Network automation course description

This course is not a soft skills course covering the concepts of DevOps but instead concentrates on the technical side of tools and languages for network DevOps. Particular technologies focussed on are ansible, git and Python enabling delegates to leave the course ready to starting automating their network. Hands on sessions follow all major sections. More detailed courses on individual aspects of this course are available.

What will you learn

• Evaluate network automation tools.
• Automate tasks with ansible.
• Use git for version control.
• Use Python to manage network devices.
• Use Python libraries for network devices.

Network automation course details

Network automation course contents

• What is DevOps

Programming and automating networks, networks and clouds, AWS, OpenStack, SDN, DevOps for network operations.

• Initial configuration

Configuring SSH, ZTP, POAP.
Hands on Initial lab configuration.

• Getting started with ansible

The language, the engine, the framework. Uses of ansible, orchestration. The architecture, Controlling machines, nodes, Agentless, SSH, modules. Configuration management, inventories, playbooks, modules, roles.
Hands on Installing ansible, running ad hoc commands.

• Ansible playbooks

ansible-playbook, YAML, plays, tasks, handlers, modules. Playbook variables. Register module, debug module.
Hands on Running playbooks.

• Ansible Inventories

/etc/ansible/hosts, hosts, groups, static inventories, dynamic inventories. Inventory variables, external variables. Limiting hosts.
Hands on Static inventories, variables in inventory files.

• Ansible modules for networking

Built in modules, custom modules, return values. Core modules for network operations. Cisco and/ or Juniper modules. ansible_connection. Ansible 2.6 CLI.
Hands on Using modules.

• Ansible templating and roles

Configuration management, full configurations, partial configurations. The template module, the assemble module, connection: local, Jinja2 templates, variables, if, for, roles.
Hands on Generating multiple configurations from a template.

• Network programming and modules

Why use Python? Why use ansible? alternatives, ansible tower, Linux network devices.

• Programming with Python

Scripting versus application development, Python interactive mode, Python scripts, Python 2.7 vs Python 3. A simple Python script. Variables, loops, control statements, operators. PEP style guide. Python IDEs.
Hands on Simple Python programs.

• More Python programming

Functions. Classes, objects and instances, modules, libraries, packages. Python strings, Python file handling, pip list, pip install,
Hands on Python programming with pyping.

• Git

Distributed version control, repositories, Git and GitHub, Alternatives to GitHub, Installing git, git workflows, creating repositories, adding and editing files, branching and merging, merge conflicts. Hands on working with Git.

• Python and networking

APIs, Sockets, Telnetlib, pysnmp, ncclient, ciscoconfparse.

• Paramiko SSH and Netmiko

Integrating Python and network devices using SSH. Netmiko, Netmiko methods.
Hands on Netmiko.

• PyEZ

Juniper, NETCONF, installing PyEZ, a first pyEZ script, pyEZ configuration management.
Hands on Juniper configuration management with pyEZ.

• NAPALM

What is NAPALM, NAPALM operations, getters, Replace, merge, compare, commit, discard.
Hands on Configuration with NAPALM. Integrating ansible and NAPALM.

• Python and REST

REST APIs, enabling the REST API. Accessing the REST API with a browser, cURL, Python and REST, the request library.
Hands on Using a REST API with network devices.

Learning path

Reviews