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VMware AVI

PyPI License: MIT

English | 中文

Maintainer: Wei Zhou · zhouwei008@gmail.com

Community-maintained open-source project; not an official VMware or Broadcom product.

Overview · Quick Start · MCP Configuration · Capabilities and Workflows · Safety and Audit · Troubleshooting · Companion Skills · Reference · License

Overview

Runs locally over stdio by default; configure required targets and credentials on your own machine.

MCP 2.5 migration: replace the removed confirmed / dry_run tool arguments with confirm=true for execution; omitting confirm previews. Old arguments are rejected without a write. CLI dry-run options are unchanged.

AVI (NSX Advanced Load Balancer) management and AKO Kubernetes operations tool — 28 tools across 10 categories.

Dual mode: Traditional AVI Controller management + AKO K8s operations in one skill.

Companion skills handle everything else:

Skill

Scope

Install

vmware-aiops

VM lifecycle, deployment, guest ops, cluster

uv tool install vmware-aiops

vmware-monitor

Read-only: inventory, health, alarms, events

uv tool install vmware-monitor

vmware-storage

Datastores, iSCSI, vSAN management

uv tool install vmware-storage

vmware-vks

Tanzu Namespaces, TKC cluster lifecycle

uv tool install vmware-vks

vmware-nsx

NSX networking: segments, gateways, NAT

uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt

vmware-nsx-security

DFW firewall rules, security groups

uv tool install vmware-nsx-security

vmware-aria

Aria Ops: metrics, alerts, capacity

uv tool install vmware-aria


Container examples build a local version-tagged image and run it with --pull=never, avoiding registry fallback. A local version tag is not an immutable image digest.

Keep TLS verification enabled and trust private CAs with SSL_CERT_FILE. Disabling certificate/hostname checks is an isolated-lab exception and permits endpoint impersonation and credential interception.

Full agent instructions: skills/vmware-avi/SKILL.md.

Related MCP server: vSphere-MCP-Pro

Quick Start

Requires Python >=3.10 and uv.

uv tool install vmware-avi==2.5.1
vmware-avi --help

Target, credential and local data setup: setup guide.

Quick Install

# Via uv (recommended)
uv tool install vmware-avi==2.5.1

# Or via pip
pip install vmware-avi==2.5.1

# China mainland mirror
pip install vmware-avi==2.5.1 -i https://pypi.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/simple

# Verify installation
vmware-avi doctor

Offline / Air-Gapped Install (from source)

This project uses the modern PEP 517 build system (hatchling), so there is no setup.py by design — that is expected, not a missing file. If you cloned the source and hit ERROR: File "setup.py" or "setup.cfg" not found ... editable mode currently requires a setuptools-based build, your pip is older than 21.3 and cannot do an editable (-e) install with a non-setuptools backend. Editable mode is a developer convenience, not needed to run the tool — do one of:

# From the source tree — a normal (non-editable) install builds a wheel:
pip install .              # NOT  pip install -e .

# ...or upgrade pip first, and editable works too:
pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -e .

For a truly air-gapped host, build the wheels on a connected machine and copy them over — the target then needs no network:

# On a connected machine, collect this package + its dependencies as wheels:
pip wheel . -w dist        # → dist/*.whl   (or: uv build, for just this package)

# Copy dist/ to the air-gapped host, then install offline:
pip install --no-index --find-links dist vmware-avi

Configuration

Step 1: Create Config Directory

mkdir -p ~/.vmware-avi
vmware-avi init          # generates config.yaml and .env templates
chmod 600 ~/.vmware-avi/.env

Step 2: Edit config.yaml

controllers:
  - name: prod-avi
    host: avi-controller.example.com
    username: admin
    api_version: "22.1.4"
    tenant: admin
    port: 443
    verify_ssl: true

default_controller: prod-avi

ako:
  kubeconfig: ~/.kube/config
  default_context: ""
  namespace: avi-system

Step 3: Set Passwords

Create ~/.vmware-avi/.env:

# AVI Controller passwords
# Format: {CONTROLLER_NAME_UPPER}_PASSWORD
PROD_AVI_PASSWORD=your-password-here

Password environment variable naming convention:

{CONTROLLER_NAME_UPPER}_PASSWORD
# Replace hyphens with underscores, UPPERCASE
# Example: controller "prod-avi" -> PROD_AVI_PASSWORD
# Example: controller "staging-alb" -> STAGING_ALB_PASSWORD

Step 4: Verify

vmware-avi doctor    # checks Controller connectivity + kubeconfig + avisdk

MCP Configuration

Copy this configuration into your MCP client's local stdio settings. The client must be able to find uvx; the initial package installation requires access to a package index.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-avi": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "vmware-avi==2.5.1", "vmware-avi-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VMWARE_AVI_CONFIG": "~/.vmware-avi/config.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}

The following sections retain preinstalled CLI alternatives and product-specific MCP options.

