Book Image

Mastering Python Networking

Book Image

Mastering Python Networking

Overview of this book

This book begins with a review of the TCP/ IP protocol suite and a refresher of the core elements of the Python language. Next, you will start using Python and supported libraries to automate network tasks from the current major network vendors. We will look at automating traditional network devices based on the command-line interface, as well as newer devices with API support, with hands-on labs. We will then learn the concepts and practical use cases of the Ansible framework in order to achieve your network goals. We will then move on to using Python for DevOps, starting with using open source tools to test, secure, and analyze your network. Then, we will focus on network monitoring and visualization. We will learn how to retrieve network information using a polling mechanism, ?ow-based monitoring, and visualizing the data programmatically. Next, we will learn how to use the Python framework to build your own customized network web services. In the last module, you will use Python for SDN, where you will use a Python-based controller with OpenFlow in a hands-on lab to learn its concepts and applications. We will compare and contrast OpenFlow, OpenStack, OpenDaylight, and NFV. Finally, you will use everything you’ve learned in the book to construct a migration plan to go from a legacy to a scalable SDN-based network.
Table of Contents (22 chapters)
Title
Humble Bundle
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface
12
OpenStack, OpenDaylight, and NFV

A quick Ansible example


As with other automation tools, Ansible started out first by managing servers before expanding to manage the networking equipment. For the most part, the modules and what Ansible refers to as the playbook are the same between server modules and network modules, but there are still some differences. Therefore, it is helpful to see the server example first and draw comparisons later on when we start to look at network modules.

The control node installation

First, let us clarify the terminology we will use in the context of Ansible. We will refer to the virtual machine with Ansible installed as the control machine, and the machine is being managed as the target machines or managed nodes. Ansible can be installed on most of the Unix systems with the only dependency of Python 2.6 or 2.7; the current Windows is not supported as the control machine. Windows host can still be managed by Ansible, as they are just not supported as the control machine.

Note

As Windows 10 starts...