cn-tool

cn-tool is a modular network utility for Infoblox lookups, bulk network checks, configuration repository searches, and device inventory collection. It runs on Linux, macOS and Windows (natively, without WSL) and installs with pipx install cn-tool.

What's new in 0.7.0

cn-tool runs natively on Windows 10 and 11 and installs from PyPI: pipx install cn-tool puts the commands cn and cn-tool on your PATH (python -m cn_tool works too). A new command, cn init, writes a commented starting configuration to ~/.cn, and cn doctor, the menu and a refused lookup point to it while no configuration file exists. On Windows, Bulk PING uses the system's ping, the device login's user name comes from USERNAME, Bulk Network Trace is not available (it needs mtr), and the command line writes UTF-8. Bulk PING also works on macOS now. .cn is read as UTF-8 (a byte-order mark is fine). Nothing else changes for an install that has a configuration file. The details, and what to do when you upgrade a zip or a clone, are in the release notes of 0.7.0 on the Releases page. Version 0.6.0 let Infoblox log in with its own account, for example a read-only service account (INFOBLOX_USER or [api] user, and INFOBLOX_PW or a GPG file in [gpg] infoblox_credentials; the variable names are configurable in [auth]). Version 0.5.0 added IPv6 to the Infoblox lookups and the bulk tools and a faster start, version 0.4.1 made a command load only the libraries it uses, version 0.4.0 added Infoblox network views, and version 0.3.0 the command line, cn diff, cn doctor and Config Analyzer 0.2.0; their notes are on the same page.

Included Features

• IPv4 and IPv6 address, subnet, FQDN, and location lookups using the Infoblox API; a site is found by an Infoblox extensible attribute ([site] ea_name) or by subnet comment; an object held in several network views is listed once per view, and --view NAME limits a lookup to one
• Command line (cn subnet|ip|fqdn|site|ping|diff|doctor) with table, JSON, Markdown and CSV output and exit codes for scripts, and cn init to write a starting configuration
• Bulk ping (IPv4 and IPv6) with an optional TCP port check, resolve, and (on Linux and macOS) traceroute operations
• cn diff: which snapshot of a device added or removed a configuration line, and who made it
• cn doctor: configuration, credential and Infoblox WAPI checks
• Configuration repository search with optional SD-WAN YAML enrichment
• Device inventory queries in parallel (Cisco IOS/IOS-XE and NX-OS, platform autodetected)
• Config repository browser TUI (python -m config_analyzer)
• Active Directory subnet enrichment
• Excel report generation and optional email delivery
• Disk-backed cache for faster repeated lookups

Installation

cn-tool needs Python 3.10 or newer, on Linux, macOS or Windows 10 and 11 (x64). On Windows, Python 3.12 to 3.14 is recommended (see Windows). The test suite runs on all three systems (macOS once a week). The macOS ping and ping6 were run on a real Apple-silicon Mac runner (macOS 26); a silent IPv6 host, Intel Macs and older macOS versions have not been run.

From PyPI

pipx gives cn-tool a virtual environment of its own and puts its commands on your PATH. On Windows, py -m pip install --user pipx, then py -m pipx ensurepath and a new terminal install pipx itself.

pipx install cn-tool
cn --version

Or install it into a virtual environment you manage:

python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate      # Windows PowerShell: .venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
pip install cn-tool

Either way you get the commands cn and cn-tool (the same program) and python -m cn_tool. If another program on your PATH already provides a cn (the npm package of that name does), use cn-tool. Upgrade with pipx upgrade cn-tool, or pip install --upgrade cn-tool.

From the zip or a clone

Unpack the zip of a release (or clone the repository), create a virtual environment, and install the dependencies:

pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

pip install . in the same directory gives the same install as from PyPI. When you upgrade a zip, unpack it into a new, empty directory: the code lives in a cn_tool folder now, and the release notes of 0.7.0 say what to move.

On a shared server where users cannot write to the install directory, run python -m compileall -q /path/to/cn-tool after each unpack or update, with the Python that runs cn. Python cannot cache compiled modules in a read-only directory, so without this step it compiles every cn module on every start: about 0.14 s more for a lookup (0.42 s instead of 0.28 s on a shared dev host, measured with 0.4.1). A pip install compiles its files when it installs.

First run

cn init

writes a commented starting configuration to ~/.cn (%USERPROFILE%\.cn on Windows). It never overwrites a file: it exits 2 and changes nothing when ~/.cn exists. Open the file in a text editor (notepad $HOME\.cn on Windows), remove the # in front of endpoint in [api] and set your Infoblox grid, and save the file as UTF-8. Then run:

cn doctor

It checks the configuration, the credentials and the Infoblox WAPI. While no configuration file exists at all, cn doctor (a Config file row first), the menu's start-up warning and a refused command-line lookup tell you to run cn init; the .cn in the root of a zip or a clone counts as a configuration file, so only a pip install sees these hints.

Edit ~/.cn in a text editor, not through the menu's Application Setup (s): Setup rewrites the file without its comments. The rest of the configuration is described in Configuration.

Windows

cn-tool runs natively on Windows 10 and 11 (x64), in Windows PowerShell 5.1 and in PowerShell 7, without WSL. The commands on this page are for PowerShell.

