Search icon CANCEL
Subscription
0
Cart icon
Your Cart (0 item)
Close icon
You have no products in your basket yet
Save more on your purchases! discount-offer-chevron-icon
Savings automatically calculated. No voucher code required.
Arrow left icon
Explore Products
Best Sellers
New Releases
Books
Videos
Audiobooks
Learning Hub
Newsletter Hub
Free Learning
Arrow right icon
timer SALE ENDS IN
0 Days
:
00 Hours
:
00 Minutes
:
00 Seconds
Network Automation with Nautobot
Network Automation with Nautobot

Network Automation with Nautobot: Adopt a network source of truth and a data-driven approach to networking

Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Jason Edelman Profile Icon Glenn Matthews Profile Icon Josh VanDeraa Profile Icon Celenza Profile Icon Christian Adell Profile Icon Brad Haas Profile Icon Bryan Culver Profile Icon John Anderson Profile Icon Gary Snider +5 more Show less
Arrow right icon
$54.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (5 Ratings)
Paperback May 2024 816 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$38.99 $43.99
Paperback
$54.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
Arrow left icon
Profile Icon Jason Edelman Profile Icon Glenn Matthews Profile Icon Josh VanDeraa Profile Icon Celenza Profile Icon Christian Adell Profile Icon Brad Haas Profile Icon Bryan Culver Profile Icon John Anderson Profile Icon Gary Snider +5 more Show less
Arrow right icon
$54.99
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5 (5 Ratings)
Paperback May 2024 816 pages 1st Edition
eBook
$38.99 $43.99
Paperback
$54.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m
eBook
$38.99 $43.99
Paperback
$54.99
Subscription
Free Trial
Renews at $19.99p/m

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Redeem a companion digital copy on all Print orders
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Network Automation with Nautobot

Introduction to Nautobot

Data-driven network automation powered by Nautobot is gaining momentum across the industry. This chapter provides the foundation required to understand the what and why of network automation and gives an overview of Nautobot and the role it can play in the greater network automation ecosystem. This chapter will start by uncovering the relationship between data and network automation and how Source of Truth (SoT), when used with Nautobot, is an integral part of the network automation journey. You’ll learn what network automation is, key use cases for network automation, and why you should consider network automation, dive into SoT, and be introduced to Nautobot and the power it can provide on the journey with Nautobot as a SoT and a network automation platform.

This chapter covers the following main topics:

  • Introduction to network automation
  • Understanding SoT
  • Nautobot overview
  • Nautobot use cases
  • Nautobot ecosystem

Introduction to network automation

If you’re reading this book, you’ve realized you need to think differently about managing your network. And you are not alone. If you ask any network engineer, there is still not a day that goes by when they are not logging into a device via SSH and doing work manually. Over the last few decades, the most common approach to managing networks of any size, ranging from tens to thousands of devices, was connecting to the device and using the network command-line interface (CLI). The network CLI is used to gather data, troubleshoot, and make configuration changes. This remains the most common way of managing networks. However, this is changing.

Over the last 10 years, we’ve seen significant growth and improvements around the operational models for networks. The software-defined networking (SDN) era brought us controllers and APIs. Controllers provide APIs and fewer points of management. Rather than manage thousands of devices, it is possible to manage tens of controllers (or fewer in some cases). Independent of the number, the point is that the number of directly managed nodes continues to decrease. The SDN era also shined a light on the programmatic interfaces, or lack thereof, of network devices. We have evolved from SSH and SNMP to APIs – REST APIs, GraphQL, gRPC, and event-driven webhooks from controllers and devices. While SSH and SNMP are still the de facto standards across the industry – even for automation, progress is being made. For that, we need to recognize the progress and celebrate, but continue to demand more.

The progress around network automation has been driven by open source. Before network automation, there wasn’t much use of open source in the network industry. The industry is learning from its history – that is, if you solely purchase and use vertically integrated tools, there is less flexibility and you could lose control of your network. With current trends, the belief is that those that adopt even just some open source remain in control and can extend libraries and tools as needed to ensure maximum adoption of network automation in their environment. Don’t worry – we’ll cover some of the most common open source tools and technologies for network automation in the Industry trends section of this chapter.

We’ll start by exploring what network automation is, its key use cases, and the value it can provide an organization. From there, we’ll dive into SoT and Nautobot.

What is network automation?

Any advanced and hot technology always gets flak when there are formal definitions because there are always varying opinions, and that’s okay. For this book, our approach is to keep it simple. So, what is network automation? Network automation is next-generation network management. Period. We can talk about Python, Ansible, Nautobot, YAML, JSON, REST APIs, NETCONF, RESTCONF, YANG – the list can go on for pages. Here is the bottom line – all of these tools and technologies are being used to improve how networks are managed and consumed daily, which is, simply put, better network management. Network automation involves transforming operational models that can radically transform careers and technical and business operations.

