CLI Reference

LakeXpress works in two steps:

1. Create a sync configuration with config create. It is stored in the LakeXpress DB.
2. Run it with sync, as often as needed.

The other commands manage the LakeXpress DB (lxdb), show run status (status) and remove stale runs (cleanup).

This section describes the syntax and options of each command. For complete, ready-to-run commands, see Examples & Recipes.

Commands

Command	Purpose
lxdb init, drop, truncate, locks, release-locks	Manage the LakeXpress DB
config create, list, delete	Manage sync configurations
sync, sync[export], sync[publish]	Run a sync configuration
status	Show syncs and runs
cleanup	Remove stale or failed runs
run	Run a legacy YAML configuration

Command Line Structure

usage: LakeXpress [-h] [-v | --version] [--no_banner]
                  COMMAND [SUBCOMMAND] [OPTIONS]

-h, --version and --no_banner can be placed before the command. All other options go after the command, for example LakeXpress sync --log_level DEBUG ....

Common Options

Every command accepts these options. The pages of each command list only its own options.

Option	Description
-a, --auth_file PATH	Credentials JSON file. Required by every command except run
--lxdb_auth_id ID	Entry of the credentials file for the LakeXpress DB. Required by every command except run
--log_level LEVEL	DEBUG, INFO (default), WARNING or ERROR
--log_dir PATH	Directory for the run log files, created if needed (default: current directory). Used by sync, sync[export] and run. See Logging
--no_progress	Disable the progress bars (export and publish)
--no_banner	Do not print the startup banner
--quiet_fbcp	Do not copy FastBCP log lines into the LakeXpress logs (statistics are still recorded)
--license TEXT	License text (alternative to the LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE environment variable)
--license_file PATH	Path to a license file
-h, --help	Show the help of the command and exit

LakeXpress --version (or -v) shows the version and the date the binary was built.

License Resolution

LakeXpress looks for a license in this order:

1. LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE environment variable
2. --license
3. --license_file
4. Default file locations:
   • Linux: ~/.lakexpress/license.lic
   • Windows: %APPDATA%/LakeXpress/license.lic
   • Current directory: ./license.lic

There is no license-free trial: the free 30-day trial is a license file from arpe.io. Without a valid license, every command except --help and --version exits with code 13 (LICENSE_ERROR).

The license file also carries the FastBCP and ADBC driver licenses: keep it whole, as delivered.

Examples

A license file outside the default locations. Add --license_file to every command, after the command name:

./LakeXpress sync \
  -a credentials.json \
  --lxdb_auth_id lxdb_postgres \
  --sync_id <SYNC_ID> \
  --license_file /opt/lakexpress/license/LakeXpress.lic

.\LakeXpress.exe sync `
  -a credentials.json `
  --lxdb_auth_id lxdb_postgres `
  --sync_id <SYNC_ID> `
  --license_file C:\licenses\LakeXpress.lic

Scheduled jobs (cron, Task Scheduler, Airflow). Use an absolute path: the job's working directory and home directory are often not the ones of your interactive session, so the default locations may not be found.

# crontab: daily sync at 02:00
0 2 * * * cd /opt/lakexpress && ./LakeXpress sync -a /opt/lakexpress/credentials.json --lxdb_auth_id lxdb_postgres --sync_id <SYNC_ID> --license_file /opt/lakexpress/license/LakeXpress.lic --no_banner --no_progress

CI and containers: the LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE environment variable. It holds the license text itself, for example from a CI secret, so no file has to be copied onto the machine:

export LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE="$(cat /opt/lakexpress/license/LakeXpress.lic)"
./LakeXpress sync -a credentials.json --lxdb_auth_id lxdb_postgres --sync_id <SYNC_ID>

$env:LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE = Get-Content -Raw C:\licenses\LakeXpress.lic
.\LakeXpress.exe sync -a credentials.json --lxdb_auth_id lxdb_postgres --sync_id <SYNC_ID>

In a container, either set LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE from your secret store, or mount the file read-only and point to it:

docker run --rm \
  -v /opt/lakexpress/license/LakeXpress.lic:/license/LakeXpress.lic:ro \
  <your-lakexpress-image> \
  sync -a /config/credentials.json --lxdb_auth_id lxdb_postgres --sync_id <SYNC_ID> \
  --license_file /license/LakeXpress.lic

warning

• LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE comes first in the lookup order: when it is set, --license and --license_file are ignored, even if the variable holds an invalid license (exit 13). Unset it (unset LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE, Remove-Item Env:LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE) if a command does not pick up the file you pass.
• Prefer --license_file or LAKEXPRESS_LICENSE to --license "<text>": a command-line argument is visible to other users of the machine in the process list (ps, Task Manager).