Terminal and Python

• Terminal. Windows Terminal is recommended; the older console window works too, though spinner glyphs may show as boxes there. In Warp (warp.dev), typed text at a line prompt such as Bulk Ping's can be drawn over the line above the cursor; plain PowerShell and the ordinary console are not affected, and no cause in cn was found (the likely one, a cursor move that Windows' pseudo-console sends after the menu's alternate screen, is inferred, not confirmed in Warp): use Windows Terminal or PowerShell. The menu needs a real console: the terminal of Git Bash is not one, so cn alone refuses to open the menu there (cn: no command given and no terminal for the menu) and exits 2; run winpty cn, or use Windows Terminal. A command such as cn ip 10.1.2.3 works anywhere.
• Python. Install it from python.org or with the Python install manager; both provide the py launcher. The Microsoft Store Python works but has no py: write python -m pip where this page says py -m pip. Python 3.12 to 3.14 is recommended: Python 3.15 was too new for PyYAML's Windows wheel when 0.7.0 was released, so pip would need a compiler there. On Windows on Arm, install the x64 Python; cn runs under emulation.
• When cn.exe is blocked by AppLocker or antivirus: py -m pip install --user cn-tool, then py -m cn_tool with the same commands and options (py -m cn_tool ip 10.1.2.3). A pipx install keeps cn-tool in its own environment, so py -m cn_tool finds nothing there.

Passwords in PowerShell

PowerShell's PSReadLine saves your command lines in plain text in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\PowerShell\PSReadLine\ConsoleHost_history.txt, except lines that contain words such as password or secret. So never type $env:TACACS_PW = 'secret'. For one terminal, without leaving the password in the history file:

$env:TACACS_PW = Read-Host 'TACACS password' -MaskInput

(PowerShell 7.1 and later), or, in Windows PowerShell 5.1, which has no -MaskInput:

$env:TACACS_PW = [Net.NetworkCredential]::new('', (Read-Host 'TACACS password' -AsSecureString)).Password

Or leave it unset: cn asks, without echo, when it needs it. setx TACACS_PW … is worse:

• it stores the password in plain text in the registry (HKCU\Environment);
• every program you start later can read it;
• it roams with a roaming profile;
• the terminal you typed it in does not see it.

Use setx for names only (setx INFOBLOX_USER svc-ipam). Remove a stored password with [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('TACACS_PW', $null, 'User'). The same holds for INFOBLOX_PW.

The device login's user name is read from USERNAME (Windows has no USER). If your device login is not your Windows user name, put it in a variable of your own (setx CN_USER alice, a name is not a secret) and name that variable in .cn:

[auth]
device_user_var = CN_USER

Scheduled tasks

A Task Scheduler task sees only the environment that is stored for its account, and it cannot show gpg's passphrase window: gpg waits out its 90 second timeout, and a device GPG file older than 24 hours is ignored. Keep the password with DPAPI, which only your account on that computer can read: once, in a normal PowerShell session,

Read-Host 'TACACS password' -AsSecureString | ConvertFrom-SecureString | Set-Content $HOME\.cn-tacacs

and in the task's script, before cn:

$env:TACACS_PW = [Net.NetworkCredential]::new('', (Get-Content $HOME\.cn-tacacs | ConvertTo-SecureString)).Password

To save text from a task, redirect through cmd: cmd /c "cn ping 10.1.2.0/24 --format csv > out.csv" (see Output and encoding).

GPG credentials file

Install Gpg4win for -g and [gpg] files, and open a new terminal so that gpg is on the PATH; without it cn says gpg is not installed (install Gpg4win, then open a new terminal). gpg-agent asks for the key's passphrase in Gpg4win's window. Make the credentials file in an editor such as Notepad, saved as UTF-8, encrypt it, and delete the plain copy:

notepad $HOME\cn-tool-credentials.txt     # two lines: User = alice and Password = ...
gpg --encrypt --recipient YOUR_KEY_ID --output $HOME\cn-tool.gpg $HOME\cn-tool-credentials.txt
Remove-Item $HOME\cn-tool-credentials.txt

One way of writing the file fails in Windows PowerShell 5.1: > and a plain Out-File write UTF-16, and cn then says the file could not be decrypted by gpg --batch. Notepad, Set-Content -Encoding utf8, Out-File -Encoding utf8 and [IO.File]::WriteAllText($path, $text) write UTF-8, and so do >, Out-File and Set-Content in PowerShell 7. A byte-order mark at the start of the file, which Windows PowerShell 5.1 adds to -Encoding utf8 output, is dropped when cn reads the decrypted text.

Output and encoding

cn writes UTF-8 on Windows, also when its output is redirected or piped. PowerShell (5.1 and 7) decodes a program's output with the console's code page ([Console]::OutputEncoding, the OEM code page: 850 or 437, for example), so a name such as Zürich comes out garbled in cn … | ConvertFrom-Json until you run [Console]::OutputEncoding = [Text.UTF8Encoding]::new() (put it in your $PROFILE to keep it). Windows PowerShell 5.1 also writes > redirections as UTF-16, which other tools may not read: let cmd redirect instead (cmd /c "cn doctor > out.txt" writes UTF-8; PowerShell 7's > writes UTF-8 too). Save .cn as UTF-8 as well (see Configuration). The tables use box-drawing characters, so whatever reads them must read UTF-8.

Files, reports and certificates

• Where files go. C:\Users\<you>\.cn, cn.log, report.xlsx and the .cn-cache folder sit in your profile folder, which OneDrive does not sync. The keys move them; on a roaming profile, [cache] directory = ~/AppData/Local/cn-tool/cache keeps the cache off the network. pipx uninstall cn-tool leaves these files behind.
• A report open in Excel. Excel locks a workbook it has open, so a lookup cannot save to it. cn says Error: Could not write the report: C:\Users\alice\report.xlsx is open in another program (Excel?). This result is not in the report; close the file before the next lookup. The result is dropped, not retried, and a command-line run exits 3.
• Certificates. requests trusts the certificate bundle that ships with it, not the Windows certificate store. Behind a proxy that inspects TLS, point REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE at your organisation's CA bundle ($env:REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE = 'C:\certs\corp-ca.pem'), or turn off [api] verify_ssl (which disables the check).
• SSH to devices. A bastion named by ProxyJump in ~\.ssh\config runs Windows' OpenSSH client (ssh.exe), which Windows 10 and 11 include as an optional feature.