MCP Server

The MCP server exposes all 28 tools via the Model Context Protocol. Works with any MCP-compatible client.

After uv tool install vmware-avi==2.5.1, start the MCP server with one command (v1.5.15+):

# Recommended — single command, no network re-resolve
vmware-avi mcp

# With custom config path
VMWARE_AVI_CONFIG=/path/to/config.yaml vmware-avi mcp

Claude Desktop Config

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-avi": {
      "command": "vmware-avi",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {
        "VMWARE_AVI_CONFIG": "~/.vmware-avi/config.yaml"
      }
    }
  }
}
# Run without installing (requires PyPI access each launch)
uvx --from vmware-avi==2.5.1 vmware-avi mcp

# Legacy entry point (still works, kept for backward compatibility)
vmware-avi-mcp

Behind a corporate TLS proxy? uvx may fail with invalid peer certificate: UnknownIssuer. Use the recommended vmware-avi mcp form above (no network needed), or set UV_NATIVE_TLS=true.

MCP Tools (28)

Category

Tools

Virtual Service (3)

list_virtual_services, get_virtual_service_status, set_virtual_service_enabled

Pool Member (4)

list_lb_pools, list_lb_pool_members, enable_lb_pool_member, disable_lb_pool_member

SSL Certificate (2)

list_ssl_certs, check_ssl_cert_expiry

Analytics (2)

get_virtual_service_analytics, get_virtual_service_error_logs

Service Engine (2)

list_service_engines, get_service_engine_health

AKO Pod (4)

get_ako_status, get_ako_logs, restart_ako, get_ako_version

AKO Config (3)

get_ako_config, diff_ako_config, upgrade_ako_config

Ingress Diagnostics (3)

check_ako_ingress, list_ako_ingresses, diagnose_ako_ingress

Sync Diagnostics (3)

get_ako_sync_status, diff_ako_sync, force_ako_sync

Multi-cluster (2)

list_ako_clusters, get_ako_amko_status


Capabilities and Workflows

Capabilities Overview

What This Skill Does

Category

Tools

Count

Virtual Service

list, status, enable/disable

3

Pool Member

pool discovery, member list, enable/disable member (drain/restore traffic)

4

SSL Certificate

list, expiry check

2

Analytics

VS metrics overview, request error logs

2

Service Engine

list, health check

2

AKO Pod Ops

status, logs, restart, version info

4

AKO Config

values.yaml view, Helm diff, Helm upgrade

3

Ingress Diagnostics

annotation validation, VS mapping, error diagnosis, fix recommendation

4

Sync Diagnostics

K8s-Controller comparison, inconsistency list, force resync

3

Multi-cluster

cluster list, cross-cluster AKO overview, AMKO status

3

CLI vs MCP: Which Mode to Use

Scenario

Recommended

Why

Local/small models (Ollama, Qwen)

CLI

~2K tokens vs ~8K for MCP

Cloud models (Claude, GPT-4o)

Either

MCP gives structured JSON I/O

Automated pipelines

MCP

Type-safe parameters, structured output

AKO troubleshooting

CLI

Interactive log tailing, Helm diff output

Rule of thumb: Use CLI for cost efficiency and small models. Use MCP for structured automation with large models.

Architecture

User (Natural Language)
  |
AI CLI Tool (Claude Code / Gemini / Codex / Cursor / Trae)
  | reads SKILL.md
  |
vmware-avi CLI
  |--- avisdk (AVI REST API) ---> AVI Controller ---> Virtual Services / Pools / SEs
  |--- kubectl / kubernetes ---> K8s Cluster ---> AKO Pods / Ingress / Services

CLI Usage

Virtual Service Management

# List all virtual services
vmware-avi vs list [--controller prod-avi]

# Check status of a specific VS
vmware-avi vs status my-webapp-vs

# Enable / disable a VS (disable requires double confirmation)
vmware-avi vs enable my-webapp-vs
vmware-avi vs disable my-webapp-vs

