OS Manuals

/usr/bin/Orthanc

Orthanc - a lightweight DICOM server for medical imaging

From orthanc 1.13.0-r6 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running Orthanc --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage: /usr/bin/Orthanc [OPTION]... [CONFIGURATION]
Orthanc, lightweight, RESTful DICOM server for healthcare and medical research.

The "CONFIGURATION" argument can be a list of files or directories. In the
case of a directory, all the JSON files it contains will be merged.
If no configuration path is given on the command line, a set of default
parameters is used. Please refer to the Orthanc Book for the full
instructions about how to use Orthanc <https://orthanc.uclouvain.be/book/>.

Pay attention to the fact that the order of the options is important.
Options are read left to right. In particular, options such as "--verbose" can
reset the value of other log-related options that were read before.

The recommended set of options to debug DICOM communications is
"--verbose --trace-dicom --logfile=dicom.log"

Generic options:
  --help                           display this help and exit
  --version                        output version information and exit
  --config file                    create a sample configuration file and exit
                                   (if "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)
  --advanced-config file           create a file containing the advanced
                                   configuration options and exit (if "file" is
                                   "-", dumps to stdout)
  --errors                         print the supported error codes and exit
  --upgrade                        allow Orthanc to upgrade the version of the
                                   database (beware that the database will
                                   become incompatible with former versions of
                                   Orthanc)
  --no-jobs                        don't restart the jobs that were stored
                                   during the last execution of Orthanc
  --openapi file                   write the OpenAPI documentation and exit (if
                                   "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)
  --cheatsheet file                write the cheat sheet of REST API as CSV and
                                   exit (if "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)

Logging options:
  --logdir dir                     directory where to store the log files (by
                                   default, the log is dumped to stderr)
  --logfile file                   file where to store the log of Orthanc (by
                                   default, the log is dumped to stderr)
  --verbose                        be verbose in logs
  --trace                          highest verbosity in logs (for debug)
  --logs-no-thread                 remove thread names from logs
  --logs-no-context                remove contexts from logs
  --logs-thread-names-in-context   include caller thread names in log contexts

Fine-tuning of log categories:
  --verbose-generic                be verbose in logs of category "generic"
  --trace-generic                  use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "generic"
  --verbose-plugins                be verbose in logs of category "plugins"
  --trace-plugins                  use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "plugins"
  --verbose-http                   be verbose in logs of category "http"
  --trace-http                     use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "http"
  --verbose-sqlite                 be verbose in logs of category "sqlite"
  --trace-sqlite                   use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "sqlite"
  --verbose-dicom                  be verbose in logs of category "dicom"
  --trace-dicom                    use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "dicom"
  --verbose-jobs                   be verbose in logs of category "jobs"
  --trace-jobs                     use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "jobs"
  --verbose-lua                    be verbose in logs of category "lua"
  --trace-lua                      use highest verbosity for logs of category
                                   "lua"

Exit status:
  0	if success,
  -1	if error (have a look at the logs).
Options (31)
OptionDescriptionSource
--helpdisplay this help and exithelp
--versionoutput version information and exithelp
--config filecreate a sample configuration file and exit (if "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)help
--advanced-config filecreate a file containing the advanced configuration options and exit (if "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)help
--errorsprint the supported error codes and exithelp
--upgradeallow Orthanc to upgrade the version of the database (beware that the database will become incompatible with former versions of Orthanc)help
--no-jobsdon't restart the jobs that were stored during the last execution of Orthanchelp
--openapi filewrite the OpenAPI documentation and exit (if "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)help
--cheatsheet filewrite the cheat sheet of REST API as CSV and exit (if "file" is "-", dumps to stdout)help
--logdir dirdirectory where to store the log files (by default, the log is dumped to stderr)help
--logfile filefile where to store the log of Orthanc (by default, the log is dumped to stderr)help
--verbosebe verbose in logshelp
--tracehighest verbosity in logs (for debug)help
--logs-no-threadremove thread names from logshelp
--logs-no-contextremove contexts from logshelp
--logs-thread-names-in-contextinclude caller thread names in log contextshelp
--verbose-genericbe verbose in logs of category "generic"help
--trace-genericuse highest verbosity for logs of category "generic"help
--verbose-pluginsbe verbose in logs of category "plugins"help
--trace-pluginsuse highest verbosity for logs of category "plugins"help
--verbose-httpbe verbose in logs of category "http"help
--trace-httpuse highest verbosity for logs of category "http"help
--verbose-sqlitebe verbose in logs of category "sqlite"help
--trace-sqliteuse highest verbosity for logs of category "sqlite"help
--verbose-dicombe verbose in logs of category "dicom"help
--trace-dicomuse highest verbosity for logs of category "dicom"help
--verbose-jobsbe verbose in logs of category "jobs"help
--trace-jobsuse highest verbosity for logs of category "jobs"help
--verbose-luabe verbose in logs of category "lua"help
--trace-luause highest verbosity for logs of category "lua"help
-1if error (have a look at the logs).help

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.