What differs from Linux

• Bulk PING runs Windows' own ping (see Bulk ping). An IPv6 target that this computer has no route to reads NO RESPONSE, not NO ROUTE.
• Bulk Network Trace (menu item t) is not available: it needs mtr, which does not exist on Windows. cn says Bulk Network Trace needs mtr, which is not available on Windows. and returns to the menu.
• On Python before 3.14, Windows may not interrupt a bulk run that is waiting for its probes (a Python limitation that 3.14 fixes). If Ctrl-C does not stop it, close the window, or use Python 3.14.
• On the command line, give a file of objects with --file, not < file: PowerShell reserves <.

Command line

cn <command> runs one lookup without the menu, prints the result on stdout and exits with a status a script can test. Without a command the menu opens as before.

cn [global options] <command> [objects…|-] [--file PATH|-] [--format table|json|md|csv] [--report]

For scripted use, call cn from the PATH (a pip install puts it there) rather than a shell alias, which is not expanded in scripts, cron jobs or ssh host cmd. From a zip or a clone, install a symlink instead of calling python main.py (on Windows, pip install . installs the cn command):

ln -s /path/to/main.py ~/bin/cn

Command	Objects	Returns
subnet	10.1.2.0/24, 10.1.2.0/255.255.255.0, 2001:db8:20::/64 or an IP address (its subnet); a container prefix expands to its subnets and lists its child containers, not expanded	subnet summary with DHCP utilization %, DHCP ranges, DNS records, fixed addresses, extensible attributes (an IPv6 subnet has no DHCP utilization or failover); a child containers table for a container prefix; one summary row and one set of details per network view that holds the subnet
ip	IPv4 and IPv6 addresses	network view (on a grid with several), subnet, DNS name, status, MAC (IPv4), DUID (IPv6) and PTR name, one row per network view that holds the address; an unused IPv4 address is reported as UNUSED
fqdn	names or name prefixes (at least three characters)	A, AAAA, host and CNAME records whose name contains the text, with type, DNS view (on a grid with several), zone, TTL and a PTR check
site	site codes; with -k/--keyword, keywords	the subnets of each site code, or matching each keyword, with DHCP utilization % and, on a grid with several network views, the network view
ping	IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, host names, 10.1.2.0/24 and 2001:db8::/120 networks	ICMP result per host and, with --tcp 22,443, the state of each port
diff	device names, as in <name>.cfg in the configuration repositories	configuration lines added or removed since the last change or --since, with the snapshot, author and time
doctor	none	one row per configuration, credential and Infoblox check
init	none	nothing on stdout: it writes a commented starting configuration to ~/.cn and never overwrites a file (exit 0 written, 2 the file exists, 3 it could not be written)

site results are paged: up to 10,000 subnets per address family (IPv4 and IPv6 networks are fetched separately); at the cap a warning says so. fqdn pages each record type (A, AAAA, host, CNAME) and its PTR search up to 10,000 rows.

ip, subnet, fqdn, site and doctor add --view NAME and --all-views (see Network views). ping adds --tcp PORTS, and diff adds --since WHEN and --line TEXT. doctor and init take neither objects nor --file. diff, doctor and init write no report: they have no --report, and -r FILE is refused with exit 2. An option name is never abbreviated (--rep is an error, not --report).

Objects are arguments, or one per line from --file PATH; a positional - or --file - reads standard input (in PowerShell use --file: it reserves <, so cn subnet - < scope.txt is not possible there). Blank lines and # comments are ignored. Global options (-c, -nc, -t, -l, -r, -g, --log-level) work before and after the command. cn <command> --help shows the details of one command.

A command loads only the libraries it uses: pandas and openpyxl when it saves a report, netmiko (with paramiko) when it queries a device over SSH, ldap3 when Active Directory connects, yaml for the SD-WAN YAML search and diskcache for the cache. On a shared dev host (2 cores, load 2-3) cn --help starts in about 0.15 s and cn ip reaches its credentials check in about 0.28 s; before 0.4.1 they took about 0.5 s and 0.9 s. The menu starts faster for the same reason.

A bare object is routed by its shape: cn 10.1.2.3 or cn 2001:db8::5 runs ip, cn 10.0.0.0/24 or cn 2001:db8:20::/64 runs subnet, cn host.example.com runs fqdn. Only an IPv4 or IPv6 address, a network of either family or an FQDN is recognised, and the two families mix inside one kind (cn 10.1.2.3 2001:db8::5 is ip). A MAC address, a partial address such as 10.1.2, a bracketed address ([2001:db8::1]) and a mix of kinds exit 2. ping, diff and doctor are never inferred: use cn ping 10.1.2.3 --tcp 443.

PTR, DHCP utilization and child containers

fqdn returns one row per address: ip, name, type (A, AAAA, HOST or CNAME), canonical (a CNAME's target), DNS view (only on a grid with several DNS views, or with a view selected), zone, TTL (empty = the zone default) and PTR. Rows are sorted by name, type, address and DNS view, and a record held in several DNS views is listed once per view. Five requests run for each prefix: the four record types and the PTR records of the same names.

