Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Control Components and Device Management Guide, Releases 26.x and Later

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Using CLI templates in Cisco SD-WAN Manager

Updated: June 9, 2026

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Device configuration-based CLI templates for Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices

A device configuration-based CLI Template for Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices is a configuration management tool that:

  • enables Cisco SD-WAN Manager (vManage 20.1.1 and later) to specify CLI templates using yang-cli,

  • pushes only the difference between device and template configurations to Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices, and

  • provides a preview of configuration changes before deployment.

These templates are used alongside feature templates and policies, including localized and security policies, in Cisco SD-WAN Manager.

Note

To configure features not accessible using Cisco SD-WAN Manager, we recommend doing the following:

  1. Use the relevant feature template in addition to a CLI add-on feature template.

  2. For situations where the previous option is not sufficient, use the device configuration-based CLI templates as described in this section.

Create a CLI template using the device configuration option

Procedure

1.

From the Cisco SD-WAN Manager menu, choose Configuration > Templates > Device Templates.

Note

In Cisco SD-WAN Release 20.7.x and earlier releases, Device Templates is titled as Device.
2.

From the Create Template drop-down list, select CLI Template.
3.

From the Device Model drop-down list, select the type of device for which you are creating the template.
4.

In the Template Name and Template Description, enter a name upto 128 alphanumeric characters and a description upto 2048 alphanumeric characters.
5.

Choose Device configuration. Using this option, you can provide Cisco IOS XE configuration commands that appear in the output of the show sdwan running-config command.

(Optional) To load the running config of a connected device, select it from the Load Running config from reachable device list and click Search.
6.

In CLI Configuration, enter the configuration either by typing it, cutting and pasting it, or uploading a file.
7.

To convert an actual configuration value to a variable, select the value and click Create Variable. Enter the variable name, and click Create Variable.

You can also type the variable name directly, in the format {{variable-name}}; for example, {{hostname}}.

These variables can be filled in device variables page per device after attaching the template. Values can be entered manually or can be uploaded via a csv file.
8.

Click Add to save the feature template.

The new device template is displayed in the Device Template table.

Intent-based CLI templates for Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices

An intent-based CLI template for Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices is a configuration management tool that:

  • allows Cisco SD-WAN Manager to configure CLI templates using intent-based commands,

  • supports vEdge device syntax for command input, and

  • pushes vEdge syntax-based commands to Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices in IOS XE syntax.

Intent-based CLI templates enable configuration of Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices using vEdge syntax via Cisco SD-WAN Manager.

With the support of device configuration-based CLI templates, the intent-based CLI templates will be deprecated. We recommend using the device configuration-based CLI templates as described in Device Configuration-Based CLI Templates for Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Devices.

Using Cisco SD-WAN Manager CLI templates significantly reduces the effort to configure feature templates.

Create a CLI template using the intent option

Procedure

1.

From the Cisco SD-WAN Manager menu, choose Configuration > Templates > Device Templates.

Note

In Cisco SD-WAN Release 20.7.x and earlier releases, Device Templates is titled as Device.
2.

From the Create Template drop-down list, select CLI Template.
3.

From the Device Model drop-down list, select the type of device for which you are creating the template.
4.

In the Template Name and Template Description, enter a name upto 128 alphanumeric characters and a description upto 2048 alphanumeric characters.
5.

The configuration of the CLI template can either be intent-based or based on the device configuration:

  • Intent: If you specify Intent, you specify commands in the Cisco vEdge format. If the device you've selected is a Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN device, Cisco SD-WAN Manager converts the configuration for the device.

  • Device configuration: This option is available from Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Release 17.2.1r and onwards and only for Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN devices. For this option, you must specify the entire device configuration as it appears in show sd-wan running config.

Note

You can only use this feature with the qualified CLIs described in the Cisco IOS XE Catalyst SD-WAN Qualified Command Reference Guide.

Example:

You can upload a configuration file using Select a File or copy and paste the CLI configuration. Following is an example of an intent-based CLI with variables.

system

   host-name {{hostname}} 
   system-ip {{system_ip}} 
   domain-id 1

   site-id {{site_id}} 
   port-offset           1
   admin-tech-on-failure
   organization-name "XYZ"
   logging 
    disk 
     enable 
! !

These variables can be filled in device variables page per device after attaching the template. Values can be entered manually or can be uploaded via a csv file.
6.

To save the feature template, click Add.

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