NVUE CLI
The NVUE CLI has a flat structure instead of a modal structure. Therefore, you can run all commands from the primary prompt instead of only in a specific mode.
You can choose to configure Cumulus Linux either with NVUE commands or Linux commands (with vtysh or by manually editing configuration files). Do not run both NVUE configuration commands (such as nv set
, nv unset
, nv action
, and nv config
) and Linux commands to configure the switch. NVUE commands replace the configuration in files such as /etc/network/interfaces
and /etc/frr/frr.conf
, and remove any configuration you add manually or with automation tools like Ansible, Chef, or Puppet.
If you choose to configure Cumulus Linux with NVUE, you can configure features that do not yet support the NVUE object model by creating snippets. See NVUE Snippets.
Command Syntax
NVUE commands all begin with nv
and fall into one of three syntax categories:
- Configuration (
nv set
andnv unset
) - Monitoring (
nv show
) - Configuration management (
nv config
) - Action commands (
nv action
)
Command Completion
As you enter commands, you can get help with the valid keywords or options using the tab key. For example, using tab completion with nv set
displays the possible options for the command and returns you to the command prompt to complete the command.
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set <<press tab>>
acl evpn mlag platform router system
bridge interface nve qos service vrf
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set
Command Question Mark
You can type a question mark (?
) after a command to display required information quickly and concisely. When you type ?
, NVUE specifies the value type, range, and options with a brief description of each; for example:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set interface swp1 link state ?
[Enter]
down The interface is not ready
up The interface is ready
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set interface swp1 link mtu ?
<arg> (integer:552 - 9216)
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set interface swp1 link speed ?
<arg> (string | enum:10M, 100M, 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G, 50G, 100G,
200G, 400G, 800G, auto)
NVUE also indicates if you need to provide specific values for the command:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set interface swp1 bridge domain ?
<domain-id> Domain (bridge-name)
Command Abbreviation
NVUE supports command abbreviation, where you can type a certain number of characters instead of a whole command to speed up CLI interaction. For example, instead of typing nv show interface
, you can type nv sh int
.
If the command you type is ambiguous, NVUE shows the reason for the ambiguity so that you can correct the shortcut. For example:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv s i
Ambiguous Command:
set interface
show interface
Command Help
As you enter commands, you can get help with command syntax by entering -h
or --help
at various points within a command entry. For example, to examine the options available for nv set interface
, enter nv set interface -h
or nv set interface --help
.
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set interface -h
usage:
nv [options] set interface <interface-id>
Description:
interface Update all interfaces. Provide single interface or multiple interfaces using ranging (e.g. swp1-2,5-6 -> swp1,swp2,swp5,swp6).
Identifiers:
<interface-id> Interface (interface-name)
General Options:
-h, --help Show help.
Command List
You can list all the NVUE commands by running nv list-commands
. See List All NVUE Commands below.
Command History
At the command prompt, press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to move back and forth through the list of commands you entered previously. When you find the command you want to use, you can run the command by pressing Enter. You can also modify the command before you run it.
Command Categories
The NVUE CLI has a flat structure; however, the commands are in three functional categories:
- Configuration
- Monitoring
- Configuration Management
- Action
Configuration Commands
The NVUE configuration commands modify switch configuration. You can set and unset configuration options.
The nv set
and nv unset
commands are in the following categories. Each command group includes subcommands. Use command completion (press the tab key) to list the subcommands.
