CTools is a toolbox to easily check, manage, run bulk operations, automate tasks across multiple CTERA Edge Filers and Portal via GUI or CLI.
You do not need to build or compile the tool yourself. Simply download the ready-to-use EXE file directly from the Releases tab.
The EXE is digitally signed and ready to run immediately.
If you prefer, you can run the tool from the Python source instead. This option requires Python and manual setup.
Use a Portal Global Administrator account to login.
Ensure necessary Remote Administration settings are enabled on the portal: (Applies to portal versions older than 7.2)
Access the Global Administration view > Navigate to Settings > Control Panel > User Roles > Read/Write Administrator -> Ensure "Allow Single Sign On to Devices" is checked
When you launch CTools in GUI, two windows will open:
- Provides an interactive graphical interface for selecting and executing tasks.
- This black window displays detailed logs, progress, and relevant runtime messages.
- Important: Keep this window open to view real-time operation status and debug information.
To see an explanation for what each tool does and how to use it, hover over the "i" button.
Run CMD
This tab allows you to run a command remotely across one or multiple CTERA Edge Filers. This is useful in sitatuations when you have many filers and need to make a change across all of them without manually logging into each. Below are explanations of each available field and checkbox:Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Command The command you want to execute on the filer(s). For example, to change the admin password for all the edge filers, please type set /config/auth/users/admin/password "P@ssw0rd"Tenant Name Specify the portal tenant name, if the command doesn't need to be run on all devices and only on device in a specific tenant. Device Name (Overrides "All Tenants") Specify an individual filer name to target; overrides running on all devices if provided. Run on all Tenants (No device name needed) Checkbox: Select to execute the command on all tenants connected to the specified portal. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution of the specified command. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Show Status
This tab helps in pulling detailed information from all Edge Filers connected to the portal, including memory, CPU, disk usage, log settings, Active Directory (AD) status, CloudSync queue status, and more. The output is saved in a.csvfile format, which can be opened in Excel or any other compatible application.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. File Name Specify the file name with a .csvextension to save the output.Run on all Tenants Checkbox: Select to pull status information from all tenants connected to the specified portal. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution of the Show Status command. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Suspend Sync / Unsuspend Sync
These tabs help you remotely suspend or unsuspend sync operations on Edge Filers. This is particularly useful when the device UI is not reachable.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Device Name Specify the target filer device name. Tenant Name Specify the portal tenant name, where device exists Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution of the specified command (Suspend/Unsuspend). Cancel Cancels the current operation. Enable SSH / Disable SSH
The Enable SSH tab allows you to remotely enable SSH access on Edge Filers.
The Disable SSH tab disables SSH access.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Device Name Specify the target filer device name. Tenant Name Specify the portal tenant name, where device exist. SSH Public Key Paste the SSH public key generated using PuTTYgen (or a similar key-generation tool) after creating a public/private key pair (see example below). Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution of the specified command (Enable SSH / Disable SSH). Cancel Cancels the current operation. Example SSH Public Key format:
exec /config/device startSSHD publicKey "ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAABJQAAAQEA0MUxI0nZ4jJPSoGnbFb/Qd4EbEipjjogIpOGVoOGeJx2DMJjZBF7MF/d/3Rt/SP5QDcnRvgIMA0e7o6wH6Zib7QvB9tXbeCnK68NQjx1KYabtKhrPlNC7VCOjeW8s9pC244nDnCsk8XLRNAUIOSAnQC/Iu+iqn0RV2D6qZzUJ4hkkcTh0G7wroDMkVmqQ3R+/2ibiRjux9C3HaHX7W+lVVJGF3MCK/+FRjb3MWQ+U2LYmwsvzq+xTJyikUwBS3Kng0WV4omzyaxjJ6vkkZh4wvlhdwfR6QEabW6Xk7wpEEXej6NaT9l+3CjXEWbrI8hD3mtICL+bdstPO2DeS7UcXw== rsa-key-20200821"
Enable Telnet
This tab enables Telnet access on Edge Filers. The required activation code must be obtained from CTERA Support by providing them the Edge Filer's MAC address (available from the Edge Filer UI) and the installed version.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Device Name Specify the target filer device name. Tenant Name Specify the tenant name, if applicable, when enabling Telnet for specific tenants. Required Code for Telnet Enter the activation code provided by CTERA Support after submitting the Edge Filer's MAC address and version information. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution of the Enable Telnet command. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Reset Password
This tab helps reset the admin or local user password for an Edge Filer when the current password has been lost or forgotten, but the device remains connected to the portal.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Device Name Specify the target filer device name if it needs to be reset on only 1 filer Tenant Name Specify the tenant name, where device exists. Username for local user Username of the local user whose password you want to reset (usually 'admin'). New filer password Enter the new password to set for the specified user. Run on all Devices (No device or tenant name needed) Checkbox: Select to reset the password on all devices connected to the specified portal. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution of the Reset Password command. Cancel Cancels the current operation. CloudFS
This tab allows you to create multiple cloud folders on the portal using a CSV file. This is particularly useful when you have many cloud folders to create and prefer not to do so individually via the UI.Field/Option Description Portal Address, hostname, or FQDN The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Username for portal admin Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. CSV File Browse and select a CSV file with the list of cloud folders to be created. Verbose Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution to create cloud folders as per the provided CSV file. Cancel Cancels the current operation. CSV Template:
You can download the CSV template here.