One major point you should think about on your network automation journey is that it isn’t just about doing your tasks better and more efficiently. That is only the starting point. You need to be thinking about how to expose your automation to other engineers, teams, and even non-technical people, thus enabling all parties with the self-service they need to do their job functions.

Let’s assume you are automating tasks such as operating system (OS) upgrades, which involves gracefully moving traffic from one device (and circuit) to another. This is a complex workflow. Sure, this can help you when you need to upgrade a device or perform maintenance on a device, but what about exposing that automation to individual site leads? If this workflow is made more accessible, can this expand who can perform the task using your trusted automation? Does it allow you or your team to delegate a little more? How often are upgrades happening today contrasted with how often you’d like them to happen?

What about if you had automated diagnostics? What if your Network Operations Center (NOC), Security Operations Center (SOC), or service desk could go to a portal, click a button, and diagnose their most common issues? In a manual process, one person opens a ticket, and that ticket remains open and an engineer picks it up. The engineer reviews the request and sees it is a semi-common problem. Maybe they need to check with another engineer or two along the way. After a few discussions, they know where to go, which devices to log in to, and which tools to log in to. They correlate the data gathered between the devices and tools. They ensure things look good and update the ticket. Common workflows like this should be automated.

Would your leadership be astounded to learn that the countless hours needed to gather data, let alone the hours spent formatting to make it look good, can be eliminated with automation? Compliance and reporting tasks often take a lot of engineering time and effort because they involve manually gathering and processing information. Now, imagine being able to automatically create any compliance document or report you need. Documents that include pre/post change tests. Documents required for change control. Reports you need to run monthly, quarterly, or annually for compliance. Reports that verify your devices are operating as expected.

This is network automation.

Network automation use cases

We just discussed some examples of network automation to bring it to life. Now, let’s look at some of the most common use cases, including the ones that were already mentioned:

  • Common config changes: Is your team performing the same types of changes day to day, week to week, or month to month? These are changes such as adding VIPs, turning up a port, adding a VLAN to a switch port, managing firewall policies (also discussed later in this chapter), turning up a new BGP peer, updating routing preferences, adding static routes, and updating zones and ACLs. These changes are ripe for automation because they happen so frequently.
  • Common operational tasks: These are similar to the previous use case, but they involve performing operations tasks that do not require a configuration change. Some examples include updating SSH keys and certificates on devices, performing a config save or backing up a configuration, copying files to devices, rebooting devices, checking logs, and even performing non-network device tasks such as checking and updating tickets.
  • Mass changes: While common config changes are scoped to a set of devices (this could be just a few devices), mass changes are meant to be site, campus, regional, or global. Mass changes include changes such as updating AAA, NTP, or SNMP but could also include changing the format and structure of all interface descriptions on every device. These types of changes don’t happen as frequently, but when they do, they are impactful and usually a large project.
  • Data gathering and reporting: How often is someone you know logging into numerous devices or tools to perform health checks, troubleshooting, or simply to execute a request that comes in for application or network performance degradation? Automated data gathering, reporting, and documentation is not only one of the best use cases for network automation – it is a great area to start with since it is less impactful in the event there is bad automation (because it’d be read-only automation). It could also be added to nearly any other use case producing reports before and after changes or generating compliance reports specific to your team or organization.
  • Configuration and operational state compliance: Compliance comes in two major flavors and can be best understood by asking the following two questions: Is the network configured as expected? and Is the network operating as expected? Configuration is easy to understand, but it does mean you’ll need to understand the intended state of the network. This is where SoT and data-driven network automation comes into play. We’ll cover this in more detail later in this chapter in the Understanding SoT section, as well as Chapter 11.
  • Pre/post-change state validation: Similar to the previous compliance use case, pre/post-change state validation is more focused on a defined scope of devices. There may be automation when performing global compliance that only runs daily, but changes are happening continuously. Pre/post change state validation ensures that the network is healthy and operating as expected before and after the change.
  • Firewall policy automation: How many firewall rules are you adding per day, week, or month? How do you know which firewalls need a new policy? How do you know where in the list of rules the new one should go? Do you know? Could you document this for a fellow engineer? Try. This is the start of firewall policy automation. While the last mile is configuring the actual firewall, the questions prior illustrate that a company’s firewall rule change workflow often involves many steps before the actual configuration change.
  • OS upgrades: While already mentioned briefly, how often are upgrades happening today contrasted with how often you’d like them to happen? How many of your devices adhere to your software standards? How many upgrades can you currently do in a single change window? Do you find yourself watching the console of devices as you upgrade them? Do you run any automation to see if devices have the required disk space before copying the new image to the device? Do you run any automation to verify the md5 checksum of the image after it is copied to ensure it isn’t corrupt? Is your network at risk due to vulnerabilities left unpatched? Upgrading devices often happens when needed, versus having a defined cadence. It is never a priority. Automation changes that.
  • Greenfield sites and devices: If you are repeating deployments, there is room for automation. It may mean adding new top-of-rack switches in the data center, it may mean adding a closet or IDF closet in a growing campus, adding a new retail location, or even a new colocation facility or point of presence (PoP). Much of the automation discussed here is around the configuration of these devices, but that is the easy part. Site planning and deployment is about data curation and management not to mention each organization’s business logic required for deployments. How do you and your team know which IP addresses, VLANs, ASNs, and overall configuration should be entered on those devices? Is it from spreadsheets or a SoT? Again, more on SoT later.
  • Vendor migrations: Have you ever not moved forward with changing vendors due to the work effort of migrating configurations? With a properly defined SoT and data strategy, this becomes trivial. Your focus becomes storing the intended state of the network using data, decoupled from any vendor-specific syntax. Syntax for a given vendor is generated by running the data through a set of vendor-specific configuration templates. In a migration, you can generate the desired state configuration for a given vendor by running the data through a different set of templates and then deploying those new configurations. Beyond configuration management, you’ll also want to ensure multi-vendor operational state compliance to ensure there are no gaps in visibility during the end-to-end migration.
  • Self-service: It is critical to think through how a given workflow will be triggered along with who the target user is. Self-service does not mean that it needs to be a click-button UI. It may mean an IT tool, CLI tool, pull/merge request, ChatOps, or yes, it may mean a full self-service user-friendly form. The point is that you do not need one way to expose network automation or even one way per workflow. Using an architectural and a platform approach to network automation allows you to expose the same workflow through multiple self-service interfaces. You should cater to your culture and your users. This will drive more adoption of network automation.