Command Group | Description |
---|---|
nv set acl nv unset acl | Configures ACLs. |
nv set bridge nv unset bridge | Configures a bridge domain. This is where you configure bridge attributes, such as the bridge type (VLAN-aware), the STP state and priority, and VLANs. |
nv set evpn nv unset evpn | Configures EVPN. This is where you enable and disable the EVPN control plane, and set EVPN route advertise, multihoming, and duplicate address detection options. |
nv set interface <interface-id> nv unset interface <interface-id> | Configures the switch interfaces. Use this command to configure bond and bridge interfaces, interface IP addresses and descriptions, VLAN IDs, and links (MTU, FEC, speed, duplex, and so on). |
nv set mlag nv unset mlag | Configures MLAG. This is where you configure the backup IP address or interface, MLAG system MAC address, peer IP address, MLAG priority, and the delay before bonds come up. |
nv set nve nv unset nve | Configures network virtualization (VXLAN) settings. This is where you configure the UDP port for VXLAN frames, control dynamic MAC learning over VXLAN tunnels, enable and disable ARP and ND suppression, and configure how Cumulus Linux handles BUM traffic in the overlay. |
nv set platform nv unset platform | Configures Pulse per Second; the simplest form of synchronization for the physical hardware clock. |
nv set qos nv unset qos | Configures QoS RoCE. |
nv set router nv unset router | Configures router policies (prefix list rules and route maps), sets global BGP options (enable and disable, ASN and router ID, BGP graceful restart and shutdown), global OSPF options (enable and disable, router ID, and OSPF timers) PIM, IGMP, PBR, VRR, and VRRP. |
nv set service nv unset service | Configures DHCP relays and servers, NTP, PTP, LLDP, SNMP servers, DNS, and syslog. |
nv set system nv unset system | Configures system settings, such as the hostname of the switch, pre and post login messages, reboot options (warm, cold, fast), the time zone and global system settings, such as the anycast ID, the system MAC address, and the anycast MAC address. This is also where you configure SPAN and ERSPAN sessions and set how configuration apply operations work (which files to ignore and which files to overwrite; see Configure NVUE to Ignore Linux Files). |
nv set vrf <vrf-id> nv unset vrf <vrf-id> | Configures VRFs. This is where you configure VRF-level configuration for PTP, BGP, OSPF, and EVPN. |
Monitoring Commands
The NVUE monitoring commands show various parts of the network configuration. For example, you can show the complete network configuration or only interface configuration. The monitoring commands are in the following categories. Each command group includes subcommands. Use command completion (press the tab key) to list the subcommands.
Command Group | Description |
---|---|
nv show acl | Shows Access Control List configuration. |
nv show action | Shows information about the action commands that reset counters and remove conflicts. |
nv show bridge | Shows bridge domain configuration. |
nv show evpn | Shows EVPN configuration. |
nv show interface | Shows interface configuration and counters. |
nv show mlag | Shows MLAG configuration. |
nv show nve | Shows network virtualization configuration, such as VXLAN-specfic MLAG configuration and VXLAN flooding. |
nv show platform | Shows platform configuration, such as hardware and software components. |
nv show qos | Shows QoS RoCE configuration. |
nv show router | Shows router configuration, such as router policies, global BGP and OSPF configuration, PBR, PIM, IGMP, VRR, and VRRP configuration. |
nv show service | Shows DHCP relays and server, NTP, PTP, LLDP, and syslog configuration. |
nv show system | Shows global system settings, such as the reserved routing table range for PBR and the reserved VLAN range for layer 3 VNIs. You can also see system login messages and switch reboot history. |
nv show system version | Shows the Cumulus Linux release running on the switch. |
nv show vrf | Shows VRF configuration. |
The following example shows the nv show router
commands after pressing the tab key, then shows the output of the nv show router bgp
command.
cumulus@leaf01:mgmt:~$ nv show router <<tab>>
adaptive-routing igmp ospf pim ptm vrrp
bgp nexthop pbr policy vrr
cumulus@leaf01:mgmt:~$ nv show router bgp
operational applied pending
------------------------------ ----------- ------- ----------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
applied pending
------------------------------ ----------- -----------
enable on on
autonomous-system 65101 65101
router-id 10.10.10.1 10.10.10.1
policy-update-timer 5 5
graceful-shutdown off off
wait-for-install off off
graceful-restart
mode helper-only helper-only
restart-time 120 120
path-selection-deferral-time 360 360
stale-routes-time 360 360
convergence-wait
time 0 0
establish-wait-time 0 0
queue-limit
input 10000 10000
output 10000 10000
If there are no pending or applied configuration changes, the nv show
command only shows the running configuration (under operational).
