End-of-Life (EoL)

twistcli

Prisma Cloud ships a command-line configuration and control tool known as twistcli. It is supported on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
When users from a tenant project run twistcli, they must set the --project option to specify the proper context for the command.

Installing twistcli

The twistcli tool is delivered with every Prisma Cloud release. It is statically compiled, so it does not have any external dependencies, and it can run on any Linux host. No special installation is required. To run it, simply copy it to a host, and give it executable permissions.
The twistcli tool is available from a number of places:
  • It’s included with the release tarball.
  • It can be download twistcli from the Console UI. Go to
    Manage > System > Utilities
    .
  • It can downloaded from the API, which is typical use case for automated workflows. For more information, see the /api/v1/util endpoint.
The requirements for running twistcli are:
  • twistcli must be able to connect to Console over the network from the host where it runs.
  • For image scanning, Docker Engine must be installed on the executing machine.

Connectivity to Console

Most twistcli functions require connectivity to Console. All example commands specify a variable called COMPUTE_CONSOLE, which represents the address for your Console.
The address for your Console depends on how you installed it.
For Onebox installs, where you install Console on a stand-alone host, the value for COMPUTE_CONSOLE is the IP address or DNS name of the host. HTTPS access to Console is servered on port 8083, so the full address would be:
https://<IPADDR>:8083
For the default Kubernetes installation procedure, the Console service is exposed by a LoadBalancer, and so the address for COMPUTE_CONSOLE is
https://<LOAD_BALANCER>:8083

Functions

The twistcli tool supports the following functions:
  • console — Installs and uninstalls Console into a cluster. Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Docker Swarm are supported. You can also export Kubernetes or OpenShift deployment files in YAML format.
  • defender — Installs and uninstalls Defender into a cluster. Kubernetes, OpenShift, and Docker Swarm are supported. Defender is installed as either a daemon set (Kubernetes, OpenShift) or global service (Docker Swarm), which means one Defender is always automatically deployed to each node in the cluster. You can also export a Kubernetes or OpenShift deployment file in YAML format.
  • hosts — Scans hosts for vulnerabilities and compliance issues.
  • images — Scans container images for vulnerabilities and compliance issues. Because it runs from the command line, you can easily integrate Prisma Cloud’s scanning capabilities into your CI/CD pipeline.
  • intelligence — Retrieves the latest threat data from the Prisma Cloud Intelligence Stream, and push those updates to a Prisma Cloud installation running in an air-gapped environment.
  • pcf — Scan Pivotal Cloud Foundry droplets.
  • app-embedded — Embed the App Embedded Defender into a Dockerfile.
  • restore — Restore Console to the state stored in the specified backup file. An automatated backup system (enabled by default) creates and maintains daily, weekly, and monthly backups. Additional backups can made at any point in time from the Console UI.
  • serverless — Scans serverless functions for vulnerabilities.
  • iac — Scan Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) templates for potential issues and misconfigurations. Learn more about Prisma Cloud Code Security.
  • support — Streamlines the process of collecting and sending debug information to Prisma Cloud’s support team. Collects log data from a node and uploads it to Prisma Cloud’s support area.

Capabilities

The twistcli tool offers feature parity across all supported operating systems, with a few exceptions. The following table highlights where functions are disabled, or work differently, on a given platform.
twistcli
Platform
Command
Subcommand
Linux
macOS
Windows
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
1
No
Yes
Yes
2
Yes
3
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
4
No
4
Yes
Yes
Yes
1
Prisma Cloud doesn’t support deployment to macOS hosts, so there is no support for scanning macOS hosts.
2
Scans Linux images on macOS hosts. Docker for Mac must be installed.
3
Twistcli can scan Windows images on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 hosts. To scan Linux images on Windows, install Docker Machine on Windows with the Microsoft Hyper-V driver. Twistcli does not support scanning Linux images on Windows hosts with Docker for Windows.
4
The support dump function collects Console’s logs when Console malfunctions. Copy twistcli to host where Console runs, then execute twistcli support dump. Defender logs can be retrieved directly from the Console UI under
Manage > Defenders > Manage
.
For a comprehensive list of supported options for each subcommand, run:
$ twistcli <COMMAND> --help

Install support

Support for installing Console and Defender via twistcli is supported on several cluster types. The following table highlights the available support:
twistcli
Platform
>Command
>Subcommand
>Stand-alone
1
>Kubernetes
>OpenShift
>Swarm
>Amazon ECS
>Windows
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No