It is recommended to use a holistic multi-domain network automation architecture to serve as a platform to meet today’s requirements. This architecture will also serve as the foundation for tomorrow’s requirements. As you embark on the journey, be cautious about using different network automation architectures for different types of networks and domains. If so, it’ll create more issues and give your team even more tools to manage while making it harder to unify standards and processes. In Chapter 10, we will talk much more about network automation architecture to ensure a consistent approach to managing networks independent of size, domain, and location.

Why automate your network?

After covering the what, let’s take a look at the why. While many use cases are horizontal and can be used by any organization type (or verticals), the actual why, impact, and justification will differ per organization. Just to clarify, by vertical, we’re referring to companies with different business types. A few examples of different verticals include financial services, pharmaceutical, retail, telco/the cloud, manufacturing, accounting/legal professional services firms, state and federal government, K-12 education, and universities.

For some verticals, the network may be the business. It may either be a business enabler or have serious consequences if the network is down. For other verticals, other factors may be a bigger concern. For this reason, the why is going to vary widely, and we’ll cover general reasons to automate the network. Here are some common examples:

  • Lower costs: Every leader in every business is always asked by their leaders or directly by finance if there is a way to lower costs. In reality, automation helps lower longer-term costs. The more a company can show how automation lowers costs, the greater the chances are that the automation projects get initial buy-in and long-term support. With some of the use cases already mentioned, costs can be significantly lowered. If a company truly documents each of the tasks required and the time to do each for a workflow (such as OS upgrades or troubleshooting) and verifies the most common incidents, they are going to see drastic savings in time and effort when using automation. Time equates to money. It doesn’t mean anyone is getting replaced. However, it does mean that there is more time for more projects, each of which adds more value to the business. Increasing velocity without needing to hire new people is a tremendous cost savings.
  • Enhance security and reduce risk: In today’s world, security is top of mind for everyone; it’s integrated into all that we do. No company wants to be the headline in the local, national, or global news. Security-focused automation ranges from automated scans, firewall provisioning, VPN connects and disconnects, compliance and remediation, governance adherence and monitoring, and patch management just to name a few. Even if you are not directly on a security team, you should ask yourself if security can be improved in your domain. Can you rotate passwords more frequently? Maybe change those SNMP community strings? The list can easily go on.
  • Provide greater insight and control: Data is king and that includes greater visibility into your network and automation infrastructure. Automation can be used to gather data, document data, understand patterns, and compare against known baselines. Sure, there may be tools that provide this in the user interface (UI). That’s a great start, but what about seamless workflows that open tickets, update tickets, send emails, and send chat messages in response to network data that is outside the expected range? With automation, you have the opportunity to get the insights you need to answer the questions you have and know that the answers are contained within the network. Think about that. If you are logging into a few portals, copying data into a spreadsheet, creating Excel formulas, or creating a new document to then turn into a PDF and email, there is a better way. There is an automated way.
  • Increase business agility: Each business and team is always trying to go faster and also perform activities that are not possible without automation. Organizations need to work smarter and more efficiently. In some cases, it may also make sense to hire more people. However, hiring more people often slows things down because, at a certain point, people can start to get in each other’s way. In contrast, automation can reduce cost, improve performance/velocity, increase reliability, and do things that humans just cannot do. One example is automation-enabled self-service, which helps business stakeholders obtain the outcome they need sooner. Automation can also improve business-to-business connectivity, allowing organizations to either recognize revenue sooner (for those that are doing business over those connections, tunnels, or circuits) or start consuming a new service. Think about deploying a new application in a lab or test environment. If it takes weeks to get a new application and its network and security configurations deployed for each environment (dev, test, UAT, and so on), it may be an aggregate delay of months. This is either delaying employee or customer satisfaction or revenue. Using automation improves this and increases business agility.

