CLI Commands Reference

This reference documents all available AWX CLI resources, their actions, and common arguments. The exact list of resources and actions may vary based on your AWX version and permissions.

Command Discovery

The AWX CLI is self-documenting. Resources and actions are discovered dynamically from the AWX API using HTTP OPTIONS requests.

List All Resources

awx --conf.host https://awx.example.org --help

Get Resource Details

awx <resource> --help

Get Action Details

awx <resource> <action> --help

Standard Actions

Most resources support these standard CRUD actions:

list

List all resources of the specified type.

awx <resource> list [options]

Common Options:

--all - Fetch all pages (default: first page only)
--order_by FIELD - Sort by field (prefix with - for descending)
-f, --conf.format - Output format (json, yaml, human, jq)
--filter - Field filter for output

Examples:

awx users list
awx users list --all
awx users list --order_by username
awx users list -f human --filter 'id,username,email'

get

Retrieve a specific resource by ID or name.

awx <resource> get <id|name> [options]

Arguments:

id - Resource ID (integer) or unique name (string)

Examples:

awx users get 1
awx users get alice
awx projects get 'My Project'

create

Create a new resource.

awx <resource> create [required-args] [optional-args]

Common Patterns:

Required fields are shown in “required arguments” section
Use --help to see all available fields
JSON/YAML fields accept @filename for file input

Examples:

awx users create --username bob --password secret --email bob@example.com
awx projects create --name 'My Project' --organization 1 --scm_type git --scm_url 'https://github.com/example/repo.git'

modify

Update an existing resource.

awx <resource> modify <id|name> [fields-to-update]

Examples:

awx users modify alice --email alice@newdomain.com
awx projects modify 'My Project' --scm_branch main

delete

Delete a resource.

awx <resource> delete <id|name>

Examples:

awx users delete bob
awx projects delete 42

Common Resources

users

Manage AWX users. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, grant, revoke Create Example:

awx users create \
    --username alice \
    --password secret123 \
    --email alice@example.com \
    --first_name Alice \
    --last_name Smith \
    --is_superuser false

Grant Role:

awx users grant alice --organization 1 --role admin
awx users grant alice --project 'My Project' --role use

organizations

Manage organizations. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, associate, disassociate Create Example:

awx organizations create \
    --name 'Engineering' \
    --description 'Engineering team resources'

Associate Galaxy Credential:

awx organizations associate 'Engineering' --galaxy_credential 'Ansible Galaxy'

projects

Manage projects (SCM repositories). Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, update, associate, disassociate Create Example:

awx projects create \
    --name 'Web Application' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --scm_type git \
    --scm_url 'https://github.com/example/webapp.git' \
    --scm_branch main \
    --scm_update_on_launch true

Update Project (SCM sync):

awx projects update 'Web Application'
awx projects update 'Web Application' --monitor

inventories

Manage inventories. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx inventories create \
    --name 'Production' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --description 'Production servers'

hosts

Manage inventory hosts. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx hosts create \
    --name 'web1.example.com' \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --variables '{"ansible_host": "10.0.1.10"}'

groups

Manage inventory groups. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx groups create \
    --name 'webservers' \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --variables '{"http_port": 8080}'

inventory_sources

Manage dynamic inventory sources. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, update Create Example:

awx inventory_sources create \
    --name 'AWS EC2' \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --source 'ec2' \
    --credential 'AWS Credential' \
    --update_on_launch true

Update Inventory:

awx inventory_sources update 'AWS EC2' --monitor

credentials

Manage credentials. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Machine Credential Example:

awx credentials create \
    --name 'SSH Key' \
    --credential_type 'Machine' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --inputs '{"username": "ansible", "ssh_key_data": "@~/.ssh/id_rsa"}'

