---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Commands: ACL Bootstrap"
sidebar_current: "docs-commands-acl-bootstrap"
---

# Consul ACL Bootstrap

Command: `consul acl bootstrap`

The `acl bootstrap` command will request Consul to generate a new token with unlimited privileges to use
for management purposes and output its details. This can only be done once and afterwards bootstrapping
will be disabled. If all tokens are lost and you need to bootstrap again you can follow the bootstrap
[reset procedure](https://learn.hashicorp.com/consul/security-networking/acl-troubleshooting?utm_source=consul.io&utm_medium=docs#reset-the-acl-system).

The ACL system can also be bootstrapped via the [HTTP API](/api/acl/acl.html#bootstrap-acls).

## Usage

Usage: `consul acl bootstrap [options]`

#### API Options

<%= partial "docs/commands/http_api_options_client" %>
<%= partial "docs/commands/http_api_options_server" %>

#### Command Options
* `-format={pretty|json}` - Command output format. The default value is `pretty`.

The output looks like this:

```text
AccessorID:   4d123dff-f460-73c3-02c4-8dd64d136e01
SecretID:     86cddfb9-2760-d947-358d-a2811156bf31
Description:  Bootstrap Token (Global Management)
Local:        false
Create Time:  2018-10-22 11:27:04.479026 -0400 EDT
Policies:
   00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001 - global-management
```