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

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​​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 perfect for an automated solution. After gaining comfort with the new tools, you can fully transform network configuration management to an automated, intent-based, self-documenting system.

The final step is learning how to migrate to a continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline, thereby fully automating the network.

Automate Your Network

# Modern NDLC

With new tools come new processes and procedures. Below is a high-level
overview of the modern NDLC using all the tools introduced above. This
includes a simple branching strategy. The organization should decide on
its own branching strategy. For example, a new branch for every change,
no long-lived branches, and no branching beyond two branches. For now,
we will adopt a new branch per change approach with one level of
branching.

Here is an example of the modern development lifecycle:

1.   Create a repository specific to the environment. Examples include Production, Lab, Development.

2.   Create a master branch. The master branch will be what is considered tested, approved,
        current, golden configurations, and code. 

     -  Never develop or make changes directly inside the master branch.

     -   Use Git commits and pull requests to merge changes into the
        master branch.

     -   Playbooks should be executed from the master branch.

3.   Create a working branch. All changes are performed in the working branch. Playbooks 
are tested and validated, possibly with check mode and verbosity, in this branch.


     -   Commits from the local repository should be made often. This prevents local work from being lost and ensures the ability to collaborate on branches.

     -   Pull request to merge changes into the master branch. An entire workflow can be created from the pull request, various QA and approvals can be done, and changes can 
be merged successfully into the master branch.

4.   Clone the repository locally using `git clone`, and bring the repository down to a local Windows or Linux machine. This is extremely portable provided Linux and Ansible are installed.

5.   Change to the working branch using `git checkout`.

6.   Make changes such as modifying existing files, creating new files, or deleting files.

7.   Use an editor to save local changes and stage changes using `git add`.

8.   Commit changes using `git commit`. Make sure to add a meaningful comment to the commit.

9.   Push changes using `git push`. Make sure to synchronize changes with the text editor. This finalizes the commit and pushes the files into the central repository.

10.  Create a pull request to merge the working branch into the master branch. A full workflow can accompany this pull request that could require reviewers and approvals.

11.   Version and change control are made simple through the use of Git. All changes can be referred to by their unique pull request. Each pull request consists of Git commits. Using Git makes roll-backs and troubleshooting problematic changes easy.


Let's learn about the modern NDLC to see how it differs from the traditional NDLC.

Introduction

What Is Network Automation?

Why Automate the Network?

How to Automate the Network

Where to Start with Network Automation

Repository Structure

Network Reconnaissance

Tactical Playbooks

Data Models and Dynamic Templates

Dynamic Intent-Based Documentation

Configuration Management

Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery

Conclusion

Modern Network Development Life Cycle (NDLC)

Modern NDLC