Delete Shares
This tab allows you to delete shares containing a specific keyword from all filers connected to the portal. For example, you can delete all shares containing the word "migration." After filling in the required fields and clicking Start, you'll be prompted to enter the keyword.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal or filer. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Start Initiates execution and prompts for the keyword to identify shares to delete. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Copy Shares
This tab allows you to replicate share configurations from one Edge Filer (source) to another (destination). It creates all the share present on the source filer on the destination filer. Note that this operation does not copy the actual data—only the shares themselves are created.Field/Option Description Source Device IP/FQDN IP address or fully qualified domain name of the source Edge Filer. Source Admin Username Admin username used to log in to the source Edge Filer. Source Admin Password Password associated with the provided source admin username. Destination Device IP/FQDN IP address or fully qualified domain name of the destination Edge Filer. Destination Admin Username Admin username used to log in to the destination Edge Filer. Destination Admin Password Password associated with the provided destination admin username. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution to replicate share structures from the source to the destination filer. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Add/Remove Members to Admin Group
This tab allows you to add or remove domain users or domain groups from the Administrators group on one or multiple Edge Filers. It’s particularly useful for efficiently managing administrative access across multiple devices.Field/Option Description Portal Address, hostname, or FQDN The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Username for portal admin Admin username used to log in to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Add or Remove Select whether you want to Add or Remove members from the Administrators group. Selecting one option automatically updates the Add column accordingly. Add Specify the member type (Domain User or Domain Group) to add or remove. Perform on Select where to apply the changes: on One Device, All Devices on One Tenant, or All Devices on All Tenants. Tenant Name Tenant name, required when performing on all devices within one tenant. Device Name Device name if performing the action on a single Edge Filer. User Domain user or group name to add or remove from the Administrators group. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates execution to add/remove members as configured. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Report Zones
This tab pulls information about all zones and their details from connected portals and outputs them to a CSV file. The generated report includes:- Portal Name
- Zone Name
- Cloud Folders
- Devices
- Total Size
- Total Folders
- Total Files
Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Portal Admin Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Output Location Browse to select or specify the folder location to save the resulting CSV report file. Start Initiates the process and generates the Zones report. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Note:
The resulting CSV file can be opened in Excel or any other compatible application for further analysis.Create Shares from CSV This tab allows you to create one or more shares on an Edge Filer from a CSV file, including full ACL (permissions) configuration. Each row in the CSV represents one share — all of its permissions are defined inline in a single
aclcolumn. This is ideal for bulk share provisioning where you need precise control over who gets access.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Device Name Name of the target Edge Filer where the shares will be created. Tenant Name Specify the portal tenant name. Leave blank if not needed. CSV File Browse and select a CSV file containing the share definitions and permissions. Exclude Everyone RW Checkbox: See explanation below. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates share creation as defined in the CSV file. Cancel Cancels the current operation. CSV Format:
The CSV file has 4 columns — one row per share:
Column Required Description share_nameYes The name of the share to create. pathYes The path on the filer (e.g., cloud/users/SVC ACCT/my-folder).commentNo An optional description for the share. aclNo Permissions for the share. See format below. Leave empty for no explicit permissions. ACL column format:
Each permission entry uses the format
type:name:permission, and multiple entries are separated by semicolons (;).Part Description typeDomainUser,DomainGroup,LocalUser, orLocalGroupnameThe user or group name (e.g., CTERA\Domain Admins,admin,Everyone)permissionRW(Read/Write),RO(Read Only), orNA(No Access)Example:
DomainGroup:CTERA\Domain Admins:RW;LocalUser:admin:ROExample CSV:
share_name,path,comment,aclProjectShare,cloud/users/SVC ACCT/project,Project files,DomainGroup:CTERA\Domain Admins:RW;DomainUser:CTERA\jsmith:RO;LocalUser:admin:RWBackupShare,cloud/users/SVC ACCT/backup,Backup folder,LocalUser:admin:RWEmptyShare,cloud/users/SVC ACCT/empty,No permissions,
In this example:
- ProjectShare is created with 3 ACL entries (Domain Admins RW, jsmith RO, admin RW).
