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

# The transition phase
The transition phase is likely one of the most painful parts of
adopting any new technology. There is a natural resistance to change.
Several new tools are being introduced all at once. Stressing the
importance of following the new processes for network management is the
most important component of a successful transition to network
automation. 

The philosophy of "automate everything" must be adopted by
everyone for this to work. Manual out-of-band changes cannot be
tolerated once full automated network configuration management has been
put into effect. Conflicts between the manual changes and the source of
truth will exist. Most likely, these manual changes will be overwritten
and lost the next time an automated change is made. This occurs because
the changes were never added to the code repository, which leaves the
network potentially impacted with no way to track what happened. Such a
hazard exists, and therefore should be avoided at all costs. The staff needs
to be educated on the serious and negative consequences of making manual
changes.

# Training
Network engineers will need a substantial lead ahead of network
operations. This is because they will likely be the ones writing the initial playbooks
and converting the network to code. Network operations can then be
trained on how to execute the playbooks. Over time, more NetDevOps can
be adopted, and network operations can start updating the data models and
potentially write their own information by gathering playbooks. Meanwhile, the
network engineers will continue to write logical templates and potentially
more complex, or new, data models.

Let's learn about the training and transition phases that the enterprise will have to go through once network automation begins.

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

Training and Transition

The transition phase