NetScaler automation using NetScaler ADM in Cisco ACI hybrid mode

Last published : Sep 21, 2026
Cisco ACI introduced support for Hybrid Mode in version 1.3 (2f). In Hybrid Mode, you can perform network automation through the Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC), while delegating the L4-L7 configuration to NetScaler Application Delivery Management (ADM), which acts as a Device Manager in the APIC.
The NetScaler Hybrid Mode solution is supported by a hybrid mode device package and NetScaler ADM. You need to upload the hybrid mode device package in the APIC. This package provides all network L2-L3 configurable entities from NetScaler. Application parity is mapped by StyleBook from NetScaler ADM to the APIC. In other words, StyleBook acts as reference between L2-L3 and L4-L7 configurations for a given application. You must provide a StyleBook name while configuring the network entities from the APIC for NetScaler.
The following illustration provides an overview of NetScaler in a hybrid mode solution:
ADC in a hybrid solution
In Hybrid Mode, the NetScaler configuration is performed in the following two phases:
  1. Network stitching is done from the Cisco APIC
  2. Configuration is done from the NetScaler® ADM
For any given application, a network administrator has to provide network specific details, such as IP addresses, port, VLAN (automated) and so on, as part of the service graph creation and deployment in the Cisco APIC. These configuration details are then pushed to NetScaler ADM through the device package, and NetScaler ADM internally processes them and configures the NetScaler. An application administrator creates the application’s ADC related configuration by using StyleBook in NetScaler ADM, and these configurations are then pushed from NetScaler ADM to the NetScaler. The Cisco APIC and NetScaler ADM communicate with the ADC through the management network.
The following diagram shows a NetScaler workflow in the hybrid solution:
ADC workflow in the hybrid solution