You can use the OpenStack command-line clients to run simple commands that make API calls. You can run these commands from the command line or in scripts to automate tasks. If you provide OpenStack credentials, you can run these commands on any computer.
Internally, each client command runs cURL commands that embed API requests. The OpenStack APIs are RESTful APIs that use the HTTP protocol, including methods, URIs, media types, and response codes.
These open-source Python clients run on Linux or Mac OS X systems and are easy to learn and use. Each OpenStack service has its own command-line client. On some client commands, you can specify a debug parameter to show the underlying API request for the command. This is a good way to become familiar with the OpenStack API calls.
The following table lists the command-line client for each OpenStack service with its package name and description.
| Service | Client | Package | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block Storage | cinder | python-cinderclient | Create and manage volumes. |
| Compute | nova | python-novaclient | Create and manage images, instances, and flavors. |
| Database Service | trove | python-troveclient | Create and manage databases. |
| Identity | keystone | python-keystoneclient | Create and manage users, tenants, roles, endpoints, and credentials. |
| Image Service | glance | python-glanceclient | Create and manage images. |
| Networking | neutron | python-neutronclient | Configure networks for guest servers. This client was previously called quantum. |
| Object Storage | swift | python-swiftclient | Gather statistics, list items, update metadata, and upload, download, and delete files stored by the Object Storage service. Gain access to an Object Storage installation for ad hoc processing. |
| Orchestration | heat | python-heatclient | Launch stacks from templates, view details of running stacks including events and resources, and update and delete stacks. |
| Telemetry | ceilometer | python-ceilometerclient | Create and collect measurements across OpenStack. |
An OpenStack common client is in development.
For client installation instructions, see Install the OpenStack command-line clients. For information about the OpenStack RC file, see Download and source the OpenStack RC file.
