Command Line Interface(Cloudmonkey)

CloudMonkey (cmk) is the official, high-performance command-line interface (CLI) for Zergaw CloudStack. cmk provides a fast, standalone binary capable of managing your IaaS environments.

Key Capabilities

Dynamic API Schema Discovery: Fetches and caches server API specifications live via the sync command, automatically supporting custom API extensions, plugin commands, and new CloudStack releases without binary updates.
Interactive REPL Shell: Features auto-completion (Tab-completion) for commands, options, and parameters, with inline documentation lookup.
Flexible Output Formats: Supports json, yaml, table, csv, text, and customizable custom column displays.
Asynchronous Job Management: Automatically polls long-running CloudStack operations (e.g., VM deployments, volume snapshots) with configurable blocking behavior (asyncblock).
Pipeline & Automation Ready: Accepts commands from standard input (stdin), terminal flags, or shell scripts with native UNIX pipe integration.

Installation & Setup

cmk is distributed as a single static binary for Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Linux (x86_64 / ARM64)

# Download latest Linux release
curl -L -o cmk https://fms.zergaw.com/index.php/s/p5k94DfTwT39kRE/download/cmk.linux.x86-64

# Grant execution permissions
chmod +x cmk

# Move to system path
sudo mv cmk /usr/local/bin/

# Verify installation
cmk version

macOS (Apple Silicon)

# macOS (ARM64 / M-series)
curl -L -o cmk https://fms.zergaw.com/index.php/s/ZajSRydCcHfmD34/download/cmk.darwin.arm64
chmod +x cmk
sudo mv cmk /usr/local/bin/

Windows (PowerShell)

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://fms.zergaw.com/index.php/s/AjbRE9sTeyeo8RM/download/cmk.windows.x86-64.exe" -OutFile "cmk.exe"
Move-Item cmk.exe C:\Windows\System32\

Configuration & Authentication

Launch cmk without parameters to start the interactive shell:

cmk

To set up username/password authentication:

cmk > set url https://cloudstack.zergaw.com/client/api
cmk > set username USERNAME
cmk > set password PASSWORD
cmk > set domain DOMAIN

Before using auto-completion or querying new API endpoints, synchronize the local API cache with your CloudStack management server:

cmk > sync

Operating Modes

Interactive REPL Mode

Running cmk enters interactive mode.

$ cmk
🦧 Apache CloudStack 🐵 CloudMonkey 6.5.0
Type "help" for help, "how-to" for tips, "ctrl-c" or "exit" to exit.

Interactive Shell Shortcuts:

Tab : Auto-completes commands, subcommands, and parameter keys.
Ctrl + C : Cancels current line or interrupts execution.
Ctrl + D or exit : Exits the CloudMonkey shell.
help : Displays general help or specific command syntax.

Direct CLI / One-Shot Mode

Execute single commands directly from your terminal or shell scripts:

cmk list virtualmachines state=Running

Output Formatting & Data Filtering

CloudMonkey provides multiple output formats to simplify both human reading and automated parsing.

Format	Option Keyword	Primary Use Case
Table	`table`	Human interactive reading (default)
JSON	`json`	Automation, piping to `jq`
YAML	`yaml`	Configuration manifests, readability
CSV	`csv`	Exporting reports to spreadsheets
Text	`text`	Simple scalar key-value listings

Quick Cloud Setup through cmk

Create a network

(localcloud) cmk > create network zoneid=8de6d4e2-e032-4dce-b09b-468b69a8c398  name=demo-net displaytext=demo-net networkofferingid=8c784ca2-9f95-4b9a-9acd-515a4e04595f gateway=10.0.10.1 netmask=255.255.255.0 dns1=1.1.1.1 dns2=8.8.8.8 account=demo.admin domainid=e97a2cde-61a1-4f31-8c6c-8415860fcb99

Create an instance on the network

(localcloud) cmk > deploy virtualmachine zoneid=8de6d4e2-e032-4dce-b09b-468b69a8c398 boottype=BIOS bootmode=LEGACY templateid=14db197e-8c84-418b-9800-50d2e55350a3 rootdisksize=30 startvm=true serviceofferingid=d26af6a7-cde4-46ab-b3fc-e99b9d94d6e3 iptonetworklist[0].networkid=6c87e9dd-f37f-473d-83a3-ff638b9cd1ce name=demo-vm displayname=demo-vm account=demo.admin domainid=e97a2cde-61a1-4f31-8c6c-8415860fcb99

Don't forget to copy the password from the field password on the JSON response

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Issue 1: `cmk: command not found`

Cause: Binary is not in system execution path (PATH).
Fix: Ensure binary is moved to /usr/local/bin/ or added to $PATH.

Issue 2: `HTTP 401 Unauthorized / Invalid Credentials`

Cause: Incorrect Username/Password pairing, invalid timestamp/signature, or revoked user keys.
Fix:
1. Regenerate Username/Password in Zergaw CloudStack Web UI (Accounts -> Users -> User Details).
2. Verify clock synchronization on local computer (ntpdate or chrony). Signature generation relies on accurate UTC timestamps.

Issue 3: Missing Autocompletions or New API Parameters

Cause: Local schema cache is out of sync with server.
Fix: Run sync command inside interactive cmk shell.