Industrial NetDevOps: Getting Started with Programmability & APIs on Cisco IoT Hardware

Industrial NetDevOps is the combination of the tools and best practices from DevOps with network engineering and operations in industrial networks.

Instead of using SNMP and CLI, you configure, manage and monitor industrial network devices via standardized network device APIs and software automation tools. Industrial NetDevOps workflows use Open Source, standards and Python scripts alongside commercial devices and tools to deliver flexible and fast-responsive industrial networks.

This is a collection of scripts which will get you started on how NETCONF & RESTCONF works especially on Cisco IoT hardware. Also, some Ansible playbooks are here to get you started with Ansible.

• IOS XE on Cisco IR1101
• IOS XE on Cisco IE3200, IE3300, IE3400
• IOX XE on Cisco ESS3300

Script Overview

For more information on how to use these scripts, definitely check out the learning labs at DevNet Learning Labs.

/NETCONF

netconf-getting-started.py: Specifically created for the DevNet Learning Lab

• YANG models what the device is supporting
• Running Config in XML
• Get one single value using whole config and a XML filter
• Get the status of all interfaces

netconf-IR1101.py

Get the lastest YANG model here: https://github.com/YangModels/yang/tree/master/vendor/cisco/xe (Version 17.x)

• Basic functions
• Enable/disable Interface 4
• Set a SCADA Config. This is possible since 17.1. You can find more information in the software configuration guide

netconf-webexbot.py

You can also connect the configuration part with a Webex Teams bot to make it more interactive (ChatOps).

1. Create easily a Webex bot online at developer.webex.com
2. Add the credentials of your bot in the script. You can find information on how to setup your bot with ngrok.io here: https://developer.cisco.com/learning/modules/spark-apps/collab-spark-botl-ngrok/step/1
3. Ready to use

/RESTCONF

restconf-getting-started.py: Specifically created for the DevNet Learning Lab

• YANG models what the device is supporting
• Running Config in JSON
• Get one single value of the configuration
• Get the status of all interfaces

/Ansible

• Ansible sample Playbooks and Hosts file to get you started

Follow the Introduction to Ansible for IOS XE Configuration Management Learning Labs on how to apply the playbooks.

Use-cases

Network Automation

Industrial NetDevOps in Manufacturing

Here is an example architecture where your Industrial NetDevOps tools can be placed and used.

Getting your Hands dirty

For more information on how to use these scripts, definitely check out the learning labs at DevNet Learning Labs.

A) Setup your virtual environment (optional)

1. Clone this repo in your project folder via git

git clone https://github.com/flopach/industrial-netdevops

2. Create your python virtual environment

Python 2

pip install virtualenv
python -m virtualenv venv_dir

Python 3

pip3 install virtualenv
python3 -m venv venv_dir

3. Activate your virtual environment

source venv_dir/bin/activate

4. Install the required python libraries (depending on your python version):

pip install -r requirements.txt
pip3 install -r requirements.txt

5. Now you can run your script.

B) Configuration needed on the device

Do not forget to enable NETCONF and/or RESTCONF on the device when using the APIs.

device(config)#netconf-yang
device(config)#restconf

Built With

• ncclient - a very useful python library for NETCONF
• Webexteamsbot - Easy python library to create Webex Bots
• Webexteamssdk - Webex Teams python library
• XMLtoDict - Python library to switch between XML and dicts

Versioning

11/2020: Updated NETCONF scripts and License

06/2020: Added RESTCONF, Ansible and Industrial NetDevOps Story

12/2019: Added 3 inital scripts

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE.md file for details

Further Links

• Cisco DevNet Website