Advanced Topics

Boot

Boot modes, network options, and deployment scenarios for the dxflow engine

The dxflow engine boots in different modes for different scenarios, from local development to production services.

Boot modes

ModeHowBehavior
Foreground (default)dxflow boot upRuns in the current terminal; interactive logs; stops on CTRL+C or when the terminal closes
Daemondxflow boot up --daemonRuns as a system service (Linux with SystemD or OpenRC); stops with dxflow boot down
InstantautomaticInternal boot for CLI commands that finish their work before returning; starts and shuts down on its own

Flags

Global flags go before the command; boot flags go after:

dxflow [GLOBAL_FLAGS] boot up [BOOT_FLAGS]
Global flagShortDefaultDescription
--config-profile-CdefaultConfiguration profile to use
--log-level-LinfoLogging verbosity: debug, info, error, disabled
--no-color-NfalseDisable colored terminal output
Boot flagShortDefaultDescription
--http-falseServe over HTTP (port 80 by default)
--https-falseServe over HTTPS (port 443 by default), using the chain at https-cert / https-key
--console-falseServe the web console; auto-enables HTTP when no protocol is requested
--daemon-dfalseRun as a background service (Linux only)

With no protocol flag the engine listens on a Unix socket only — local CLI commands work, and nothing is exposed on the network.

Ports come from the active profile (http-port, https-port), so change them with dxflow config set http-port 8080. Both defaults are privileged; see Port Binding.

Boot report

Every boot prints the addresses the engine answers on. The Console section names the address to open in a browser, and a daemon boot adds the service it installed and the command that follows its logs.

dxflow boot up --https --console
Engine successfully booted (use 'CTRL+C' to stop)
● Server
  Socket       ~/.dxflow/unix.sock
  HTTPS        https://127.0.0.1:443  (bound to 0.0.0.0)
  Link         https://dakumori.link.dxflow.ai
● Console
  Address      https://dakumori.link.dxflow.ai  (open in a browser)
dxflow boot up --https --console --daemon
Engine successfully daemonized (use 'dxflow boot down' command to stop)
● Daemon
  Service      systemd
  Logs         journalctl --user -u dxflow -f
● Server
  Socket       ~/.dxflow/unix.sock
  HTTPS        https://127.0.0.1:443  (bound to 0.0.0.0)
  Link         https://dakumori.link.dxflow.ai
● Console
  Address      https://dakumori.link.dxflow.ai  (open in a browser)

::

Reading the addresses: Link appears once a license with a link is active and the engine serves HTTPS, and the console is reachable there. A host bound to 0.0.0.0 accepts every interface, so the address is printed as 127.0.0.1 for local use with the bound host kept alongside it.

Scenarios

# Development — debug logs over HTTP
dxflow --log-level=debug boot up --http

# Console on a workstation
dxflow boot up --console

# Production — HTTPS as a service, using the "production" profile
dxflow --config-profile=production boot up --https --console --daemon

# Stop a daemonized engine
dxflow boot down

Confirm a running engine with dxflow ping, and read its detailed health with dxflow healthcheck.

Daemon mode

--daemon runs on Linux with SystemD (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, Amazon Linux, openSUSE, Arch) or OpenRC (Alpine, Gentoo). On SystemD the engine installs a user unit, so its systemctl commands take --user and the service stops at logout until you enable lingering.

See Persistent Daemon for service management, log locations, and surviving logout.