Cisco Go collector

a simple portable and fast CLI tool that connects to Cisco NX-OS and IOS-XE devices over SSH, runs commands defined in a CSV file and saves the output as organized plain-text files.

Built for engineers and architects who need repeatable CLI evidence collection without installing Python and operate complicate scripts, dial with Ansible or any other framework overhead.

Why

During migrations, pre/post-checks, and RCA sessions, collecting the same command outputs manually across many devices is slow, inconsistent and error-prone specially under pressure. Most automation frameworks solve this at the cost of a setup complexity.

ciscocollector keeps the workflow super minimal:

1. Define devices and commands in a CSV file.
2. Run a single binary ciscocollector filename.csv.
3. Collect organized, timestamped text output.

The CSV is the operational input, the binary handles SSH, the output folder is the evidence.

Features

• Single static binary no extra programs to install
• CSV-driven: devices, platforms and commands in one file
• Fast parallel execution across devices (configurable worker pool)
• Supports initially Cisco NX-OS and IOS-XE/IOS
• Automatic paging disablement (terminal length 0)
• VRF-aware ping and traceroute with platform-correct syntax
• Session recovery via Ctrl+C on command timeout
• Output organized by datacenter/room/rack/hostname with UTC timestamps
• Live spinner progress on TTY, clean line output when piped

Installation

Download the latest release for your platform from the Releases page.

Homebrew

brew tap skhell/cisco-go-collector
brew install ciscocollector

Linux packages

.deb and .rpm packages are available on the Releases page.

Windows

.exe package is available on the Releases page.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/skhell/cisco-go-collector.git
cd cisco-go-collector
go build -o ciscocollector ./cmd/ciscocollector

Usage

ciscocollector [options] devices.csv

Options:
  --out       string   base output directory (default "output")
  --workers   int      number of devices processed in parallel (default 10)
  --port      int      SSH port (default 22)
  --timeout   duration per-command and connection timeout (default 30s)
  --version            print version information and exit

Examples

# Basic run
ciscocollector devices.csv

# Custom output directory and higher parallelism
ciscocollector --out /tmp/audit --workers 20 devices.csv

# Non-standard SSH port and longer timeout
ciscocollector --port 2222 --timeout 60s devices.csv

# Version info
ciscocollector --version

The tool prompts for username and password at startup. The password is read without echo.

CSV format

The CSV file drives everything, each row maps one command to one device.

Required columns: datacenter, room, rack, hostname, ip, platform, category, command

Optional columns: target_ip, vrf

datacenter	room	rack	hostname	ip	platform	category	command	target_ip	vrf
DC1	ROOM-A	12	MPX01	10.10.10.100	nx-os	common	show clock
DC1	ROOM-A	12	MPX01	10.10.10.100	nx-os	common	show vlan brief
DC1	ROOM-A	12	MPX01	10.10.10.100	nx-os	common	show pbr static summary
DC1	ROOM-A	12	MPX01	10.10.10.100	nx-os	specialized	show ip route ospf-xxx vrf all
DC1	ROOM-A	12	MPX01	10.10.10.100	nx-os	specialized	show ip ospf neighbor vrf all
DC1	ROOM-B	58	MPX02	10.10.30.100	ios-xe	connectivity	traceroute	10.0.0.1	VRFNAME
DC1	ROOM-B	58	MPX02	10.10.30.100	ios-xe	connectivity	ping	10.0.0.1	VRFNAME
DC1	ROOM-B	60	MPX03	10.10.20.100	nx-os	connectivity	traceroute	1.1.1.1
DC1	ROOM-B	60	MPX03	10.10.20.100	nx-os	connectivity	ping	1.1.1.1

Platform values: nx-os (or nxos), ios-xe, ios

Category values: common, specialized, or any label. Only specialized creates a subdirectory.

ping / traceroute rows: set command to ping or traceroute, fill target_ip, and optionally vrf. The tool builds the correct platform syntax automatically.

Output structure

Results are saved under <out>/<UTC-timestamp>/<datacenter>/<room>/<rack>/<hostname>/.

output/
+-- 20260619-143022/
    +-- DC1/
        +-- ROOM-A/
            +-- CORE/
                +-- MPX01/
                |   +-- show_clock.txt
                |   +-- show_vlan_brief.txt
                |   +-- show_pbr_static_summary.txt
                |   +-- specialized/
                |       +-- show_ip_route_ospf_xxx_vrf_all.txt
                |       +-- show_ip_ospf_neighbor_vrf_all.txt
                +-- MPX02/
                    +-- traceroute_vrf_vrfname_10_0_0_1.txt
                    +-- ping_vrf_vrfname_10_0_0_1.txt

Each .txt file contains the raw CLI output for that command, with the echo and device prompt stripped.

Use cases

• Pre/post-migration configuration snapshots
• Multi-device command collection for RCA documentation
• Quick audit evidence gathering across DC networks

Scope

ciscocollector is not intended to replace Ansible, Nornir, Netmiko, pyATS, or Cisco NSO. It covers a specific and deliberate operational need: fast, repeatable Cisco CLI output collection from a plain CSV file, with no dependencies and no setup.

Security

See SECURITY.md for full details and responsible disclosure instructions.

Feedback

If ciscocollector saved you time and simplified your activities it was worth building.

• Star the project on GitHub
• Report bugs or request features in Issues
• Buy me a coffee, or a snack for my Schnauzer Tyson via GitHub Sponsors