Manage Trident using tridentctl

09/09/2025 Contributors

The Trident installer bundle includes the tridentctl command-line utility to provide simple access to Trident. Kubernetes users with sufficient privileges can use it to install Trident or manage the namespace that contains the Trident pod.

Commands and global flags

You can run tridentctl help to get a list of available commands for tridentctl or append the --help flag to any command to get a list of options and flags for that specific command.

tridentctl [command] [--optional-flag]

The Trident tridentctl utility supports the following commands and global flags.

Commands

create: Add a resource to Trident.
delete: Remove one or more resources from Trident.
get: Get one or more resources from Trident.
help: Help about any command.
images: Print a table of the container images Trident needs.
import: Import an existing resource to Trident.
install: Install Trident.
logs: Print the logs from Trident.
send: Send a resource from Trident.
uninstall: Uninstall Trident.
update: Modify a resource in Trident.
update backend state: Temporarily suspend backend operations.
upgrade: Upgrade a resource in Trident.
version: Print the version of Trident.

Global flags

-d, --debug

Debug output.

-h, --help

Help for tridentctl.

-k, --kubeconfig string

Specify the KUBECONFIG path to run commands locally or from one Kubernetes cluster to another.

Alternatively, you can export the KUBECONFIG variable to point to a specific Kubernetes cluster and issue tridentctl commands to that cluster.

-n, --namespace string

Namespace of Trident deployment.

-o, --output string

Output format. One of json|yaml|name|wide|ps (default).

-s, --server string

Address/port of Trident REST interface.

Trident REST interface can be configured to listen and serve at 127.0.0.1 (for IPv4) or [::1] (for IPv6) only.

Command options and flags

create

Use the create command to add a resource to Trident.

tridentctl create [option]

Options: backend: Add a backend to Trident.

delete

Use the delete command to remove one or more resources from Trident.

tridentctl delete [option]

Options: backend: Delete one or more storage backends from Trident.
snapshot: Delete one or more volume snapshots from Trident.
storageclass: Delete one or more storage classes from Trident.
volume: Delete one or more storage volumes from Trident.

get

Use the get command to get one or more resources from Trident.

tridentctl get [option]

Options: backend: Get one or more storage backends from Trident.
snapshot: Get one or more snapshots from Trident.
storageclass: Get one or more storage classes from Trident.
volume: Get one or more volumes from Trident.
Flags: -h, --help: Help for volumes.
--parentOfSubordinate string: Limit query to subordinate source volume.
--subordinateOf string: Limit query to subordinates of volume.

images

Use images flags to print a table of the container images Trident needs.

tridentctl images [flags]

Flags: -h, --help: Help for images.
-v, --k8s-version string: Semantic version of Kubernetes cluster.

import volume

Use the import volume command to import an existing volume to Trident.

tridentctl import volume <backendName> <volumeName> [flags]

Aliases: volume, v
Flags: -f, --filename string: Path to YAML or JSON PVC file.
-h, --help: Help for volume.
--no-manage: Create PV/PVC only. Don't assume volume lifecycle management.

install

Use the install flags to install Trident.

tridentctl install [flags]

Flags: --autosupport-image string: The container image for Autosupport Telemetry (default "netapp/trident autosupport:<current-version>").
--autosupport-proxy string: The address/port of a proxy for sending Autosupport Telemetry.
--enable-node-prep: Attempt to install required packages on nodes.
--generate-custom-yaml: Generate YAML files without installing anything.
-h, --help: Help for install.
--http-request-timeout: Override the HTTP request timeout for Trident controller's REST API (default 1m30s).
--image-registry string: The address/port of an internal image registry.
--k8s-timeout duration: The timeout for all Kubernetes operations (default 3m0s).
--kubelet-dir string: The host location of kubelet's internal state (default "/var/lib/kubelet").
--log-format string: The Trident logging format (text, json) (default "text").
--node-prep: Enables Trident to prepare the nodes of the Kubernetes cluster to manage volumes using the specified data storage protocol. Currently, iscsi is the only value supported. Beginning with OpenShift 4.19, the minimum Trident version supported for this feature is 25.06.1.
--pv string: The name of the legacy PV used by Trident, makes sure this doesn't exist (default "trident").
--pvc string: The name of the legacy PVC used by Trident, makes sure this doesn't exist (default "trident").
--silence-autosupport: Don't send autosupport bundles to NetApp automatically (default true).
--silent: Disable most output during installation.
--trident-image string: The Trident image to install.
--k8s-api-qps: The queries per second (QPS) limit for Kubernetes API requests (default 100; optional).
--use-custom-yaml: Use any existing YAML files that exist in setup directory.
--use-ipv6: Use IPv6 for Trident's communication.

