Network operating systems typically use a forward slash (/) as a separator for interfaces, network addresses, and other settings. However, the Bash shell restricts the use of the forward slash in file names. While Bash provides for an escape character, the APIC file system simplifies network naming by using a colon (:) as a separator. The following examples describe how to use this separator.

The APIC provides tab completion for standard Linux commands and APIC-specific commands listed in the Command Reference. When you press the Tab key at the end of a command or option abbreviation, the CLI displays the command in full or the next available keyword or argument choice.

For example, you can use the tab key to display available directories:

admin@apic1:aci> cd tenants/ <Tab>
common/ infra/  mgmt/   

The APIC CLI supports the Bash shell history functions. To display the command history, you can use the Up Arrow or Down Arrow, as well as the history command.

You can reenter a command in the history by stepping through the history to recall the desired command and pressing Enter. You can also recall a command and change it before you enter it.

In addition, you can directly search for a previous command by pressing Ctrl-r and then typing part of the desired command until the command is displayed.

For more information about the Bash shell including additional command history functions, see http:/​/​www.gnu.org/​software/​bash/​bash.html

The CLI provides two forms of context sensitive help:

• Inline help—At any time, you can enter the Esc key twice to display the options available at the current state of the command syntax. If you have not entered anything at the prompt, entering Esc key twice lists all available commands for the current command mode. If you have partially entered a command, entering Esc key twice lists all available keywords and arguments available at your current position in the command syntax.
• Man pages—At the command prompt, you can enter the man followed by a command or path to a managed object (MO) under /aci to display a UNIX-style man page. Man pages are not available for all commands or scopes.

The aci file system organizes MOs and properties into a concise format for interactive user sessions. The aci mount point is intended for most users and is the primary CLI interface for the APIC.

The Management Information Tree (MIT) file system allows advanced users to directly view and configure MOs within the MIT. The directory structure of the mitfs is the same as aci except that MOs are displayed as native MIT objects.

For example, the mit mount point displays the admin user as follows:

admin@apic1:user-admin> pwd
/mit/uni/userext/user-admin
admin@apic1:user-admin> ls -ltr
total 4
drw-rw---- 1 root  root  512 Jan 27 15:08 userdomain-all
drw-rw---- 1 root  root  512 Jan 27 15:08 userdata
-r--r----- 1 root  root  665 Jan 27 15:08 mo
drw-rw---- 1 admin admin 512 Jan 28 17:56 history
drw-rw---- 1 admin admin 512 Jan 28 17:56 faults

Note	The mit mount point is intended for advanced users with a strong understanding of MO configuration.

The debug mount point allows you to view and debug configurations across multiple APIC, leaf, and spine devices. The debug mount point is intended for troubleshooting by advanced users.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) allows you to control user permissions by creating roles with a set of permissions and assigning them to users. RBAC allows you to apply permission to a user by assigning a role rather than directly configuring permissions.

Within the APIC CLI, you can grant permissions to users to manipulate specific parts of the Management Information Tree (MIT) such as a managed object (MO).

The following example shows how to use the ls command to display RBAC permissions within the APIC CLI. The command output displays files and UNIX read/write/execute file permissions and the time and date when the file was last modified.

admin@apic1:user-admin> ls -al
total 4
drw-rw---- 1 admin admin 512 Jul 22 14:25 .
drw-rw---- 1 admin admin 512 Jul 22 14:25 ..
-rw-rw---- 1 admin admin 421 Jul 22 14:25 mo
-r--r----- 1 admin admin 608 Jul 22 14:25 summary
drw-rw---- 1 admin admin 512 Jul 22 14:25 userdata
drw-rw---- 1 admin admin 512 Jul 22 14:25 userdomain-all

By default, each user is provided with a home directory at /home/<username>. This directory gives permissions for a user to create sub-directories and files. Files created within /home/<username> inherit the default umask permissions and are accessible by the user and the administrator (admin).

We recommend that users create a /userid directory to store files- such as /home/jsmith -when logging in for the first time. Thereafter the APIC treats the /userid directory as the user's home directory.