Command Selection and CLI

Command selection guide

Need	Recommended command	Notes
Execute one command immediately	`rauto exec`	Best for fast checks and troubleshooting
Run a configured show object by profile	`rauto show`	Maps objects like `interfaces` or `route` to real commands
Run parsed checks across many saved targets	`rauto show --target/--group/--label`	Best for inventory-wide read-only queries
Fetch complete configurations and hashes	`rauto config fetch`	Best for backup and drift detection
Discover SSH devices on a network	`rauto device discover`	Scans, identifies, filters, and saves connections
Render and execute a stored template	`rauto template`	Best for reusable command logic
Drive interactive prompt/response flows	`rauto flow`	Best for wizard-like CLI operations
Upload a local file over SFTP	`rauto upload`	Requires the target to expose an `sftp` subsystem
Run a rollback-aware transaction block	`rauto tx`	Best for a single target and one compact transaction unit
Execute a transaction workflow JSON	`rauto tx-workflow`	Best for multi-block change workflows
Execute a multi-device plan	`rauto orchestrate`	Best for staged serial or parallel delivery
Open the local console	`rauto web`	Best for self-managed visual operations
Start a managed execution node	`rauto agent`	Best when connecting to `rauto-manager`

Shared connection parameters

Most execution commands share the same global connection parameters:

Parameter	Description
`--host`	Device hostname or IP
`--credential`	Reusable device credential name or stable ID
`--ssh-port`	SSH port
`--ssh-security`	Compatibility profile: `secure`, `balanced`, or `legacy-compatible`
`--linux-shell-flavor`	Linux shell exit-code parsing mode: `posix` or `fish`
`--device-profile`, `-d`	Target device profile, default is `autodetect`
`--force-autodetect`	Ignore cached autodetect result and probe again
`--connection`, `-c`	Reference a saved connection by name
`--save-connection`, `-S`	Save the effective connection after success
`--session-retries`	Opt-in transient failure retries; default `0`
`--retry-initial-backoff-ms` / `--retry-max-backoff-ms`	Bound exponential retry delays

Execution modes can be ordered candidates such as --mode 'Enable,Config' or --mode 'Root|User'. rauto validates the candidates against the selected Profile, then rneter uses the first reachable mode.

Common examples

`exec`

rauto exec "show ip int br" \
  --host 192.168.1.1 \
  --credential network-admin \
  --device-profile cisco_ios

If you need a specific execution mode:

rauto exec "show bgp neighbor" --connection core-sw-01 --mode Enable

exec, flow, show, and config fetch also accept repeatable --target, --group, and --label/--tag selectors with bounded --max-parallel concurrency.

Enable TextFSM parsing for raw command output:

rauto exec "show version" \
  --connection core-sw-01 \
  --parse-textfsm

Export parsed rows to Excel:

rauto exec "show version" \
  --connection core-sw-01 \
  --parse-textfsm \
  --textfsm-excel ./show-version.xlsx

--textfsm-excel also enables TextFSM parsing, so --parse-textfsm is optional in this example.

`show`

rauto show interfaces --connection core-sw-01

Useful inspection flags:

rauto show --list --device-profile cisco_ios
rauto show route --connection core-sw-01 --print-command
rauto show interfaces --connection core-sw-01 --no-parse
rauto show interfaces --connection core-sw-01 --textfsm-strict-errors

Batch show over saved targets:

rauto show interfaces \
  --target core-sw1 \
  --target core-sw2 \
  --group access \
  --label campus

rauto show route --group core --tag prod --textfsm-excel ./routes.xlsx

show parses with TextFSM by default. Continue with Show Objects and TextFSM for catalog, parsing, Excel export, and custom mapping details.

`template`

rauto template configure_vlan.j2 \
  --vars ./vars.json \
  --connection core-sw-01

To render without executing:

rauto template configure_vlan.j2 --vars ./vars.json --dry-run

`flow`

rauto flow \
  --template cisco_like_copy \
  --vars-json '{"command":"copy scp: flash:/new.bin","server_addr":"192.168.1.50","remote_path":"/images/new.bin","transfer_username":"backup","transfer_password":"secret"}' \
  --connection core-01

The same flow can run across a deduplicated target set:

rauto flow --template cisco_like_copy --group access --max-parallel 4

`config fetch`

rauto config fetch --group core --kind running --output-dir ./configs

See Configuration Fetch and Drift Hashes for catalog overrides, normalization, and output rules.

`device discover`

rauto device discover 192.168.60.0/24 --credential network-admin

See Automatic Device Discovery for filters, TUI controls, and safe connection import.

`upload`

rauto upload \
  --local-path ./daemon.conf \
  --remote-path /tmp/daemon.conf \
  --connection linux-jump-01

Recording and replay

Execution commands generally support recording:

rauto exec "show version" \
  --connection core-sw-01 \
  --record-file ./recording.jsonl \
  --record-level key-events-only

To inspect a recording, you can first list entries:

rauto session replay ./recording.jsonl --list

You can also replay a specific command:

rauto session replay ./recording.jsonl --command "show version" --mode Enable

Recommended connection workflow

Ad-hoc phase

Create a credential once, then pass --host and --credential for direct targets.

rauto credential add network-admin

Repetitive execution phase

Move to saved connections:

rauto connection add edge-01 \
  --host 192.168.1.11 \
  --credential network-admin \
  --device-profile huawei

Then reuse it consistently:

rauto exec "display version" --connection edge-01

Multi-device phase

Using saved connections together with inventory group, tx-workflow, and orchestrate is more stable than hand-writing connection flags everywhere.

Full management command families

The current CLI source defines a broader management surface than the quick selection table alone suggests.

