---
layout: commands
page_title: 'Commands: Admin-partition'
description: |
  The admin-partition command enables you create and manage Consul Enterprise admin partitions.
---

# Consul Admin Partition

Command: `consul admin-partition`

<EnterpriseAlert />

The `admin-partition` command enables you to create and manage Consul Enterprise administrative or admin partitions. Admin partitions are boundaries that allow multiple namespaces with the same name to exist independently of each other. This features is currently in beta.

If ACLs are enabled then a token with operator privileges may be required in order to use this command. Write
requests are forwarded to the leader in the primary datacenter. Therefore these commands can be run against
any agent in any datacenter.

## Usage

```shell-session
consul admin-partition <SUBCOMMAND> <OPTIONS> 
```

Issue the `consul admin-partition -h` command to view the subcommands.

```shell-session
Usage: consul admin-partition <subcommand> [options] [args]

  This command has subcommands for interacting with Consul Enterprise
  admin partitions. Here are some simple examples. More detailed
  examples are available in the subcommands or the documentation.

  Create an admin partition

    $ consul admin-partition create -name team1

  Create or Update an admin partition from its full definition:

    $ consul admin-partition write part1

  Read an admin partition:

    $ consul admin-partition read team1

  List all admin partitions:

    $ consul admin-partition list

  Update an admin partition

    $ consul admin-partition update -name team1 -description "first admin-partition"

  Delete an admin partition:

    $ consul admin-partition delete team1

  For more examples, ask for subcommand help or view the documentation.
```

## Subcommands

You can issue the folloing subcommands with the `consul admin-partition` command.

### `create`

The `create` subcommand sends a request to the server to create a new admin partition. 

```shell-session
consul admin-partition create <OPTIONS> 
```

The admin partition is created according to the values specified in the options. You can specify the following options:

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `-name` | String value that specifies the name for the new partition. | none | Required |
| `-description` &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; | String value that specifies a description of the new partition. | none | Optional |
| `-format` | Specifies how to format the output of the operation in the console. | none | Optional |
| `-show-meta` | Prints the description and raft indices to the console in the response. <br/> This option does not take a value. Include the option when issuing the command to enable. | Disabled | Optional | 

In the following example, a partition named `webdev` is created:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition create -name "webdev" -description "Partition for admin of webdev services" -format  json -show-meta

{
   "Name": "webdev",
   "Description": "Partition for admin of webdev services",
   "CreateIndex": 940,
   "ModifyIndex": 940
}
```

### `write`

The `write` subcommand sends a request to the server to create a new admin partition or update an existing partition from its full definition. You can specify an admin partition definition file or use values from `stdin`.

Use the following syntax to write from file:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition write <OPTIONS> <FILE>
```

Use the following syntax to write from `stdin`:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition write <OPTIONS> -
```

The definition file or `stdin` values can be provided in JSON or HCL format. Refer to the  [Admin Partition Definition](#admin-partition-definition) section for details about the supported parameters.

You can specify the following options:

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `-format` | Specifies how to format the output of the operation in the console. | none | Optional |
| `-show-meta` &nbsp; &nbsp; | Prints the description and raft indices to the console in the response. <br/> This option does not take a value. Include the option when issuing the command to enable. | Disabled | Optional | 

In the following example, the `webdev-bu` partition is written using `stdin` values:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition write -format  json -show-meta - <<< 'name = "webdev-bu" description = "backup webdev partition"' 

{
   "Name": "webdev-bu",
   "Description": "backup webdev partition",
   "CreateIndex": 1462,
   "ModifyIndex": 1462
}
```

### `read`

The `read` subcommand sends a request to the server to read the configuration for the specified partition and print it to the console. 

```shell-session
consul admin-partition read <OPTIONS> <PARTITION_NAME>
```

The admin partition is created according to the values specified in the options. You can specify the following options:

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `-format` &nbsp; &nbsp; | Specifies how to format the output of the operation in the console. | none | Optional |
| `-meta` | Prints the description and raft indices to the console in the response. <br/> This option does not take a value. Include the option when issuing the command to enable. | Disabled | Optional | 

In the following example, the configuration for the `webdev` partition is read:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition read -format json -meta webdev

{
   "Name": "webdev",
   "CreateIndex": 940,
   "ModifyIndex": 1458
}
```

### `list`

The `list` subcommand prints existing admin partitions to the console. 

