Fundamentals of Network Automation

Introduction

• Presenter: Kevin Wallace
• Recording of a live Cyber Monday 2022 event
• Objective: Introduction to network automation, practical demonstrations, and hands-on

Network Automation Certifications

• Cisco DevNet Associate
  • Recommended for beginners
  • Includes a practical exam and Cisco handling eBook
• Cisco DevNet Professional
  • For those who already have DevNet Associate
• Cisco DevNet Expert
  • For advanced developers

Software Defined Networking (SDN)

• Traditional networks: routers, switches, firewalls with distributed data, control, and management planes
• SDN Controller: Centralized control replaces distributed control
• Network Intent: Expression of global configurations
  • Uses Yang data model

Interfaces and APIs

• South Bound Interfaces (SBIs): Communication between SDN controller and devices
• North Bound Interfaces (NBIs): Communication between applications and SDN controller
• REST APIs: Uses HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) for configuration
• Restconf: Uses JSON or XML
• Netconf: Only uses XML

Postman for Automation

• Postman: Tool to send HTTP verbs to devices
• Example: Obtaining list of interfaces using GET
• Practice location: Cisco DevNet Sandbox

YANG Data Model

• IETF Standard
• Models network configurations vendor-agnostically
• YANG Components: Read/write and read-only containers

Python Programming

• Python Installation: Recommended version 3.X
• Data Types: Integers, floats, strings, lists, dictionaries, booleans
• Conditionals and Loops
  • IF, FOR loops
• Integrated Development Environment (IDLE)
• File Handling: Read and write from/to external files

Using Python for Network Automation

• Postman: Useful for testing and demonstrations but not for repetitive configurations
• Python Script: Automate specific configurations
  • Import libraries (requests, JSON)
  • Modify example script from GitHub
• Example: Adding a loopback interface to a router using Python

Recommended Reading

• "Learn Python in One Day and Learn It Well"
• "Python Crash Course" by Eric Matthews

Conclusion

• Covered: Benefits of SDN, use of Postman and Python for network automation
• Expected outcome: Ability to perform network configuration automation using Restconf and Python