logs

Use logs flags to print the logs from Trident.

tridentctl logs [flags]

Flags: -a, --archive: Create a support archive with all logs unless otherwise specified.
-h, --help: Help for logs.
-l, --log string: Trident log to display. One of trident|auto|trident-operator|all (default "auto").
--node string: The Kubernetes node name from which to gather node pod logs.
-p, --previous: Get the logs for the previous container instance if it exists.
--sidecars: Get the logs for the sidecar containers.

send

Use the send command to send a resource from Trident.

tridentctl send [option]

Options: autosupport: Send an Autosupport archive to NetApp.

uninstall

Use uninstall flags to uninstall Trident.

tridentctl uninstall [flags]

Flags: -h, --help: Help for uninstall.
--silent: Disable most output during uninstall.

update

Use the update command to modify a resource in Trident.

tridentctl update [option]

Options: backend: Update a backend in Trident.

update backend state

Use the update backend state command to suspend or resume backend operations.

tridentctl update backend state <backend-name> [flag]

Points to consider

If a backend is created using a TridentBackendConfig (tbc), the backend cannot be updated using a backend.json file.
If the userState has been set in a tbc, it cannot be modified using the tridentctl update backend state <backend-name> --user-state suspended/normal command.
To regain the ability to set the userState via tridentctl after it has been set via tbc, the userState field must be removed from the tbc. This can be done using the kubectl edit tbc command. After the userState field is removed, you can use the tridentctl update backend state command to change the userState of a backend.
Use the tridentctl update backend state to change the userState. You can also update the userState using TridentBackendConfig or backend.json file; this triggers a complete re-initialization of the backend and can be time-consuming.

Flags

-h, --help: Help for backend state.
--user-state: Set to suspended to pause backend operations. Set to normal to resume backend operations. When set to suspended:
AddVolume and Import Volume are paused.
CloneVolume, ResizeVolume, PublishVolume, UnPublishVolume, CreateSnapshot, GetSnapshot, RestoreSnapshot, DeleteSnapshot, RemoveVolume, GetVolumeExternal, ReconcileNodeAccess remain available.

You can also update the backend state using userState field in the backend configuration file TridentBackendConfig or backend.json.
For more information, refer to Options for managing backends and Perform backend management with kubectl.

Example:

JSON

Follow these steps to update the userState using the backend.json file:

Edit the backend.json file to include the userState field with its value set to 'suspended'.
Update the backend using the tridentctl update backend command and the path to the updated backend.json file.

Example: tridentctl update backend -f /<path to backend JSON file>/backend.json -n trident

{
  "version": 1,
  "storageDriverName": "ontap-nas",
  "managementLIF": "<redacted>",
  "svm": "nas-svm",
  "backendName": "customBackend",
  "username": "<redacted>",
  "password": "<redacted>",
  "userState": "suspended"
}

YAML

You can edit the tbc after it has been applied using the kubectl edit <tbc-name> -n <namespace> command.
The following example updates the backend state to suspend using the userState: suspended option:

apiVersion: trident.netapp.io/v1
kind: TridentBackendConfig
metadata:
  name: backend-ontap-nas
spec:
  version: 1
  backendName: customBackend
  storageDriverName: ontap-nas
  managementLIF: <redacted>
  svm: nas-svm
  userState: suspended
  credentials:
    name: backend-tbc-ontap-nas-secret

version

Use version flags to print the version of tridentctl and the running Trident service.

tridentctl version [flags]

Flags: --client: Client version only (no server required).
-h, --help: Help for version.

Plugin support

Tridentctl supports plugins similar to kubectl. Tridentctl detects a plugin if the plugin binary file name follows the scheme "tridentctl-<plugin>", and the binary is located in a folder listed the PATH environment variable. All the detected plugins are listed in the plugin section of the tridentctl help. Optionally, you can also limit the search by specifying a plugin folder in the the enviornment variable TRIDENTCTL_PLUGIN_PATH (Example: TRIDENTCTL_PLUGIN_PATH=~/tridentctl-plugins/). If the variable is used, tridenctl searches only in the specified folder.