An argsfile (Command Line Arguments File) is a simple text file which contains defaults for command-line arguments. You can use an args file to contain a set of global defaults that you want to use by default and automatically.
A command, --argsfile <path> is used to specify an args file. You can use it like an instant
import statement in the middle of a command line. There are three variants of this option.
The --argsfile <path> variant will warn you if the file doesn't exist. If you want to load an
argsfile if it exist, but avoid warnings if it doesn't, then use the --argsfile-optional <path>
form. If you want to throw an error if the argsfile doesn't exist, then use
the --argsfile-required <path> form.
Default argsfile
The default args file location is $NBSTATEDIR/argsfile. After the NBSTATEDIR environment variable or default is resolved, the default argsfile will be
searched for in that directory.
$NBSTATEDIR is a mechanism for setting and finding the local state directory for NoSQLBench. It is
a search path, delimited by colons, and allowing Java system properties and shell environment
variables. When the NBSTATEDIR location is first needed, the paths are checked in order, and the
first one found is used. If one is not found on the filesystem, the first expanded value is used to
create the state directory.
If the default argsfile is is present, it is loaded by nosqlbench when it starts even if you don't ask it to. That is, nosqlbench behaves as if your first set of command line arguments is
--argsfile-optional "$NBSTATEDIR/argsfile
Just as with the NBSTATEDIR location, the argsfile can also be used like a search path. That is, if the value provided is a colon-delimited set of possible paths, the first one found (after variable expansion) will be used. If needed, the first expanded path will be used to create an argsfile when pinning options are used.
Args file format
An args file simply contains an argument on each line, like this:
--docker-metrics
--annotate all
--grafana-baseurl http://localhost:3000/
Pinning
Pin an option
It is possible to pin an option to the default args file by use of the --pin meta-option. This
option will take the following command line argument and add it to the currently active args file.
That means, if you use --pin --docker-metrics, then --docker-metrics is added to the args file.
If there is an exact duplicate of the same option and value, then it is skipped, but if the option
name is the same with a different value, then it is added at the end. This allows for options which
may be called multiple times normally.
If the --pin option occurs after an explicit use of --argsfile <filename>, then the filename
used in this argument is the one that is modified.
After the --pin option, the following argument is taken as any global option (
--with-double-dashes) and any non-option values after it which are not commands (reserved words)
When the --pin option is used, it does not cause the pinned option to be excluded from the current
command line call. The effects of the pinned option will take place in the current nosqlbench
invocation just as they would without the --pin. However, when pinning global options when there
are no commands on the command line, nosqlbench will not run a scenario, so this form is suitable
for setting arguments.
Unpin an option
To reverse the effect of pinning an option, you simply use --unpin ....
The behavior of --unpin is slightly different than --pin. Specifically, an option which is unpinned will be removed from the arg list, and will not be used in the current invocation of nosqlbench after removal.
Further, you can specify --unpin --grafana-baseurl to unpin an option which normally has an
argument, and all instances of that argument will be removed. If you want to unpin a specific
instance of a multi-valued option, or one that can be specified more than once with different
parameter values, then you must provide the value as well, as
in --unpin --log-histograms 'histodata.log:.*:1m'
Example
To simply set global defaults, you can run nosqlbench with a command line like this:
./nb --pin --docker-metrics-at metricsnode --pin --annotate all
Compatibility
You should use the --pin and --unpin options to make any changes to the argsfile when integrating or automating workflows. This ensures that any changes to file format are handled for you by nb.