In all that you do, keep automation top of mind, and try to understand the business and organization-level benefits for various leaders in your organization.

Persona-driven network automation

While we already looked at network automation use cases and the rationale for automation, let’s take a different spin on use cases. There is usually never one network team. There are usually teams focused on day 0 or architecture and/or engineering; day 1 or implementation; day 2 or operations. These teams may even span network domains such as LAN, WAN, WLAN, or Security, depending on the size of the network. Recognizing the work of the various teams will help structure automation projects for what’s possible within your team.

Here is a list of example projects and tasks broken down by the three types of teams often found in network organizations:

  • Day 0 or architecture and/or engineering:
    • Ensure configuration standards are documented in a structured and modeled manner that is programmatically accessible
    • Ensure hardware standards are documented in a structured and modeled manner that is programmatically accessible
    • Ensure software standards are documented in a structured and modeled manner that is programmatically accessible
    • Ensure architectural and engineering tests exist within every CI pipeline – for example is there redundancy?
    • Develop automation architecture and framework used by other teams
  • Day 1 or implementation:
    • Use automation to generate configurations
    • Use automation to perform configuration changes
    • Use automation for pre- and post-deployment verification
    • Use automation for continuous verification of deployment standards
  • Day 2 or operations:
    • Execute network device automation for common troubleshooting tasks
    • Continuously update automation that is used for common troubleshooting tasks
    • Execute network device automation for common changes
    • Ensure automation for dynamically reading emails from ISP/NSPs for circuit notifications
    • Execute automation for gathering and collecting information from various tools and devices to aid in troubleshooting
    • Execute automation for dynamically creating, updating, and closing change management tickets

Industry trends

As we’ve already discussed, the CLI still dominates the industry. However, each year, month, week, and day brings us closer to transformative and better network management through the use of network automation. In this section, we’ll look at several of the trends that are collectively driving the industry forward to do more with less and allow for more efficient network operations.

This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but illustrative of the trends that are driving operational efficiencies and automation:

  • SDN: SDN took the industry by storm in the 2010s. Most modern network architectures include controllers that simplify management and visibility and provide programmatic access with APIs. Simplified management is made possible because it allows users to manage systems versus managing devices and nodes, which allows more abstract policies to be created and applied. Because they allow for fewer points of management, SDN controllers simplify workflows and integrations using the controller (versus individual device) APIs. With SDN, you may have different controllers and solutions for campuses, WAN, data centers, and the cloud. So, if you are looking for a unified network automation strategy, there will be a bit of integration that needs to happen when it comes to data and orchestration. More on this later.
  • NetDevOps: We’ve learned a lot about the DevOps industry over the last 10 years. When we talk about NetDevOps, we’re referring to doing DevOps but applied to network infrastructure, engineering, and operations. Here are a few examples that highlight trends:
    • Using Git-based version control systems (VCSs) such as GitHub, GitLab, or BitBucket. Using VCS enables collaboration while providing traceability and audibility on all software or file-based artifacts (templates, data files, scripts). VCS allows users to create owners of particular projects or sections of a project providing accountability to the respective teams.
    • Using continuous integration (CI). Organizations that use VCS will require basic CI. CI allows users to create tests that must pass before accepting or approving any changes. These tests focus on ensuring nothing is going to break in the automation or the application. CI can also be applied more directly to the network, enabling network CI.
    • Implementing network CI. If the initial CI tests pass on code and static files, users can do tests such as pre-change analysis based on models of the network (mock devices or real equipment, if you have a larger budget), running active tests on the network (does the network need to be a certain state before making the change?), perform the actual change, and then finally ensure the network is operating as expected after the change.

    While DevOps and NetDevOps can be talked about for days, the actual industry facts show that nearly every network automation project in the world includes version control, automated tests, and some level of CI. If your organization is one of the few that aren’t using these three key items, be sure to explore them as soon as you can.

