---
title: influx write dryrun
description: The influx write dryrun command prints write output to stdout instead of writing to InfluxDB. Use this command to test writing data.
url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/write/dryrun/
estimated_tokens: 4782
product: InfluxDB OSS v2
version: v2
---

# influx write dryrun

-   influx CLI 2.0.0+
-   InfluxDB 2.0.0+

This page documents an earlier version of InfluxDB OSS. [InfluxDB 3 Core](/influxdb3/core/) is the latest stable version.

#### API token hashing is enabled by default in InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0

Stronger token security: tokens are stored as hashes on disk, so a copy of the database file doesn’t expose usable tokens. Existing tokens are hashed on first startup and the original strings can’t be recovered afterward — **capture any plaintext tokens you still need before you upgrade**.

For more information, see [Token hashing](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/#token-hashing).

The `influx write dryrun` command prints write output to stdout instead of writing to InfluxDB. Use this command to test writing data.

Supports [line protocol](/influxdb/v2/reference/syntax/line-protocol), [annotated CSV](/influxdb/v2/reference/syntax/annotated-csv), and [extended annotated CSV](/influxdb/v2/reference/syntax/annotated-csv/extended). Output is always **line protocol**.

## Usage

```
influx write dryrun [flags]
```

## Flags

| Flag |  | Description | Input type | Maps to ? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| -c | --active-config | CLI configuration to use for command | string |  |
| -b | --bucket | Bucket name (mutually exclusive with --bucket-id) | string | INFLUX_BUCKET_NAME |
|  | --bucket-id | Bucket ID (mutually exclusive with --bucket) | string | INFLUX_BUCKET_ID |
|  | --configs-path | Path to influx CLI configurations (default ~/.influxdbv2/configs) | string | INFLUX_CONFIGS_PATH |
|  | --debug | Output errors to stderr |  |  |
|  | --encoding | Character encoding of input (default UTF-8) | string |  |
|  | --errors-file | Path to a file used for recording rejected row errors | string |  |
| -f | --file | File to import | stringArray |  |
|  | --format | Input format (lp or csv, default lp) | string |  |
|  | --header | Prepend header line to CSV input data | string |  |
| -h | --help | Help for the dryrun command |  |  |
|  | --host | HTTP address of InfluxDB (default http://localhost:9999) | string | INFLUX_HOST |
|  | --max-line-length | Maximum number of bytes that can be read for a single line (default 16000000) | integer |  |
| -o | --org | Organization name (mutually exclusive with --org-id) | string | INFLUX_ORG |
|  | --org-id | Organization ID (mutually exclusive with --org) | string | INFLUX_ORG_ID |
| -p | --precision | Precision of the timestamps (default ns) | string | INFLUX_PRECISION |
|  | --rate-limit | Throttle write rate (examples: 5MB/5min or 1MB/s). | string |  |
|  | --skip-verify | Skip TLS certificate verification |  | INFLUX_SKIP_VERIFY |
|  | --skipHeader | Skip first n rows of input data | integer |  |
|  | --skipRowOnError | Output CSV errors to stderr, but continue processing |  |  |
| -t | --token | API token | string | INFLUX_TOKEN |
| -u | --url | URL to import data from | stringArray |  |

## Examples

#### Authentication credentials

The examples below assume your InfluxDB **host**, **organization**, and **token** are provided by either the [active `influx` CLI configuration](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/#provide-required-authentication-credentials) or by environment variables (`INFLUX_HOST`, `INFLUX_ORG`, and `INFLUX_TOKEN`). If you do not have a CLI configuration set up or the environment variables set, include these required credentials for each command with the following flags:

-   `--host`: [InfluxDB host](/influxdb/v2/reference/urls/)
-   `-o, --org` or `--org-id`: InfluxDB organization name or ID
-   `-t, --token`: InfluxDB API token

-   [Dry run writing line protocol](#line-protocol)
    
    -   [via stdin](#dry-run-writing-line-protocol-via-stdin)
    -   [from a file](#dry-run-writing-line-protocol-from-a-file)
    -   [from multiple files](#dry-run-writing-line-protocol-from-multiple-files)
    -   [from a URL](#dry-run-writing-line-protocol-from-a-url)
    -   [from multiple URLs](#dry-run-writing-line-protocol-from-multiple-urls)
    -   [from multiple sources](#dry-run-writing-line-protocol-from-multiple-sources)
-   [Dry run writing CSV data](#csv)
    
    -   [via stdin](#dry-run-writing-annotated-csv-data-via-stdin)
    -   [from a file](#dry-run-writing-annotated-csv-data-from-a-file)
    -   [from multiple files](#dry-run-writing-annotated-csv-data-from-multiple-files)
    -   [from a URL](#dry-run-writing-annotated-csv-data-from-a-url)
    -   [from multiple URLs](#dry-run-writing-annotated-csv-data-from-multiple-urls)
    -   [from multiple sources](#dry-run-writing-annotated-csv-data-from-multiple-sources)
    -   [and prepending annotation headers](#dry-run-prepending-csv-data-with-annotation-headers)

### Line protocol

##### Dry run writing line protocol via stdin

```sh
influx write --bucket example-bucket "
m,host=host1 field1=1.2
m,host=host2 field1=2.4
m,host=host1 field2=5i
m,host=host2 field2=3i
"
```

##### Dry run writing line protocol from a file

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --file path/to/line-protocol.txt
```

##### Dry run writing line protocol from multiple files

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --file path/to/line-protocol-1.txt \
  --file path/to/line-protocol-2.txt
```

##### Dry run writing line protocol from a URL

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --url https://example.com/line-protocol.txt
```

##### Dry run writing line protocol from multiple URLs

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --url https://example.com/line-protocol-1.txt \
  --url https://example.com/line-protocol-2.txt
```

##### Dry run writing line protocol from multiple sources

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --file path/to/line-protocol-1.txt \
  --url https://example.com/line-protocol-2.txt
```

### CSV

##### Dry run writing annotated CSV data via stdin

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --format csv \
  "#datatype measurement,tag,tag,field,field,ignored,time
m,cpu,host,time_steal,usage_user,nothing,time
cpu,cpu1,host1,0,2.7,a,1482669077000000000
cpu,cpu1,host2,0,2.2,b,1482669087000000000
"
```

##### Dry run writing annotated CSV data from a file

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --file path/to/data.csv
```

##### Dry run writing annotated CSV data from multiple files

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --file path/to/data-1.csv \
  --file path/to/data-2.csv
```

##### Dry run writing annotated CSV data from a URL

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --url https://example.com/data.csv
```

##### Dry run writing annotated CSV data from multiple URLs

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --url https://example.com/data-1.csv \
  --url https://example.com/data-2.csv
```

##### Dry run writing annotated CSV data from multiple sources

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --file path/to/data-1.csv \
  --url https://example.com/data-2.csv
```

##### Dry run prepending CSV data with annotation headers

```sh
influx write dryrun \
  --bucket example-bucket \
  --header "#constant measurement,birds" \
  --header "#datatype dataTime:2006-01-02,long,tag" \
  --file path/to/data.csv
```

#### Related

-   [Write data to InfluxDB](/influxdb/v2/write-data/)
-   [Write CSV data to InfluxDB](/influxdb/v2/write-data/developer-tools/csv/)
-   [Line protocol](/influxdb/v2/reference/syntax/line-protocol/)
-   [Annotated CSV](/influxdb/v2/reference/syntax/annotated-csv/)
-   [Extended annotated CSV](/influxdb/v2/reference/syntax/annotated-csv/extended/)

[write](/influxdb/v2/tags/write/)