install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install osctrl-cli

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

Fast and efficient osquery management

Project links

Commands and aliases

osctrl-cli

history

Project history and usage

osctrl-cli is the operator CLI for osctrl, a Go-based osquery management platform. osctrl implements osquery's remote API as a TLS endpoint and includes services for enrollment, configuration distribution, log collection, on-demand queries, file carving, an API, web UI, and CLI automation.

Project history

GitHub records jmpsec/osctrl as created on 2018-12-17. The project grew as a fleet-management layer for osquery, with osctrl-cli living alongside osctrl-tls, osctrl-admin, and osctrl-api as one of the built components.

Release notes show continued operational hardening: v0.4.9 introduced a breaking move to a single YAML configuration file, v0.5.0 included osctrl-cli and API fixes plus security policy work, and v0.5.3 shipped osctrl-cli binary packages among its release assets. The README also labels the old server-rendered osctrl-admin interface as legacy and presents the newer frontend as the primary operator UI.

Adoption history

The README says osctrl is used in production environments while still under active development, and claims scalability from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of nodes. Public evidence points to a specialized endpoint-security audience rather than mass-market adoption: osquery operators, incident-response teams, and security engineers who need fleet visibility and remote querying.

How it is used

The osctrl-cli documentation says its purpose is to execute actions in osctrl without directly accessing the backend or using the admin interface, making it useful for scripts and automation. In the repository architecture, operators and automation can talk through osctrl-cli to the API, while some modes can work directly with the database.

Operators use the broader osctrl system to enroll osquery agents, distribute configuration, collect status and result logs, run on-demand queries, and carve files. osctrl-cli is the package-friendly command-line entry point for those actions.

Why package nerds care

osctrl-cli matters because it packages a security-operations control plane into installable binaries and Debian packages. For package nerds, it is a reminder that some CLIs are not standalone products; they are automation handles for a larger service suite with databases, TLS endpoints, log sinks, and web frontends.

Timeline

2018-12-17: GitHub repository created.
2025-12-24: v0.4.9 release introduced a breaking single-YAML configuration change.
2026-02-24: v0.5.0 release included osctrl-cli/API fixes and security policy work.
2026-06-12: v0.5.3 release published osctrl-cli Debian package assets for Linux amd64 and arm64.

Related projects

osquery is the endpoint agent and query engine that osctrl manages. osctrl-tls implements the remote API endpoint, osctrl-api exposes REST automation, osctrl-admin and the frontend provide UI surfaces, and osctrl-cli is the command-line automation surface.

Sources

security posture

No protected-tool coverage found yet

No matching local secret-handling manifest was found for osctrl-cli. Nucleus package metadata is still published here so future coverage has a stable package URL.

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
Build metadata lists 1 build dependencies.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

local files

Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.

Configuration files

Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.

Unix: osctrl-api.json

Credential files

Credential-bearing paths to review before unattended agent runs.

Unix: osctrl-api.json

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`osctrl-cli`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version0.5.4

manager updated2026-07-07

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.5.4

https://github.com/jmpsec/osctrl

okNo freshness warnings were generated.

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:osctrl-cli
Version	0.5.4
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/osctrl-cli
Homepage	https://osctrl.net
Repository	https://github.com/jmpsec/osctrl
Upstream docs	https://osctrl.net/
License	MIT
Source archive	https://github.com/jmpsec/osctrl/archive/refs/tags/v0.5.4.tar.gz
Last updated	2026-07-07T16:38:23Z
Pulse	updated
Build dependencies	go
Bottle	available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	osctrl-cli
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Head Version	HEAD
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	head stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/osctrl-cli.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated configuration and credential file locations
curated package history
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install osctrl-cli with Homebrew