---
title: "Installing the Pipelines client"
date: "2024-02-14T06:18:38+00:00"
summary: "Learn how to download, install, and update the Pipelines client for Cloud Platform. Get step-by-step instructions for setup, configuration, and authentication to start running Pipelines jobs efficiently."
image:
type: "page"
url: "/acquia-cloud-platform/installing-pipelines-client"
id: "7a6e2ac1-5491-4c72-8a35-dc3ee446f1d1"
---

This page describes how to download and install the Pipelines client, and how to update a previously installed client. The client is installed locally to perform Pipelines jobs, which are carried out by Cloud Platform.

Note

Installing the Pipelines command-line client is optional, and not required for Pipelines to function with your application.

Requirements
------------

To use the Pipelines client, you must have PHP version 7.4, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 or 8.5 available in your local work environment.

Permission
----------

To use the Pipelines client, you must have the **Execute pipelines** permission for the Cloud Platform application that you’re working with. By default, users who have been assigned the _Team lead_ role have this permission, while users with the _Senior Developer_ or _Developer_ role do not.

An organization’s Administrator can create new roles that have these permissions, or modify existing roles to add these permissions. For more information, see [Setting the Execute Pipelines permission using the Cloud Platform interface](/acquia-cloud-platform/default-cloud-platform-user-permissions "Default Cloud Platform user permissions"). For more general information about permissions in Cloud Platform, see [Working with roles and permissions](/acquia-cloud-platform/access/teams/roles).

Installing from the command prompt
----------------------------------

You can install the Pipelines client from the command prompt by using the following command:

    curl -o pipelines https://cloud.acquia.com/pipeline-client/download
    chmod a+x pipelines
    mv pipelines /usr/local/bin
    ## If you encounter a Permission denied error when you use the mv command, you must use the command with sudo. 

Move the `pipelines` program to a directory in your `PATH`.

Configuring the client (authentication)
---------------------------------------

After you have installed the Pipelines client, you must configure the client with a Cloud Platform API token. This enables the client to authenticate with Cloud Platform.

Pipelines users are required to create an API token before starting a job. If an application does not currently have an API token attached, or the user does not have an API token, the user will be asked to create a token and attach it to the application.

To obtain the Cloud Platform API token from the Cloud Platform user interface:

1.  [Sign in to the Cloud Platform user interface](/node/55875).
2.  Click the avatar in the upper right to open your profile, and click **Account Settings**.
    
    The **Profile** page is displayed.
    
3.  In the top menu, click **API Tokens**. Alternatively, access [cloud.acquia.com/app/profile/tokens](https://cloud.acquia.com/app/profile/tokens).
4.  Click **Create Token** to add an API token:
    
    ![Creating tokens](https://acquia.widen.net/content/vxwfm2mhfi/png/pipelines_creating-tokens.png?crop=false&position=c&color=ffffffff&u=0b06mk&w=821&h=310)
    
5.  In the **Create API Token** dialog box, enter a label for the token, such as `Pipelines CLI Client`. A token label can help you identify your tokens if you create more than one.
6.  Click **Create Token**. The **Create API Token** dialog displays the API key and the API secret that make up the token. You can view the API key at any time in the Cloud Platform interface.
    
    Important
    
    _Do not close the dialog box until you record the API secret._ Since you _cannot_ display the API secret at a later time, be sure to configure the Pipelines client with the API secret before you close the dialog box.
    
    If you lose the API secret, you must create another API token.
    
7.  In a separate command prompt window, run the following command:
    
        pipelines configure
    
8.  Copy and paste the API key and API secret you previously obtained in this procedure to the `pipelines configure` command prompts.

You can now use the Pipelines client with your codebase. Your credentials are stored at `~/.acquia/pipelines/credentials`.

Updating the Pipelines client
-----------------------------

If you have already installed the Pipelines client, run the `pipelines self-update` command to update your client to the latest available version. You can use the command `pipelines --version` to display your current version number.