PTR	Meaning
ok	a PTR record on the grid at this address, in the record's DNS view, points back to the name (in any DNS view for a row without one)
missing	no such PTR record does, in the record's DNS view (in any DNS view for a row without one); cn ip <address> shows the PTR the address has
host record	the host record is configured for DNS, so it publishes its own PTR; not checked
(empty)	a CNAME row, or the PTR check could not run (a warning says why)

A host record that is not configured for DNS (DHCP/IPAM only) is checked like an A record: ok or missing. A record type whose search fails adds a warnings row and makes the status 3; the other types are still listed. ip adds PTR name (one extra request per address that has a PTR record; a failed lookup is a warning and status 3); on a grid with several network views a row shows only the PTR records of its own network view.

subnet and site show DHCP utilization %: the WAPI dhcp_utilization value taken as per mille, so divided by 10, with one decimal. subnet leaves it empty for a subnet without a DHCP range and adds utilization %, utilization status, leases, static and total to each DHCP range; site does not read ranges, so a subnet without one shows 0.0 there and IPv6 rows are empty. Infoblox has no DHCP utilization for an IPv6 network or range, so those cells are empty for an IPv6 subnet too, and it has no DHCP failover rows. An input shorter than /30 (IPv6: /126) also lists its child containers (container, child container, comment, utilization %); they are not expanded, so query one to see its subnets.

Network views

A network view is an Infoblox partition of the IP space: the same network, address or name can exist in several views, each with its own data. A grid with one view has nothing to choose, and nothing changes there.

By default ip, subnet, fqdn and site search every network view and list one row per view that holds the object. A WAPI search without a view answers across every view, so this costs no extra request; cn doctor tests that on a grid with several views. Choose one view instead with:

Choice	Effect
--view NAME	search only this network view (matched exactly; cn doctor lists the names)
--all-views	search every view, even when [api] network_view is set
[api] network_view = NAME	the view every lookup searches when no option is given, in the menu too; empty (the default) searches every view

--view and --all-views work on ip, subnet, fqdn, site and doctor (the last one given wins), then [api] network_view, then every view. --view "" is refused (exit 2); ping and diff take neither option. One view can be named at a time.

cn ip 10.20.0.5 --view lab
cn ip 2001:db8:20::5 --view lab
cn subnet 10.20.0.0/24 --all-views --format json
cn site syd --view prod --format md
cn fqdn web01 --view lab
cn doctor --view lab

The view column. ip shows Network view first; subnet shows Network view in the summary (after Original Input(s)) and network view first in its detail sections; site shows network view first; fqdn shows DNS view before zone. In table, md, csv, the menu and the xlsx report the column shows when a view is selected, when the grid has more than one network view (fqdn: more than one DNS view), when the rows of a run name two views, or when the grid's list of views could not be read. Otherwise it is left out, so a grid with one view prints what 0.3.0 printed. JSON always carries network_view (fqdn: dns_view) in these rows, on every grid, so a script that counts rows on a multi-view grid should key on it:

cn ip 10.20.0.5 --format json | jq -r '.ip_information[] | "\(.network_view) \(.subnet)"'

• ip: one row per address and network view. The PTR request is still one per address. A PTR record goes to the row of the network view that holds its DNS view; one whose DNS view is not listed goes to every row. A PTR record in a DNS view of a network view where the address has no row is not shown.
• subnet: four requests per network, however many views hold it. The answers are split by view into one summary row and one set of details per view. The 10,000-row cap of a list is shared by the views, and the warning names them (shared by network views default, lab). The menu names the view (Details [2/2] for: 10.20.0.0/24 in network view lab), and the "Subnet Data Detail" sheet gets Network view on every row.
• site: one row per network and view, in the grid's order.
• fqdn: rows are sorted by name, type, address and DNS view, and a record in two DNS views is two rows, also on a grid with one network view and split-horizon DNS (internal, external). The PTR verdict is checked in the record's own DNS view, so an external record with no PTR in external reads missing.
• fqdn with a view: A, AAAA, CNAME and PTR records are searched in each DNS view of the network view and host records by network view, 1 + 4k requests for k DNS views (5 without a view). If the PTR search of one DNS view fails, only that view's PTR is left empty, and an IPAM-only host may then read missing. A view with no DNS view searches host records only, and stderr says so.

A selected view is checked after the login and before the first lookup (in the menu, before any input, with a banner naming the view). A view that is not on the grid exits 2 with no network view 'prd' on the grid (--view); network views: default, prod, lab; a name that is a DNS view's says use --view <network view>, and a name that differs only in case says did you mean 'prod'?. If the list of views cannot be read while one is selected, the exit is 3 with check with: cn doctor. With no view selected an unreadable list is not a failure: the lookup runs without a view and the column shows.

cn doctor adds a Network view row after Site attribute: the grid's views, the view the lookups search and, for a selected view, its DNS views. On a grid with several views and none selected it runs a probe (two requests): it asks the first non-default view for one network, then asks for that network without a view; if the answer does not name that view, the row is a warning. The Setup menu status block has an offline Network view row (every view ([api] network_view not set)).

The list of views is one small request, read at most once per lookup and only when [api] endpoint is set and the answer needs it. ip and site send the requests they sent before, subnet four per CIDR, fqdn five per name.

IPv6

ip, subnet, ping and Bulk DNS Lookup take IPv6 addresses and prefixes, in the menu and on the command line, and so do bare objects. fqdn and site always did. Network views work unchanged.

cn 2001:db8:20::5 2001:db8:20::1:a --format md
cn subnet 10.20.0.0/24 2001:db8:20::/64 --format json
cn ping 2001:db8:20::5 web06.example.net --tcp 443
cn ping fe80::1%eth0

An IPv4-only run sends the same requests and prints the same output as 0.4.x.

