Python and Automation#

Python language was developed by Guido van Rossum. Python has become a scripting language choice for network engineers to automate their tasks. Python is an easy-to-learn, powerful programming language. It has efficient high-level data structures and a simple but effective approach to object-oriented programming.

Python’s neat syntax and dynamic typing, together with its interpreted nature, make it an ideal language for scripting and application development in many areas on most platforms.

Why learn Programming?#

Network engineering is changing, as a network engineer, there has never been a better time for you to learn programming to automate networks and write code. In the late 90’s – 2010, a network engineer typed in the same CLI commands hundreds/thousands, of times to configure and troubleshoot network devices.

We have seen improvements from network vendors, but also in the open source tooling that is available to use for automating the network. For example, there are now network devices APIs and community-supported Python libraries, and freely available open-source tools that give you and every other network engineer access to a growing environment to startup your network automation journey.

This means that you have to write less code than you would have in the past, and less code means faster development and fewer bugs, so networkers think learning the basics of any programming language is valuable.

Some key skills to why learn to program?

  • An essential ability to improve proficiencies.

  • Programming to simplify or automate tasks.

  • Knowing a programming language can come in handy.

  • Manages network more efficiently.

  • Software defines networking

  • Vendors heading towards software-based operations

What is Scripting?#

Any programming language that supports a script is known as a scripting language. It helps programmers to write programs for a distinct environment to automate the execution of several tasks which could otherwise be executed manually by a human operator, one by one.

Scripting Examples#

As scripting is a useful tool for network automation, typical manual tasks can be automated.

  • Configuring switches

  • Configuring routers

  • Configuration changes

  • Configuration management

  • Troubleshooting

You need automation in networking to create a more efficient networking environment, improve network uptime and prevent mistakes.

Automation and Orchestration#

Automation#

  • Well-specified task run on its own

Orchestration#

  • Automating a lot of things at once

  • Multiple tasks to execute a workflow

  • Automation is the first step towards orchestration

Automation Tools#

Python is used for network automation, but it’s frequently used with other network automation tools for automating network monitoring, configurations and maintenance activities. Some such tools are Ansible, Puppet, Chef and SatlStack which are discussed below:

  • Ansible is open-source software that helps to automate software configuration, management and application deployment. It can configure routers, switches and different types of servers.

  • Similarly, the open-source software, Puppet, is a good tool for configuration management. It runs on Microsoft Windows, and numerous Unix-like systems, and has its declarative language too for system configuration description.

  • Chef is another tool for configuration management, written in Ruby and Erlang. It’s built on a DevOps model and can help in building reliable scalable systems.

  • A Python-based open-source configuration management software, SatlStack, serves as a remote execution engine. As it uses the “Infrastructure as Code” methodology for deployment and cloud management, it is a competitive tool and can be used in the replacement of Puppet, Ansible, and Chef.