Introduction
Automation Testing for NETCONF & YANG (NYAT) is a free program designed to test NETCONF enabled network devices for NETCONF & YANG standards compliance as well as best practices. While performing NYAT can be a one-time occurrence, many program participants find value in using NYAT as a part of their ongoing product testing. There is no monetary cost to participate in NYAT; the software tools used are freely downloadable. Additionally, NYAT can be performed against any NETCONF server implementation. It is not specific to use of ConfD as the NETCONF server in your network device.
This document describes how to perform Automation Testing for NETCONF & YANG (NYAT) driven by a free version of Cisco Network Services Orchestrator (NSO).
In addition to the information on how to perform NYAT which is in this document, Network Element Providers (NEPs) can request free support for NYAT. See the Support section at the end of this document.
This document is divided into ten sections:
"Reasons for Automation Testing for NETCONF & YANG" describes the reasons for performing NSO driven NETCONF and YANG automation testing.
"Why NETCONF & YANG Done Right is Important" takes a look at what is driving the need for NETCONF & YANG and introduces the Service Automation Criteria.
"Installation of NSO & DrNED Examiner" describes how to install and run the NSO and DrNED Examiner software.
"Running NSO in a Docker Container" discusses the recipe for installing and running NSO and DrNED Examiner in a Docker Container.
"Managing Network Equipment with NETCONF/YANG using NSO" describes how to configure NSO to manage the connected devices.
"Building and Installing a NED using the NETCONF NED Builder" describes how to build a NETCONF NED for managing the connected devices using the NETCONF NED Builder which is a built-in feature of NSO as of version 5.2.
"NSO CLI Automation Scripts" describes NSO CLI scripts that can be used to onboard a test device in NSO and build a NETCONF NED for the test device. These scripts are an alternative to the manual steps described in the previous two sections.
"Testing the Device NETCONF/YANG Interface" describes how to use NSO to verify that the device and NSO communicate properly using NETCONF and YANG and that the device adheres to NETCONF rules and best practices. This section ends with a discussion of the minimum success criteria for demonstrating NSO Interoperability.
"Common Design Problems and Ways to Solve Them" looks at common YANG data model design issues and how to address them.
"Troubleshooting" contains various tips and tricks to aid with common error scenarios with the tools. This is part of the "Support" section.