Once installed, the Simple Observability agent (simob) is available in your system’s PATH and can be managed through various commands.
Available commands
Initialize
The init command performs several important setup tasks:
- Configuration: Creates a default configuration file with the provided server key.
- Discovery: Automatically discovers available metrics and log sources.
- Host Information: Gathers basic server information including hostname, OS, architecture, and agent version
If you installed the agent using the install script, this command was already executed during installation.
Start
Manually starts the collection service. This command is primarily used internally by systemd and isn’t typically needed for regular operation.
The agent runs as a systemd service by default. Use sudo systemctl start simob for standard service management.
Update
Checks for newer versions of the agent and automatically downloads and installs updates if available.
The update process will restart the agent service, causing a brief interruption in data collection.
Version check
Displays the currently installed version of the agent.
View configuration
Outputs the current resolved configuration. This command is particularly helpful for:
- Debugging: Understanding how the agent is configured
- Validation: Ensuring your setup is correct
- Troubleshooting: Identifying configuration issues
Service management
The agent runs as a systemd service. Use standard systemd commands for service management: 
