Nutanix MCP Server

[!WARNING] Use at your own risk. MCP servers grant AI models the ability to execute actions against your infrastructure. AI-driven management of production environments carries inherent risk — models can misinterpret intent, hallucinate parameters, or trigger destructive operations. This software is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The authors accept no liability for data loss, downtime, or any damages arising from use of this tool. Always review AI-proposed actions before execution and maintain proper backups.

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes Nutanix Prism Central and Prism Element APIs as tools for AI assistants like GitHub Copilot, Claude, and others.

Features

• 65 tools — Full coverage of Prism Central v4 and Prism Element v2 APIs
• Prism Central (v4 API) — VM lifecycle, snapshots, clusters, hosts, networking, categories, alerts, tasks
• Prism Element (v2 API) — Direct cluster access for storage, disks, data protection, system config, health checks
• AsBuilt Reports — Generate comprehensive HTML reports with interactive TOC, Mermaid topology diagrams, and print-to-PDF support
• API version routing — Prefers v4, falls back to v3/v2 when needed
• Async — Non-blocking HTTP client using httpx

Available Tools (65)

VM Management — Prism Central v4

Tool	Description
list_vms	List all VMs with OData filtering (auto-paginates)
get_vm	Get full VM config — CPU, memory, disks, NICs
power_on_vm	Power on a VM
power_off_vm	Power off a VM (ACPI guest shutdown or force)
create_vm	Create a new VM with name, cluster, CPU, memory, disk
update_vm	Update VM config — CPU, memory, name, description
delete_vm	Permanently delete a VM (requires confirmation)
clone_vm	Clone a VM with a new name

VM Snapshots — Prism Central v4

Tool	Description
snapshot_vm	Create an on-demand recovery point of a VM
list_vm_snapshots	List all recovery points for a VM
restore_vm_snapshot	Restore a VM to a previous recovery point

Cluster & Host Management — Prism Central v4

Tool	Description
list_clusters	List all registered Nutanix clusters
get_cluster	Get cluster config, network, storage, and health details
list_hosts	List all hypervisor hosts across clusters
get_host	Get host hardware specs, hypervisor info, and resource usage
list_storage_containers	List storage containers across clusters

Networking & Images — Prism Central v4

Tool	Description
list_subnets	List subnets/VLANs with CIDR, VLAN ID, and cluster
get_subnet	Get subnet details including IP pools and DHCP config
list_images	List disk images (ISOs, QCOW2) in the image library
get_image	Get image details — size, type, source, cluster placement
list_categories	List all category keys and values
get_category	Get all values for a specific category key

Categories & Tagging — Prism Central v4

Tool	Description
assign_category	Tag a VM with a category key:value pair
remove_category	Remove a category assignment from a VM
list_entities_by_category	Find all VMs tagged with a specific category

Alerts & Tasks — Prism Central v4

Tool	Description
list_alerts	List all alerts from Prism Central
get_alert	Get full alert details — entities, resolution guidance
acknowledge_alert	Acknowledge or resolve an alert
list_tasks	List recent async tasks with status
get_task	Get task completion status and error details

Prism Element — Cluster & Hosts (v2 direct access)

Tool	Description
pe_get_cluster_info	Cluster AOS version, capacity, and health
pe_list_hosts	Hosts with hardware specs and CVM info
pe_get_host_disks	Per-host physical disk inventory (model, serial, firmware, tier)
pe_get_host_nics	Per-host NIC details — speed, link state, MAC, LLDP
pe_list_cvms	Controller VMs — IP, memory, power state
pe_get_cluster_health	Data resiliency and fault tolerance status
pe_list_health_checks	NCC-style health check results
pe_list_alerts	Active/resolved alerts on a PE cluster

Prism Element — Storage

Tool	Description
pe_list_containers	Storage containers with replication factor and policies
pe_list_storage_pools	Storage pools and disk composition
pe_list_disks	Physical disk inventory — type, status, capacity
pe_list_volume_groups	Volume groups — iSCSI IQN, attached VMs, CHAP
pe_get_volume_group	Detailed volume group config

Prism Element — VMs, Networks & Images

Tool	Description
pe_list_vms	VMs on a specific cluster
pe_list_networks	VLANs — managed/unmanaged, IP pool config
pe_list_images	Disk images and ISOs on a cluster

Prism Element — Data Protection

Tool	Description
pe_list_protection_domains	Protection domains — schedules, replication state
pe_get_protection_domain	Detailed PD config — consistency groups, VMs, schedules
pe_list_snapshots	Snapshots for a protection domain
pe_list_remote_sites	DR partner clusters — addresses, capabilities
pe_get_replication_status	Active replication progress, lag, and bandwidth
pe_list_dr_snapshots	DR snapshots across remote sites
pe_list_pd_replications	All active PD replications cluster-wide
pe_list_unprotected_vms	VMs not in any protection domain (compliance gaps)

Prism Element — System Configuration

Tool	Description
pe_get_auth_config	Auth types, directory services (LDAP/AD)
pe_get_smtp_config	SMTP relay server configuration
pe_get_snmp_config	SNMP traps, users, and community strings
pe_get_syslog_config	Remote syslog targets and severity levels
pe_get_alert_email_config	Alert email recipients and notification rules
pe_get_nfs_whitelists	Global NFS export ACLs
pe_get_licensing_info	License type (Starter/Pro/Ultimate) and features
pe_get_metro_witness	Metro Availability witness server config

AsBuilt Reports

Tool	Description
generate_asbuilt	Generate a comprehensive infrastructure report from a PE cluster — overview, system config, hosts, storage, VMs, networks, data protection, alerts, health checks, and Mermaid topology diagram
export_asbuilt_html	Convert AsBuilt Markdown to self-contained HTML with interactive TOC sidebar and print-optimized CSS for PDF export
get_project_architecture	Get the Nutanix MCP Server project architecture documentation

AsBuilt reports include 9 sections: overview, system, hosts (with per-host disk inventory), VMs, networks, storage, data protection (with remote sites and unprotected VM detection), alerts, and health checks. Hypervisor names are mapped automatically (kKvm → AHV). The HTML export features an interactive table of contents with scroll-spy that is hidden when printing to PDF.

