System Servicesciliumkubernetescniebpfnetworkingobservabilitytroubleshooting

Cilium CLI

Cilium CLI is a command-line tool to install, manage, and troubleshoot Kubernetes clusters running Cilium. It provides secure network connectivity and load-balancing using eBPF with excellent visibility.

Description

Cilium CLI is a package that contains a CLI for managing Cilium, a CNI plugin for Kubernetes. Cilium leverages eBPF to deliver secure networking, load-balancing, and observability features in Kubernetes environments. The tool enables users to install Cilium in the current Kubernetes context, check its status, enable observability layers like Hubble, and perform connectivity tests.

Use cases include deploying Cilium on Kubernetes clusters, monitoring agent status and features, troubleshooting network connectivity issues, and managing configurations such as BGP control plane, clustermesh for multi-cluster setups, and encryption. It supports impersonation flags for Kubernetes operations and can target specific namespaces or contexts.

The CLI integrates with Kubernetes via kubeconfig and supports Helm releases, making it suitable for operators managing containerized networking in production environments.

How It Works

Cilium CLI interacts with Kubernetes clusters configured via kubeconfig files to manage Cilium agents that use eBPF for networking. It performs operations like installation through Helm, status checks on agents, enabling Hubble for observability, and connectivity tests by leveraging Cilium's eBPF-based CNI capabilities for secure connectivity, load-balancing, and visibility.

Installation

bash
sudo apt install cilium-cli

Flags

--as stringUsername to impersonate for the operation. User could be a regular user or a service account in a namespace.
--as-group stringArrayGroup to impersonate for the operation, this flag can be repeated to specify multiple groups.
--context stringKubernetes configuration context
--helm-release-name stringHelm release name (default "cilium")
--help, -hhelp for cilium
--kubeconfig stringPath to the kubeconfig file
-n, --namespace stringNamespace Cilium is running in. Can also be set via CILIUM_NAMESPACE env var (default "kube-system")

Examples

Display help for the Cilium CLI
cilium -h
Install Cilium in current Kubernetes context
cilium install
Check status of Cilium
cilium status
Enable the Hubble observability layer
cilium hubble enable
Perform a connectivity test
cilium connectivity test
Display the configuration context
cilium context
Report which features are enabled in Cilium agents
cilium features
Updated 2026-04-16kali.org ↗