   acli auth:login
   

"Invalid JSON in credentials.json"

Cause: Credentials file is corrupted.

Solution:

# Remove the corrupted file
rm -rf ~/.acquia/cloud_api/

# Re-authenticate
acli auth:login

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IDE Issues

IDE won't start

Symptoms: IDE shows "Starting..." indefinitely or won't load.

Solutions:

1. Try restarting IDE services:

   acli ide:service-stop
   acli ide:service-start
   

2. Check IDE status:

   acli ide:info
   

3. Wait if newly created: New IDEs take 2-3 minutes to start. Check again in a minute.

4. Try creating a new IDE:

   acli ide:create
   

IDE is very slow

Causes: Hibernation waking, stuck processes, or resource limits

Solutions:

1. Wait if waking from hibernation: IDEs waking take 30-60 seconds. Be patient.

2. Clear Drupal caches:

   acli remote:drush cr
   

3. Restart IDE:

   acli ide:service-restart
   

4. Create a fresh IDE:

   acli ide:create --label "Fresh IDE"
   

"Access Denied" when opening IDE

Cause: Your SSH key isn't set up.

Solution:

# Create an SSH key
acli ssh-key:create

# Try accessing IDE again
acli ide:open

IDE appears deleted but still exists

Cause: The IDE is hibernated or the listing is cached.

Solution:

# Clear cache and list again
acli self:clear-caches
acli ide:list

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SSH Key Issues

"Permission denied (publickey)"

Cause: SSH key isn't set up or not used correctly.

Solutions:

1. Verify SSH key exists:

   ls -la ~/.ssh/id_rsa
   

2. If not, create one:

   acli ssh-key:create
   

3. Check permissions (must be 600):

   chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
   

4. Verify key is added to Acquia account:

   acli ssh-key:list
   

"SSH key not found when creating IDE"

Cause: IDE creation requires an SSH key for secure access.

Solution:

# Create SSH key first
acli ssh-key:create

# Then create IDE
acli ide:create

"Multiple SSH keys - which one to use?"

Solution:

Add to ~/.ssh/config:

Host ide-*.ides.acquia.com
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/my_custom_key

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Application & Environment Issues

"No applications found"

Cause: You don't have access to any applications yet.

Solutions:

1. Check if you're in a team:

   acli auth:me
   

2. Ask your team admin to add you to an application

"Error: Application not found"

Cause: Wrong application UUID or no access.

Solutions:

1. List applications to find the right one:

   acli api:applications:list
   

2. Use the correct application:

   acli ide:create --application=<correct-uuid>
   

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Command Execution Issues

"Error: Drush command failed"

Cause: Drush error in your Drupal site.

Solutions:

1. Check Drush output for details:

   acli remote:drush status
   

2. Clear caches:

   acli remote:drush cr
   

"Error: Could not connect to remote server"

Cause: Network connectivity or SSH key issue.

Solutions:

1. Check SSH key setup:

   acli ssh-key:list
   

2. Try verbose output for details:

   acli -vvv <command>
   

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Performance Issues

Commands taking too long

Solutions:

1. Try again (might be temporary)

2. Check internet connection:

   ping acquia.com
   

3. Try with shorter timeout:

   acli <command> --no-wait
   

Cache causing stale data

Cause: CLI caches API responses.

Solutions:

# Clear cache
acli self:clear-caches   # aliases: acli cc, acli cr

# Try the command again
acli <command>

# Or run with --no-cache if supported
acli <command> --no-cache

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Getting Help

Check your acli version

acli --version

Enable debug output

# Run any command with verbose output
acli -vvv <command>

# Save to a log file
acli -vvv <command> > debug.log 2>&1

View all help

# General help
acli --help

# List all commands
acli list

# Help for a specific command
acli <command> --help

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Getting Help from Support

Before contacting support, gather info

# Your version
acli --version

# Your account info
acli auth:me

# Your applications
acli api:applications:list

# Your IDEs
acli ide:list

# Your SSH keys
acli ssh-key:list

# Debug output of the problem command
acli -vvv <command> 2>&1 | tee debug.log

Contact Acquia Support

• Support Portal: https://acquia.my.site.com/s/
• GitHub Issues: https://github.com/acquia/cli/issues
• Discussions: https://github.com/acquia/cli/discussions

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Common Error Messages

Error	Meaning	Solution
"Error: Access Denied"	You don't have permission	Check account access, team membership
"Command not found"	Binary not in PATH	Check installation, verify PATH
"Failed to authenticate"	Token expired or invalid	Re-run acli auth:login
"SSH Key not found"	IDE needs SSH key	Create key with acli ssh-key:create
"IDE not starting"	IDE provisioning slow or failed	Wait 2-3 min, restart, or create new
"Permission denied (publickey)"	SSH key issue	Verify key setup: acli ssh-key:list
"No applications found"	No team access	Ask admin to add you to team

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Advanced Troubleshooting

Check API responses

# See what the API is returning
acli -vvv <command> 2>&1 | grep -A 5 "Response:"

Reset all configuration

# CAUTION: This clears everything
rm -rf ~/.acquia

# Re-authenticate
acli auth:login

Best Practices

1. Stay updated — Run acli self:update regularly; many errors are fixed in newer versions.
2. Check authentication first — Run acli auth:me before blaming other commands.
3. Use verbose mode — Add -vvv to any failing command to see detailed error output.

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Still stuck? Contact Acquia Support