• Forms. Any spelling Python's ipaddress accepts works, and cn sends the compressed lower-case form, so two spellings of one address are one lookup and one row. Rows show the address as the grid returns it: to join them to your own list, compare addresses, not text. not_found keeps each object as typed.
• Refused before any lookup, with the form to type instead: an IPv4-mapped address (::ffff:10.20.0.5: IPv4-mapped IPv6 address; use 10.20.0.5; also in Bulk DNS Lookup and ping) and a zone ID in ip, subnet and Bulk DNS Lookup (2001:db8::5%eth0: Infoblox stores no zone ID (%eth0); use 2001:db8::5). ip refuses ::, ::1 and link-local addresses as reserved, as for IPv4.
• Columns. There is no family column; the address says which family a row is. IPv6 rows share each section and sheet with the IPv4 rows, and a field IPv6 lacks is an empty cell: MAC, DHCP utilization %, the range counts and DHCP failover. DUID (JSON duid) is the DHCPv6 identity. It appears in ip and in the fixed addresses of subnet whenever the run looks up an IPv6 object, empty for an IPv4 row, and an IPv4-only run has none. Like tcp_<port>, it follows the input, not the data: read it with .duid // "". DHCPv6 options are shown as returned, not decoded.
• Unused addresses and PTR names. ip shows a row for each IPv6 address for which the grid returns an object (whatever its status) and a not_found line No matching IPv6 record found when it returns none. PTR name comes from record:ptr?ipv6addr=, asked for each IPv6 address whose record types include PTR. These behaviours follow the WAPI reference and have not been compared with a live grid.
• Containers. An input shorter than /126 can be a container; the request counts are IPv4's. A container with more than 1,000 direct child networks fails with more than 1,000 records match (status 3), as in IPv4.
• ping expands an IPv6 prefix up to a /112, and with --tcp up to a /118. A name resolves to its IPv4 address first, and to an IPv6 address only when it has no IPv4 one. A link-local address needs its interface (fe80::1%eth0). NO ROUTE means that this host has no route to the address, or no IPv6: it is neither an answer nor a failure.
• Bulk DNS Lookup takes IPv6 addresses and prefixes up to a /112.

Bulk ping (cn ping)

cn ping 10.1.2.3 web01.example.net
cn ping 10.1.2.0/28 --tcp 22,443 --format md
cn ping db01 --tcp 5432 && echo '5432 is open'
cn ping 2001:db8:20::5 --format md

Targets are IP addresses of either family, host names and networks (IPv4 up to a /16, IPv6 up to a /112). A single address is pinged as given, 127.0.0.1 and ::1 too. Names are resolved once, to an IPv4 address or, only when the name has none, to an IPv6 address, and ICMP and TCP use that address; a name that does not resolve is listed in not_found as no such host. A link-local IPv6 address needs its interface (cn ping fe80::1%eth0), and an IPv4-mapped one is refused with the IPv4 address to use. --tcp PORTS also connects to up to 5 TCP ports (1-65535) and allows at most 1,024 hosts (a /22, or an IPv6 /118). Every probe gives up after 3 seconds. ICMP runs the system's ping: on Linux ping -n -w3 -c2 for both families, so ping must take IPv6 literals (current iputils does); on macOS ping -n -c 2 -t 3, and ping6 -n -c 2 for IPv6 (it has no deadline flag, so cn stops a ping still running after 7 seconds); on Windows ping -n 2 -w 1500. On Windows cn counts the reply lines instead of reading Windows' summary, which is in the user's language, so the answer is the same in every language.

Columns: host, address, result (OK, OK (1/2 replies), NO RESPONSE, NO ROUTE, ERROR, or not run when ICMP was skipped) and one tcp_<port> column per port: open, closed (refused or reset; a firewall that rejects connections looks the same), timeout, unreachable or error. NO ROUTE is an IPv6 ping from a Linux or macOS host that has no route to the address or no IPv6; it is the ICMP side of unreachable, so a run in which nothing else answered exits 1, not 3. (On Windows the same case reads NO RESPONSE: the exit status is 1 either way.) The columns follow the arguments: --tcp 22,443 always gives tcp_22 and tcp_443. Without a ping command cn ping exits 2; with --tcp it skips ICMP and the ports decide the status.

Configuration changes (cn diff)

cn diff r1 --since 24h
cn diff r1 --line 'ip route 0.0.0.0' --since 7d

cn diff lists the configuration lines added or removed on each device, each attributed to the snapshot, author and time that made it. Snapshots are the current <device>.cfg and the files in history/<device>/. It reads the directories of [config_analyzer] repo_directories when it is set, else [config_repo] directory, and is unavailable when none of them is accessible or [config_repo] enabled is false.

• Without --since the comparison starts at the previous snapshot (the last change); with --line and no --since, at the oldest. --since takes 30m, 24h, 7d, 2w, 2026-10-01, 2026-10-01T14:00 (UTC unless Z or an offset is given) or a snapshot file name ending in .cfg; it starts at the newest snapshot at or before that time. The comparison ends at the newest snapshot.
• A line is identified by its text and its parent (the nearest line without indentation). Lines are counted, so a repeated line counts as often as it occurs; a pure reorder is not a change; blank lines and lines that are only ! are ignored.
• A row is attributed to the last snapshot in the window that added or removed the line. A line added and removed again inside the window is not shown.
• --line TEXT keeps the lines that contain TEXT, in any case.