Additional options are available for certain nv show
commands. For example, you can choose the configuration you want to show (pending, applied, startup, or operational). You can also turn on colored output, and paginate specific output.
Option | Description |
---|---|
--applied | Shows configuration applied with the nv config apply command. For example, nv show --applied . |
--brief-help | Shows help about the nv show command. For example, nv show interface swp1 --brief-help |
--color | Turns colored output on or off. For example, nv show interface swp1 --color on |
--filter | Filters show command output on column data. For example, the nv show interface --filter mtu=1500 shows only the interfaces with MTU set to 1500.To filter on multiple column outputs, enclose the entire filter in double quotes; for example, nv show interface --filter "type=bridge&mtu=9216" shows data for bridges with MTU 9216.You can use wildcards; for example, nv show interface swp1 --filter "ip.address=1*" shows all IP addresses that start with 1 for swp1.You can filter on all revisions (operational, applied, and pending); for example, nv show interface --filter "ip.address=1*" --rev=applied shows all IP addresses that start with 1 for swp1 in the applied revision. |
--hostname | Shows system configuration for the switch with the specified hostname. For example, nv show --hostname leaf01 . |
--operational | Shows the running configuration (the actual system state). For example, nv show interface swp1 --operational shows the running configuration for swp1. The running and applied configuration should be the same. If different, inspect the logs. |
--output | Shows command output in table (auto ), json , yaml or plain text (raw ) format, such as vtysh native output. For example:nv show interface bond1 --output auto nv show interface bond1 --output json nv show interface bond1 --output yaml nv show router bgp -output raw |
--paginate | Paginates the output. For example, nv show interface bond1 --paginate on . |
--pending | Shows the last applied configuration and any pending set or unset configuration that you have not yet applied. For example, nv show interface bond1 --pending . |
--rev <revision> | Shows a detached pending configuration. See the nv config detach configuration management command below. For example, nv show --rev 1 . You can also show only applied or only operational information in the nv show output. For example, to show only the applied settings for swp1 configuration, run the nv show interface swp1 --rev=applied command. To show only the operational settings for swp1 configuration, run the nv show interface swp1 --rev=operational command. |
--startup | Shows configuration saved with the nv config apply command. This is the configuration after the switch boots. For example: nv show interface --startup. |
--tab | Show information in tab format. For example, nv show interface swp1 --tab. |
--view | Shows different views. A view is a subset of information provided by certain nv show commands. To see the views available for an nv show command, run the command with --view and press TAB. |
The following example shows pending BGP graceful restart configuration:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv show router bgp graceful-restart --pending
Rev ID: 8
---------------------------- -----------------
mode helper-only
path-selection-deferral-time 360
restart-time 120
stale-routes-time 360
The following example shows the views available for the nv show interface
command:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv show interface --view <<TAB>>
acl-statistics dot1x-summary neighbor status
brief lldp pluggables synce-counters
counters lldp-detail port-security
detail mac qos-profile
dot1x-counters mlag-cc small
Monitoring Commands and FRR Daemons
If you run an NVUE show command but the corresponding FRR routing daemons are not running on the switch, you see an error message; for example:
- If OSPF is not running when you run
nv show vrf <vrf-id> ospf
commands, NVUE returnsError: The requested item does not exist
because the OSPF deamon is not running in FRR. - If PIM and IGMP are not running when you run the
nv show interface <interface> ip igmp -o json
command, NVUE returnsError: The requested item does not exist
because the PIM daemon is not running in FRR. - If PIM is running but IGMP is not running when you the
nv show interface <interface> ip igmp group -o json
command, NVUE does not return an error message but shows an empty { } response.
Configuration Management Commands
The NVUE configuration management commands manage and apply configurations.