Pool Member Drain / Restore

# List pool members and health status
vmware-avi pool members my-pool

# Graceful drain (disable) — double confirmation required
vmware-avi pool disable my-pool 10.1.1.5

# Restore traffic (enable)
vmware-avi pool enable my-pool 10.1.1.5

SSL Certificate Expiry Check

# List all certificates
vmware-avi ssl list

# Check certificates expiring within 30 days
vmware-avi ssl expiry --days 30

Analytics and Error Logs

# VS analytics: throughput, latency, error rates
vmware-avi analytics my-webapp-vs

# Request error logs
vmware-avi logs my-webapp-vs --since 1h

Service Engine Health

# Name, mgmt IP, operational status, SE group — status sourced from the
# serviceengine-inventory endpoint (config + runtime merged)
vmware-avi se list

# Per-SE operational status + connected-VS counts
vmware-avi se health

AKO Troubleshooting

# Check AKO pod status
vmware-avi ako status [--context my-k8s-context]

# View AKO logs
vmware-avi ako logs [--tail 100] [--since 30m]

# Restart AKO pod (double confirmation)
vmware-avi ako restart

# Show AKO version
vmware-avi ako version

AKO Helm Config Management

The AKO Helm release is discovered automatically (official installs use helm install --generate-name, so the release is not named ako). Upgrades pull the official Broadcom OCI chart oci://projects.packages.broadcom.com/ako/helm-charts/ako with --reuse-values.

# View current AKO Helm values (release auto-discovered)
vmware-avi ako config show

# Show pending changes (diff against the official OCI chart)
vmware-avi ako config diff

# Helm upgrade (double confirmation + --dry-run default)
vmware-avi ako config upgrade

Ingress Diagnostics

# Validate Ingress annotations
vmware-avi ako ingress check <namespace>

# Show Ingress-to-VS mapping
vmware-avi ako ingress map

# Diagnose why an Ingress has no VS
vmware-avi ako ingress diagnose <ingress-name>

Sync Diagnostics

# Check K8s-Controller sync status
vmware-avi ako sync status

# Show inconsistencies between K8s and Controller
vmware-avi ako sync diff

# Force AKO resync (double confirmation)
vmware-avi ako sync force

Multi-cluster AKO

# List every kube-context and whether AKO runs there
vmware-avi ako clusters

# Cross-cluster AKO status overview
vmware-avi ako cluster-overview

# AMKO GSLB status
vmware-avi ako amko status

Common Workflows

1. Maintenance Window -- Drain a Pool Member

When taking a backend server offline for patching:

  1. List pool members and health status

    vmware-avi pool members my-pool
  2. Disable the target server (graceful drain)

    vmware-avi pool disable my-pool 10.1.1.5
  3. Monitor analytics to confirm active connections are draining

    vmware-avi analytics my-vs
  4. Perform maintenance on the server

  5. Re-enable the server

    vmware-avi pool enable my-pool 10.1.1.5
  6. Verify health status is green

    vmware-avi pool members my-pool

2. AKO Ingress Not Creating VS

When a developer reports their Ingress is not producing a Virtual Service:

  1. Verify AKO is running

    vmware-avi ako status
  2. Validate Ingress annotations

    vmware-avi ako ingress check <namespace>
  3. Check sync status between K8s and Controller

    vmware-avi ako sync status
  4. If annotations are wrong, diagnose the specific Ingress

    vmware-avi ako ingress diagnose <ingress-name>
  5. If sync drift is detected, review the diff and force resync if needed

    vmware-avi ako sync diff
    vmware-avi ako sync force

3. SSL Certificate Expiry Audit

Expired certificates cause outages. Run periodic checks:

  1. Check all certificates expiring within 30 days

    vmware-avi ssl expiry --days 30
  2. Review which VS uses each expiring certificate (output includes VS mapping)

  3. Plan renewal with the certificate team

  4. After renewal, verify the new certificate is in place

    vmware-avi ssl list

Safety and Audit

Safety Features

Feature

Details

Double Confirmation

Destructive ops (VS disable, pool member disable, AKO restart, Helm upgrade, force resync) require 2 sequential confirmations

Dry-Run Default

ako config upgrade defaults to --dry-run mode -- user must explicitly confirm to apply

