Ansible AWX
Ansible AWX Tutorial Ansible AWX is the open-source version of Ansible Tower, now Ansible Automation Platform. Both AWX and Ansible Tower/AAP are web-based solutions for managing Ansible, but there …
Types of Network Automation
Network Automation is the practice of using software methodologies to automate network device configurations to increase network management efficiencies. Automation and Programmability are skills that network engineers of today and the future are going to need to know.
All the posts below cover all my recent projects and findings on this exciting journey.
Network Automation with Python
Config management of network devices is one of the most popular first use cases and Python is the programming language that most people will use, whilst some progress to Golang. With the rapid growth of cloud networks, and virtual devices network management can no longer be performed with manual processes. Network Automation Tools are now standard practice in modern networks.
If you are a Network Engineer looking for some Network Automation Training I have my flagship course on Ansible and a course on Nornir and coming soon Git and a Python Network Automation Course Learn how to automate network configurations with ease, configure network devices with Python making managing network devices a breeze.
With my Ansible course there is no prior Ansible knowledge required I start from the very beginning, you will get immediate access and within a few hours you will be performing simple network operations with Python and Ansible!
It’s time to step away from the command line and embrace automation within your network infrastructure.
Check out my network automation courses
Covering Ansible playbooks, Cisco configuration templates using Jinja2 and a bit of Git, Github & F5.
Learn the skills that you need to become a Network Automation Engineer
Use Ansible Playbooks for configuration management on your network devices. Manage Cisco IOS, Arista EOS, streamline network operations.
If you are looking for information on Automation Software, my latest post on Network Automation Tools will show you all the open source tools being used today. It is also very important to have knowledge in programming languages like Python & Golang.
Network Automation Benefits
Learn about the benefits with the articles below. You can automate networks in so many ways and with so many tools to choose from the biggest question is what network automation software to use?
I will also be covering topics like intent based networking, network agility, cloud networks, device discovery and business intent. The biggest takeaway from all of this is to reduce human error and improve network efficiency.
Most Popular Pages:
Ansible Hosts File
Ansible is a skill that a lot of people are looking to master. If you want to get started Ansible is a great place to start.
My posts will mainly deal with Ansible Cisco Configuration but also some posts on F5
We will also be covering various tools, example scripts and using Python to perform simple tasks.
There will be many examples of code and playbooks. Network Automation Engineers are no longer unicorns they are essential members of staff in in IT department.
Then once you have mastered the basics you can move onto network infrastructure configuration using automation. Learn how to use Ansible to run ad hoc commands and remotely automate configuration of your devices and automate complex operations with ease.
Learning network automation is a journey which you need to start today!
Ansible Variable Precedence
Ansible Precedence Order Ansible variable precedence, sometimes also referred to as variable priority or hierarchy, determines which value will be assigned to a variable when that variable is defined …
Ansible Lightspeed
What is Ansible Lightspeed? all you need to know to get started Announced in May 2023 by Red Hat Ansible Lightspeed is the next phase on Project Wisdom where you can use artificial intelligence (AI) …
Ansible Template Module
What is the Ansible template module and how it can help network engineers in configuration management? The Ansible template module is a powerful tool in the Ansible configuration management system …
How to install Ansible on Ubuntu
How to install Ansible on Ubuntu 22.04 To install Ansible on Ubuntu is very simple, you just need to add the Ansible PPA (Personal Package Archive) then update your system and then install Ansible. If …
Getting Started with Ansible
Introduction to Ansible Just getting started with Ansible? If you are just getting started with Ansible this post is for you, I will take you from have zero knowledge of Ansible to having a good basic …
Ansible Dynamic Inventory
Ansible Dynamic Script Example Ansible Dynamic Inventory using Python
Mastering the Ansible Playbook
Introduction to Ansible Playbooks An Ansible playbook can include one or more “Plays” which map a group of hosts to a set of tasks. Each play specifies the hosts that it applies to, and a …
Ansible Interview Questions
20 Ansible Interview Questions With Ansible becoming a must have skill for anyone in IT now I thought I would put together this short list of Ansible Interview Questions which should help you answer …
Batfish Network Automation
Introduction to Batfish What is Batfish? Batfish is an open source network analysis tool. It takes configuration files (snapshots) from network devices and then creates a vendor agnostic data model …
What do Network Engineers do?
