--- title: "Setup the hcloud CLI" description: "This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up the hcloud CLI on your local machine." type: skill canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/setup-4 source: "Claudary" difficulty: intermediate author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack" date: 2026-07-10T11:46:45.446Z license: CC-BY-4.0 attribution: "Setup the hcloud CLI — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/setup-4)" --- # Setup the hcloud CLI This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up the hcloud CLI on your local machine. ## Overview # Setup the hcloud CLI This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up the hcloud CLI on your local machine. ## Prerequisites Before you begin, ensure you have the following: - A [Hetzner Cloud account](https://console.hetzner.com). ## 1. Install the hcloud CLI ### 1.1 Manual installation You can download pre-built binaries from our [GitHub releases](https://github.com/hetznercloud/cli/releases). Install them by extracting the archive and moving the binary to a directory in your `PATH`. On a 64-bit Linux system, it could look something like this: ```bash curl -sSLO https://github.com/hetznercloud/cli/releases/latest/download/hcloud-linux-amd64.tar.gz sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin --no-same-owner -xzf hcloud-linux-amd64.tar.gz hcloud rm hcloud-linux-amd64.tar.gz ``` ### 1.2 Installation using Go If you have Go installed, you can also install hcloud CLI from source using the following command: ```bash go install github.com/hetznercloud/cli/cmd/hcloud@latest ``` > [!NOTE] > Binaries built with Go will not have the correct version embedded. > [!NOTE] > Both of the above installation methods do not provide automatic updates. Please make sure to keep your installation up to date manually. ### 1.3 Installation using .deb package (Debian/Ubuntu) > [!WARNING] > Debian packages are experimental and might change or break in the future. On Debian and Ubuntu-based distributions, you can install the hcloud CLI using the `.deb` package: 1. Download the latest `.deb` package from the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/hetznercloud/cli/releases/latest). 2. Install the package using `dpkg`: ```bash # Download the package (replace with the actual version and architecture) curl -sSLO https://github.com/hetznercloud/cli/releases/latest/download/hcloud-cli__linux_amd64.deb # Install the package sudo dpkg -i hcloud-cli__linux_amd64.deb ``` The `.deb` package includes shell completions for bash, zsh, and fish, as well as man pages. ### 1.4 Installation using .rpm package (Fedora/RHEL/CentOS) > [!WARNING] > RPM packages are experimental and might change or break in the future. On Fedora, RHEL, CentOS, and other RPM-based distributions, you can install the hcloud CLI using the `.rpm` package: 1. Download the latest `.rpm` package from the [GitHub releases page](https://github.com/hetznercloud/cli/releases/latest). 2. Install the package using `rpm` or `dnf`: ```bash # Download the package (replace with the actual version and architecture) curl -sSLO https://github.com/hetznercloud/cli/releases/latest/download/hcloud-cli--1.x86_64.rpm # Install using dnf (Fedora/RHEL 8+/CentOS 8+) sudo dnf install hcloud-cli--1.x86_64.rpm # Or install using rpm sudo rpm -i hcloud-cli--1.x86_64.rpm ``` The `.rpm` package includes shell completions for bash, zsh, and fish, as well as man pages. ### 1.5 Installation using Homebrew On Linux and macOS you can also install the hcloud CLI using Homebrew: ```bash brew install hcloud ``` ### 1.6 Installation on Windows using WinGet or Scoop > [!WARNING] > The WinGet and Scoop package entries are not maintained by Hetzner. On Windows, you can install `hcloud` using WinGet (Windows Package Manager) or Scoop: ```bash winget install HetznerCloud.CLI ``` ```bash scoop install hcloud ``` ### 1.7 Using hcloud with Docker Instead of installing hcloud on the host, you can also use our docker image at `hetznercloud/cli`. ```bash docker run --rm -e HCLOUD_TOKEN="" hetznercloud/cli:latest ``` If you want to use (and persist) your configuration, you can mount it to `/config.toml`: ```bash docker run --rm -v ~/.config/hcloud/cli.toml:/config.toml hetznercloud/cli:latest ``` The image is based on Alpine Linux, so a shell is available in the image. You can use it to run commands interactively: ```bash docker run -it --rm --entrypoint /bin/sh hetznercloud/cli:latest ``` --- > [!WARNING] > Some third-party package repositories may provide outdated versions of the hcloud CLI. > Please consider one of the other installation methods. ## 2. (Optional) Setup auto-completion hcloud CLI offers auto-completion for bash, zsh, fish and PowerShell. It is recommended to enable it for a better user experience. ### 2.1 Bash To load completions into the current shell execute: source <(hcloud completion bash) In order to make the completions permanent, append the line above to your .bashrc. ### 2.2 Zsh If shell completions are not already enabled for your environment need to enable them. Add the following line to your ~/.zshrc file: autoload -Uz compinit; compinit To load completions for each session execute the following commands: mkdir -p ~/.config/hcloud/completion/zsh hcloud completion zsh > ~/.config/hcloud/completion/zsh/_hcloud Finally add the following line to your ~/.zshrc file, *before* you call the compinit function: fpath+=(~/.config/hcloud/completion/zsh) In the end your ~/.zshrc file should contain the following two lines in the order given here. fpath+=(~/.config/hcloud/completion/zsh) # ... anything else that needs to be done before compinit autoload -Uz compinit; compinit # ... You will need to start a new shell for this setup to take effect. ### 2.3 Fish To load completions into the current shell execute: hcloud completion fish | source In order to make the completions permanent execute once: hcloud completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/hcloud.fish ### 2.4 PowerShell To load completions into the current shell execute: PS> hcloud completion powershell | Out-String | Invoke-Expression To load completions for every new session, run and source this file from your PowerShell profile. PS> hcloud completion powershell > hcloud.ps1 ## 3. Create a context The hcloud CLI uses contexts to manage multiple Hetzner Cloud tokens and set configuration preferences. First, you need to create an API token. Follow the instructions in the [Hetzner Cloud documentation](https://docs.hetzner.com/cloud/api/getting-started/generating-api-token/) to create your project API token. Once you have your token, you can create a context using the following command: ```bash hcloud context create ``` Ideally, keep the context name similar to the project name so you can easily identify it later. When prompted, enter the API token you created earlier. Your context should now be created and activated. ## 4. Verify everything works To verify that the hcloud CLI is working correctly, you can run the following command: ```bash hcloud datacenter list ``` You should see something like this: ```plaintext ID NAME DESCRIPTION LOCATION 2 nbg1-dc3 Nuremberg 1 virtual DC 3 nbg1 3 hel1-dc2 Helsinki 1 virtual DC 2 hel1 4 fsn1-dc14 Falkenstein 1 virtual DC 14 fsn1 5 ash-dc1 Ashburn virtual DC 1 ash 6 hil-dc1 Hillsboro virtual DC 1 hil 7 sin-dc1 Singapore virtual DC 1 sin ``` If you see this output, congratulations! You have successfully set up the hcloud CLI on your local machine. If there are any problems, make sure you followed all steps of this tutorial correctly. If there still are problems, you can reach out to our [Support](https://console.hetzner.com/support) to get help. --- Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/setup-4) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com