Altova FlowForce Server 2025 Advanced Edition

Command Line

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The FlowForce solution consists of two services: FlowForce Server and FlowForce Web Server. For each of these services, an executable is available that supports administrative commands that can be run at the command line. You can find both executables at the following path:

 

Linux

/opt/Altova/FlowForceServer2025/bin/

macOS

/usr/local/Altova/FlowForceServer2025/bin/

Windows

<ProgramFilesFolder>\Altova\FlowForceServer\bin\

 

The executable names are as follows:

 

Linux

flowforceserver

flowforcewebserver

macOS

flowforceserver

flowforcewebserver

Windows

FlowForceServer.exe

FlowForceWebServer.exe

 

Available commands

The command line interface (CLI) can be used for administration purposes (such as licensing, troubleshooting, and internal database backup). The commands supported by the CLI are listed below. The abbreviations FFS and FFW in the table below stand for FlowForce Server and FlowForce Web Server, respectively.

 

Note that before using some of the commands, you must shut down the FlowForce Server and FlowForce Web Server services (see details below).

 

Command

FFS

FFW

Services must be shut down

Description

help

Yes

Yes


Displays help for the command supplied as argument.

accepteula

Yes



Accepts end user license agreement for FlowForce Server.

assignlicense

Yes



This command is applicable to Windows platforms only. It can be used to upload and assign a license file to FlowForce Server.

compactdb

Yes


Yes

Reduces the size of FlowForce .db files if they contain deleted records.

createdb

Yes


Yes

Creates a new FlowForce database.

debug

Yes

Yes

Yes

Starts the application in debug mode.

exportresourcestrings

Yes

Yes


Exports all application resource strings to an XML file

foreground

Yes

Yes

Yes

Starts the application in foreground mode.

initdb

Yes


Yes

Creates or updates the FlowForce database.

install

Yes

Yes


Installs the application as a Windows service.

licenseserver

Yes



Registers FlowForce Server with the Altova LicenseServer on the local network.

migratedb

Yes


Yes

Migrates FlowForce Server data from a previous version to the latest version.

repair

Yes


Yes

Starts the application in repair mode.

resetpassword

Yes



Resets the password of the userroot user to the default value, and grants to the userroot user all privileges.

setdeflang | sdl

Yes

Yes


Sets the default language.

start

Yes

Yes


Starts the application as a service.

uninstall

Yes

Yes


Uninstalls the application as a Windows service.

upgradedb

Yes


Yes

Upgrades the FlowForce Server database to the latest version.

verifylicense

Yes



This command is applicable to Windows platforms only. It can be used to verify whether FlowForce Server is licensed, and, optionally, whether a given license key is already assigned to FlowForce Server.

 

Conventions

By convention, this documentation omits the full path of the executable when describing a given command, and uses flowforceserver instead of the executable name, for example:

 

flowforceserver help

 

Where flowforceserver is the path or name of the executable. Note that, if you use an absolute path, you will be able to run commands regardless of the current directory that your command prompt window (terminal) is in. However, if you would like to call the executable just by typing its name, make sure to do one of the following first:

 

Change the terminal's current directory to the FlowForce Server installation directory

Add the directory where the executable is to the PATH environment variable.

 
Both of these scenarios are described in more detail below.

 

Tips and tricks

If you are new to command line, be aware of the following tips and tricks.

 

To find out the current directory where you command line window is, enter pwd on Linux and macOS. On Windows, enter echo %CD%.

Make use of the Tab key to quickly enter various file or directory paths without having to type them in full. For example, if you type cd c:\prog at the command line, and then press Tab, you will get C:\Program Files automatically pre-filled (or perhaps some other directory under C:\ whose name begins with "Prog").

When entering paths that contain white space, such as C:\Program Files on Windows, enclose them within quotes.

If you see a message similar to "This command is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file", you have most likely mistyped a path or command.

On Linux, make sure that you use the correct case for file or directory names. For example, typing a path such as /home/nikita/downloads will return an error if the directory name is actually /home/nikita/Downloads.

When typing a path on Linux or macOS, use forward slashes, as opposed to back slashes on Windows.

 

How to run a command

1.Open a command prompt window.

 

a.To open a command prompt on Windows, press the Windows key and then start typing cmd. Click the Command Prompt suggestion that appears.

b.To open a terminal on Mac, click the Finder icon, and then select Go > Utilities from the menu. Double-click the Terminal icon in the Utilities window.

c.If you run Linux from a graphical user interface, locate and run the Terminal command as applicable to your Linux distribution. If you run Linux from a command line interface, ignore this step.

 

2.Enter the full path to the executable, followed by the command you want to run. For example, the command below provides help at the command line.

 

Linux

/opt/Altova/FlowForceServer2025/bin/flowforceserver help

macOS

/usr/local/Altova/FlowForceServer2025/bin/flowforceserver help

Windows

C:\Program Files (x86)\Altova\FlowForceServer2025\bin\FlowForceServer.exe help

 

In the example above, the command help was run without any options or arguments. Other commands may have arguments and options, and those arguments and options could be mandatory or optional. Check the reference section for details about each command.

 

Calling FlowForce Server in the installation directory

To call the executable without having to type the full path, change the current directory to the directory where the FlowForce Server executable was installed, for example:

 

Linux

cd /opt/Altova/FlowForceServer2025/bin

macOS

cd /usr/local/Altova/FlowForceServer2025/bin

Windows

cd C:\Program Files (x86)\Altova\FlowForceServer2025\bin

 

You can now run any command by typing just the executable name, for example:

 

Linux

./flowforceserver help

macOS

./flowforceserver help

Windows

FlowForceServer.exe help

 

Note:On Linux and macOS systems, the prefix ./ indicates that the executable is in the current directory.

 

Calling FlowForce Server from any directory

To call the executable from any directory, refer to it using the absolute path. Alternatively, if you want to call the program by typing just the executable name, you can edit the PATH environment variable of your operating system so that it includes the full path to the FlowForce Server installation directory. For ways to change the PATH environment variable, refer to the documentation of your operating system.

 

Note:After changing the PATH environment variable, you may need to close the terminal window and open a new one, in order for the changes to take effect.

 

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