# Authentication

The ICA CLI uses an Illumina API Key to authenticate. An Illumina API Key can be acquired through the product dashboard after logging into a domain. See [API Keys](/connected-analytics/get-started/gs-getstarted.md#api-keys) for instructions to create an Illumina API Key.

Authenticate using `icav2 config set` command. The CLI will prompt for an `x-api-key` value. Input the API Key generated from the product dashboard here. See the example below (replace `EXAMPLE_API_KEY` with the actual API Key).

```bash
icav2 config set
Creating /Users/johngenome/.icav2/config.yaml
Initialize configuration settings [default]
server-url [ica.illumina.com]: 
x-api-key : EXAMPLE_API_KEY
output-format (allowed values table,yaml,json defaults to table) : 
colormode (allowed values none,dark,light defaults to none) :
```

The CLI will save the API Key to the config file as an encrypted value.

If you want to overwrite existing environment values, use the command `icav2 config set`.\
To remove an existing configuration/session file, use the command `icav2 config reset`.\\

Check the server and confirm you are authenticated using `icav2 config get`

```bash
icav2 config get
access-token: ""
colormode: none
output-format: table
server-url: ica.illumina.com
x-api-key: !!binary HASHED_EXAMPLE_API_KEY
```

If during these steps or in the future you need to reset the authentication, you can do so using the command: `icav2 config reset`


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