Book Image

Mastering Python Scripting for System Administrators

By : Ganesh Sanjiv Naik
Book Image

Mastering Python Scripting for System Administrators

By: Ganesh Sanjiv Naik

Overview of this book

Python has evolved over time and extended its features in relation to every possible IT operation. Python is simple to learn, yet has powerful libraries that can be used to build powerful Python scripts for solving real-world problems and automating administrators' routine activities. The objective of this book is to walk through a series of projects that will teach readers Python scripting with each project. This book will initially cover Python installation and quickly revise basic to advanced programming fundamentals. The book will then focus on the development process as a whole, from setup to planning to building different tools. It will include IT administrators' routine activities (text processing, regular expressions, file archiving, and encryption), network administration (socket programming, email handling, the remote controlling of devices using telnet/ssh, and protocols such as SNMP/DHCP), building graphical user interface, working with websites (Apache log file processing, SOAP and REST APIs communication, and web scraping), and database administration (MySQL and similar database data administration, data analytics, and reporting). By the end of this book, you will be able to use the latest features of Python and be able to build powerful tools that will solve challenging, real-world tasks
Table of Contents (21 chapters)

The telnetlib() module

In this section, we are going to learn about the Telnet protocol and then we will do Telnet operations using the telnetlib module over a remote server.

Telnet is a network protocol that allows a user to communicate with remote servers. It is mostly used by network administrators to remotely access and manage devices. To access the device, run the Telnet command with the IP address or hostname of a remote server in your Terminal.

Telnet uses TCP on the default port number 23. To use Telnet, make sure it is installed on your system. If not, run the following command to install it:

$ sudo apt-get install telnetd

To run Telnet using the simple Terminal, you just have to enter the following command:

$ telnet ip_address_of_your_remote_server

Python has the telnetlib module to perform Telnet functions through Python scripts. Before telnetting your remote device...