Source Control Credential Example:

awx credentials create \
    --name 'GitHub Token' \
    --credential_type 'Source Control' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --inputs '{"username": "oauth2", "password": "ghp_xxxxxxxxxxxx"}'

credential_types

Manage custom credential types. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Example:

awx credential_types create \
    --name 'API Token' \
    --kind 'cloud' \
    --inputs '{"fields": [{"id": "api_token", "label": "API Token", "type": "string", "secret": true}]}' \
    --injectors '{"env": {"API_TOKEN": "{{ api_token }}"}}'

job_templates

Manage job templates. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, launch, associate, disassociate Create Example:

awx job_templates create \
    --name 'Deploy Application' \
    --job_type run \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --project 'Web Application' \
    --playbook 'deploy.yml' \
    --verbosity 0

Launch:

awx job_templates launch 'Deploy Application'
awx job_templates launch 'Deploy Application' --monitor
awx job_templates launch 'Deploy Application' --extra_vars '{"version": "1.2.3"}'

Associate Credential:

awx job_templates associate 'Deploy Application' --credential 'SSH Key'

workflow_job_templates

Manage workflow job templates. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, launch, associate, disassociate Create Example:

awx workflow_job_templates create \
    --name 'Deploy Pipeline' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --inventory 'Production'

Launch:

awx workflow_job_templates launch 'Deploy Pipeline' --monitor

jobs

View and manage job executions. Actions: list, get, delete, stdout, monitor List Recent Jobs:

awx jobs list --all --order_by '-created' -f human

Get Job Output:

awx jobs stdout 123

Monitor Running Job:

awx jobs monitor 123

Cancel Job:

awx jobs delete 123

workflow_jobs

View and manage workflow job executions. Actions: list, get, delete, monitor Monitor Workflow:

awx workflow_jobs monitor 456

ad_hoc_commands

Execute ad hoc commands. Actions: list, get, create, stdout Run Ad Hoc Command:

awx ad_hoc_commands create \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --credential 'SSH Key' \
    --module_name ping \
    --limit 'webservers'

awx ad_hoc_commands create \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --credential 'SSH Key' \
    --module_name command \
    --module_args 'uptime' \
    --limit 'all' \
    --monitor

teams

Manage teams. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete, grant, revoke Create Example:

awx teams create \
    --name 'DevOps' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --description 'DevOps team'

Grant Role:

awx teams grant 'DevOps' --project 'Web Application' --role admin

schedules

Manage scheduled jobs. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx schedules create \
    --name 'Nightly Backup' \
    --unified_job_template 42 \
    --rrule 'DTSTART:20260301T020000Z RRULE:FREQ=DAILY;INTERVAL=1' \
    --enabled true

notification_templates

Manage notification templates. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Email Notification Example:

awx notification_templates create \
    --name 'Email Alerts' \
    --notification_type email \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --notification_configuration '{"host": "smtp.example.com", "recipients": ["alerts@example.com"], "sender": "awx@example.com"}'

Slack Notification Example:

awx notification_templates create \
    --name 'Slack Alerts' \
    --notification_type slack \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --notification_configuration '{"token": "xoxb-xxxx", "channels": ["#alerts"]}'

instances

View AWX instances (Tower/Controller nodes). Actions: list, get List Instances:

awx instances list -f human --filter 'id,hostname,capacity,version'

instance_groups

Manage instance groups. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx instance_groups create \
    --name 'High Priority' \
    --policy_instance_percentage 100

execution_environments

Manage execution environments. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx execution_environments create \
    --name 'Custom EE' \
    --image 'quay.io/ansible/awx-ee:latest' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --credential 'Container Registry'

labels

Manage labels. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx labels create \
    --name 'production' \
    --organization 'Engineering'

roles

View available roles. Actions: list, get List Roles:

awx roles list -f human

applications

Manage OAuth2 applications. Actions: list, get, create, modify, delete Create Example:

awx applications create \
    --name 'CI/CD Integration' \
    --organization 'Engineering' \
    --authorization_grant_type 'password' \
    --client_type 'confidential'