MCP Blast Radius

set_virtual_service_enabled, disable_lb_pool_member, restart_ako, force_ako_sync and upgrade_ako_config take confirm (default false): a call without confirm=true returns blast_radius (what would change: VS/pool and member counts, the AKO pod and its Ingresses, the Helm release and chart move) and changes nothing. confirm=true is refused on a blocker (the pool's only enabled member, a terminating AKO pod, a failing helm --dry-run) or an unreadable field. the old confirmed / dry_run aliases were removed in 2.4.1 and are refused as unknown arguments

Audit Trail

All operations logged to ~/.vmware/audit.db via vmware-policy (@vmware_tool decorator)

Password Protection

.env file loading with permission check; never in shell history

SSL Support

verify_ssl: false for self-signed certs in isolated lab environments only

Prompt Injection Protection

All API-sourced text truncated (500 chars max) and C0/C1 control characters stripped

Input Validation

Pool names, VS names, IP addresses, and namespace names validated before API calls

Security Details

  • Source Code: github.com/vmware-skills/VMware-AVI

  • Config File Contents: config.yaml stores controller addresses, usernames, and AKO settings. No passwords or tokens. All secrets stored exclusively in .env

  • Webhook Data Scope: Disabled by default. No third-party data transmission

  • TLS Verification: Enabled by default. Disable only for self-signed certificate environments

  • Prompt Injection Protection: _sanitize() truncation + control character cleanup on all AVI API responses

  • Least Privilege: Use a dedicated AVI service account with minimal permissions. AKO operations require only namespace-scoped kubeconfig access


Remote access (HTTPS) and limiting tools

By default vmware-avi mcp speaks stdio to one local client and offers every tool. Two options change that (vmware-policy ≥ 1.21.0).

Serve over HTTPS so clients on other machines can connect. Every caller needs a bearer token:

vmware-audit token create alice          # prints the token once; give it to alice
vmware-audit token list                  # names only
vmware-audit token revoke alice          # refused from its next request, no restart
vmware-avi mcp --transport https --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8443 \
    --cert /etc/vmware-mcp/server.pem --key /etc/vmware-mcp/server-key.pem \
    --public-name mcp.example.com

Connect a client (Claude Code shown; any MCP client that supports streamable HTTP and custom headers works):

claude mcp add --transport http vmware-avi https://mcp.example.com:8443/mcp \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer $VMWARE_MCP_TOKEN"
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vmware-avi": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.example.com:8443/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${VMWARE_MCP_TOKEN}" }
    }
  }
}
  • The server will not start without a token, refuses Host/Origin values outside --public-name, and checks before it binds that unauthenticated requests get 401. Use a certificate your clients trust for those names.

  • Behind a TLS-terminating reverse proxy on the same machine use --transport http --host 127.0.0.1 --public-name mcp.example.com and pass the Authorization header through.

  • Behind a load balancer or gateway on another machine, keep --transport https (a self-signed certificate is fine), list in --public-name the host name the balancer sends as Host, and have it forward Authorization. Its health probe can use GET /healthz, which needs no token and returns only {"status": "ok"} (vmware-policy ≥ 1.23.0).

  • Send traceparent or X-Request-ID with each request to have it stored on the audit row; vmware-audit log --correlation-id ID then finds the calls behind one platform request.

  • The audit log records each caller as token:<name>. Calls run side by side: each holds its own session to a Controller (or Kubernetes context), up to VMWARE_MCP_POOL_SIZE (default 2) sessions per target. Each Controller session is a login on the Controller; a call waits at most 300 s for a free one.

  • Everyone who can reach the endpoint acts with this server's account. Tokens identify callers; they grant nothing on the platform. Run one endpoint per privilege level.

  • Several people or roles on one endpoint: run vmware-audit roles enable once, then give each token a role (vmware-audit token create NAME --role reader, or a role in roles.yaml naming tools and targets; vmware-policy ≥ 1.24.0). A role limits what the token may call on this endpoint; it cannot grant more than the account has. See vmware-policy's README, "Roles for network callers".

Offer only read tools, plus the writes you choose:

vmware-avi mcp --expose read --allow-write disable_lb_pool_member
# or: VMWARE_AVI_MCP_EXPOSE=read VMWARE_AVI_MCP_ALLOW_WRITE=disable_lb_pool_member vmware-avi mcp

Tools not offered do not appear in the client's tool list. A bad value or an unknown write tool stops the server (exit 2). This limits what clients are offered; it is not authorization, so the account itself should be least-privilege.

Details: skills/vmware-avi/references/setup-guide.md ("Serving MCP over HTTPS", "Limiting which tools are offered").