What do network engineers do? Network engineers design and implement network configurations, install network hardware, troubleshoot performance issues, carry out network monitoring and configure …
Golang Tutorial
Golang Tutorial for Beginners Go (also called Golang) is a programming language developed by Google in 2009. It is a statically-typed language with syntax similar to C, but with the added benefits of …
ZSH: command not found: Ansible
If you have installed Ansible and are using ZSH and when you run ansible –version you get command not found Ansible – this was my fix When you install ZSH some path variables are changed …
Secure data transfer in automation processes
SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is the gold standard technology for keeping your internet connection safe and secure. It helps in safeguarding data that is sent between systems and prevents those that …
Ansible Host_Vars vs Group_Vars
What are host_vars and group_vars in Ansible? Variables or VARS are used to input data or a variable into a place in a playbook instead of manually entering the value in multiple places. The main …
Cisco Python Course Review
Uner the hash tag #anyonecancode Cisco have made available to anyone who registers for an account access to a free Python course. This is being run from the Cisco Network Academy. This was launched …
Python Network Automation Course
Coming Soon… To get earlybird access – email [email protected] Calling all Network Engineers! Python for network automation is one of the most popular ways to automate network …
Ansible Tutorial for Beginners
Ansible Tutorial for Beginners What is Ansible? Ansible is an open source tool tool that helps you automate IT tasks, it was purchased by Red Hat in October 2015 and is used for automation of Linux …
Hashicorp Vault Tutorial
What is Hashicorp Vault? Hashicorp Vault Installation Install Vault Ubuntu Deploy HCP Vault PKI Secrets Engine
Ansible Tower vs Ansible Automation Platform
Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Ansible Tower Since the release of Ansible Automation Platform the big question everyone is asking is “Ansible Tower vs Ansible Automation Platform” …
Ansible Automation Platform 2
What is Ansible Automation Platform? Ansible Tower has been the GUI front end version of Ansible for many years and if you wanted to provide logging, security and much more when operating Ansible, …
Gluware vs Ansible
Gluware review Gluware is a network automation platform that takes the headaches out of automating and orchestrating your critical network infrastructure. Gluware provides a code free option to …
Palo Alto Ansible
Palo Alto Ansible Playbook Example If you are looking for a Palo Alto Ansible Playbook you are in the right place!In this post I am going to take you through all the steps you need to start getting …
Fixes to Issues I encounter
This page is purely for my own benefit detailing small fixes to issues I encounter in my daily work. I hope if you are here and discover a fix that it helps you. VMware Workstation does not support …
Network Automation Certification
Cisco Python Certification If you are looking for a Python Network Automation Certification, you will not find one, which is probably why you have ended up here! The network automation market has …
Ansible Videos
Ansible Videos for Network Engineers All the videos below are aimed at network engineers who want to use Ansible for Network Automation, however if you are looking for some basic Ansible Training a …
Netmiko
What is Netmiko in Python used for? Netmiko is a multi-vendor Python library written by Kirk Byers. It is based on Paramiko and used to simplify SSH connections to network devices. It is multi-vendor …
Terraform Tutorial
Terraform Tutorial for Beginners Terraform is an open-source infrastructure as code software tool created by Hashicorp. Used to define and provision infrastructure using a declaritive configuration …
Ansible AWX Install Ubuntu
Install Ansible AWX on Ubuntu 20.04 using Kubernetes AWX is the upstream open source version of Ansible Tower, you can install it for free and use it for free forever. To install on Kubernetes I will …
Terraform Associate Certification
Terraform Associate Study Guide This post will detail my journey to passing the Terraform Associate Certification exam. There is not currently an official course, but there are plenty of courses …
Terraform vs Ansible
What are the differences between Terraform and Ansible? Terraform is an open-source tool developed by HashiCorp that allows users to manage cloud services through a language named HashiCorp …
Should Network Engineers Learn Python?
