In this new blog post, we’ll cover all the main Nutanix AHV CLI commands that allow you to perform some checks on your virtual machines using the command line.

All the commands in this article can be run via SSH from any CVM in the cluster.

Display the list of virtual machines

To display the list of virtual machines on the Nutanix cluster, simply run the following command:

acli vm.list

This will show you all the VMs present on the cluster, without the CVMs:

nutanix@NTNX-S348084X9211699-B-CVM:192.168.84.22:~$ acli vm.list
VM name VM UUID
LINUX 88699c96-11a5-49ce-9d1d-ac6dfeff913d
NTNX-192-168-84-200-PCVM-1760699089 f659d248-9ece-4aa0-bb0c-22a3b3abbe12
vm_test 9439094a-7b6b-48ca-9821-a01310763886

As you can see, I only have two virtual machines on my cluster:

• My Prism Central
• A newly deployed “LINUX” virtual machine
• A test virtual machine

A handy command to quickly retrieve all virtual machines and their respective UUIDs. Now let’s see how to retrieve information about a specific virtual machine.

Retrieving Virtual Machine Information

To display detailed information about a virtual machine, use the following command:

acli vm.get VM_NAME

Using the example of my “LINUX” virtual machine, this returns the following information:

nutanix@NTNX-S348084X9211699-B-CVM:192.168.84.22:~$ acli vm.get LINUX
LINUX {
config {
agent_vm: False
allow_live_migrate: True
apc_config {
apc_enabled: False
}
bios_uuid: "88699c96-11a5-49ce-9d1d-ac6dfeff913d"
boot {
boot_device_order: "kCdrom"
boot_device_order: "kDisk"
boot_device_order: "kNetwork"
hardware_virtualization: False
secure_boot: False
uefi_boot: True
}
cpu_hotplug_enabled: True
cpu_passthrough: False
disable_branding: False
disk_list {
addr {
bus: "ide"
index: 0
}
cdrom: True
device_uuid: "fae2ee55-8736-4f3a-9b2c-7d5f5770bf33"
empty: True
iso_type: "kOther"
}
disk_list {
addr {
bus: "scsi"
index: 0
}
cdrom: False
container_id: 4
container_uuid: "2ead3997-e915-4ee2-b9a4-0334889e434b"
device_uuid: "f9a8a84c-6937-4d01-bfd2-080271c44916"
naa_id: "naa.6506b8def195dc769b32f3fe47100297"
storage_vdisk_uuid: "215ba83c-44cb-4c41-bddc-1aa3a44d41c7"[7] 0:python3.9* "ntnx-s348084x9211699-" 21:12 21-Oct-25 vmdisk_size: 42949672960
vmdisk_uuid: "42a18a62-861a-497a-9d73-e959513ce709"
}
generation_uuid: "9c018794-a71a-45ae-aeca-d61c5dd6d11a"
gpu_console: False
hwclock_timezone: "UTC"
machine_type: "pc"
memory_mb: 8192
memory_overcommit: False
name: "LINUX"
ngt_enable_script_exec: False
ngt_fail_on_script_failure: False
nic_list {
connected: True
mac_addr: "50:6b:8d:fb:a1:4c"
network_name: "NUTANIX"
network_type: "kNativeNetwork"
network_uuid: "7d13d75c-5078-414f-a46a-90e3edc42907"
queues: 1
rx_queue_size: 256
type: "kNormalNic"
uuid: "c6f02560-b8e6-4eed-bc09-1675855dfc77"
vlan_mode: "kAccess"
}
num_cores_per_vcpu: 1
num_threads_per_core: 1
num_vcpus: 2
num_vnuma_nodes: 0
power_state_mechanism: "kHard"
scsi_controller_enabled: True
vcpu_hard_pin: False
vga_console: True
vm_type: "kGuestVM"
vtpm_config { is_enabled: False
}
} is_ngt_ipless_reserved_sp_ready: True
is_rf1_vm: False
logical_timestamp: 1
state: "kOff"
uuid: "88699c96-11a5-49ce-9d1d-ac6dfeff913d"

