Archivst - Manual

What is it?

Archivst CLI WebUI is a Docker image archivst/cli-webui that wraps the CLI tool for ease of use and configuration. It lets you launch backups, monitor restores, and review logs without keeping a terminal open, on any machine that can run Docker.

CLI features are documented in the Archivst CLI Manual.

Setup

Install Docker for your platform (Docker Desktop on Windows and macOS, Docker Engine).
Confirm Docker is running with docker --version.
Sign in to Docker Hub first if you prefer Docker to cache authenticated pulls: docker login.
If your Archivst account uses SSO or long-running auth keys, generate a long lasting auth key from the site account menu to use inside the WebUI.

Note: the standalone CLI is a .NET 10 console app, so running its binary directly on a machine requires the .NET 10 runtime to be installed. The Docker image above is self-contained and only needs Docker on the host.

Pull the image

Download the latest archivst/cli-webui image from Docker Hub. Pulling again before running is the way to update to the newest release.

docker pull archivst/cli-webui

Run the WebUI

Start the image as a container and publish the WebUI port to your machine:

docker run -d --name archivst -p 8080:8080 -v archivst-config:/app/config archivst/cli-webui

-v archivst-config:/app/config: named volume so the backup set, folder list and run log survive container updates and re-creates.

-d: run in the background (remove it to follow console output in your terminal).
--name archivst: stable container name, handy for stop and update commands below.
-p 8080:8080: publish the WebUI port; change the left side (host port) if 8080 is already taken.

Open http://localhost:8080 in your browser, sign in with your Archivst account (or enter your auth key), and you can drive backups, restores, and logs from the page.

Backups and restores still run through Archivst CLI, so folder paths the CLI can reach from the host are the folders the WebUI can back up and restore from.

Automatic sign-in and API security

Instead of signing in through the browser, pass an Archivst auth key and the WebUI signs in to your account automatically at boot. Auth keys can be generated from the site account menu (the same keys the desktop app accepts).

Options, in order of preference:

Environment file path (recommended): docker run -e ARCHIVST_API_KEY_FILE=/run/secrets/token archivst/cli-webui
Plain environment variable: docker run -e ARCHIVST_API_KEY=your-key archivst/cli-webui
Sign in once in the browser — the session is stored in the /app/config volume and survives updates.

By default the WebUI is open on your local network. To require a second shared secret on every /api/* call (header X-Api-Key or Bearer), start it with -e WEBUI_API_KEY=change-me.

Other settings: WEBUI_PORT (default 8080), ARCHIVST_COPY_THREADS (default 4), SCHEDULER_POLL_SECONDS (default 60) for the built-in backup scheduler, and BROWSER_HOSTNAME.

Docker Compose (optional)

The minimum compose file is:

services:
  cli-webui:
    image: archivst/cli-webui:latest
    ports: ["8080:8080"]
    environment:
      ARCHIVST_API_KEY_FILE: /run/secrets/ARCHIVST_API_KEY
    secrets: [ARCHIVST_API_KEY]
    volumes: [./config:/app/config]
secrets:
  ARCHIVST_API_KEY:
    file: ./secrets/ARCHIVST_API_KEY

Put the auth key in secrets/ARCHIVST_API_KEY (one line) before docker compose up -d.

Update and stop

Stop and remove a running container, pull the new image, and start again:

docker stop archivst
docker rm archivst
docker pull archivst/cli-webui
docker run -d --name archivst -p 8080:8080 archivst/cli-webui

To inspect live output at any time use docker logs -f archivst.

Looking for the standalone CLI download instead? Use the Downloads page from your Archivst account.

Build from source

The CLI is a standard .NET 10 console project at Archivst.CLI in the Archivst repository. Build it with dotnet build, or produce a publishable output folder with dotnet publish. The resulting binary can run on any machine with the .NET 10 runtime installed — no installer is required.

Docker Archivst CLI