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

"Controller unreachable" error

  1. Run vmware-avi doctor to verify connectivity

  2. Check if the controller address and port are correct in ~/.vmware-avi/config.yaml

  3. For self-signed certs: set verify_ssl: false in config.yaml (lab environments only)

AKO Pod in CrashLoopBackOff

  1. Check logs: vmware-avi ako logs --tail 50

  2. Common causes: wrong controller IP in values.yaml, network policy blocking AKO to Controller, expired credentials

  3. Fix config: vmware-avi ako config show to inspect, then vmware-avi ako config upgrade with corrected values (release auto-discovered; pulls the official Broadcom OCI chart)

Ingress created but no VS on Controller

  1. Validate annotations: vmware-avi ako ingress check <namespace>

  2. Check AKO logs for rejection reason: vmware-avi ako logs --since 5m

  3. Run sync diff: vmware-avi ako sync diff to see if the object is stuck

Pool member shows "down" after enable

Health monitor may still be failing. The member is enabled but unhealthy. Check the actual health status on the Controller side. Fix the backend service first, then the health status will auto-recover.

SSL expiry check shows 0 certificates

Verify the controller connection has tenant-level access. Certificates are tenant-scoped in AVI. The configured user may only see certs in their tenant.

AKO sync force has no effect

Force resync triggers AKO to re-reconcile all K8s objects. If the drift persists, the issue is likely in the K8s resource definition itself (bad annotation, missing secret). Use vmware-avi ako ingress diagnose to pinpoint the root cause.


Troubleshooting & Contributing

If you encounter any errors or issues, please send the error message, logs, or screenshots to zhouwei008@gmail.com. Contributions are welcome -- feel free to join us in maintaining and improving this project!

Companion Skills

The VMware Skills family contains 14 MCP servers and the shared Policy library. Choose tools by responsibility: vmware-skills.

Companion Skills

Skill

Scope

Tools

Install

vmware-avi

AVI load balancer, AKO K8s operations

28

uv tool install vmware-avi==2.5.1

vmware-aiops

VM lifecycle, deployment, guest ops, cluster

49

uv tool install vmware-aiops

vmware-monitor

Read-only monitoring, alarms, events

27

uv tool install vmware-monitor

vmware-storage

Datastores, iSCSI, vSAN

11

uv tool install vmware-storage

vmware-vks

Tanzu Namespaces, TKC cluster lifecycle

20

uv tool install vmware-vks

vmware-nsx

NSX segments, gateways, NAT, routing

33

uv tool install vmware-nsx-mgmt

vmware-nsx-security

DFW firewall, security groups, IDS/IPS

21

uv tool install vmware-nsx-security

vmware-aria

Aria Ops: metrics, alerts, capacity

28

uv tool install vmware-aria

vmware-harden

Compliance baselines, drift detection

6

uv tool install vmware-harden


Reference

Release history: RELEASE_NOTES.md.

Read-only self-test with your own model and agent host: model-fit self-test.

Upgrading to 2.0

2.0 renames all 28 MCP tools so every name starts with a verb (e.g. ako_amko_status → get_ako_amko_status, ako_clusters → list_ako_clusters, ako_config_diff → diff_ako_config). The full old → new table is in RELEASE_NOTES.md. Nothing else changes: same tools, parameters, safety gates and CLI commands. If an agent prompt, script or ~/.vmware/rules.yaml names a tool, update it — though deny rules written with the old names keep working with vmware-policy ≥ 1.18 (vmware-audit policy lists any rule the renames widened), and vmware-pilot ≥ 1.13 translates old names in saved workflows. If an install older than 2.0 shares that rules.yaml, give it vmware-policy ≥ 1.18.2 too: it matches each rule against both the old and the new name, so one file serves both.

Version Compatibility

AVI Controller / Environment

Support

Notes

AVI 30.x in VCF 9.1

✅ Full

avisdk 30.x line covers VCF 9.1 bundle

AVI 30.x in VCF 9.0

✅ Full

Standard AVI / NSX ALB integration

AVI 22.x — 31.x standalone

✅ Full

Pin avisdk>=22.1,<31.0

AKO 1.10+

✅ Full

Kubernetes integration via AKO ConfigMap / GatewayClass

Official Broadcom References

License

MIT

Available Tools

28 tools
check_ako_ingressA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Validate every Ingress in one namespace: IngressClass and TLS secret references that would stop AKO creating a Virtual Service.