Special Actions

launch

Available for: job_templates, workflow_job_templates Launch a job or workflow. Options:

--monitor - Stream job output
--wait - Wait for completion without output
--action-timeout SECONDS - Timeout for monitoring
--interval SECONDS - Polling interval (min 2.5s)
--extra_vars JSON - Runtime variables
--limit HOST_PATTERN - Limit to hosts
--job_tags TAGS - Run specific tags
--skip_tags TAGS - Skip specific tags

update

Available for: projects, inventory_sources Trigger an SCM update or inventory sync. Options:

--monitor - Show update progress
--wait - Wait for completion

monitor

Available for: jobs, workflow_jobs Monitor a running or completed job.

awx jobs monitor 123

stdout

Available for: jobs, ad_hoc_commands, project_updates, inventory_updates Retrieve job output.

awx jobs stdout 123

grant / revoke

Available for: users, teams Grant or revoke role-based access. Options:

--organization ID|NAME
--project ID|NAME
--inventory ID|NAME
--job_template ID|NAME
--workflow_job_template ID|NAME
--credential ID|NAME
--role ROLE_NAME (required)

Available Roles:

admin
execute
read
use
update
adhoc
member
auditor

associate / disassociate

Available for: job_templates, workflow_job_templates, organizations, projects, inventory_sources Associate or disassociate related resources. Examples:

# Associate credential
awx job_templates associate 'Deploy' --credential 'SSH Key'

# Associate notification
awx job_templates associate 'Deploy' --success_notification 'Slack'
awx job_templates associate 'Deploy' --failure_notification 'Email'

# Disassociate
awx job_templates disassociate 'Deploy' --credential 'SSH Key'

Bulk Operations

bulk

Perform bulk operations. Actions: host_create, host_delete, job_launch Bulk Host Create:

awx bulk host_create \
    --inventory 'Production' \
    --hosts '[{"name": "web1"}, {"name": "web2"}, {"name": "web3"}]'

Bulk Host Delete:

awx bulk host_delete \
    --hosts '[{"name": "web1"}, {"name": "web2"}]'

Bulk Job Launch:

awx bulk job_launch \
    --jobs '[{"unified_job_template": 1}, {"unified_job_template": 2}]' \
    --monitor

Control Resources

These resources provide metadata and don’t follow standard CRUD patterns.

config

Display current CLI configuration.

awx config

ping

Test API connectivity.

awx ping

me

View current user details.

awx me list

metrics

View system metrics (if enabled).

awx metrics list
awx metrics list -f human

mesh_visualizer

View mesh topology (AWX with mesh enabled).

awx mesh_visualizer list

settings

View and modify system settings. List All Settings:

awx settings list

List Settings Category:

awx settings list --slug authentication
awx settings list --slug jobs
awx settings list --slug system

Modify Setting:

awx settings modify SESSION_COOKIE_AGE 3600
awx settings modify TOWER_URL_BASE 'https://awx.example.org'

Import/Export Commands

export

Export resources. Syntax:

awx export [--resource [id|name] ...] [-f json|yaml]

Examples:

# Export everything
awx export > backup.json

# Export specific types
awx export --users --organizations --teams > rbac.json

# Export by name
awx export --users alice --projects 'My Project' > config.json

# Export by ID
awx export --job_templates 42 > template.json

# Export in YAML
awx export -f yaml > backup.yml

Exportable Resources:

users
organizations
teams
credentials
credential_types
notification_templates
projects
inventories
inventory_sources
job_templates
workflow_job_templates
schedules
labels

import

Import resources. Syntax:

awx import [-f json|yaml] < input_file

Examples:

# Import from JSON
awx import < backup.json

# Import from YAML
awx import -f yaml < backup.yml

Tips for Working with Commands

Finding Field Names

Use --help to discover available fields:

awx users create --help

Or use verbose mode to see API schema:

awx -v users list | grep -A 50 OPTIONS

Using IDs vs Names

Most resources accept either ID or unique name:

