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Automate Your Network

Gain insights into automating network reconnaissance, orchestrating repetitive changes, and transforming network configuration management. Discover CI/CD pipeline migration for full network automation.

Intermediate

93 Lessons

12h 40min

Certificate of Completion

AI-POWERED

Explanations

AI-POWERED

Explanations

This course includes

11 Playgrounds

9 Quizzes

Course Overview

What You'll Learn

Course Content

Apply Your Skills

Course Overview

Network automation begins with automating network reconnaissance. This is accomplished by gathering important information from network devices while building a library of dynamic on-demand utilities and generating living documentation. Starting small, the course exhibits the simplicity and elegance of network automation. Next, you will learn how to automate larger changes that require a high number of repetitive steps. These changes will be executed serially in a specific orchestrated order, making them ...Show More

Network automation begins with automating network reconnaissance. This is accomplished by gathering important information from...Show More

What You'll Learn

Learn the significance of network automation

Learn about Network Development Lifecycle (NDLC)

Learn how to automate your network with Ansible from the command line and through playbooks

Learn how to create and update a repository of network configuration

Learn how to use Jinja templates for displaying and storing network configuration

Learn how to use a recommended CI/CD workflow for network automation

Learn the significance of network automation

Course Content

Introduction

1 Lessons

Get familiar with networking automation tools and methodologies using Ansible and Git.

Who is This Course for?

What Is Network Automation?

21 Lessons

Look at network automation's transformation of manual tasks, centralization, and enhanced efficiency.

Introductory Note

Traditional Legacy Network Management

Operational Challenges

Software-Defined Networking

Network Automation

Process of Network Automation

The Risks of Automation

Configuration Changes

Some Final Steps

Impact on IT

NetDevOps

Converting Configurations to Code

Data Models

Templates

Methodology

Network Development Lifecycle (NDLC)

Ansible: Tools and Features

Ansible Tower

Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

Summary

Quiz 1

Why Automate the Network?

11 Lessons

Examine why network automation is essential for handling the scale, complexity, and efficiency of modern networks.

Introduction

Scale of Networks

Complexity and Documentation

Standards

Security, Agility, Design, and Deployment

Operations, Intentions, and Source of Truth

Management Change and Problem Resolution

Resources, Costs, and Provisioning

Source and Version Control

Summary

Quiz 2

How to Automate the Network

8 Lessons

Build a foundation in network automation with tools and processes like Ansible, Git, and NDLC.

How to Prepare the Network

What Tools are Required

Automation Tools: Git

Automation Tools: Linux

Automation Tools: Ansible

Modern Network Development Life Cycle (NDLC)

Summary

Quiz 3

Where to Start with Network Automation

11 Lessons

Take a closer look at initiating network automation with thorough information gathering and readiness evaluation, focusing on structured processes and effective management.

Starting Automation

Network Automation Readiness Evaluation

Processes and NDLC

Training and Transition

Create Ansible Inventory File

Network Reconnaissance

Configuration Management

Repository Structure

6 Lessons

Focus on organizing and managing an Ansible repository structure, configuration, tasks, templates, documentation, and real repository interaction.

Organization of the Repository

Configuration and Documentation

Vars and Playbooks

Tasks

Templates and Hosts file

Interacting with a Real Repository

Network Reconnaissance

7 Lessons

Build on network automation through Ansible for device data collection and management.

Gathering Information

Information Gathering: Continued

Hands-On: Information Gathering

Hands-On: Important Facts

Hands-On: Display FRR facts

Summary

Quiz 5

Tactical Playbooks

4 Lessons

Try out tactical network automation with Ansible and mitigate risks.

Moving Towards Automated Changes

Process

Starting Small

OSPF Point-to-Point

Data Models and Dynamic Templates

8 Lessons

Walk through network automation using dynamic templates, data models, and Ansible tasks.

Data Models: Group Variables

Data Models: Host Variables

Templates

Basic Programmatic Logic

Recommended Practices

Configuration Templates

Tasks

Quiz 6

10.

Dynamic Intent-Based Documentation

6 Lessons

Master the steps to automate dynamic network documentation with Ansible and format in MD, CSV, and HTML.

Dynamic Documentation and the Markdown Format

Assemble

Execute Playbook: Documentation

Hands-On: Save FRR Configuration

Hands-On: Documentation in MD

Hands-On: Documentation in CSV and HTML

11.

Configuration Management

5 Lessons

Grasp the fundamentals of automating network configurations with playbooks and dynamic templates.

Starting Configuration

Campus Configuration

Campus Configuration: Assembled

What to Automate Next

Quiz 7

12.

Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery

4 Lessons

Solve problems in deploying Ansible playbooks with CI/CD pipelines for automated network management.

Overview of CI/CD

Continuous Integration

Continuous Delivery

Quiz 8

13.

Conclusion

1 Lessons

Focus on network automation's agility, risk mitigation, and competitive advantage for modern enterprises.

Wrap up

Course Author

John Capobianco

Project

Working With Containerlab

intermediate

1 hour

Project

Working With Containerlab

Learn to deploy and test network topologies efficiently using Containerlab for preliminary network setup and troubleshooting.

intermediate

1 hour

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