- BackupShare is created with 1 ACL entry (admin RW).
- EmptyShare is created with no explicit ACL entries.
"Exclude Everyone RW" Checkbox:
By default (checkbox unchecked), the tool automatically adds an Everyone – Read/Write permission to every share it creates. This is a common default that ensures shares are accessible out of the box.
When the checkbox is checked, this automatic Everyone RW entry is not added. This is useful when you want to lock down shares and only grant access to the specific users and groups listed in your CSV.
Important: This checkbox only controls the automatic Everyone RW entry. If you explicitly include an
Everyoneentry in your CSV (e.g.,LocalGroup:Everyone:RW), that entry will always be applied regardless of the checkbox setting. This gives you full control — you can check "Exclude Everyone RW" to prevent the automatic default, while still manually granting Everyone access to specific shares via the CSV where needed.CSV Template:
You can download the CSV template here.
Populate Shares This tab creates a share on an Edge Filer for each cloud folder (excluding "My Files"). It's especially useful when there are many cloud folders, and you need each one available as an individual share on the filer.
Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Device Name Specify the target Edge Filer device name where the shares should be populated. Domain Name Required only if domain users own cloud folders. Ignore cert warnings for login Checkbox: Select this to bypass certificate warnings when connecting to the portal. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates the creation of shares from existing cloud folders. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Add Domain to Advanced Mapping
This tab adds additional Active Directory (AD) domains to Advanced Mappings on Edge Filers, enabling users from other AD domains to access shares.Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Tenant (Empty if all devices on all tenants) Specify tenant name, leave blank if operation is for all tenants. Device Name (Empty if multiple devices) Specify device name, leave blank if operation is for multiple devices. Domain to be Added Name of the Active Directory domain to be added to Advanced Mappings. Ignore cert warnings for login Checkbox: Select this to bypass certificate warnings when connecting to the portal. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates the process to add the specified domain to Advanced Mappings. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Shares Report This tab generates a detailed CSV report of all shares configured across all connected Edge Filers. The resulting report includes the following information:
- Share Name
- Share Path
- Edge Filer Name
- Edge Filer IP
- ACL Permissions — A summary of all access control entries on the share (e.g.,
DomainGroup: CTERA\Domain Admins (ReadWrite); LocalUser: admin (ReadOnly))
Field/Option Description Address (Portal IP, hostname, or FQDN) The IP address, hostname, or fully qualified domain name of your CTERA portal. Portal Admin Username Admin username used to login to Portal Admin UI. Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Tenant (Empty to run on all) Specify tenant name if the report is specific to one tenant; leave blank to run for all tenants. Filename (.csv) Specify a filename with the .csvextension to save the generated report.Ignore cert warnings for login Checkbox: Select this to bypass certificate warnings when connecting to the portal. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates the process and generates the Shares report. Cancel Cancels the current operation. Note:
The resulting CSV file can be opened in Excel or any other compatible application for further analysis.Import Certificate
This tab allows importing and updating the UI certificate on older Edge Filers where the direct certificate import option isn't available. To import the certificate, fill in the following fields:Field/Option Description Edge IP Address IP address of the target Edge Filer. Admin Username Admin username used to log in to the Edge Filer UI. Admin Password Password associated with the provided admin username. Private Key File Browse and select the private key file associated with the certificate. Certificate Files Browse and select the certificate file(s) to import and update on the Edge Filer UI. Verbose Logging Checkbox: Enable this option for detailed logging output in the console window. Start Initiates the import and update of the UI certificate. Cancel Cancels the current operation.
CTools can also be run directly from the command line. To see the available tools and options, use:
C:\Users\Admin\Downloads>"ctools.exe" --help
CTools is a GUI toolset to interact with your CTERA Environment
Usage: ./ctools.exe [tool] [parameters]
Tools:
run_cmd show_status
suspend_sync unsuspend_sync
enable_ssh disable_ssh
enable_telnet reset_password
cloud_folders delete_shares
copy_shares add_rem_members
report_zones populate_shares
add_mapping shares_report
import_cert
For help using these tools, you can use the --help flag after selecting the tool
Ex: "./ctools.exe run_cmd --help"This toolset (CTools) is intended primarily for routine administrative tasks. If you have suggestions or feature requests related to simple administrative tasks, please either create an issue on our GitHub repository or open a support case:
- GitHub Issues:https://github.com/ctera/ctools/issues
- CTERA Support:https://support.ctera.com