# By ID (faster, but less readable)
awx projects get 42

# By name (more readable)
awx projects get 'My Project'

When creating resources with foreign keys:

# Reference by ID
awx job_templates create --project 42 --inventory 10 ...

# Reference by name (CLI resolves to ID)
awx job_templates create --project 'My Project' --inventory 'Production' ...

Handling Ambiguous Names

If multiple resources have the same name:

# Error: Multiple projects exist with that name
# Resolution: Use ID or query to find correct one
awx projects list --name 'My Project' -f human
awx projects get 42

Working with Extra Vars

Job templates and workflow templates support extra variables:

# Inline JSON
awx job_templates launch 1 --extra_vars '{"version": "1.2.3"}'

# Short form
awx job_templates launch 1 -e '{"version": "1.2.3"}'

# From file
awx job_templates launch 1 --extra_vars @vars.json
awx job_templates launch 1 --extra_vars @vars.yml

Working with Variables

Inventories, groups, and hosts support variables:

# Inline JSON
awx hosts create --inventory 1 --name web1 \
    --variables '{"ansible_host": "10.0.1.10", "http_port": 8080}'

# From file
awx hosts create --inventory 1 --name web1 --variables @host_vars.yml

Deprecated Resource Names

The CLI supports backward-compatible aliases for resources (for tower-cli compatibility):

Current Name	Deprecated Alias
ad_hoc_commands	ad_hoc
applications	application
credentials	credential
credential_types	credential_type
groups	group
hosts	host
inventories	inventory (note: plural is current)
inventory_sources	inventory_source
inventory_updates	inventory_update
jobs	job
job_templates	job_template
execution_environments	execution_environment
labels	label
workflow_job_template_nodes	node
notification_templates	notification_template
organizations	organization
projects	project
project_updates	project_update
schedules	schedule
settings	setting
teams	team
workflow_job_templates	workflow
workflow_jobs	workflow_job
users	user

Deprecated aliases are provided for compatibility only. Use the current resource names in new scripts and documentation.

​Command Discovery

​List All Resources

​Get Resource Details

​Get Action Details

​Standard Actions

​list

​get

​create

​modify

​delete

​Common Resources

​users

​organizations

​projects

​inventories

​hosts

​groups

​inventory_sources

​credentials

​credential_types

​job_templates

​workflow_job_templates

​jobs

​workflow_jobs

​ad_hoc_commands

​teams

​schedules

​notification_templates

​instances

​instance_groups

​execution_environments

​labels

​roles

​applications

​Special Actions

​launch

​update

​monitor

​stdout

​grant / revoke

​associate / disassociate

​Bulk Operations

​bulk

​Control Resources

​config

​ping

​me

​metrics

​mesh_visualizer

​settings

​Import/Export Commands

​export

​import

​Tips for Working with Commands

​Finding Field Names

​Using IDs vs Names

​Lookup by Name in Related Fields

​Handling Ambiguous Names

​Working with Extra Vars

​Working with Variables

​Deprecated Resource Names

Command Discovery

List All Resources

Get Resource Details

Get Action Details

Standard Actions

list

get

create

modify

delete

Common Resources

users

organizations

projects

inventories

hosts

groups

inventory_sources

credentials

credential_types

job_templates

workflow_job_templates

jobs

workflow_jobs

ad_hoc_commands

teams

schedules

notification_templates

instances

instance_groups

execution_environments

labels

roles

applications

Special Actions

launch

update

monitor

stdout

grant / revoke

associate / disassociate

Bulk Operations

bulk

Control Resources

config

ping

me

metrics

mesh_visualizer

settings

Import/Export Commands

export

import

Tips for Working with Commands

Finding Field Names

Using IDs vs Names

Lookup by Name in Related Fields

Handling Ambiguous Names

Working with Extra Vars

Working with Variables

Deprecated Resource Names