MCP Resources (URI-based browsing)

The server exposes resources via nutanix:// URIs, allowing LLMs to browse entities without explicit tool calls:

URI Pattern	Description
nutanix://vms	Browse all VMs
nutanix://vms/{uuid}	Get a specific VM
nutanix://clusters	Browse all clusters
nutanix://clusters/{uuid}	Get a specific cluster
nutanix://hosts/{uuid}	Get a specific host
nutanix://subnets/{uuid}	Get a specific subnet
nutanix://images/{uuid}	Get a specific image

MCP Prompts

Prompt	Description
set_credentials	Interactive credential configuration (for clients without env var support)
nutanix_overview	Guided environment overview — clusters, hosts, storage, alerts

Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Network access to your Prism Central instance (port 9440)
• Nutanix credentials with API access

Install

cd mcp/nutanix-mcp-server
pip install -e .

Or with dev dependencies:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Configure

Copy .env.example to .env and fill in your credentials:

cp .env.example .env

NUTANIX_HOST=your-prism-central.example.com
NUTANIX_PORT=9440
NUTANIX_USERNAME=your-username
NUTANIX_PASSWORD=your-password
NUTANIX_VERIFY_SSL=true
NUTANIX_TIMEOUT=30

Run

nutanix-mcp

Or directly:

python -m nutanix_mcp

MCP Client Configuration

This server uses stdio transport — it communicates via stdin/stdout. Each client configures a command to launch the server process.

Tip: Store credentials in environment variables or a .env file, never in config files committed to source control.

---

Claude Code (CLI)

Add the server to your project with the claude mcp add command:

claude mcp add nutanix -- python -m nutanix_mcp

Or manually create/edit .mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nutanix": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "nutanix_mcp"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/mcp/nutanix-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "NUTANIX_HOST": "your-prism-central.example.com",
        "NUTANIX_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "NUTANIX_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "NUTANIX_VERIFY_SSL": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

For user-wide availability (all projects), add to ~/.claude.json instead.

---

Claude Desktop

Edit the config file at:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nutanix": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "nutanix_mcp"],
      "cwd": "/path/to/mcp/nutanix-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "NUTANIX_HOST": "your-prism-central.example.com",
        "NUTANIX_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "NUTANIX_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "NUTANIX_VERIFY_SSL": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop fully after editing.

---

GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace:

{
  "servers": {
    "nutanix": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "nutanix_mcp"],
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/mcp/nutanix-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "NUTANIX_HOST": "your-prism-central.example.com",
        "NUTANIX_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "NUTANIX_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "NUTANIX_VERIFY_SSL": "true"
      }
    }
  }
}

---

OpenCode (sst/opencode)

Add to opencode.json (or opencode.jsonc) in your project root:

{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "nutanix": {
      "type": "local",
      "command": ["python", "-m", "nutanix_mcp"],
      "environment": {
        "NUTANIX_HOST": "your-prism-central.example.com",
        "NUTANIX_USERNAME": "your-username",
        "NUTANIX_PASSWORD": "your-password",
        "NUTANIX_VERIFY_SSL": "true"
      },
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}

Note: OpenCode uses "command" as an array and "environment" instead of "env".

---

Docker MCP Gateway

The Docker MCP Gateway can proxy this server inside a container. Two approaches:

Option A: Run directly via Docker

Build a container image and reference it in your MCP client config:

FROM python:3.12-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY mcp/nutanix-mcp-server/ .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -e .
CMD ["python", "-m", "nutanix_mcp"]

Then in any MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nutanix": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "NUTANIX_HOST=your-prism-central.example.com",
        "-e", "NUTANIX_USERNAME=your-username",
        "-e", "NUTANIX_PASSWORD=your-password",
        "-e", "NUTANIX_VERIFY_SSL=true",
        "nutanix-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Option B: Register with Docker MCP Gateway

If you have Docker Desktop with the MCP Toolkit:

docker mcp gateway run

Configure the gateway profile to include the nutanix server. The gateway then exposes all registered MCP servers as a single unified endpoint.

In your AI client, point to the gateway:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "MCP_DOCKER": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["mcp", "gateway", "run"]
    }
  }
}

The gateway handles routing, lifecycle management, and credential isolation.

API Version Strategy

Version	Endpoint Pattern	Use Case
v4 (preferred)	/api/{namespace}/v4.0/{path}	VMs, clusters, hosts, networking
v3 (fallback)	/api/nutanix/v3/{resource}/list	Resources not yet in v4
v2 (PE direct)	https://{pe_ip}:9440/api/nutanix/v2.0/{resource}	Per-cluster storage, disks, alerts

Discovering Prism Element Hosts

Use list_clusters to find cluster UUIDs, then list_hosts to find CVM IPs. Those CVM IPs can be used as pe_host in the Prism Element tools.

Development

# Lint
ruff check src/

# Type check
mypy src/

# Test
pytest

References

• Nutanix v4 API Documentation
• Nutanix Developer Portal
• Prism Central v3 API
• Prism Element v2 API
• MCP Protocol Specification