Stay Ahead with the Power of Upskilling - Invest in Yourself! 
Appium Server Arguments
Before we begin to understand more the Appium Server Arguments, we must also know how to start an Appium Server. Generally, the desired capabilities are sent by the client to the server via JSON objects. This is done by requesting the automation session you intend to have. Further, the preceding code refactor, you can start the Appium server by calling the start() method. Moreover, this method is used to start the Appium server assuming the node and appium.js files to be in certain locations and using port 4723. But in case you have tweaked node.js installation, then your Appium install path will not be the same. Also, if you want to start Appium server on different ports, then you can use AppiumServiceBuilder to override these inputs.
Many Appium 1.5 server arguments have been deprecated in favor of the –default-capabilities flag.
Usage: node . [flags]
Note: All flags are optional, but some are required in conjunction with certain others.
| Flag | Description |
| –shell | Enter REPL mode |
| –allow-cors | Turn on CORS compatibility mode, which will allow connections to the Appium server from within websites hosted on any domain. Be careful when enabling this feature, since there is a potential security risk if you visit a website that uses a cross-domain request to initiate or introspect sessions on your running Appium server. |
| –ipa | (IOS-only) abs path to compiled .ipa file |
| -a, –address | IP Address to listen on |
| -p, –port | port to listen on |
| -ca, –callback-address | callback IP Address (default: same as –address) |
| -cp, –callback-port | callback port (default: same as port) |
| -bp, –bootstrap-port | (Android-only) port to use on device to talk to Appium |
| -r, –backend-retries | (iOS-only) How many times to retry launching Instruments before saying it crashed or timed out |
| –session-override | Enables session override (clobbering) |
| -l, –pre-launch | Pre-launch the application before allowing the first session (Requires –app and, for Android, –app-pkg and –app-activity) |
| -g, –log | Also send log output to this file |
| –log-level | Set the server log level for console and logfile (specified as console-level:logfile-level, with both being the same if only one value is supplied). Possible values are debug, info, warn, error, which are progressively less verbose. |
| –log-timestamp | Show timestamps in console output |
| –local-timezone | Use local timezone for timestamps |
| –log-no-colors | Do not use colors in console output |
| -G, –webhook | Also send log output to this HTTP listener |
| –safari | (IOS-Only) Use the safari app |
| –default-device, -dd | (IOS-Simulator-only) use the default simulator that instruments launches on its own |
| –force-iphone | (IOS-only) Use the iPhone Simulator no matter what the app wants |
| –force-ipad | (IOS-only) Use the iPad Simulator no matter what the app wants |
| –tracetemplate | (IOS-only) .tracetemplate file to use with Instruments |
| –instruments | (IOS-only) path to instruments binary |
| –nodeconfig | Configuration JSON file to register appium with selenium grid |
| -ra, –robot-address | IP Address of robot |
| -rp, –robot-port | port for robot |
| –selendroid-port | Local port used for communication with Selendroid |
| –chromedriver-port | Port upon which ChromeDriver will run |
| –chromedriver-executable | ChromeDriver executable full path |
| –show-config | Show info about the appium server configuration and exit |
| –no-perms-check | Bypass Appium’s checks to ensure we can read/write necessary files |
| –strict-caps | Cause sessions to fail if desired caps are sent in that Appium does not recognize as valid for the selected device |
| –isolate-sim-device | Xcode 6 has a bug on some platforms where a certain simulator can only be launched without error if all other simulator devices are first deleted. This option causes Appium to delete all devices other than the one being used by Appium. Note that this is a permanent deletion, and you are responsible for using simctl or xcode to manage the categories of devices used with Appium. |
| –tmp | Absolute path to directory Appium can use to manage temporary files, like built-in iOS apps it needs to move around. On *nix/Mac defaults to /tmp, on Windows defaults to C:\Windows\Temp |
| –trace-dir | Absolute path to directory Appium use to save ios instruments traces, defaults to /appium-instruments |
| –debug-log-spacing | Add exaggerated spacing in logs to help with visual inspection |
| –suppress-adb-kill-server | (Android-only) If set, prevents Appium from killing the adb server instance |
| –async-trace | Add long stack traces to log entries. Recommended for debugging only. |
| –webkit-debug-proxy-port | (IOS-only) Local port used for communication with ios-webkit-debug-proxy |
| -dc, –default-capabilities | Set the default desired capabilities, which will be set on each session unless overridden by received capabilities. |
| –reboot | – (Android-only) reboot emulator after each session and kill it at the end |
| –enable-heapdump | Enables NodeJS memory dumps collection feature. This feature is extremely useful for finding memory leaks. |
| –relaxed-security | Disable additional security checks, so it is possible to use some advanced features, provided by drivers supporting this option. Only enable it if all the clients are in the trusted network and it is not the case if a client could potentially break out of the session sandbox. |
Enrich your profile and become Job Ready. Practice and Prepare for Mobile Testing (Appium) Exam Now!
