cli_command – Run a cli command on cli-based network devices

New in version 2.7.

Synopsis

  • Sends a command to a network device and returns the result read from the device.

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
answer
list
The answer to reply with if prompt is matched. The value can be a single answer or a list of answer for multiple prompts. In case the command execution results in multiple prompts the sequence of the prompt and excepted answer should be in same order.
check_all
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
By default if any one of the prompts mentioned in prompt option is matched it won't check for other prompts. This boolean flag, that when set to True will check for all the prompts mentioned in prompt option in the given order. If the option is set to True all the prompts should be received from remote host if not it will result in timeout.
command
- / required
The command to send to the remote network device. The resulting output from the command is returned, unless sendonly is set.
newline
boolean
added in 2.9
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
The boolean value, that when set to false will send answer to the device without a trailing newline.
prompt
list
A single regex pattern or a sequence of patterns to evaluate the expected prompt from command.
sendonly
boolean
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
The boolean value, that when set to true will send command to the device but not wait for a result.

Notes

Note

Examples

- name: run show version on remote devices
  cli_command:
    command: show version

- name: run command with json formatted output
  cli_command:
    command: show version | json

- name: run command expecting user confirmation
  cli_command:
    command: commit replace
    prompt: This commit will replace or remove the entire running configuration
    answer: yes

- name: run command expecting user confirmation
  cli_command:
    command: show interface summary
    prompt: Press any key to continue
    answer: y
    newline: false

- name: run config mode command and handle prompt/answer
  cli_command:
    command: "{{ item }}"
    prompt:
      - "Exit with uncommitted changes"
    answer: 'y'
  loop:
    - configure
    - set system syslog file test any any
    - exit

- name: multiple prompt, multiple answer (mandatory check for all prompts)
  cli_command:
    command: "copy sftp sftp://user@host//user/test.img"
    check_all: True
    prompt:
      - "Confirm download operation"
      - "Password"
      - "Do you want to change that to the standby image"
    answer:
      - 'y'
      - <password>
      - 'y'

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key Returned Description
json
dictionary
when the device response is valid JSON
A dictionary representing a JSON-formatted response

Sample:
{ "architecture": "i386", "bootupTimestamp": 1532649700.56, "modelName": "vEOS", "version": "4.15.9M" [...] }
stdout
string
when sendonly is false
The response from the command

Sample:
Version: VyOS 1.1.7[...]


Status

Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

Authors

  • Nathaniel Case (@Qalthos)

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