On automating network systems configuration management
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59380/crj.v1i1.639Abstract
In nowadays, communications are expanding in very high rates. New technologies are being born and some of them are taking so much importance in people’s lives. In a situation where people’s needs are getting more complicated and everybody’s lifestyle is advancing to another level, bigger and better infrastructure is needed. Managing all this process can’t be anymore a step by step process. It is strictly needed to evolve in automated process. Network configuration and reconfiguration may be a repetitive process, time consuming, and error prone process. To address this problem this paper is going to shed light on the benefits of an automated configuration and topology verification process. To this end, a proof of concept system, Netmiko, has been used in a case study. Netmiko scripts are able to read the current network state, can apply predefined configurations loaded from text-files or csv files, and automatically verify the network state. The goals of this paper are to demonstrate the development of Netmiko scripts, to illustrate the
simplicity in the implementation, to compare the automated network system reconfiguration to a fully manual one, and, finally, to discuss potential pros and cons in switching to an automated network configuration process in everyday practice. A simple Packet Tracer simulation in joint with a GNS3 simulation are involved to evaluate this proof of concept. In Packet tracer a manual network configuration is performed while in GNS3 an automated network configuration is developed.
Keywords:
network configuration management, automated configuration management, computer networks, packet tracer, GNS3 , Cisco IOS XR, Python, Netmiko LibraryDownloads
References
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"1. Jason Edelman, Scott S. Lowe, Matt Oswalt (2018) Network Programmability and Automation: Skills for the Next-Generation Network Engineer, O’Reilly Media, 2018
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Eric Chou, Abhishek Ratan, Pradeeban Kathiravelu (2019) Python Network Programming: Conquer All Your Networking Challenges with the Powerful Python Language, Packt Publishing Ltd, 2019
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José Manuel Ortega (2018) Mastering Python for Networking and Security: Leverage Python scripts and libraries to overcome networking and security issues, Packt Publishing (Sep 28, 2018)
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Kirk Byers (2016), Git HubNetmiko scripting website:https://github.com/ ktbyers/ netmiko
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Red hat , Why start network automation website: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/ network-automation-why-organizations- shouldnt-wait-get-started
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Sisay Tadesse, Claire Naiga Serugunda Fabrizio Granelli et. al. (2021), A Theoretical Discussion and Survey of Network Automation for IoT: Challenges and Opportunity, August 2021IEEE Internet of Things Journal 8(15):12021- 12045, DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2021.3075901 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2021.3075901
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McKeown, T. Anderson, H. Balakrishnan, G. Parulkar, L. Peterson, J. Rexford, S. Shenker, J. Turner, (2008) http://doi.acm. org/10.1145/1355734.1355746 OpenFlow:, Enabling Innovation in Campus Networks. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1355734.1355746
References
"1. Jason Edelman, Scott S. Lowe, Matt Oswalt (2018) Network Programmability and Automation: Skills for the Next-Generation Network Engineer, O’Reilly Media, 2018
Eric Chou, Abhishek Ratan, Pradeeban Kathiravelu (2019) Python Network Programming: Conquer All Your Networking Challenges with the Powerful Python Language, Packt Publishing Ltd, 2019
M. O. FaruqueSarker, Sam Washington ( 2015) Python Network Programming: Learning Python Network Programming, Packt Publishing Ltd, 2015
José Manuel Ortega (2018) Mastering Python for Networking and Security: Leverage Python scripts and libraries to overcome networking and security issues, Packt Publishing (Sep 28, 2018)
Kirk Byers (2016), Git HubNetmiko scripting website:https://github.com/ ktbyers/ netmiko
Linux Journal Netmiko connecting website: https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/use- case-network-automation
Packet Hub Python interacting with device website: https://hub.packtpub.com/ using-python-automation-to-interact-with- network-devices-tutorial/"
"8. Learning Oreilly, Mastering Python for network and security website: https:// learning.oreilly.com/library/view/mastering- python-for/9781788992510/b97d457f- 041a-424d-b75d-a7090d9de141.xhtml
Red hat , Why start network automation website: https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/ network-automation-why-organizations- shouldnt-wait-get-started
Sisay Tadesse, Claire Naiga Serugunda Fabrizio Granelli et. al. (2021), A Theoretical Discussion and Survey of Network Automation for IoT: Challenges and Opportunity, August 2021IEEE Internet of Things Journal 8(15):12021- 12045, DOI: 10.1109/JIOT.2021.3075901 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JIOT.2021.3075901
McKeown, T. Anderson, H. Balakrishnan, G. Parulkar, L. Peterson, J. Rexford, S. Shenker, J. Turner, (2008) http://doi.acm. org/10.1145/1355734.1355746 OpenFlow:, Enabling Innovation in Campus Networks. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1355734.1355746