Ansible for Network Automation

Ansible Network modules extend the benefits of simple, powerful, agentless automation to network administrators and teams. Ansible Network modules can configure your network stack, test and validate existing network state, and discover and correct network configuration drift.

If you’re new to Ansible, or new to using Ansible for network management, start with Getting Started with Ansible for Network Automation. If you are already familiar with network automation with Ansible, see Advanced Topics with Ansible for Network Automation.

For documentation on using a particular network module, consult the list of all network modules. Some network modules are maintained by the Ansible community - here’s a list of network modules maintained by the Ansible Network Team.

• Getting Started with Ansible for Network Automation
  • Basic Concepts
    • Control node
    • Managed nodes
    • Inventory
    • Modules
    • Tasks
    • Playbooks
  • How Network Automation is Different
    • Execution on the Control Node
    • Multiple Communication Protocols
    • Modules Organized by Network Platform
    • Privilege Escalation: enable mode, become, and authorize
  • Run Your First Command and Playbook
    • Prerequisites
    • Install Ansible
    • Establish a Manual Connection to a Managed Node
    • Run Your First Network Ansible Command
    • Create and Run Your First Network Ansible Playbook
    • Gathering facts from network devices
  • Build Your Inventory
    • Basic Inventory
    • Add Variables to Inventory
    • Group Variables within Inventory
    • Variable Syntax
    • Group Inventory by Platform
    • Protecting Sensitive Variables with ansible-vault
  • Use Ansible network roles
    • Understanding roles
    • Ansible supported network roles
    • Network roles release cycle
  • Beyond the basics
    • A typical Ansible filetree
    • Tracking changes to inventory and playbooks: source control with git
  • Resources and next steps
    • Documents
    • Events (on video and in person)
    • GitHub repos
    • IRC and Slack
• Advanced Topics with Ansible for Network Automation
  • Network resource modules
    • Understanding network resource modules
    • Network resource module states
    • Using network resource modules
    • Example: Verifying the network device configuration has not changed
  • Ansible Network FAQ
    • How can I improve performance for network playbooks?
    • Why is my output sometimes replaced with ********?
    • Why do the *_config modules always return changed=true with abbreviated commands?
  • Ansible Network Examples
    • Prerequisites
    • Groups and variables in an inventory file
    • Example 1: collecting facts and creating backup files with a playbook
    • Example 2: simplifying playbooks with network agnostic modules
    • Implementation Notes
    • Troubleshooting
  • Network Debug and Troubleshooting Guide
    • Introduction
    • How to troubleshoot
    • Category “socket_path issue”
    • Category “Unable to open shell”
    • Timeout issues
    • Playbook issues
    • Proxy Issues
    • Miscellaneous Issues
  • Working with command output and prompts in network modules
    • Conditionals in networking modules
    • Handling prompts in network modules
  • Platform Options
    • CNOS Platform Options
    • Dell OS6 Platform Options
    • Dell OS9 Platform Options
    • Dell OS10 Platform Options
    • ENOS Platform Options
    • EOS Platform Options
    • ERIC_ECCLI Platform Options
    • EXOS Platform Options
    • ICX Platform Options
    • IOS Platform Options
    • IOS-XR Platform Options
    • IronWare Platform Options
    • Junos OS Platform Options
    • Meraki Platform Options
    • Pluribus NETVISOR Platform Options
    • NOS Platform Options
    • NXOS Platform Options
    • RouterOS Platform Options
    • SLX-OS Platform Options
    • VOSS Platform Options
    • VyOS Platform Options
    • Netconf enabled Platform Options
    • Settings by Platform
• Developer Guide for Network Automation
  • Developing network resource modules
    • Accessing the resource module builder
    • Creating a model
    • Using the resource module builder
    • Examples
    • Resource module structure and workflow
    • Developer notes
  • Network connection plugins
    • Developing httpapi plugins
    • Developing NETCONF plugins
    • Developing network_cli plugins
  • Documenting new network platforms
    • Modifying the platform options table
    • Adding a platform-specific options section
    • Adding your new file to the table of contents