To get the most out of this book

This book assumes that you have a basic understanding of networking and of Linux shell fundamentals. There will be installation of applications on a Linux command line. Most of the command-line examples provided in the book are executed within a containerized environment, or native to most Linux shells. Some basic Python understanding is recommended as well, but not required.

Software/hardware covered in the book	Operating system requirements
Python	Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2), macOS, or Linux
Docker	WSL2, macOS, or Linux
Telegraf	WSL2, macOS, or Linux
Kafka	WSL2, macOS, or Linux
Prometheus	WSL2, macOS, or Linux
Grafana	WSL2, macOS, or Linux
ContainerLab	WSL2, macOS, or Linux

There may be some tools that are referenced using a cloud service for ease of gaining experience with the tool. There are no financial requirement to complete the examples provided throughout the book.

Another option is to execute the environments free within the open source community installations. These will be covered in more depth within the relevant chapters.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.