Most Configuration Management script commands return the output received from the device when the command was executed. For example, the show run command on Cisco devices displays the running configuration of the device. Or, on a Linux device, the ls-al command displays the contents of the current working directory. It is sometimes desirable to capture the output of the Configuration Management command and store it in the database. To facilitate the storage of command output in the database, a command can be preceded by a KEY which specifies the key under which the command's output should be restored in the database. For example, the following command stores its output under the running-config key in the database.

[running-config] show run

This means, execute the show run command and store its output in the database under the running-config key.

Note: Key names can include dashes, underscores, and alphanumeric characters (-,_,a-z, A-Z). However, spaces are not allowed in key names.