Summary

Summary

Getting started can be a daunting undertaking. By breaking down the necessary steps into smaller, more manageable, components, the path leading to network automation can have very few obstacles.

Start with a thorough network readiness assessment, where any gaps can be identified and addressed before beginning. A comprehensive, well-designed, hierarchical inventory file, in the form of hosts, ensures coverage of the network. This offers scalability, modularity, and flexibility when executing playbooks. With safe and simple information gathering and network reconnaissance, the organization can automate network documentation without the possibility of disruption.

After gaining confidence and skill, the organization can move onto automating tactical changes and orchestration tasks. Once the network has been standardized and brought into compliance with intent, the network configurations can be abstracted into data models and dynamic templates. These will movine towards full network configuration automation.

Finally, a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline is developed achieving full network automation. Concrete examples of this evolutionary journey are found in the coming chapters.