This document discusses using Ansible for network automation. It begins with an agenda that includes discussing network architectures, network automation, and why Ansible is used. It then introduces the presenter and his background in networking. The remainder of the document discusses how Ansible can be used for tasks like template building, data collection, troubleshooting, provisioning device configurations, and validating network configurations match the desired state. It provides examples of using Ansible to automate tasks like cable verification and troubleshooting OSPF neighbor relationships. The document argues that Ansible is well suited for network automation due to its agentless design and ability to easily extend to new network devices. It concludes with a live demo of using Ansible and Ansible Tower for network automation.

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Network Automation with Ansible
Jason Edelman
@jedelman8
jedelman.com

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AGENDA
• Network Architectures
• Network Automation
• Why Ansible?
• Live Demo

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POLL
• Do you currently automate any part of the network?
• Network or Sys/DevOps?

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ABOUT ME
• Traditional Network Engineer for 14 years
– Worked for Cisco, VARs, etc.
– CCIE 15394, VCDX-NV
• Made the shift to programmability and automation about 2
years ago
– Presently consulting on network automation
• Blog: jedelman.com
• Twitter: @jedelman8

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Why Network Automation?

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INSANITY

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COOL ?

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EVOLVING ECOSYSTEMS

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CONSISTENCY

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CONSISTENCY

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NETWORK AUTOMATION
Template Building
Data Collection
Super Commands
Troubleshooting (Ops)
Conformance & Validation
Provisioning
Device Configurations, Vendor Migrations, IPv4 to IPv6 Migration, Site Rollouts, Office/DC
Relocations, BYOD configs for switches
Cabling Check, Neighbors, Serial Numbers (support contracts?), Linecards, Modules, Audit
Checks, PSIRT checks
Wireless Client to AP to Switchport, Phone to switchport, BGP Table + Routing Table, Integrate
to UC, WLAN, IPAM
Cabling, L2 neighbors, L3 adjacencies (have it tell you WHY the neighbor relationship failed),
Interface Errors, ACLs
Are the correct routes in each router? Measuring MAC/ROUTE table size, SNMP, security
validation parameters
Orchestration, Configuration Management, etc.

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TEMPLATE BUILDING

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TEMPLATE CREATION

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VARIABLE EXTRACTION

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BUILD PROCESS

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CABLE VERIFICATION
• Is the cabling accurate?
• How do you know if something is
mis-cabled?
• Ever work 3rd party contractors that
cable based on your patch schedule
and somehow it doesn’t come out
right?

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DEFINE THE DESIRED STATE

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OBTAIN THE ACTUAL STATE

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DESIRED VS. ACTUAL

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TROUBLESHOOTING OSPF
• Remember how neighbors are
formed in OSPF?
• Do you remember at 3am on a
Saturday?
• Does the junior network
engineer remember when you’re
on vacation?

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TROUBLESHOOTING OSPF
• Remember how neighbors are
formed in OSPF?
• Do you remember at 3am on a
Saturday?
• Does the junior network
engineer remember when you’re
on vacation?
• How about we automate the
process of a neighbor check?
• Do we really enjoy bouncing
back and forth between
routers?
• Let’s get to it!

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TROUBLESHOOTING OSPF
• Remember how neighbors are
formed in OSPF?
• Do you remember at 3am on a
Saturday?
• Does the junior network
engineer remember when you’re
on vacation?
• How about we automate the
process of a neighbor check?
• Do we really enjoy bouncing
back and forth between
routers?
• Let’s get to it!
Network
Rockstar

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TROUBLESHOOTING OSPF
WITH ANSIBLE

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GATHER & ANALYZE
Everything else
is just printing
data from facts

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AN ANSIBLE PLAYBOOK

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WHY ANSIBLE?
• Agentless
– EXTREMELY important for network integrations
• Easily extendable
– Add new devices as necessary, i.e. Arista, Cisco, HP, Juniper
including SDN fabrics
• Used for one-off and mass changes
• Native orchestration capabilities
• Tower gives push button provisioning

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DEMO TIME
• Ansible (CLI)
• Ansible Tower (UI)
GitHub: jedelman8
Twitter: @jedelman8
Blog: jedelman.com