Command | Description |
---|---|
nv config apply | Saves the pending configuration (nv config apply ) or a specific revision (nv config apply 2 ) to the startup configuration automatically (when auto save is on , which is the default setting). To see the list of revisions you can apply, run nv config apply <<Tab>> .You can also use these prompt options:
Cumulus Linux applies but does not save the configuration; the configuration does not persist after a reboot. --confirm applies the configuration change but you must confirm the applied configuration. If you do not confirm within ten minutes, the configuration rolls back automatically. You can change the default time with the apply --confirm <time> command. For example, apply --confirm 60 requires you to confirm within one hour.--confirm-status shows the amount of time left before the automatic rollback. |
nv config detach | Detaches the configuration from the current pending configuration and uses an integer to identify it; for example, 4 . To list all the current detached pending configurations, run nv config diff <<press tab> . |
nv config diff <revision> <revision> | Shows differences between configurations, such as the pending configuration and the applied configuration, or the detached configuration and the pending configuration. |
nv config find <string> | Finds a portion of the applied configuration according to the search string you provide. For example to find swp1 in the applied configuration, run nv config find swp1 . |
nv config history | Enables you to keep track of the configuration changes on the switch and shows a table with the configuration revision ID, the date and time of the change, the user account that made the change, and the type of change (such as CLI or REST API). The nv config history <revision> command shows the apply history for a specific revision. |
nv config patch <nvue-file> | Updates the pending configuration with the specified YAML configuration file. |
nv config replace <nvue-file> | Replaces the pending configuration with the specified YAML configuration file. |
nv config revision | Shows all the configuration revisions on the switch. |
nv config save | When you have the auto save option off , this command overwrites the startup configuration with the applied configuration by writing to the /etc/nvu.d/startup.yaml file. The configuration persists after a reboot. |
nv config show | Shows the currently applied configuration in yaml format. This command also shows NVUE version information. |
nv config show -o commands | Shows the currently applied configuration commands. |
nv config diff -o commands | Shows differences between two configuration revisions. |
You can use the NVUE configuration management commands to back up and restore configuration when you upgrade Cumulus Linux on the switch. Refer to Upgrading Cumulus Linux.
Action Commands
The NVUE action commands clear counters, and provide system reboot and TACACS user disconnect options.
Command | Description |
---|---|
nv action change system date-time | Sets the software clock date and time. |
nv action clear | Provides commands to clear ACL statistics, duplicate addresses, PTP violations, interfaces from a protodown state, interface counters, Qos buffers, BGP routes, OSPF interface counters, matches against a route map, and remove conflicts from protodown MLAG bonds. |
nv action deauthenticate interface <interface>> dot1x authorized-sessions | Deauthenticates the 802.1X supplicant on the specified interface. If you do not want to notify the supplicant that they are being deauthenticated, you can add the silent option; for example, nv action deauthenticate interface swp1 dot1x authorized-sessions 00:55:00:00:00:09 silent . |
nv action delete system security | Provides commands to delete CA and entity certificates. |
nv action disable system maintenance mode nv action disable system maintenance ports | Disables system maintenance mode Brings up the ports. |
nv action disconnect system aaa user | Provides commands to disconnect users logged into the switch. |
nv action enable system maintenance mode nv action enable system maintenance ports | Enables system maintenance mode. Brings all the ports down for maintenance. |
nv action import system security ca-certificate nv action import system security certificate | Provides commands to import CA and entity certificates. |
nv action reboot system | Reboots the switch in the configured restart mode (fast, cold, or warm). You must specify the no-confirm option with this command. |
nv action rename | Renames the system configuration. |
nv action upload | Uploads system configuration to the switch. |
List All NVUE Commands
To show the full list of NVUE commands, run nv list-commands
. For example:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv list-commands
nv show platform
nv show platform inventory
nv show platform inventory <inventory-id>
nv show platform software
nv show platform software installed
nv show platform software installed <installed-id>
nv show platform firmware
nv show platform firmware <platform-component-id>
nv show platform capabilities
nv show platform environment
...
You can show the list of commands for a command grouping. For example, to show the list of interface commands:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv list-commands interface
nv show interface
nv show interface <interface-id>
nv show interface <interface-id> ip
nv show interface <interface-id> ip address
nv show interface <interface-id> ip address <ip-prefix-id>
nv show interface <interface-id> ip gateway
nv show interface <interface-id> ip gateway <ip-address-id>
...
