---
layout: "docs"
page_title: "Commands: Login"
sidebar_current: "docs-commands-login"
description: >
  The `login` command will exchange the provided third party credentials with the requested auth method for a newly minted Consul ACL token.
---

# Consul Login

Command: `consul login`

The `login` command will exchange the provided third party credentials with the
requested auth method for a newly minted Consul ACL token. The companion
command `consul logout` should be used to destroy any tokens created this way
to avoid a resource leak.

## Usage

Usage: `consul login [options]`

#### API Options

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

#### Command Options

* `-bearer-token-file=<string>` - Path to a file containing a secret bearer
  token to use with this auth method.

* `-meta=<value>` - Metadata to set on the token, formatted as `key=value`. This
  flag may be specified multiple times to set multiple meta fields.

* `-method=<string>` - Name of the auth method to login to.

* `-token-sink-file=<string>` - The most recent token's SecretID is kept up to
  date in this file.

### Examples

Login to an auth method.

```sh
$ consul login -method 'minikube' \
    -bearer-token-file '/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token' \
    -token-sink-file 'consul.token'

$ cat consul.token
36103ae4-6731-e719-f53a-d35188cfa41d
```