Cisco APIC Getting Started Guide, Release 6.2(x)

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Personalize the APIC GUI

Updated: January 12, 2026

Overview

This process describes how administrators personalize the APIC GUI by assigning custom names to controllers and configuring login banners. These actions improve controller identification within a cluster and enhance operational clarity for users accessing the system through both graphical and command-line interfaces.

The process includes pointers to personalize the Cisco APIC GUI.

Summary

Personalizing APIC GUIs enhances the usability and identification of APICs. The key components involved in the process are:

  • Administrator: configures custom names and login banners.

  • APIC GUI: displays the customized information (the name and banner).

Workflow

You can personalize the APIC GUI by

  1. setting a name to each of the APICs in a cluster.
  2. adding a customized banner at login (applicable for both CLI and GUI).

Result

Benefits of personalization:

  • Improved identification and usability: adding a custom name to the APIC GUI helps you identify which APIC you are managing in a cluster. This enhances operational clarity and reduces confusion when multiple APICs are in use.

  • Custom login experience: you can add login banners to both the CLI and GUI interfaces. The CLI banner displays a text message before the password prompt, while the GUI banner can display a custom HTML page before user authentication.

Assign a name to the APIC

Set a custom name for the APIC interface to clearly indicate the controller you are viewing.

In an ACI cluster with three (the recommeneded number of controllers) APICs, naming each controller helps you to quickly identify the APIC you are logged in to.

Procedure

1.

On the APIC menu bar, choose System > System Settings.
2.

In the Navigation pane, click APIC Identification Preferences.
3.

In the work pane, type the desired APIC name in the GUI Alias box.
4.

Click Submit.

The custom APIC name appears at the top left of the interface in parentheses, allowing you to easily identify the controller.

Add a login banner

Display a custom login banner for users accessing the APIC system via the CLI or GUI interfaces.

Define banners that will be displayed when you log in to the CLI or GUI.

  • The CLI banner is a simple text string displayed at the terminal before the password prompt. You can define a banner for the APIC CLI and a separate banner for the switch CLI.

  • The GUI banner displays at the APIC URL before user login authentication. The GUI banner is defined as a URL of a site hosting the desired HTML.

Before you begin

  • Ensure you have access privileges to modify APIC system identification preferences.

  • (for GUI banner only) Confirm that the banner URL site allows embedding in an iFrame.

    Note

    The URL site owner must allow the site to be placed in an iFrame to display the informational banner. If the owner of the site sets the x-frame-option to deny or sameorigin, the site the URL points to will not appear.

Procedure

1.

On the APIC menu bar, choose System > System Settings.
2.

In the Navigation pane, click APIC Identification Preferences.
3.

In the work pane, complete the following fields:

  1. To configure an APIC CLI banner, type the banner text into the Controller CLI Banner textbox.

  2. To configure a switch CLI banner, type the banner text into the Switch CLI Banner textbox.

  3. To configure an APIC GUI banner, type the URL of a site hosting the desired HTML into the GUI Banner (URL) textbox.
4.

Click Submit.