Returns name, IngressClass, issues and OK/ISSUES per Ingress. Run list_ako_ingresses first for namespace names; use diagnose_ako_ingress instead for one named Ingress. Covers one namespace only, and TLS checks are skipped when its secrets cannot be listed.

Inputs: namespace (required), context. Returns: result

check_ssl_cert_expiryA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Check which SSL certificates expire within N days (default 30).

Returns name, expiry date and days remaining, soonest first. Use this instead of list_ssl_certs when you only want certificates near expiry. Expired certs are included, with negative days remaining. Certificates whose expiry could not be read are counted and named separately — they are unknown, not "not expiring".

Inputs: days. Returns: result

diagnose_ako_ingressA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Diagnose why one Ingress has no corresponding AVI Virtual Service.

Validates IngressClass ('avi'/'avi-lb'), TLS secrets and backend Services. Returns annotations, a numbered issue list and kubectl fixes. "Not found"/"missing" is reported only for a 404; any other error reading the Ingress, a TLS secret or a backend Service says it could not be read (with the HTTP status). Use list_ako_ingresses first to find Ingresses lacking a VS. Checks configuration only; when it is clean, try get_ako_logs and get_ako_sync_status.

Inputs: name (required), context, namespace. Returns: result

diff_ako_configA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Pending Helm value changes that have not been applied yet.

Returns helm's diff output; empty means nothing would change. Credential values in it read <redacted> — that is this skill blanking them, not the configured value. Use this before upgrade_ako_config — it runs the same command, so the preview is real. Note: with chart_version empty the registry's moving latest is resolved, so two runs can differ with no local change; read get_ako_version and pass it to both.

Inputs: chart_version. Returns: result

diff_ako_syncA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] List Ingresses with no matching Virtual Service or pool on the Controller.

Returns Type, namespace/name and Status per suspect Ingress. Use when get_ako_sync_status reports a mismatch; force_ako_sync reconciles. Shard-mode Ingresses are matched heuristically against AKO pool names, so confirm a 'Missing' result with list_lb_pools before acting.

Inputs: context. Returns: result

disable_lb_pool_memberA
Destructive

[WRITE] Disable a pool member with graceful drain — existing connections complete, no new traffic.

Without confirm=True this only previews: it returns blast_radius (pool name and uuid, the member's IP/port/state, and how many members are enabled before and after) and changes nothing. Show that to the user and get their explicit decision. Do not set confirm=True on your own because the user asked earlier: they have not seen what it changes yet. An already disabled member returns action "noop".

Refused with confirm=True: the pool's only enabled member (the pool would serve nothing — enable another first, or use set_virtual_service_enabled on purpose), an IP that matches more than one member, and a pool whose members cannot be read. Use for maintenance or rolling deployments; run list_lb_pool_members first for the server IP, enable_lb_pool_member to reverse it.

Inputs: pool (required), server (required), confirm, confirmed.

enable_lb_pool_memberA

[WRITE] Enable a pool member so it receives traffic again.

Returns a one-line confirmation. Use list_lb_pool_members first to verify the server IP. The server must already belong to the pool — this adds nothing.

Inputs: pool (required), server (required). Returns: result

force_ako_syncA
Destructive

[WRITE] Force AKO to resync all K8s resources with the AVI Controller.

The resync restarts the AKO pod so it rebuilds every Virtual Service, pool and VS-VIP from the cluster's current resources. Without confirm=True this only previews: it returns blast_radius (context, namespace, the pod's name, uid and phase, and the Ingresses it re-programs) and changes nothing. Show that to the user and get their explicit decision. Do not set confirm=True on your own because the user asked earlier: they have not seen what it changes yet.

Refused with confirm=True: a pod already terminating, and a pod or Ingress list that cannot be read. Use when drift is detected; may cause brief traffic disruption. Run diff_ako_sync first to see what is out of sync, then get_ako_sync_status.

Inputs: confirm, context, confirmed.

get_ako_amko_statusA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] AMKO (AVI Multi-Cluster Kubernetes Operator) GSLB status.

Returns raw kubectl output: the AMKO pods in avi-system, then the GSLBConfig YAML if one exists. 'AMKO not deployed' means kubectl answered and found no AMKO pods; if kubectl cannot read the cluster the call fails with its reason. A GSLBConfig that cannot be read is reported, not skipped. Use this only for multi-cluster GSLB questions — for single-cluster AKO health use get_ako_status instead. Always reads the current kubectl context; see list_ako_clusters.

Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: result

get_ako_configA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] The AKO Helm release's values — controller IP, cloud name, network settings, feature flags.

Returns YAML as helm reports it. Use this first to read the live config; use diff_ako_config instead to see what an upgrade would change. Only values supplied at install time appear; chart defaults do not.

Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: result

get_ako_logsA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] AKO pod logs — Ingress creation failures, sync errors, Controller connectivity.

Returns raw log text, not a table. Use when get_ako_status shows the pod unhealthy or diff_ako_sync reports a missing Ingress. Only the running container's logs are returned.

Inputs: tail, since, context. Returns: result

get_ako_statusA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Check AKO (AVI Kubernetes Operator) pod status in Kubernetes.

Returns pod name, phase, ready flag, restart count and namespace. First step for Ingress or LoadBalancer issues in Tanzu/K8s; follow with get_ako_logs when it is not Running. Looks in one context's AKO namespace only — run list_ako_clusters if not found.

Inputs: context. Returns: result

get_ako_sync_statusA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Compare the number of K8s Ingresses with the number of AVI Virtual Services.

Returns both counts and a match/mismatch verdict. Use this first as a cheap check, then diff_ako_sync for which objects differ. A count comparison only — in AKO shard mode many Ingresses share one VS, so a mismatch does not by itself mean trouble.

Inputs: context. Returns: result

get_ako_versionA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] AKO version running in a cluster, read from the pod's image tag.

Returns the pod name and an Image/Version pair per container. Use it to check compatibility with the Controller, and before diff_ako_config or upgrade_ako_config so both target the installed chart. The tag is the only source, so 'latest' reports 'latest', not a number.

Inputs: context. Returns: result

get_service_engine_healthA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Health of every Service Engine — operational status and VS counts.

Returns name, operational state and the number of VSes placed on each SE. Use when VS health degrades to check if the issue is at the SE level; list_service_engines gives the management IP and SE Group, get_virtual_service_status the affected VS. An SE hosting no VS reports 0, not an error.

Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: result

get_virtual_service_analyticsA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Performance metrics for one Virtual Service over the last hour.

Returns L4 (bandwidth, connections) and L7 (latency, % errors, responses) averages over a fixed window that cannot be changed (12 samples, 5 min apart). Empty output means no traffic, not an error. Use when get_virtual_service_status shows degraded health; get_virtual_service_error_logs gives per-request detail.

Inputs: vs_name (required). Returns: result

get_virtual_service_error_logsA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Recent request error logs for one Virtual Service.

Returns up to 50 lines — timestamp, HTTP status, URI path, client IP — for status 400 and above. Use this instead of get_virtual_service_analytics for per-request detail. An empty result may mean no errors, or capture disabled on the VS.

Inputs: vs_name (required), since. Returns: result

get_virtual_service_statusA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Detailed status for one Virtual Service: VIP, pool, health, connections, throughput.

Returns one detail block, not a list. Use list_virtual_services first for the exact name — a name that does not match exactly fails. If the runtime read fails, the block says so (with the HTTP status) and health is UNKNOWN. Then get_virtual_service_analytics for metrics, get_virtual_service_error_logs for 5xx.

Inputs: name (required). Returns: result

list_ako_clustersA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] List every Kubernetes context in the active kubeconfig and whether AKO is deployed there.

Returns Context, AKO Status (pod phase, 'Not deployed' when kubectl answered with no AKO pods, or 'Unreachable'/'Unreadable' with kubectl's reason when it could not read the context — unknown, not absent) and Version per context. Fails when no context could be read. Requires kubectl on PATH; every context is probed, so unreachable clusters add latency. Start here for context names, then pass one to get_ako_status, get_ako_logs or diagnose_ako_ingress.

Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: result

list_ako_ingressesA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Inventory Kubernetes Ingresses across all namespaces.

Returns Namespace, Ingress name, Host(s) and IngressClass per Ingress. Start here for namespace and Ingress names, then pass them to check_ako_ingress or diagnose_ako_ingress. Lists the K8s side only — use diff_ako_sync for Ingresses with no Controller object.

Inputs: context. Returns: result

list_lb_pool_membersA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] List the members of a pool.

Returns Server IP, Port, Enabled and Ratio per member. Use before enable_lb_pool_member or disable_lb_pool_member; run list_lb_pools first for the pool name. Reports configured state only, not live health-monitor results.

Inputs: pool (required). Returns: result

list_lb_poolsA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] Discover pools on the Controller.

