Paramiko Module
Contents
Paramiko Module#
To automate networking devices via SSH, network engineer use Paramiko, Python community has developed an SSH client library, called Paramiko. As per Paramiko module docs:
Paramiko is a pure-Python [1] (2.7, 3.4+) implementation of the SSHv2 protocol [2], providing both client and server functionality. It provides the foundation for the high-level SSH library Fabric, which is what we recommend you use for common client use-cases such as running remote shell commands or transferring files.
To install paramiko simply use pip for installation as below:
pip install paramiko
Example of Paramiko#
Let’s start by importing the Paramiko library and creating a client object. Set policy to use when connecting to servers without a known host key, AutoAddPolicy Policy automatically adding the hostname and new host key to representing of an OpenSSH-style “known hosts” file. Specify the host, username, and password.
import paramiko
import time
# Create an instance of the SSHClient class from Paramiko
client = paramiko.SSHClient()
# Sets the policy that the client should use regarding keys
client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
client.connect('192.168.10.11',
username='admin',
password='cisco',
look_for_keys=False,
allow_agent=False
)
ssh_client = client.invoke_shell()
# Send command to the remote device
ssh_client.send("sh ip int bri\n")
# Wait for the command to be finished
time.sleep(3)
'''if you did not clear out the received buffer? The output would just keep
on filling up the buffer and would overwrite it. For consistency of the output,
we will retrieve the output from the buffer each time we execute a command.'''
output = ssh_client.recv(5000)
print(output.decode('ascii'))
# Close the remote connection
client.close()
root@NetworkAutomation-1:~# python3 01_basic_paramiko.py
R1>sh ip int bri
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
FastEthernet0/0 192.168.10.11 YES NVRAM up up
FastEthernet0/1 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down
R1>
Example of for loop#
In this python script, we use the for loop and range() functions to create a loopback interface on R1.
import paramiko
import time
client = paramiko.SSHClient()
client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
client.connect('192.168.10.11',
username='admin',
password='cisco',
look_for_keys=False,
allow_agent=False
)
ssh_client = client.invoke_shell()
print('=====>> Creating loop back <<=====')
ssh_client.send("enable\n")
ssh_client.send("cisco\n")
ssh_client.send("conf ter\n")
# For loop and range() function to create loop back interface
for num in range (0,2):
ssh_client.send('int lo ' + str(num) + '\n')
ssh_client.send('ip address 1.1.1.' + str(num) + ' 255.255.255.255\n')
time.sleep(1)
ssh_client.send('end\n')
ssh_client.send('show ip int brief\n')
time.sleep(3)
output = ssh_client.recv(65000)
print(output.decode('ascii'))
client.close()
print("### Done ###")
root@NetworkAutomation-1:~# python3 02_for_loop_paramiko.py
=====>> Creating loop back <<=====
R1>enable
Password:
R1#conf ter
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R1(config)#int lo 0
R1(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.0 255.255.255.255
R1(config-if)#int lo 1
R1(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.255
R1(config-if)#end
R1#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
FastEthernet0/0 192.168.10.11 YES NVRAM up up
FastEthernet0/1 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down
Loopback0 1.1.1.0 YES manual up up
Loopback1 1.1.1.1 YES manual up up
R1#
### Done ###
Connecting to multiple devices#
In this python script, we use the for loop to connect multiple devices.
import paramiko
import time
client = paramiko.SSHClient()
client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
# For loop and range() function to connect multiple devices
for device in range(11,13):
ip = "192.168.10." + str(device)
print ('\n##### Connecting to the device ' + ip +' #####')
client.connect(ip,
username='admin',
password='cisco',
look_for_keys=False,
allow_agent=False
)
ssh_client = client.invoke_shell()
ssh_client.send("enable\n")
ssh_client.send("cisco\n")
ssh_client.send('show ip int brief\n')
time.sleep(3)
output = ssh_client.recv(65000)
print(output.decode('ascii'))
client.close()
print("### Done ###")
root@NetworkAutomation-1:~# python3 03_for_loop_paramiko.py
##### Connecting to the device 192.168.10.11 #####
R1>enable
Password:
R1#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
FastEthernet0/0 192.168.10.11 YES NVRAM up up
FastEthernet0/1 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down
Loopback0 1.1.1.0 YES manual up up
Loopback1 1.1.1.1 YES manual up up
R1#
##### Connecting to the device 192.168.10.12 #####
R2>enable
Password:
R2#show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
FastEthernet0/0 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down
FastEthernet0/1 192.168.10.12 YES NVRAM up up
Loopback0 1.1.1.0 YES manual up up
Loopback1 1.1.1.1 YES manual up up
R2#
### Done ###
In this python script, we use the for loop and list to connect to multiple devices.
import paramiko
import time
username = 'admin' # username
password = 'cisco' # password
# IP list fo network device
devices =['192.168.10.11', '192.168.10.12']
# For loop and list to connect multiple devices
for device in devices:
print ('\n #### Connecting to the device ' + device + ' ####\n' )
client = paramiko.SSHClient()
client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy())
client.connect(device,port=22,
username=username,
password=password,
look_for_keys=False,
allow_agent=False
)
ssh_client = client.invoke_shell()
ssh_client.send('enable\n')
ssh_client.send('cisco\n')
ssh_client.send('config t\n')
# For loop and range() function to create loop back interface
for num in range (2,5):
ssh_client.send('int lo ' + str(num) + '\n')
ssh_client.send('ip address 1.1.1.' + str(num) + ' 255.255.255.255\n')
time.sleep(1)
ssh_client.send('do term length 0\n')
ssh_client.send('do show ip int brief\n')
time.sleep(3)
output = ssh_client.recv(65000)
print (output.decode('ascii'))
client.close()
root@NetworkAutomation-1:~# python3 04_list_paramiko.py
#### Connecting to the device 192.168.10.11 ####
R1>enable
Password:
R1#config t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R1(config)#int lo 2
R1(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.2 255.255.255.255
R1(config-if)#int lo 3
R1(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.3 255.255.255.255
R1(config-if)#int lo 4
R1(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.4 255.255.255.255
R1(config-if)#do term length 0
R1(config-if)#do show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
FastEthernet0/0 192.168.10.11 YES NVRAM up up
FastEthernet0/1 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down
Loopback2 1.1.1.2 YES manual up up
Loopback3 1.1.1.3 YES manual up up
Loopback4 1.1.1.4 YES manual up up
#### Connecting to the device 192.168.10.12 ####
R2>enable
Password:
R2#config t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
R2(config)#int lo 2
R2(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.2 255.255.255.255
R2(config-if)#int lo 3
R2(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.3 255.255.255.255
R2(config-if)#int lo 4
R2(config-if)#ip address 1.1.1.4 255.255.255.255
R2(config-if)#do term length 0
R2(config-if)#do show ip int brief
Interface IP-Address OK? Method Status Protocol
FastEthernet0/0 unassigned YES NVRAM administratively down down
FastEthernet0/1 192.168.10.12 YES NVRAM up up
Loopback2 1.1.1.2 YES manual up up
Loopback3 1.1.1.3 YES manual up up
Loopback4 1.1.1.4 YES manual up up