Commands Reference
Pelican is distributed as two separate executables:
| Binary | Purpose |
|---|---|
pelican | Client-side tools — transfer data, manage credentials, submit jobs |
pelican-server | Server-side tools — run origins, caches, directors, and registries |
Both binaries share a common set of commands (config, credentials, namespace, token).
pelican — client binary
The pelican binary is for users who need to access data from a federation or manage client-side credentials.
Browse the pelican command reference →
Key subcommands:
pelican object— get, put, copy, and delete objectspelican job— manage asynchronous transfer jobspelican plugin— HTCSS plugin integrationpelican rclone— rclone integration
pelican-server — server binary
The pelican-server binary is for operators who need to run federation services.
Browse the pelican-server command reference →
Key subcommands:
pelican-server origin— run an origin servicepelican-server cache— run a cache servicepelican-server director— run a director servicepelican-server registry— run a registry servicepelican-server key— manage issuer keyspelican-server generate— generate server credentials