openstack-help

Display a description of a particular command

$ openstack help [command_name]

$ openstack --os-identity-api-version 3 --help

$ openstack --help

openstack-help [subcommand] [--help]

--help, -h
    Show help message and exit

--verbose, -v
    Increase verbosity of output

--debug
    Show tracebacks on errors

[subcommand]
    Specific OpenStack command or group for detailed help

The openstack-help command provides detailed usage information for the OpenStack command-line client (openstack). It is a convenience wrapper or alias often used to access help documentation without invoking the full openstack binary directly. When run without arguments, it outputs an overview of available subcommands, global options, and common usage patterns for managing OpenStack cloud resources like servers, networks, images, and identity services.

Specify a subcommand (e.g., server list) to get targeted help on syntax, required parameters, and examples. It supports recursive help for command groups (e.g., compute, network). This tool is essential for users interacting with OpenStack deployments via CLI, helping to discover plugins, extensions, and service-specific actions. Output is formatted for readability, with sections for synopsis, options, and positional arguments.

Requires the python-openstackclient package and proper authentication configuration via environment variables or clouds.yaml.

Not a standalone binary in all distributions; often an alias for 'openstack help'. Requires OpenStack client installed and configured. Help content depends on loaded plugins.

openstack-help server create
openstack-help network list

Help reflects current clouds.yaml or OS_* env vars; run openstack configuration show for auth details.

Introduced with python-openstackclient v2.0 in 2015 as part of unified OpenStack CLI. Evolved with OpenStack releases; supports plugin architecture since Stein (2019). Usage grew with DevStack and production clouds.

openstack(1), python-openstackclient(1), man(1)