erl

Start Erlang shell

$ erl

$ erl -s [module] [function]

$ erl -noshell -s [module] [function] -s init stop

$ erl -name [node@host]

$ erl -setcookie [secret]

$ erl -pa [ebin/]

$ erl -eval "[io:format(\"Hello~n\")]"

erl [options]

erl starts the Erlang runtime system and interactive shell. It's the primary way to run Erlang programs, either interactively or in batch mode.
The shell provides an interactive environment for evaluating Erlang expressions. For production use, -noshell runs without the shell, and -s/-eval execute specific code.
Erlang's distributed features are enabled through node naming (-name/-sname) and authentication (-setcookie).

-s MOD [FUNC [ARGS]]

Start module function.

Run without interactive shell.

Long node name.

Short node name.

Distribution cookie.

Prepend to code path.

Evaluate expression at startup.

Configuration file.

sys.config

Application configuration file specifying runtime parameters for OTP applications.

VM arguments file for distributed Erlang settings, memory limits, and node configuration.

Shell differs from module syntax. Distribution requires matching cookies. Node names must be unique. Memory usage scales with processes.

Erlang was developed at Ericsson starting in 1986 by Joe Armstrong, Robert Virding, and Mike Williams for telecom systems. The erl command has been the standard way to run Erlang since its open-source release in 1998.

erlc(1), elixir(1), rebar3(1)