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Validate inventory

validate Command

Validate your AVD inventory structure before generating configurations.

Synopsis

avd-cli validate [OPTIONS]

Options

Option Short Type Default Description
--inventory-path -i Path Required Path to AVD inventory directory
--verbose -v Flag false Enable verbose validation output

What Gets Validated

The validate command performs comprehensive checks on your inventory:

✅ File Structure

  • Inventory file exists (inventory.yml or hosts.yml)
  • Required group_vars/ directory exists
  • Fabric-level group variables exist

✅ Topology Validation

  • Fabric topology structure is valid
  • Spine devices are defined (for eos-design workflow)
  • Node groups are properly structured
  • Device nodes have required properties

✅ Variable Validation

  • Required variables are present
  • Variable hierarchy is correct
  • Jinja2 templates are syntactically valid

✅ Schema Validation

  • Group variable files are valid YAML
  • Device definitions follow AVD schema
  • Fabric design parameters are complete

Usage Examples

Basic Validation

avd-cli validate -i ./inventory

Output (Success):

→ Validating inventory structure...
✓ Inventory file found: inventory.yml
✓ Group variables directory found: group_vars/
✓ Fabric group variables found: group_vars/CAMPUS_FABRIC.yml
✓ Fabric topology validated: CAMPUS_FABRIC
✓ Found 2 spine devices
✓ Found 8 leaf devices
✓ Variable hierarchy validated
✓ All device definitions are valid

✓ Validation successful!

Output (Errors):

→ Validating inventory structure...
✓ Inventory file found: inventory.yml
✓ Group variables directory found: group_vars/
✗ Fabric group variables not found: group_vars/CAMPUS_FABRIC.yml
✗ Spine devices not found in topology

✗ Validation failed with 2 errors

Verbose Validation

avd-cli validate -i ./inventory --verbose

Provides detailed information about:

  • File paths being checked
  • Variables being loaded
  • Jinja2 template resolution
  • Validation steps performed

Environment Variables

CLI Option Environment Variable Example
-i, --inventory-path AVD_CLI_INVENTORY_PATH ./inventory

Example

export AVD_CLI_INVENTORY_PATH=./inventory

avd-cli validate

Integration with CI/CD

Pre-Commit Hook

#!/bin/bash
# .git/hooks/pre-commit

echo "Validating AVD inventory..."
avd-cli validate -i ./inventory

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "❌ Inventory validation failed"
    exit 1
fi

echo "✅ Inventory validation passed"

GitLab CI

validate:
  stage: validate
  script:
    - avd-cli validate -i ./inventory

GitHub Actions

- name: Validate Inventory
  run: |
    avd-cli validate -i ./inventory

Common Issues

Missing Spine Devices

Error:

✗ Spine devices not found in topology

Solution: Ensure your fabric configuration includes spine device definitions:

# group_vars/FABRIC.yml
spine:
  nodes:
    - name: spine1
      id: 1

Invalid YAML Syntax

Error:

✗ Failed to parse group_vars/FABRIC.yml: YAML syntax error

Solution: Check YAML syntax, indentation, and special characters.

Missing Required Variables

Error:

✗ Required variable 'fabric_name' not found

Solution: Add the required variable to your fabric group_vars:

# group_vars/FABRIC.yml
fabric_name: MY_FABRIC

See Also