Health check (cn doctor)

cn doctor --format json | jq '.checks[] | select(.status == "error")'

cn doctor prints one row per check (check, status, detail), in a fixed order: Infoblox API, Credentials, Infoblox WAPI, Site attribute, Network view, Config Repo, Active Dir, Cache, Theme. Credentials, Infoblox WAPI, Site attribute and Network view are live checks: they run only when Infoblox is configured, and they find the credential source, log in and read the WAPI version from <endpoint>?_schema, check that [site] ea_name is defined on the grid and allowed on networks, and list the network views and check the one the lookups search (--view or [api] network_view; see Network views). The Config Repo row is an error when none of the configured repository directories can be read. status is ok, warning, error, off (not configured), info or skipped. Nothing is changed, and it never prompts without a terminal. The Application Setup status block in the menu shows the same rows without the live checks.

Output

• stdout carries the result and nothing else; progress, warnings and errors go to stderr.
• Colour is off when stdout is not a terminal or NO_COLOR is set (-t monochrome does the same for the menu).
• --format is table (default), json, md or csv (one table, with section as the first column). md pipe tables do not render in Jira Data Center wiki markup or Teams chat; paste table output in a code block there.

Exit status

Status	Meaning	Examples
0	at least one object returned data	misses are listed in not_found
1	no object returned data	an IP outside every managed network
2	usage or configuration error	unknown command, no or invalid objects, MAC address, an IPv4-mapped or zoned IPv6 address, Infoblox not configured, a network view that is not on the grid, an empty --view, unreadable --file, no command and no terminal for the menu, an [auth] value that is not a variable name
3	incomplete or not saved	no credentials (TACACS, or Infoblox's own account) without a terminal, a GPG file for another user, authentication failure, timeout or server error, rejected or too-large query, the network views could not be listed while one was selected, report not written
130	interrupted	Ctrl-C

Status 1 means "no record", not "the IP is free": an unused IPv4 address returns UNUSED with status 0. With status 3, stdout still holds what was found.

ping, diff and doctor use the same statuses with their own meaning of "data":

Status	cn ping	cn diff	cn doctor
0	a host answered ICMP; with --tcp, a port was open	at least one row in changes	no check failed (warning, off, info and skipped are allowed)
1	no host answered (NO ROUTE is no answer), or no port was open	no change in the window, or no such device or snapshot	never
2	no targets, a target that is not an IP address, network or name, an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address, a link-local address without an interface, more than a /16 (IPv6: a /112; 1,024 hosts with --tcp), bad --tcp, no ping command without --tcp	no devices, bad --since or --line, -r FILE, [config_repo] off	the endpoint serves no WAPI schema, [site] ea_name is not defined or not allowed on networks, [api] network_view (or --view) names no network view on the grid, no configuration repository directory can be read, an [auth] value that is not a variable name, -r FILE
3	a probe could not run (ERROR, error), report not written	a repository directory, history folder or snapshot could not be read	no credentials (TACACS, or Infoblox's own account) without a terminal, a GPG file for another user, login rejected, timeout or server error, the network views could not be listed while one is selected

--report appends the result to the xlsx report ([report] filename, or -r FILE, which implies --report); the command line does not save without it. A report that cannot be written makes the status 3.

pandas and openpyxl load at the first save, not at start-up. If they cannot be loaded, the save fails with a message that names the library and the pip install -r requirements.txt command for the Python that runs cn (status 3 on the command line); lookups and cn doctor still work. A new report is created with openpyxl on every machine, as every append already was. Before 0.4.1 a machine that had xlsxwriter installed created it with that library instead, and URL-like text in the first rows became a link; it is plain text now, as in every later row.

requests and urllib3 load at the first Infoblox request, not at start-up, so cn ping, cn diff and cn doctor without Infoblox never load them. If requests cannot be loaded, the first Infoblox request ends the run with cn: unexpected error. Check logs. (status 3 on the command line) and the log has the ImportError; reinstall the requirements.

JSON for scripts

JSON keys are stable: section and column keys are lower-case snake_case (ip_information, dns_records, fqdn, location, subnets, ip_address, a_record), a key never contains data, and empty sections are kept. Keys are only ever added, never renamed or removed. Misses are listed in not_found as {object, reason}, and warnings lists what was cut off or could not be read.

Command	Sections
subnet	subnets, child_containers, the detail sections (general, dhcp_range, ...), warnings; the rows carry network_view
ip	ip_information, not_found, warnings
fqdn	fqdn, not_found, warnings
site	location, not_found, warnings
ping	ping (host, address, result, tcp_<port>...), not_found
diff	compared, changes, not_found, warnings
doctor	checks

New columns: fqdn has type, canonical, dns_view, zone, ttl and ptr; ip_information has network_view, ptr_name and, in runs that look up an IPv6 object, duid; the fixed_addresses of subnet have duid in the same runs; subnets, general and location have dhcp_utilization; dhcp_range has utilization, utilization_status, leases, static and total; child_containers has container, child_container, comment and utilization. Utilization values are numbers when known and "" when not. network_view is in every row of ip_information, subnets, location, the detail sections of subnet, child_containers and the warnings of subnet, and dns_view in every row of fqdn, on every grid; an object held in several views is a row for each. A ping result can be NO ROUTE. duid follows the input, not the data, so read it with .duid // "" (jq) or row.get("duid", "") (Python).

set -o pipefail
cn subnet 10.1.2.0/24 --format json | jq -r '.dns_records[].a_record'
cn ip --file ips.txt --format json | jq -r '.not_found[].object'
cn ip 10.20.0.5 --format json | jq -r '.ip_information[] | "\(.network_view) \(.subnet)"'
cn ip 10.20.0.5 2001:db8:20::5 --format json | jq -r '.ip_information[] | "\(.ip) \(.duid // "")"'
cn ping web01 --tcp 443 --format json | jq -r '.ping[] | select(.tcp_443 == "open") | .host'

Use set -o pipefail so that a failed cn is not hidden by the status of jq.