Returns Name, member count, Enabled and short UUID per pool. Use this before list_lb_pool_members: pools are often named differently from the VS that use them.

Inputs: vs_filter. Returns: result

list_service_enginesA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] List Service Engines (AVI data-plane VMs) on the Controller.

Returns Name, management IP, status (e.g. OPER_UP) and SE Group per SE, in one call that cannot be paged or filtered. Use to inventory capacity or find an SE's name and IP — use get_service_engine_health instead for degraded VS health.

Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: result

list_ssl_certsA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] List SSL/TLS certificates stored on the AVI Controller.

Returns Name, Subject, Expiry and Type per certificate, in one call that cannot be paged or filtered. Use for inventory or a certificate's exact name — use check_ssl_cert_expiry instead for only the ones expiring soon.

Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: result

list_virtual_servicesA
Read-onlyIdempotent

[READ] List Virtual Services on the AVI Controller.

Returns Name, Enabled, VIP and short UUID for every VS in one call; it cannot be paged or filtered, and carries no health score. Use this before drilling into one VS with get_virtual_service_status.

Inputs: controller. Returns: result

restart_akoA
Destructive

[WRITE] Restart the AKO pod by deleting it — its StatefulSet recreates it.

Without confirm=True this only previews: it returns blast_radius (context, namespace, the pod's name, uid, phase and restarts, and the Ingresses whose programming pauses until the new pod is Running) and changes nothing. Show that to the user and get their explicit decision. Do not set confirm=True on your own because the user asked earlier: they have not seen what it changes yet. The pod deleted is the one measured (uid precondition).

Refused with confirm=True: a pod already terminating, and a pod or Ingress list that cannot be read. Use when AKO is stuck or after config changes; brief traffic disruption is possible. Run get_ako_status afterwards, and get_ako_logs if the pod is not Running.

Inputs: confirm, context, confirmed.

set_virtual_service_enabledA
Destructive

[WRITE] Enable or disable a Virtual Service. Disabling stops all traffic to it.

Without confirm=True this only previews: it returns blast_radius (the VS name and uuid, whether it is enabled now, its VIPs and oper status, and the pools and member counts behind it) and changes nothing. Show that to the user and get their explicit decision. Do not set confirm=True on your own because the user asked earlier: they have not seen what it changes yet. A VS already in the requested state returns action "noop".

Refused with confirm=True: a VS whose uuid or pools cannot be read (the change would be blind). Use get_virtual_service_status first to check current state.

Inputs: name (required), enable (required), confirm, confirmed.

upgrade_ako_configA

[WRITE] Apply an AKO Helm upgrade to the avi-system release.

Finds the avi-system release automatically and upgrades the Broadcom OCI chart with --reuse-values. Without confirm=True this only previews: it returns blast_radius (release, the chart and app version it is on, revision and status, the chart it would move to) plus helm_dry_run, the output of helm upgrade --dry-run, and changes nothing. Show that to the user and get their explicit decision. Do not set confirm=True on your own because the user asked earlier: they have not seen what it changes yet.

Refused with confirm=True: a failing dry-run (the real upgrade would fail too), a release with another helm operation pending, and a release whose status cannot be read. Helm output has credential values blanked to <redacted> by this skill. Run diff_ako_config first to review the change.

Inputs: confirm, dry_run, confirmed, chart_version.

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

    TDQS

    A4.4/5.0

    Scored across 28 tools

    Disambiguation5/5

    Each tool targets a clearly distinct resource and action, and descriptions explicitly differentiate near-neighbors like get_ako_status vs get_ako_amko_status and check_ako_ingress vs diagnose_ako_ingress. Workflow cross-references make tool selection unambiguous.

    Naming Consistency5/5

    All names use consistent snake_case with a leading verb (list_, get_, enable_, disable_, check_, diff_, etc.). Plural/singular variations follow resource conventions and remain predictable.

    Tool Count3/5

    28 tools is heavy for a single server, though the surface spans two substantial domains (AVI Controller and AKO/Kubernetes). Several granular AKO config/sync/diagnose tools could be consolidated, but each currently earns a distinct role.

    Completeness4/5

    The surface thoroughly covers read/diagnose and safe write operations across virtual services, pools, service engines, certificates, and AKO. However, it lacks create/delete/update for core AVI objects, which is a minor gap for an operations-focused toolkit.

    Maintenance

    ActivityActive
    ResponsivenessLimited data

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