Profiles

This document explains the basics of profile configurations and how they work in the Upbound CLI (up). Profile configurations enable you to manage multiple environments and authentication contexts efficiently.

A profile configuration is a stored set of connection and authentication information that the up CLI uses to interact with different Upbound systems. up stores this information in a configuration file at ~/.up/config.json, allowing you to switch between different environments, organizations, and authentication contexts without re-entering credentials each time.

tip

Ready to configure your control plane context? Go to the how-to guide for profile setup.

The up CLI uses the specified profile when set via the --profile flag or UP_PROFILE environment variable. If you don't specify a profile, up uses the currently selected profile in the configuration file.

Profile types

Profiles have one of two types, each designed for different deployment scenarios:

• Cloud profiles: Interact with Upbound Cloud and Connected Spaces within a given Upbound organization. These profiles are designed for users working with Upbound's managed service.

• Disconnected profiles: Interact with specific self-hosted Spaces not connected to Upbound Cloud. These profiles enable you to manage on-premises or private cloud deployments.

Both profile types can authenticate with an Upbound organization to manage non-Space resources like Marketplace repositories. Authentication with a disconnected profile is optional, providing flexibility for air-gapped or highly secure environments.

Background

Profile types were introduced in up v0.37.0 to support the growing variety of deployment patterns in the Upbound ecosystem. All profiles created in previous versions are automatically treated as cloud profiles in newer versions, ensuring backward compatibility.