As you can see, this returns all the information about a virtual machine. It is possible to filter some of the information returned with certain commands. Here are the ones I use most often:

acli vm.disk_get VM_NAME : to retrieve detailed information of all disks of a virtual machine

nutanix@NTNX-S348084X9211699-B-CVM:192.168.84.22:~$ acli vm.disk_get LINUX
ide.0 {
addr {
bus: "ide"
index: 0
}
cdrom: True
device_uuid: fae2ee55-8736-4f3a-9b2c-7d5f5770bf33
empty: True
iso_type: "kOther"
}
scsi.0 {
addr {
bus: "scsi"
index: 0
}
cdrom: False
container_id: 4
container_uuid: "2ead3997-e915-4ee2-b9a4-0334889e434b"
device_uuid: f9a8a84c-6937-4d01-bfd2-080271c44916
naa_id: "naa.6506b8def195dc769b32f3fe47100297"
storage_vdisk_uuid: 215ba83c-44cb-4c41-bddc-1aa3a44d41c7
vmdisk_size: 42949672960
vmdisk_uuid: 42a18a62-861a-497a-9d73-e959513ce709
}

acli vm.nic_get VM_NAME : to retrieve the detailed list of network cards attached to a virtual machine

nutanix@NTNX-S348084X9211699-B-CVM:192.168.84.22:~$ acli vm.nic_get LINUX
50:6b:8d:fb:a1:4c {
connected: True
mac_addr: "50:6b:8d:fb:a1:4c"
network_name: "NUTANIX"
network_type: "kNativeNetwork"
network_uuid: "7d13d75c-5078-414f-a46a-90e3edc42907"
queues: 1
rx_queue_size: 256
type: "kNormalNic"
uuid: "c6f02560-b8e6-4eed-bc09-1675855dfc77"
vlan_mode: "kAccess"
}

acli vm.snapshot_list VM_NAME : to retrieve the list of snapshots associated with a virtual machine

nutanix@NTNX-S348084X9211699-B-CVM:192.168.84.22:~$ acli vm.snapshot_list LINUX
Snapshot name Snapshot UUID
SNAPSHOT_BEFORE_UPGRADE e7c1e84e-7087-42fd-9e9e-2b053f0d5714

You now know almost everything about verifying your virtual machines.

For the complete list of commands, I invite you to consult the official documentation: https://portal.nutanix.com/page/documents/details?targetId=Command-Ref-AOS-v7_3:man-ncli-c.html

In the next article, we’ll tackle a big task: creating virtual machines using CLI commands.

Whether you need to perform specific or repetitive operations, troubleshoot, or gain a more detailed view, the CLI commands for a Nutanix cluster will be your best allies.

In this article, I offer a summary of the best commands for performing all network configuration checks on a Nutanix cluster, whether at the cluster, host, CVM, or virtual machine level.

You must have an AOS 6.10+ cluster to execute some commands of this guide.

A. Using Nutanix acli commands from any CVM in the Nutanix AHV cluster

List the status of the host interfaces:

acli net.list_host_nic 192.168.84.11 @IP_HOST_AHV 

Result:

List all vSwitches currently configured on the cluster:

acli net.list_virtual_switch 

Result:

You can list the configuration of a particular vSwitch by passing it as an argument to the command:

acli net.list_virtual_switch vs1

List all subnets created on the cluster:

acli net.list 

Result:

List the VMs attached to a particular subnet:

acli net.list_vms SUBNET

B. Via the Nutanix manage_ovs script from any CVM in the Nutanix AHV cluster

List the interface status of an AHV host:

manage_ovs show_interfaces

Result:

You can also list the interface status of all hosts in the cluster:

allssh "manage_ovs show_interfaces"

List the status of an AHV host’s uplinks (bonds):

manage_ovs show_uplinks

Result :

You can also list the uplink (bond) status of all AHV hosts in the cluster:

allssh "manage_ovs show_uplinks"

Display LLDP information of an AHV host’s interfaces:

manage_ovs show_lldp

Result:

You can also view LLDP information for the interfaces of all AHV hosts in the cluster:

allssh "manage_ovs show_lldp"

Show currently created bridges on an AHV host:

manage_ovs show_bridges

Result :

You can also view the bridges currently created on all AHV hosts in the cluster:

allssh "manage_ovs show_bridges"

Show the mapping of CVM interfaces to those of AHV hosts:

manage_ovs show_cvm_uplinks_map

Result :

You can also view the interface mapping of CVMs on all AHV hosts in the cluster:

allssh "manage_ovs show_cvm_uplinks_map"

 

C. Using the Open vSwitch command from any host in a Nutanix AHV cluster

List the existing bridges of an AHV host:

ovs-vsctl list-br

Result :

List all interfaces attached to a particular bridge of an AHV host:

ovs-vsctl list-ifaces br0

Result:

Display the configuration of an AHV host’s port bond:

ovs-vsctl list port br0-up

Result :

Display the configuration and status of a bond on an AHV host:

ovs-appctl bond/show br0-up

Result:

Display information about the status of a LACP-configured bond on an AHV host:

ovs-appctl lacp/show br1-up

Many thanks to Yohan for the article idea and the helping hand!