  • Open source: Many open source tools are used in the DevOps ecosystem. The same holds for NetDevOps. We’ll mention some of the most common tools in the Tools and technology point covered in this section. Regardless of the tools deployed, it is more important to understand the real value of open source. In the context of open source, the real value lies in its extensibility, ecosystems, and community. Extensibility and ecosystems can drastically change and improve what’s possible on your network automation journey. Keep in mind that each of these is predicated on the fact that there is a strong community at the foundation. Extensibility is what should give you confidence that no matter what decision is made for your network, you can adapt and change to account for that decision. A change may be as simple as upgrading to the latest version of software, migrating from vendor A to vendor B, or migrating from a traditional network to a controller-based network. In any of these scenarios, an organization needs to be confident that its automation can be tailored, updated, or augmented for their needs. While certain commercial tools offer extensibility, it is usually limited and extensibility features tend to be in a perpetual state of coming soon. Ecosystems built around community also play a critical role in open source software, further enhancing what is possible with particular open source projects. Ecosystems are usually fostered around extensions, adapters, apps, or add-ons that are outside of the core open source project but are powered by it. It is these ecosystems that usually incorporate the solutions required for true multi-vendor management and automation. The point is not that everything needs to be open source, but that open source software and solutions should either lead or complement any network automation strategy. If they do not, there may be a great risk to the success of the automation journey three to five years out.
  • SoT: Since you’re reading this book, you’ve likely heard about SoT. In fact, the main topic of this book is Nautobot! At its core, Nautobot is a network SoT that is actively being developed specifically for network automation environments. A SoT is a growing industry trend and probably why you’re reading this book, but the short overview of a SoT is that it is the location where you can define the intended state of the network. This is the truth; it is what should be. The SoT is not what is on the device or network. That is referred to as the actual or observed state. The intended state, or SoT, can be extrapolated and used to document the intended configured state and intended operational state, or even used as the place to define the intended state for monitoring thresholds and events. Overall, it allows for greater governance of network data with a focus on what should be in a manner that is often vendor-neutral. We’ll spend much more time on SoT in the next section and throughout every other chapter in this book.
  • Self-service: We covered self-service in the Network automation use cases section, but to restate it one more time, the notion of self-service is not one-sided. Those organizations that are successful on their network automation journey understand that it is about having the right mapping of workflows to people (consumers) and from those people to the right user interaction, or the right tool to execute and request that automation. If you get this wrong, there is a great chance to end up with network management systems that aren’t used, which will take us back a few decades.
  • Streaming telemetry: SNMP has been around for decades, and network visibility as we know it is largely based on SNMP. Streaming telemetry is what you may expect when you think about modern network visibility. In this modern era of streaming telemetry, network devices can continuously “push” or “stream” network data to a centralized location. This allows for greater visibility, querying, and trending based on data that would have normally been lost. Wouldn’t it be great if the network device could send you the information you need when you need it? Wouldn’t it be great if you could turn on a stream of data (collection of data points) from a series of devices on particular interfaces versus getting a response from an interface poll that may kill the device if your poll frequency is too high? Wouldn’t it be great if you could build a closed-loop system that can operate in near real time? This is made possible by streaming telemetry.
  • Intent-based networking (IBN): When you look at the key use cases and trends, you can start to see common components of an architecture, such as orchestration, automation, SoT, and telemetry. When these components are fully integrated, the result is an IBN. An IBN is just a comprehensive network automation architecture. It allows organizations to define intent, continuously collect network data (streaming telemetry, SNMP, show commands, and configuration data), analyze that data, ensure intent is deployed, and then react based on intent violations. The reaction to the data may be to remediate or make a change for managing capacity or minimizing the blast radius for a known issue. IBN becomes a natural progression as you start to deploy a holistic architecture for network automation.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI): Our general belief is that a significant amount of automation must be implemented without AI/ML, meaning don’t let flashy new tech derail projects and outcomes that are solving today’s problems. That said, at the time of writing, we’ve seen the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT (https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt/), Google’s Gemini, and many more services like these. It should be obvious that AI/machine learning (ML) coupled with natural language processing (NLP) creating more digital assistants is going to have a transformative impact on where we are as an industry in 5 to 10-plus years as it gets mainstream adoption. Until then, it’ll be explored and implemented by pioneers and manufacturers who can make it consumable in a turnkey and meaningful way.
  • Tools and technology: This is always one of my favorite topics since we live in a product- and tool-centric industry, but let’s look at existing tools trends for network automation. From an open source perspective, the dominant tools are Ansible, Nautobot, Batfish, and Terraform. We also see a sprinkling of Salt, but its presence is still largely seen in application and systems automation. Looking at open source from a lower-level library perspective, there is continued growth with Netmiko, NAPALM, Nornir, pyntc, ntc-templates, and scrapli. If you are using open source or building your solutions, you want to check out these projects. For example, if you need a custom Ansible module or custom Nautobot App, you’re more than likely going to consume those libraries to perform your automation. From a telemetry perspective, there is also growth in various stacks that include Prometheus, Influx, Telegraf, and Grafana. Teams that have the skills or are further on their journey can use these stacks to provide greater visibility through data aggregation, data enrichment, extremely powerful queries, and a holistic view of their networks and their IT infrastructure. From a commercial tool perspective, and exclusive of SDN products, we’re seeing the most adoption of Itential, IP Fabric, and Forward Networks.

