The OpenStack CLI (python-openstackclient) is the unified command-line tool for managing OpenStack services. It combines Compute (Nova), Identity (Keystone), Image (Glance), Network (Neutron), Block Storage (Cinder), and Object Storage (Swift) into a single openstack command with consistent syntax. This guide covers installation on Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky Linux, and RHEL, plus configuration and verification.
Prerequisites
- A Linux system (Ubuntu 24.04/22.04, Debian 13/12, Rocky Linux 10/9, RHEL 10/9, Fedora 42)
- Python 3.10 or newer (required by openstackclient 9.x)
- Access credentials for an OpenStack deployment (auth URL, username, password, project name)
Install OpenStack CLI on Ubuntu / Debian
Option 1: Distribution package (simplest)
Ubuntu and Debian ship python3-openstackclient in their repositories. The version may lag behind the latest PyPI release, but it’s stable and integrates with system Python:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y python3-openstackclientOption 2: pip in a virtual environment (latest version)
For the latest release (9.0.0 as of this writing), install via pip inside a virtual environment. This avoids conflicts with system packages:
sudo apt install -y python3-venv python3-dev
python3 -m venv ~/.openstack-venv
source ~/.openstack-venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install python-openstackclientActivate the virtual environment before each use:
source ~/.openstack-venv/bin/activateInstall OpenStack CLI on Rocky Linux / RHEL / Fedora
Option 1: RDO packages
On RHEL-family systems, the RDO project provides packaged OpenStack clients. Enable the repository and install:
sudo dnf install -y centos-release-openstack-dalmatian
sudo dnf install -y python3-openstackclientReplace dalmatian with the OpenStack release that matches your deployment (e.g., caracal, bobcat).
Option 2: pip in a virtual environment
sudo dnf install -y python3-devel python3-pip
python3 -m venv ~/.openstack-venv
source ~/.openstack-venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
pip install python-openstackclientVerify the Installation
Confirm the openstack command is available and check the installed version:
openstack --versionExpected output:
openstack 9.0.0For more details about the installed package:
pip show python-openstackclientConfigure Authentication
The OpenStack CLI reads authentication credentials from environment variables. Create a credentials file (commonly called an RC file or openrc file):
vi ~/admin-openrc.shAdd your OpenStack credentials:
export OS_AUTH_URL=https://openstack.example.com:5000/v3
export OS_PROJECT_NAME=admin
export OS_USERNAME=admin
export OS_PASSWORD=your-password-here
export OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME=Default
export OS_PROJECT_DOMAIN_NAME=Default
export OS_IDENTITY_API_VERSION=3
export OS_IMAGE_API_VERSION=2Update the values to match your OpenStack environment. You can download this file directly from the Horizon dashboard under Project > API Access > Download OpenStack RC File.
Source the file to load the credentials into your shell:
source ~/admin-openrc.shTest the Connection
Run a few commands to confirm the CLI is connecting to your OpenStack deployment:
openstack project listList available compute flavors:
openstack flavor listList networks:
openstack network listIf any command returns an authentication error, double-check the values in your RC file, particularly OS_AUTH_URL and OS_PASSWORD.
Enable Bash Completion
Tab completion makes the CLI significantly faster to use. Generate and install the completion script:
openstack complete | sudo tee /etc/bash_completion.d/osc.bash_completion > /dev/nullLog out and log back in (or run source /etc/bash_completion.d/osc.bash_completion) to activate. Now you can tab-complete any OpenStack command:
openstack server [TAB]
create delete list rebuild reboot resize show start stop ...Install Additional Service Clients
The base python-openstackclient covers core services. Some OpenStack services require separate client plugins:
| Service | Plugin Package | Install Command |
|---|---|---|
| Heat (Orchestration) | python-heatclient | pip install python-heatclient |
| Designate (DNS) | python-designateclient | pip install python-designateclient |
| Barbican (Key Manager) | python-barbicanclient | pip install python-barbicanclient |
| Octavia (Load Balancer) | python-octaviaclient | pip install python-octaviaclient |
| Manila (Shared File Systems) | python-manilaclient | pip install python-manilaclient |
| Magnum (Containers) | python-magnumclient | pip install python-magnumclient |
These plugins register their commands automatically. After installing python-heatclient, for example, openstack stack list becomes available without further configuration.
Common OpenStack CLI Commands
Quick reference for the most-used operations after the client is set up:
| Task | Command |
|---|---|
| List servers | openstack server list |
| Create a server | openstack server create --flavor m1.small --image Ubuntu-24.04 --network net1 myvm |
| List images | openstack image list |
| List networks | openstack network list |
| Create a network | openstack network create mynet |
| List flavors | openstack flavor list |
| Show token info | openstack token issue |
| List users | openstack user list |
| Check service endpoints | openstack endpoint list |
For detailed networking operations, see the OpenStack networks and subnets guide. To manage images, see uploading images to OpenStack Glance. For compute flavors, the OpenStack flavors CLI guide covers creation and management. You can also deploy VMs on OpenStack using Terraform for infrastructure-as-code workflows.
