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You can use the OpenStack command-line clients to run simple commands that make API calls. You can run these commands from the command line or in scripts to automate tasks. As long as you provide OpenStack credentials, you can run these commands on any machine. Internally, each client command runs cURL commands that embed API requests. The OpenStack APIs are RESTful APIs that use the HTTP protocol, including methods, URIs, media types, and response codes. These open-source Python clients run on Linux or Mac OS X systems and are easy to learn and use. Each OpenStack service has its own command-line client. On some client commands, you can specify a debug parameter to show the underlying API request for the command. This is a good way to become familiar with the OpenStack API calls. The following table lists the command-line client for each OpenStack service, together with its package name and description.

OpenStack services and clients

Service	Client	Package	Description
Block Storage	cinder	python-cinderclient	Create and manage volumes.
Compute	nova	python-novaclient	Create and manage images, instances, and flavors.
Identity	keystone	python-keystoneclient	Create and manage users, tenants, roles, endpoints, and credentials.
Image Service	glance	python-glanceclient	Create and manage images.
Networking	neutron	python-neutronclient	Configure networks for guest servers. This client was previously known as quantum.
Object Storage	swift	python-swiftclient	Gather statistics, list items, update metadata, and upload, download, and delete files stored by the Object Storage service. Gain access to an Object Storage installation for ad hoc processing.
Orchestration	heat	python-heatclient	Launch stacks from templates, view details of running stacks including events and resources, and update and delete stacks.
Telemetry	ceilometer	python-ceilometerclient	Create and collect measurements across OpenStack.

An OpenStack common client is in development. For client installation instructions, see Install the OpenStack command-line clients. For information about the OpenStack RC file, see Download and source the OpenStack RC file.