Information

Interested in seeing a comprehensive list of all network automation projects, tools, and products? Check out Awesome Network Automation (https://github.com/networktocode/awesome-network-automation).

From a trends perspective, we thought it may be worth calling out a few things that get attention at industry events and in social circles, but aren’t gaining traction. The first is the direct use of YANG data models within automation tools. They are still mostly used by vendors to define their schema. Of course, there are outliers such as hyperscalers or a select few enterprises, but generally speaking, the actual use of YANG by network teams is not a trend. If you’re using an API that is based on a YANG schema, we do not consider that a trend for end users, but it is a trend for certain manufacturers. We’ll also call out REST APIs on network devices. While they are becoming more commonplace because the dominant majority of devices in production still don’t have APIs, and instead have two or more (different APIs per vendor and OS) ways of performing automation, the majority of device-specific automation still happens via SSH.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon
Download code icon Download Code

Key benefits

  • Learn how documenting your network in Nautobot can accelerate your network automation journey
  • Apply NetDevOps to your network by leveraging Nautobot as a network source of truth
  • Minimize tool sprawl by extending, using, or building Nautobot Apps
  • Purchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBook

Description

Nautobot enables network teams to build a scalable and extensible network source of truth that provides a foundation to power any network automation stack. With the help of this guide, you’ll learn how to deploy, manage, and integrate Nautobot as a source of truth and network automation platform. As you progress, you’ll learn what a network source of truth is, the relationship between data and network automation, and network data models. You’ll also gain a broad understanding of Nautobot and its robust features that allow maximum flexibility. A dedicated section will show you how to construct a single source of truth with Nautobot and help you explore its programmatic APIs, including REST APIs, GraphQL, webhooks, and Nautobot Job Hooks. Later, you’ll develop custom data models and custom apps for Nautobot and experience its extensibility and powerful developer API. In the last part of this book, you'll discover how to deploy configuration compliance and automated remediation once Nautobot is deployed as a network source of truth. By the end of this book, you’ll be able to design and manage Nautobot as a network source of truth, understand its key features, and extend Nautobot by creating custom data models and apps that suit your network and your team.

Who is this book for?

This book is for network engineers, network automation engineers, and software engineers looking to support their network teams by building custom Nautobot Apps. A basic understanding of networking (e.g. CCNA) and knowledge of the fundamentals of Linux, Python programming, Jinja2, YAML, and JSON are needed to get the most out of this book.

What you will learn

  • Understand network sources of truth and the role they play in network automation architecture
  • Gain an understanding of Nautobot as a network source and a network automation platform
  • Convert Python scripts to enable self-service Nautobot Jobs
  • Understand how YAML files in Git can be easily integrated into Nautobot
  • Get to grips with the NetDevOps ecosystem around Nautobot and its app ecosystem
  • Delve into popular Nautobot Apps including Single Source of Truth and Golden Config
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Russia

Economy delivery 10 - 13 business days

$6.95

Premium delivery 6 - 9 business days

$21.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Country selected
Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : May 28, 2024
Length: 816 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781837637867
Languages :
Tools :

What do you get with Print?

Product feature icon Instant access to your digital copy whilst your Print order is Shipped
Product feature icon Paperback book shipped to your preferred address
Product feature icon Redeem a companion digital copy on all Print orders
Product feature icon Access this title in our online reader with advanced features
Product feature icon DRM FREE - Read whenever, wherever and however you want
Product feature icon AI Assistant (beta) to help accelerate your learning
OR
Modal Close icon
Payment Processing...
tick Completed

Shipping Address

Billing Address

Shipping Methods
Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Russia

Economy delivery 10 - 13 business days

$6.95

Premium delivery 6 - 9 business days

$21.95
(Includes tracking information)

Product Details

Publication date : May 28, 2024
Length: 816 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781837637867
Languages :
Tools :