Credentials

cn logs in as $USER with $TACACS_PW (on Windows the user name is %USERNAME%, which is the default of the [auth] setting device_user_var); if the password is not set, a GPG credentials file younger than 24 hours is used (see GPG Credentials File below). Without a terminal cn never prompts: it exits 3 at once with a message that names TACACS_PW and the GPG file, so cron jobs and ssh host cn … cannot hang. cn doctor shows which source applies and whether the login works. On Windows, set the password for one terminal as described under Windows.

Infoblox can log in with an account of its own, for example a read-only service account, while devices and Active Directory keep the TACACS login. Four settings give it: INFOBLOX_USER (the user name; it wins over [api] user), INFOBLOX_PW (the password), [api] user in .cn (the user name only: .cn holds no Infoblox password) and [gpg] infoblox_credentials (a GPG file, see below). The password comes from INFOBLOX_PW, else the Infoblox GPG file, else a prompt; the user name from INFOBLOX_USER, else [api] user, else the GPG file's User = line. $USER is never used as the Infoblox user name.

Once any of them is set, Infoblox never uses the TACACS login: a missing half is asked for on a terminal, and without one cn exits 3 and names it, with the reason when a GPG file could not be used (cn: no Infoblox password for svc-ipam: set INFOBLOX_PW, or [gpg] infoblox_credentials). A GPG file for a different user than INFOBLOX_USER or [api] user stops the run before anything is sent. [api] user in .cn with INFOBLOX_PW exported is the setup to start with:

[api]
user = svc-ipam

read -rs -p 'Infoblox password: ' INFOBLOX_PW; echo; export INFOBLOX_PW
cn ip 10.20.0.5

The .cn keys apply to every cn run of that user, cron jobs included: once [api] user is set, a job without INFOBLOX_PW or the GPG file exits 3. Give the job one of them, or keep it on the TACACS login with cn -c ~/.cn-tacacs …, where ~/.cn-tacacs sets to empty every Infoblox setting your ~/.cn has: [api] / user =, [gpg] / infoblox_credentials =, and [auth] / infoblox_user_var = and infoblox_password_var = (empty means INFOBLOX_USER and INFOBLOX_PW, which the job does not export). -c adds a layer on top of ~/.cn, so the empty values override it, while a file that merely lacks the keys would change nothing.

cn does not read INFOBLOX_USERNAME or INFOBLOX_PASSWORD, the names the Terraform provider and the Ansible NIOS modules use, unless [auth] names them (below). An automation account exported for those tools is never used by accident; cn doctor shows which login applies.

When the grid refuses the account's login, cn says so with the user and the source of the password (Infoblox refused user 'svc-ipam' (password from INFOBLOX_PW).), sends an account's first request alone and, after a refusal, nothing more as that account for the rest of the run: a wrong password costs one refused login per run. A cron job still costs one per run, so act on exit 3 before the grid's lockout (if enabled) locks the account.

The names of the four variables are configurable in [auth]: device_user_var (default USER, and USERNAME on Windows), device_password_var (TACACS_PW), infoblox_user_var (INFOBLOX_USER) and infoblox_password_var (INFOBLOX_PW). The section holds names, never passwords. A blank value means the default, and a value that is not a variable name stops the login with exit 2 and the key's name. When cn says where a value came from, it names the variable (password from INFOBLOX_PASSWORD). When it asks you to set a variable that is not set, it names the [auth] key instead (set the variable named in [auth] infoblox_password_var): cn cannot tell a variable name from a password typed there by mistake, so it prints a custom name only once that variable exists. To use the account the Terraform provider and the Ansible NIOS modules read, say so in two lines:

[auth]
infoblox_user_var = INFOBLOX_USERNAME
infoblox_password_var = INFOBLOX_PASSWORD

cn then logs in with whatever those tools use, write rights included (cn itself only reads). The names are read when cn logs in: edit .cn and restart cn.

Configuration

cn-tool reads ini-style configuration from these files, in this order (a later file overrides an earlier one):

1. .cn in the root of a zip or a clone, next to main.py (a pip install has none)
2. ~/.cn (%USERPROFILE%\.cn on Windows), the file cn init creates
3. a file passed with -c

Save .cn as UTF-8; a byte-order mark is fine. A file in another encoding (a Windows ANSI code page with an accented letter in it) is not read: cn logs the parse error and runs on its defaults. Paths may start with ~, and on Windows may be drive paths such as D:\configs. The log, the report, the cache and the GPG file default to ~/cn.log, ~/report.xlsx, ~/.cn-cache and ~/cn-tool.gpg, in your home directory on every system; the keys below move them.

Example:

[api]
endpoint = https://infoblox.example.com
verify_ssl = true
timeout = 10
# Infoblox network view the lookups search (empty: every view; cn --view / --all-views override it)
# network_view = prod

[logging]
logfile = ~/cn.log
level = INFO

[report]
filename = ~/report.xlsx
auto_save = true

[config_repo]
directory = /opt/data/configs
excluded_dirs = old,history
history_dir = history

[cache]
enabled = true
directory = ~/.cn-cache

[theme]
theme = default

Optional sections (all keys may be omitted):

[ssh]
config_file = ~/.ssh/config
# device_name_filter = (sw|rtr|core)\d+   ; only query hosts whose reverse-DNS name matches

[site]
# code_pattern = ^[A-Za-z0-9]{3}(?:-[A-Za-z0-9]{1,4})?$   ; shape of a site code (default: any 2-64 char token)
# ea_name = Site                                          ; Infoblox extensible attribute that holds the site code (default: none)
# comment_pattern = ^[^;]+;\s*{site}\s*(;|$)              ; where the site appears in Infoblox subnet comments
# hostname_pattern = \b{country}{site_compact}[-_\w]*\b    ; how a site's device names look in configs

Site codes and device naming differ between organisations, so by default cn-tool accepts any short token as a site code, matches it as a whole word anywhere in a subnet comment, looks for devices whose names start with it, and queries every host you give it.