Should Network Engineers Learn Python? A question I get asked all the time is “Should network engineers learn Python?” The short answer is yes, but as with all things IT it depends! Here …
pyATS Tutorial for Beginners
pyATS Genie What is pyATS framework? pyATS was (and still is) an in-house Cisco Python testing framework that was developed for internal Cisco engineering use and has now been made open source and is …
7 Best Python Network Automation Videos on YouTube
Anyone looking to learn Python Network Automation will usually turn to YouTube first. So I have put together this list of my top resources on YouTube to learn Python to perform network automation …
Python for Network Engineers
Python Network Automation In this Python for network engineers tutorial I will cover in detail some useful Python scripts network engineers can start using today. Python for Network Engineers Scripts …
Python VENV / Virtual Environment Tutorial
What is a Python Virtual Environment? Basically a Python virtual environment is a folder with a few scripts in it that allows you to create an isolated environment to work on your project allowing you …
How to perform IOS upgrade on Cisco Switch using Ansible
Have you got 100’s or 1000’s of Cisco switches or routers to perform a software upgrade on? Looking for a simple way to upgrade Cisco IOS remotely? Or perform the task without manually …
What I wish I knew before starting to learn Network Automation
I reached out to leaders in the field of network automation and asked them one simple question. “What did you wish you knew before starting to learn network automation?” and or “Give …
Ansible Network Automation Course
Ansible for Network Engineers Master Ansible and become a Network Automation Ninja with my Ansible Network Automation Course You can learn all my Ansible tips and tricks that I have been using for the …
Ansible Vault
Ansible Vault Tutorial for beginners If you have been using Ansible for a while you will have wondered if there is a way to encrypt your sensitive data or password information? There is it’s …
How to Learn Network Automation
Network Automation Basics Do you want to learn network automation and network programmability but don’t know where to start? The role of the network engineer is changing, and at a rapid pace. Do …
Nornir Training – Learn the Python Automation Framework
Getting started with Nornir What is Nornir? The Nornir Python automation framework is written in Python and designed to be used for network automation tasks. It is much faster and gives you more …
Ansible vs Python Scripts
Ansible or Python? In the world of networking right now there are many discussions about which network automation tools are the best. But one of the most asked questions is Ansible or Python? The main …
Start using Python for Networking today
The networking industry is telling us all that we need to learn Python, we need to do network programming, we need to learn network automation, the CLI is dead! But for most of us nothing has changed …
What is network automation?
What is network automation? Network automation is the process of making configuration changes to your network devices using software tools and code rather than manually configuring each device one by …
What are the advantages of using Ansible roles?
One of the main features of using Ansible for Network Automation is the use of roles, and there are many advantages of using Ansible roles which I will describe below. When you start to build up a …
Cisco NSO Installation Guide – Ubuntu
Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO) is an orchestration platform for hybrid networks. It decouples network services from specific components, while automatically configuring the …
Ansible Inventory File Example
What is an Ansible Inventory? Why do we need Ansible Inventory? The Ansible Inventory File defines all the hosts and groups of hosts that you want to automate with Ansible. Also called the Ansible …
NetYCE – Multi Vendor Network Automation
NetYCE NetYCE is a network orchestration framework specifically developed for network engineers to build their own network automation solutions in no time without coding. The framework is an ideal …
What does a Network Automation Engineer do?
What does a Network Automation Engineer do? As a Network Automation Engineer you will be expected to use devops methodologies and manage your network using software and not just …
Best Way to Learn Python
The best way to learn Python for beginners If you are searching for the best way to learn Python coding on the internet you will be overwhelmed with the amount of information. On Udemy alone there are …
How to install Ansible Tower on Ubuntu 16.04
If you just just like watching a video the whole process is shown in the video below. How to Install Ansible Tower on Ubuntu 16.04 Video If you want the detailed steps in written format – keep …
Network Automation Tools
Network Automation Tools List The world of network engineering is changing at a rapid pace and Network Automation Tools are now becoming essential to the network engineer. The search for the best …
What is Ansible?
What is Ansible used for and what does it do? Ansible is an open source automation platform which was purchased by Red Hat in October 2015. It is used heavily by the server admin community for …
Ansible IOS_Command Example
In this Ansible IOS_Command Example post I will share a simple Ansible Playbook example that will write an ACL to a Cisco Switch. This playbook will work equally well on any Cisco device and once you …
AnsibleFest London 2017 – Review
Today I attended AnsibleFest in London – this is a paid event and one of two conferences organised by Ansible running in 2017. The second one is running on September 7th in San Francisco …
Where are Ansible Modules Stored?
I had an issue with one of my Ansible modules recently and needed to make a change so I needed to locate the Python module. It was onto google searching “Where are Ansbile Modules Stored?” …
How to Backup Cisco Config using Ansible
Cisco Router Configuration Backup using Ansible In this Ansible Cisco tutorial for beginners I will take you from the very beginning, installing Ansible on Ubuntu, to setting up the folders and …