Packt Subscriptions

See our plans and pricing
Modal Close icon
$19.99 billed monthly
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Simple pricing, no contract
$199.99 billed annually
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts
$279.99 billed in 18 months
Feature tick icon Unlimited access to Packt's library of 7,000+ practical books and videos
Feature tick icon Constantly refreshed with 50+ new titles a month
Feature tick icon Exclusive Early access to books as they're written
Feature tick icon Solve problems while you work with advanced search and reference features
Feature tick icon Offline reading on the mobile app
Feature tick icon Choose a DRM-free eBook or Video every month to keep
Feature tick icon PLUS own as many other DRM-free eBooks or Videos as you like for just $5 each
Feature tick icon Exclusive print discounts

Frequently bought together


Stars icon
Total $ 149.97
ChatGPT for Cybersecurity Cookbook
$49.99
Generative AI for Cloud Solutions
$44.99
Network Automation with Nautobot
$54.99
Total $ 149.97 Stars icon

Table of Contents

22 Chapters
Part 1: Introduction to Source of Truth and Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 1: Introduction to Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 2: Nautobot Data Models Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Part 2: Getting Started with Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 3: Installing and Deploying Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 4: Understanding the User Interface and Bootstrapping Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 5: Configuring Nautobot Core Data Models Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 6: Using Nautobot’s Extensibility Features Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 7: Managing and Administering Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Part 3: Network Automation with Nautobot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 8: Learning about Nautobot APIs – REST, GraphQL, and Webhooks Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 9: Understanding Nautobot Integrations for NetDevOps Pipelines Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 10: Embracing Infrastructure as Code with Nautobot, Git, and Ansible Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 11: Automating Networks with Nautobot Jobs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 12: Data-Driven Network Automation Architecture Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Part 4: Nautobot Apps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 13: Learning about the Nautobot App Ecosystem Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 14: Intro to Nautobot App Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 15: Building Nautobot Data Models Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Chapter 16: Automating with Nautobot Apps Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
(5 Ratings)
5 star 100%
4 star 0%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
Raymond Aug 11, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Nautobot performs and functions as a Network Source of Truth and Network Automation Platform. The authors get into the use of it toenable data-driven network automation, enable vendor-agnostic network automation, enable cross-domain network automation from traditional networks to cloud and SDN.Nautobot ,when implemented, allows engineers to focus on data governance and management of network assets and data on intended state network designs, y providing traceability of network data. Nautobot allows dynamically generated elf-service forms and execute Python-based network automation scripts right from the UI or an API as well aseasily fetch the exact data you desire across data models with a single API call.Also covered is how to trigger outbound HTTP API calls to create,update,and delete operations to your data.Add UI pages, and APIs catering to your specific SoT and network automation requirements using Nautobot. Nautobot is an excellent automation platform and is well worth the time to learn the techniques and implementations detailed by the authors.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
RJC Jun 18, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
A powerhouse of networking automation, leveraging Network to Code's Nautobot. If you're a network engineer or architect, this is a valuable resource to have in your library.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Khurram Rattani Oct 23, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Great information!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Michael Whitney Sep 08, 2024
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book has a lot of details and helpful information. I feel Nautobot would greatly improve most organizations that struggle with any IT documentation challenges. Packt has been putting out some great books lately.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Jessie Jan 08, 2025
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is a must-read for anyone in network engineering or IT looking to streamline operations through automation. The authors break down complex topics like data modeling, API integration, and custom app development in a way that’s both accessible and practical. Whether you're new to network automation or have years of experience, this book provides valuable insights into using Nautobot as a source of truth and automation tool. Its hands-on approach and real-world examples make it easy to follow and apply. Highly recommended for those aiming to modernize their network infrastructure. Read more
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Get free access to Packt library with over 7500+ books and video courses for 7 days!
Start Free Trial

FAQs

What is the digital copy I get with my Print order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

When you buy any Print edition of our Books, you can redeem (for free) the eBook edition of the Print Book you’ve purchased. This gives you instant access to your book when you make an order via PDF, EPUB or our online Reader experience.

What is the delivery time and cost of print book? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela
What is custom duty/charge? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customs duty are charges levied on goods when they cross international borders. It is a tax that is imposed on imported goods. These duties are charged by special authorities and bodies created by local governments and are meant to protect local industries, economies, and businesses.

Do I have to pay customs charges for the print book order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The orders shipped to the countries that are listed under EU27 will not bear custom charges. They are paid by Packt as part of the order.

List of EU27 countries: www.gov.uk/eu-eea:

A custom duty or localized taxes may be applicable on the shipment and would be charged by the recipient country outside of the EU27 which should be paid by the customer and these duties are not included in the shipping charges been charged on the order.

How do I know my custom duty charges? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

The amount of duty payable varies greatly depending on the imported goods, the country of origin and several other factors like the total invoice amount or dimensions like weight, and other such criteria applicable in your country.