```shell-session
consul admin-partition list <OPTIONS> 
```

The admin partition is created according to the values specified in the options. You can specify the following options:

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `-format` | Specifies how to format the output of the operation in the console. | none | Optional |
| `-show-meta` | Prints the description and raft indices to the console in the response. <br/> This option does not take a value. Include the option when issuing the command to enable. | Disabled | Optional | 

The following example lists the admin partitions and their meta data in JSON format:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition list -format  json -show-meta

[
   {
      "Name": "default",
      "Description": "Builtin Default Partition",
      "CreateIndex": 4,
      "ModifyIndex": 4
   },
   {
      "Name": "webdev",
      "CreateIndex": 940,
      "ModifyIndex": 1458
   },
   {
      "Name": "webdev-bu",
      "Description": "backup webdev partition",
      "CreateIndex": 1462,
      "ModifyIndex": 1462
   }
]
```

### `delete`

The `delete` subcommand sends a request to the server to remove the specified partition. 

```shell-session
consul admin-partition delete PARTITION_NAME>
```
In the following example, the `webdev-bu` partition is deleted:

```shell-session
consul admin-partition delete webdev
```

## Admin Partition Definition

Admin partitions are managed exclusively through the HTTP API and the Consul CLI. The HTTP API accepts only JSON formatted definitions while the CLI will parse either JSON or HCL.

The following parameters are supported in admin partition defintion files:

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `Name` | String value that specifies the name of partiion you are creating or writing. <br/> The value must be valid DNS hostname value. | none | Required |
| `Description` | String value that specifies a description for the partition you are creating or writing. <br/> The value should provide human-readable information to help other users understand the purpose of the partition. | none | Optional |
| `ACLs` | Object that specifies the ACL configuration for the partition. <br/>See [ACL Configuration](#acl-configuration) for additional information. | none| Optional |
| `Meta` | Map of key value pairs for adding metadata to the partition. <br/>See [Adding Metadata](#acl-configuration) for additional information. | none| Optional |  

### Example Definition File

The following example shows an admin partition definition file that could be used with the [`write`](#write) command to create a partition:

```shell-session

Name = "dev-partition"
Description = "Partition for dev team"
ACLs {
  PolicyDefaults = [
    {
      ID = "77117cf6-d976-79b0-d63b-5a36ac69c8f1"
    },
    {
      Name = "node-read"
    }
  ]
  RoleDefaults = [
    {
      "ID": "69748856-ae69-d620-3ec4-07844b3c6be7"
    },
    {
      "Name": "ns-team-2-read"
    }
  ]
}
Meta {
  internal_id = "12345"
}
```

### ACL Configuration

The `acl` block enables you to define the ACL configuration. The following paramters are supported:

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `PolicyDefaults` | An array value listing the default policies to be applied to all tokens created in this admin partition. | none | Required |
| `RoleDefaults` | An array value listing the default roles to be applied to all tokens created in this admin partition. | none | Optional |


### Adding Metadata

You can add semantic meta data to the partition using the meta parameter. This parameter defines a map of max 64 key/value pairs. The following rules for defining metadata apply:

* Keys can only have ASCII characters (A - Z, a - z, 0 - 9, _, and -). 
* Keys can not have special characters. 
* Keys are limited to 128 characters.
* Values are limited to 512 characters. 





## HTTP API Options

You can include the following options to interact with the HTTP API when using the `admin-partition` command. 

| Option | Description | Default | Required |
| ---    | ---         | ---     | ---      |
| `-ca-file` | Specifies the path to a certificate authority (CA) file when TLS is enabled.<br/> You can also specify `CONSUL_CACERT` as the value if the environment variable is configured. | none | Required if TLS is enabled |
| `-ca-path` | Specifies the path to a client certificate file when TLS is enabled. <br/> You can also specify `CONSUL_CAPATH` as the value if the environment variable is configured. | none | Required if TLS is enabled |
| `-client-cert` | Specifies the path to a client certificate file when TLS and the `verify_incoming` option are enabled. <br/> You can also specify `CONSUL_CLIENT_CERT` as the value if the environment variable is configured. | none | Required if TLS and `verify_incoming` are enabled |
| `-client-key` | Specifies the path to a client key file when TLS and the `verify_incoming` option are enabled. <br/> You can also specify `CONSUL_CLIENT_KEY` as the value if the environment variable is configured. | none | Required if TLS and `verify_incoming` are enabled |
| `-datacenter` &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; | Specifies the name of the datacenter to query. | Datacenter of the queried agent | Optional |
| `-http-addr` | Specifies the address and port number of the Consul HTTP agent. <br/>IP and DNS addresses are supported. The address must also include the port. <br/>You can also specify `CONSUL_HTTP_ADDR` if the environment variable is configured. <br/>To use an HTTPS address, set the `CONSUL_HTTP_SSL` environment variable to `true`. | `http://127.0.0.1:8500` | Optional |
| `-stale` | Boolean value that enables any Consul server (non-leader) to respond to the request. <br/>This switch can lower latency and increase throughput, but may result in stale data. This option has no effect on non-read operations. | `false` | Optional |