To view the NVUE command reference for Cumulus Linux, which describes all the NVUE CLI commands and provides examples, go to the NVUE Command Reference.
NVUE Configuration File
When you save network configuration, NVUE writes the configuration to the /etc/nvue.d/startup.yaml
file.
You can edit or replace the contents of the /etc/nvue.d/startup.yaml
file. NVUE applies the configuration in the /etc/nvue.d/startup.yaml
file during system boot only if the nvue-startup.service
is running. If this service is not running, the switch reboots with the same configuration that is running before the reboot.
To start nvue-startup.service
:
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl enable nvue-startup.service
cumulus@switch:~$ sudo systemctl start nvue-startup.service
When you apply a configuration with nv config apply
, NVUE also writes to underlying Linux files such as /etc/network/interfaces
and /etc/frr/frr.conf
. You can view these configuration files; however, do not manually edit them while using NVUE. If you need to configure certain network settings manually or use automation such as Ansible to configure the switch, see Configure NVUE to Ignore Linux Files below.
Default Startup File
NVUE provides a default /etc/nvue.d/startup.yaml
file that includes configuration such as the switch hostname, default firewall rules, and cumulus
user account credentials. The file also enables the NVUE API. This file is the factory configuration file that you can restore at any time.
- The default startup configuration file sets the default hostname as
cumulus
; therefore, Cumulus Linux does not accept the DHCPhost-name
option. To set a different hostname with NVUE, see Configure the Hostname. If you do not manage your switch with NVUE and want to change this behavior with Linux configuration files, see this knowledge base article. - The default NVUE
startup.yaml
file includes thecumulus
user account, which is the default account for the system. Modifying the NVUE configuration to not include thecumulus
user account, replacing the configuration or applying a startup configuration, deletes thecumulus
account. To merge in configuration changes or to restore a backupstartup.yaml
file, use thenv config patch
command. - You cannot delete a user account that is logged into the switch.
Encrypted Passwords
By default, NVUE encrypts passwords, such as the RADIUS secret, TACACS secret, BGP peer password, OSPF MD5 key, and SNMP strings in the startup.yaml
file. You can disable password encryption with the nv set system security encryption db state disabled
command:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set system security encryption db state disabled
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config apply
To re-enable password encryption, run the nv set system security encryption db state enabled
command.
To show if password encryption is enabled, run the nv show system security encryption
command:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv show system security encryption
operational applied
------- ----------- -------
db
state enabled
Configuration Files that NVUE Manages
NVUE manages the following configuration files:
File | Description |
---|---|
/etc/network/interfaces | Configures the network interfaces available on your system. |
/etc/frr/frr.conf | Configures FRRouting. |
/etc/cumulus/switchd.conf | Configures switchd options. |
/etc/cumulus/switchd.d/ptp.conf | Configures PTP timestamping. |
/etc/frr/daemons | Configures FRRouting services. |
/etc/hosts | Configures the hostname of the switch. |
/etc/default/isc-dhcp-relay-default | Configures DHCP relay options. |
/etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf | Configures DHCP server options. |
/etc/hostname | Configures the hostname of the switch. |
/etc/cumulus/datapath/qos/qos_features.conf | Configures QoS settings, such as traffic marking, shaping and flow control. |
/etc/mlx/datapath/qos/qos_infra.conf | Configures QoS platform specific configurations, such as buffer allocations and Alpha values. |
/etc/cumulus/switchd.d/qos.conf | Configures QoS settings. |
/etc/cumulus/ports.conf | Configures port breakouts. |
etc/ntpsec/ntp.conf | Configures NTP settings. |
/etc/ptp4l.conf | Configures PTP settings. |
/etc/snmp/snmpd.conf | Configures SNMP settings. |
Search for a Specific Configuration
To search for a specific portion of the NVUE configuration, run the nv config find <search string>
command. The search shows all items above and below the search string. For example, to search the entire NVUE object model configuration for any mention of ptm
:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config find bond1
- set:
interface:
bond1:
bond:
lacp-bypass: on
member:
swp1: {}
mlag:
enable: on
id: 1
bridge:
domain:
br_default:
access: 10
link:
mtu: 9000
type: bond
Configure NVUE to Ignore Linux Files
You can configure NVUE to ignore certain underlying Linux files when applying configuration changes. For example, if you push certain configuration to the switch using Ansible and Jinja2 file templates or you want to use custom configuration for a particular service such as PTP, you can ensure that NVUE never writes to those configuration files.