For example:

  • If you live in Mexico, and the declared value of your ordered items is over $ 50, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 19% which will be $ 9.50 to the courier service.
  • Whereas if you live in Turkey, and the declared value of your ordered items is over € 22, for you to receive a package, you will have to pay additional import tax of 18% which will be € 3.96 to the courier service.
How can I cancel my order? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Cancellation Policy for Published Printed Books:

You can cancel any order within 1 hour of placing the order. Simply contact customercare@packt.com with your order details or payment transaction id. If your order has already started the shipment process, we will do our best to stop it. However, if it is already on the way to you then when you receive it, you can contact us at customercare@packt.com using the returns and refund process.

Please understand that Packt Publishing cannot provide refunds or cancel any order except for the cases described in our Return Policy (i.e. Packt Publishing agrees to replace your printed book because it arrives damaged or material defect in book), Packt Publishing will not accept returns.

What is your returns and refunds policy? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Return Policy:

We want you to be happy with your purchase from Packtpub.com. We will not hassle you with returning print books to us. If the print book you receive from us is incorrect, damaged, doesn't work or is unacceptably late, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com with the order number and issue details as explained below:

  1. If you ordered (eBook, Video or Print Book) incorrectly or accidentally, please contact Customer Relations Team on customercare@packt.com within one hour of placing the order and we will replace/refund you the item cost.
  2. Sadly, if your eBook or Video file is faulty or a fault occurs during the eBook or Video being made available to you, i.e. during download then you should contact Customer Relations Team within 14 days of purchase on customercare@packt.com who will be able to resolve this issue for you.
  3. You will have a choice of replacement or refund of the problem items.(damaged, defective or incorrect)
  4. Once Customer Care Team confirms that you will be refunded, you should receive the refund within 10 to 12 working days.
  5. If you are only requesting a refund of one book from a multiple order, then we will refund you the appropriate single item.
  6. Where the items were shipped under a free shipping offer, there will be no shipping costs to refund.

On the off chance your printed book arrives damaged, with book material defect, contact our Customer Relation Team on customercare@packt.com within 14 days of receipt of the book with appropriate evidence of damage and we will work with you to secure a replacement copy, if necessary. Please note that each printed book you order from us is individually made by Packt's professional book-printing partner which is on a print-on-demand basis.

What tax is charged? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Currently, no tax is charged on the purchase of any print book (subject to change based on the laws and regulations). A localized VAT fee is charged only to our European and UK customers on eBooks, Video and subscriptions that they buy. GST is charged to Indian customers for eBooks and video purchases.

What payment methods can I use? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

You can pay with the following card types:

  1. Visa Debit
  2. Visa Credit
  3. MasterCard
  4. PayPal
What is the delivery time and cost of print books? Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Shipping Details

USA:

'

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the US within 10-15 business days

Premium: Trackable Delivery to most addresses in the US within 3-8 business days

UK:

Economy: Delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 7-9 business days.
Shipments are not trackable

Premium: Trackable delivery to most addresses in the U.K. within 3-4 business days!
Add one extra business day for deliveries to Northern Ireland and Scottish Highlands and islands

EU:

Premium: Trackable delivery to most EU destinations within 4-9 business days.

Australia:

Economy: Can deliver to P. O. Boxes and private residences.
Trackable service with delivery to addresses in Australia only.
Delivery time ranges from 7-9 business days for VIC and 8-10 business days for Interstate metro
Delivery time is up to 15 business days for remote areas of WA, NT & QLD.

Premium: Delivery to addresses in Australia only
Trackable delivery to most P. O. Boxes and private residences in Australia within 4-5 days based on the distance to a destination following dispatch.

India:

Premium: Delivery to most Indian addresses within 5-6 business days

Rest of the World:

Premium: Countries in the American continent: Trackable delivery to most countries within 4-7 business days

Asia:

Premium: Delivery to most Asian addresses within 5-9 business days

Disclaimer:
All orders received before 5 PM U.K time would start printing from the next business day. So the estimated delivery times start from the next day as well. Orders received after 5 PM U.K time (in our internal systems) on a business day or anytime on the weekend will begin printing the second to next business day. For example, an order placed at 11 AM today will begin printing tomorrow, whereas an order placed at 9 PM tonight will begin printing the day after tomorrow.


Unfortunately, due to several restrictions, we are unable to ship to the following countries:

  1. Afghanistan
  2. American Samoa
  3. Belarus
  4. Brunei Darussalam
  5. Central African Republic
  6. The Democratic Republic of Congo
  7. Eritrea
  8. Guinea-bissau
  9. Iran
  10. Lebanon
  11. Libiya Arab Jamahriya
  12. Somalia
  13. Sudan
  14. Russian Federation
  15. Syrian Arab Republic
  16. Ukraine
  17. Venezuela