With ea_name set, a site code is looked up in that extensible attribute first (IPv4 and IPv6 networks), and subnet comments are searched only when no subnet carries it; the menu and cn site then say so (No subnet has the extensible attribute Site = DNS; matched DNS in subnet comments instead.). If the attribute query fails there is no fallback, so a wrong name is an error that points to cn doctor. An attribute defined for IPv4 objects only gives the warning IPv6 subnets not searched: <reason>. Keyword search (-k) never uses the attribute.

Optional Integrations

GPG Credentials File

To avoid interactive password prompts, you can store credentials in a GPG-encrypted file and point [gpg] credentials or -g/--gpg-file at it.

The decrypted file must contain exactly these fields:

User = your-username
Password = your-password

One way to create it is:

cat > /tmp/cn-tool-credentials.txt <<'EOF'
User = your-username
Password = your-password
EOF

gpg --encrypt --recipient YOUR_KEY_ID \
  --output ~/cn-tool.gpg \
  /tmp/cn-tool-credentials.txt

rm -f /tmp/cn-tool-credentials.txt

Notes:

• cn-tool will ignore credential files older than 24 hours.
• The file must be decryptable by gpg in the environment where cn-tool runs.
• The decrypted text must be UTF-8 (a byte-order mark at the start is dropped). On Windows, gpg comes from Gpg4win, and PowerShell 5.1's > writes UTF-16, which is not read: see Windows.
• If you do not want to use GPG, set TACACS_PW or enter the credential interactively.

Infoblox account file

Infoblox's own account (see Credentials) can have a file of its own: point [gpg] infoblox_credentials at it. It has the same two lines (User = and Password =) but, unlike the file above, no age limit; recreate it when the password changes. One way to create it, without writing anything plain to disk:

read -rs -p 'Infoblox password: ' pw; echo
printf 'User = %s\nPassword = %s\n' svc-ipam "$pw" |
  gpg --yes --encrypt --recipient YOUR_KEY_ID --output ~/infoblox.gpg
unset pw
chmod 600 ~/infoblox.gpg

printf is a shell builtin, so the password never appears in the process list, and --yes lets the same command replace the file when the password changes. A cron job decrypts with gpg --batch, so it needs a key that gpg can use without asking: a passphrase cached in gpg-agent, or a key kept for this purpose.

Active Directory

[ad]
enabled = true
uri = ldap://your-ad-server.example.com
user = domain\user
search_base = CN=Subnets,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=example,DC=com
connect_on_startup = false

Email

[email]
enabled = true
send_on_exit = false
to = some_user@example.com
server = smtp.example.com
port = 587
use_tls = true
use_auth = true
user = some_user@example.com
password = app-password-or-service-password

SD-WAN YAML Search

[sdwan_yaml_search]
enabled = false
repository_paths = /path/to/repo1,/path/to/repo2

Config Analyzer

The repository browser TUI (config_analyzer 0.2.0, Textual 8.2 or newer) can be launched either from the menu or directly. One app hosts two screens: the repository browser (folders, devices and a preview) and, on top of it, the snapshots of the device you opened. Select one snapshot to read it, two to see their diff; Esc goes back to the browser exactly as you left it (folder, cursor, filter and scroll position).

python -m config_analyzer --repo-path /path/to/repoA --repo-path /path/to/repoB
python -m config_analyzer --repo-path /path/to/repo --device r1   # open the snapshots of r1

An unknown --device is an error notification and the browser opens; a device without snapshots is a warning notification.

Key	Does
?	Help panel with the keys that apply now.
/	Focus the filter line. Typing any other key on a list goes into the filter too, except z, / and ? (a filter that starts with one of them needs / first).
Enter	Open a folder or device; in the snapshot list, select a snapshot (two show the diff). In the filter line it acts on the highlighted row and returns to the list.
Tab, Shift+Tab	Switch between the list and the document or preview.
d, h	Snapshots, document focused: unified or side-by-side diff; hide unchanged lines.
Ctrl+F, Alt+F	Find in the shown document: type, Enter or Down for the next match, Up for the previous one, Esc closes.
z	Maximise the document, while one is shown; again to restore.
Ctrl+L	Cycle the layout (right, bottom, left, top) without losing focus, scroll position or selection.
Esc	Close find, then restore a maximised pane, then clear the filter; in the snapshots then hide the document, then go back to the browser.
Ctrl+Q	Quit at once.

cn diff reads the same snapshots without the TUI. cn diff and the TUI use [config_analyzer] repo_directories when set, else [config_repo] directory.

Optional configuration:

[config_analyzer]
repo_directories = /path/to/repoA,/path/to/repoB
repo_names = repoA,repoB
layout = right
scroll_to_end = false
debug = false

Notes

• Reports are written to report.xlsx in your home directory by default.
• The Application Setup menu edits the user-level ~/.cn file and rewrites it without its comments: edit the file in a text editor to keep them.
• Secrets can be provided interactively or via your own local configuration.