What is nmcli?
nmcli stands for Network Management Command-Line Interface, and is a tool for managing the NetworkManager application and reporting on the status of the network. It can be utilized as a substitution for nm-applet or other similar graphical clients. nmcli is used to display, create, delete, edit, activate, deactivate network connections, and control and display network device status.
Typical uses include:
- Scripts: Utilize NetworkManager via nmcli rather than managing network connections manually. nmcli supports a terse output format that is healthier fitted to the script process. Note that NetworkManager can even execute scripts, referred to as “dispatcher scripts,” responding to network events.
- Servers, headless machines, and terminals: nmcli tool can be used to control NetworkManager without a graphical user interface, including creating, deleting, editing, starting and stopping network connections as well as viewing network status.
