The Salesforce CLI enables you to do the following major tasks from the command line:

• Create and manage Scratch Orgs
• Push and pull code and configuration from source control to Salesforce scratch Orgs

• Load sample datasets into scratch Orgs
• Assign Permission sets
• Install and uninstall managed package applications from the command line

To install the CLI, visit the Salesforce CLI website at https://developer.Salesforce.com/tools/sfdxcli.

Depending on your operating system, you can download the executable. The following screenshot shows the selection screen for the installation:

Once your installation is done, make sure to type the sfdx command in your terminal to ensure that the Salesforce DX CLI is installed. The following screenshot shows a successful installation on a Mac Terminal:

In the next few sections, we will explore some basic commands to familiarize ourselves with the CLI commands. Specifically, we will explore how to connect to the developer hub, how to create scratch Orgs using the CLI, how to scaffold Lightning bundles, and how to push code changes to a Salesforce Org. We won't be covering the full list of commands provided by DX, but it's recommended to refer to the official documentation at https://developer.Salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.sfdx_cli_reference.meta/sfdx_cli_reference/.

You will need your Dev Hub username for the upcoming section. If you have not signed up for the trial edition, you can sign up for it here: https://developer.Salesforce.com/promotions/Orgs/dx-signup.