`rauto profile`

Current subcommands from source:

list
autodetect [-v|-vv]
show <name>
delete-custom <name>
copy-builtin <source> <name> [--overwrite]
diagnose <name> [--json]

`rauto device` / `rauto connection`

Current subcommands from source:

test
list
show <name>
delete <name>
add <name>
import <file> [--json]
discover <targets...> [--port ...] [--probe-credential ...] [--auto-save]
discover list [--status ...] [--profile ...] [--port ...] [--search ...] [--json]
discover save [host[:port] ...] [--profile ...] [--overwrite]

`rauto credential`

Current credential operations:

list [--json]
show <name-or-id> [--json]
add <name> [--login-username ...] [--enable] [--json]
update <name-or-id> [--name ...] [--enable|--disable-enable] [--json]
import <file> [--json]
delete <name-or-id>

Credential secrets are encrypted separately from connection metadata. Continue with Device Credentials for the full lifecycle.

`rauto inventory`

Current inventory operations:

group list [--json]
group show <name> [--json]
group upsert <name> [--file <path> | --content <json>]
group delete <name>

Groups contain a name, optional description, and saved connection host names. Variables remain execution inputs rather than inventory-group state.

`rauto session`

Current subcommands:

list [connection-name] [--limit <n>] [--json]
show [id] [--json|--raw]
delete <id>
replay [record-file] [--id <id>] [--list] [--command <cmd>] [--mode <mode>]

`rauto blacklist`

Current subcommands:

list
add <pattern>
delete <pattern>
check <command>

`rauto templates`

Current subcommands:

list
show <name>
create <name> [--file <path> | --content <template>]
update <name> [--file <path> | --content <template>]
delete <name>

`rauto flow-template`

Current subcommands:

list
show <name>
create <name> [--file <path> | --content <toml>]
update <name> [--file <path> | --content <toml>]
delete <name>

`rauto textfsm`

Current subcommands from source:

template list
template show <name>
template create <name> [--file <path> | --content <textfsm>]
template update <name> [--file <path> | --content <textfsm>]
template delete <name>
mapping list [--profile <profile>]
mapping set --profile <profile> --command <command> --template <name>
mapping delete --profile <profile> --command <command>

`rauto show-object`

Current subcommands from source:

list [--profile <profile>]
set --profile <profile> --object <object> --command <command> [--mode <mode>] [--textfsm-template <name>] [--textfsm-mapping-command <command>] [--disabled]
delete --profile <profile> --object <object>

`rauto tx-workflow template`

Current saved workflow template operations:

list
show <name>
create <name> [--file <path> | --content <json>]
update <name> [--file <path> | --content <json>]
delete <name>

`rauto orchestrate template`

Current saved orchestration template operations:

list
show <name>
create <name> [--file <path> | --content <json>]
update <name> [--file <path> | --content <json>]
delete <name>

`rauto backup`

Current subcommands:

create [--output <archive>]
restore <archive> [--replace]
list

Other useful management commands

rauto profile list
rauto profile autodetect -v
rauto profile show <name>
rauto templates list
rauto flow-template list
rauto textfsm template list
rauto show-object list --profile <name>
rauto connection list
rauto session list <connection-name>
rauto blacklist list
rauto backup list

Recording and replay details

The source code and README together make it clear that recording is a first-class capability rather than a secondary debugging feature.

Recording-related options currently include:

exec/template/flow/upload/tx/tx-workflow --record-file <path>
exec/template/flow/upload/tx/tx-workflow --record-level <key-events-only|full>
session replay <record_file> --list
session replay <record_file> --command <cmd> [--mode <mode>]
session replay --id <record-id> --list

Operational notes from the current README:

replayed SessionEvent::CommandOutput entries may include exit_code for Linux shell flows
key-events-only is the minimum audit-friendly level
full captures richer prompt and state-transition detail

Operational guidance

Use command families, not isolated commands

In enterprise usage, rauto is best treated as a command family rather than a single execution command.

A typical operator path often looks like:

connection add to normalize targets
profile autodetect, profile show, or profile diagnose to validate profile behavior
show for read-only operational checks and TextFSM parsing
template or flow for repeatable task execution
tx / tx-workflow / orchestrate for governed change delivery
session list/show/replay and backups for audit and recovery

If you need parsed read-only operational data, continue with Show Objects and TextFSM.

Command Selection and CLI#

#Command selection guide

#Shared connection parameters

#Common examples

#exec

#show

#template

#flow

#config fetch

#device discover

#upload

#Recording and replay

#Recommended connection workflow

#Ad-hoc phase

#Repetitive execution phase

#Multi-device phase

#Full management command families

#rauto profile

#rauto device / rauto connection

#rauto credential

#rauto inventory

#rauto session

#rauto blacklist

#rauto templates

#rauto flow-template

#rauto textfsm

#rauto show-object

#rauto tx-workflow template

#rauto orchestrate template

#rauto backup

#Other useful management commands

#Recording and replay details

#Operational guidance

#Use command families, not isolated commands

Command Selection and CLI

Command selection guide

Shared connection parameters

Common examples

`exec`

`show`

`template`

`flow`

`config fetch`

`device discover`

`upload`

Recording and replay

Recommended connection workflow

Ad-hoc phase

Repetitive execution phase

Multi-device phase

Full management command families

`rauto profile`

`rauto device` / `rauto connection`

`rauto credential`

`rauto inventory`

`rauto session`

`rauto blacklist`

`rauto templates`

`rauto flow-template`

`rauto textfsm`

`rauto show-object`

`rauto tx-workflow template`

`rauto orchestrate template`

`rauto backup`

Other useful management commands

Recording and replay details

Operational guidance

Use command families, not isolated commands