generated: '2026-08-19'
method: searched
source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/1-x/cli/nx/cfg/b_APIC_NXOS_CLI_User_Guide.html
docs:
- https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/1-x/cli/nx/cfg/b_APIC_NXOS_CLI_User_Guide.html
- https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/dcn/aci/apic/6x/getting-started/cisco-apic-getting-started-guide-62x/initial-setup/access-the-nx-os-style-cli.html
name: APIC NX-OS style CLI
official: true
note: >-
  ACI's CLI is not a downloadable API client — it is built into the controller and reached over SSH. That
  distinction matters for an integrator: there is no `brew install`, no npm binary, and nothing to run in
  CI without network access to an APIC. It is included here because it is a genuine first-party command
  surface over the same object model as the REST API, and Cisco documents it as such.
install:
  method: built-in
  detail: >-
    Ships on the APIC. Access it by SSH to the controller's out-of-band or in-band management address as an
    APIC user; the NX-OS style CLI is the default shell in current releases.
  command: 'ssh <apic-username>@<apic-hostname>'
structure:
  style: NX-OS mode hierarchy
  detail: >-
    "The NX-OS style CLI is organized in a hierarchy of command modes with EXEC mode as the root, containing
    a tree of configuration submodes beginning with global configuration mode." Commands are entered by
    descending into the mode that owns the object.
  modes:
  - name: EXEC
    detail: Root mode — show commands, operational actions.
  - name: global configuration
    detail: Entered with `configure` / `configure terminal`; parent of every configuration submode.
  - name: object submodes
    detail: 'e.g. tenant, application, epg, bridge-domain, vrf, contract, filter, leaf, interface-policy-group.'
command_groups:
- name: tenancy and policy
  examples:
  - tenant <name>
  - application <name>
  - epg <name>
  - bridge-domain <name>
  - vrf context <name>
  - contract <name>
- name: fabric and access
  examples:
  - leaf <node-id>
  - interface ethernet <x/y>
  - vlan-domain <name>
- name: external connectivity
  detail: >-
    Layer 3 external connectivity has two CLI modes. Cisco documents that "Implicit mode ... is not
    compatible with the APIC GUI or REST API" while "Named mode ... is compatible with the APIC GUI and the
    REST API" — a real interoperability trap for anyone mixing CLI and API automation.
- name: management interfaces
  detail: In-band and out-of-band management configuration.
- name: monitoring
  examples:
  - show faults
  - show health
related_tools:
- name: acitoolkit CLI utilities
  detail: >-
    The Cisco-authored acitoolkit Python package ships command-line utilities that talk to the APIC REST
    API from a workstation. Last released 2017 — see packages/cisco-aci-packages.yml.
  url: https://github.com/datacenter/acitoolkit
- name: Visore (Managed Object Browser)
  detail: >-
    A browser-based MO browser built into the APIC for running queries against the MIT interactively — the
    closest thing ACI has to an API console.
  url: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/dcn/aci/apic/all/apic-rest-api-configuration-guide/cisco-apic-rest-api-configuration-guide-42x-and-later/m_using_the_rest_api.html
- name: API Inspector
  detail: >-
    Built into the APIC GUI. Shows the exact REST interchange behind every GUI action so it can be replayed
    as automation — ACI's substitute for published request examples.