Cisco NX-OS Device Configuration Methods
You can configure devices using direct network configuration methods or web services hosted on a Cisco Data Center Network Management (DCNM) server.
This figure shows the device configuration methods available to a network user.

This table lists the configuration method and the document where you can find more information.
Configuration Method | Document |
---|---|
CLI from a Secure Shell (SSH) session, a Telnet session, or the console port |
Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide |
XML management interface |
Cisco NX-OS XML Management Interface User Guide |
Cisco DCNM client |
Cisco DCNM Fundamentals Guide |
User-defined GUI |
Web Services API Guide, Cisco DCNM for LAN Release 5.x |
This section includes the following topics:
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Configuring with CLI or XML Management Interface
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Configuring with Cisco DCNM or a Custom GUI
Configuring with CLI or XML Management Interface
You can configure Cisco NX-OS devices using the command-line interface (CLI) or the XML management interface over Secure Shell (SSH) as follows:
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CLI from an SSH session, a Telnet session, or the console port—You can configure devices using the CLI from an SSH session, a Telnet session, or the console port. SSH provides a secure connection to the device. For more information, see the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Fundamentals Configuration Guide.
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XML management interface over SSH—You can configure devices using the XML management interface, which is a programmatic method based on the NETCONF protocol that complements the CLI functionality. For more information, see the Cisco NX-OS XML Management Interface User Guide.
Configuring with Cisco DCNM or a Custom GUI
You can configure Cisco NX-OS devices using the Cisco DCNM client or from your own GUI as follows:
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Cisco DCNM Client—You can configure devices using the Cisco DCNM client, which runs on your local PC and uses web services on the Cisco DCNM server. The Cisco DCNM server configures the device over the XML management interface. For more information about the Cisco DCNM client, see the Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Cisco DCNM for LAN, Release 5.x .
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Custom GUI—You can create your own GUI to configure devices using the Cisco DCNM web services application program interface (API) on the Cisco DCNM server. You use the SOAP protocol to exchange XML-based configuration messages with the Cisco DCNM server. The Cisco DCNM server configures the device over the XML management interface. For more information about creating custom GUIs, see the Web Services API Guide, Cisco DCNM for LAN, Release 5.x