The following example configures NVUE to ignore the Linux /etc/ptp4l.conf
file when applying configuration changes.
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set system config apply ignore /etc/ptp4l.conf
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config apply
Auto Save
By default, when you run the nv config apply
command to apply a configuration setting, NVUE applies the pending configuration to become the applied configuration and automatically saves the changes to the startup configuration file (/etc/nvue.d/startup.yaml
).
To disable auto save so that NVUE does not save applied configuration changes, run the nv set system config auto-save state disabled
command:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set system config auto-save state disabled
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config apply
When you disable auto save, you must run the nv config save
command to save the applied configuration to the startup configuration so that the changes persist after a reboot.
To renable auto save, run the nv set system config auto-save state enabled
command.
Add Configuration Apply Messages
When you run the nv config apply
command, you can add a message that describes the configuration updates you make. You can see the message when you run the nv config history
command.
To add a configuration apply message, run the nv config apply -m <message>
command. If the message includes more than one word, enclose the message in quotes.
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config apply -m "this is my message"
Reset NVUE Configuration to Default Values
To reset the NVUE configuration on the switch back to the default values, run the following command:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config replace /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/cue_config_v1/initial.yaml
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config apply
Detach a Pending Configuration
The following example configures the IP address of the loopback interface, then detaches the configuration from the current pending configuration. Cumulus Linux saves the detached configuration to a file with a numerical value to distinguish it from other pending configurations.
cumulus@switch:~$ nv set interface lo ip address 10.10.10.1/32
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config detach
View Differences Between Configurations
To view differences between configurations, run the nv config diff
command.
To view differences between two detached pending configurations, run the nv config diff
«tab» command to list all the current detached pending configurations, then run the nv config diff
command with the pending configurations you want to diff.
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config diff <<press tab>>
1 2 3 4 5 6 applied empty startup
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config diff 2 3
- unset:
system:
wjh:
channel:
forwarding:
trigger:
l2:
To view differences between the applied configuration and the startup configuration:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config diff applied startup
- unset:
interface:
system:
wjh:
Replace and Patch a Pending Configuration
The following example replaces the pending configuration with the contents of the YAML configuration file called nv-02/13/2021.yaml
located in the /deps
directory:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config replace /deps/nv-02/13/2021.yaml
The following example patches the pending configuration (runs the set or unset commands from the configuration in the nv-02/13/2021.yaml
file located in the /deps
directory):
cumulus@switch:~$ nv config patch /deps/nv-02/13/2021.yaml
A patch contains a single request to the NVUE service. Ordering of parameters within a patch is not guaranteed; NVUE does not support both unset and set commands for the same object in a single patch.
Session-Based Authentication
NVUE uses sessions to authenticate and authorize requests. After authenticating the user with the first request, NVUE stores the session in the nvued
cache. NVUE authenticates subsequent interactions within the session locally, eliminating the need to repeatedly check with external authentication servers. This process enhances system performance and efficiency, making it ideal for high-traffic environments.
- If you make changes to a user group, password, RADIUS, TACACS, or LDAP server setting locally on the switch, NVUE clears the current session automatically.
- If you make changes directly on the RADIUS, TACACS, or LDAP server, you must clear the user session with the
nv action clear system api session user <user>
command or clear all sessions with thenv action clear system api session
command.
The following example clears the admin
user session:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv action clear system api session user admin
The following example clears all sessions:
cumulus@switch:~$ nv action clear system api session
If you do not clear a user session after making changes directly on the RADIUS, TACACS, or LDAP server, NVUE uses the existing session for authentication and authorization until the session times out (up to 60 minutes).