Advanced Python for network engineers Training

This course caters to network engineers aiming to enhance both their Python proficiency and network automation skills. Delving deeper into key areas such as netmiko, Nornir, and ncclient, we also focus on automating network testing and validation. Participants gain greater confidence working with Python functions, classes, objects, and error handling. The course additionally introduces more libraries like Scrapli, TTP, pyATS, Genie, pybatfish, and Suzieq, which cover parsing strategies, automation testing, validation, network analysis, observability, and telemetry. The curriculum also encompasses concurrency techniques. Save time automating network tasks with python. Postman, automating validation, automating testing.

There are no formal prerequisite courses, however delegates are advised to know all of the knowledge in our Python for network engineers .

What will you learn

• Write Python modules and functions.
• Evaluate techniques to parse unstructured data.
• Use NETCONF filters.
• Handle Python errors effectively (try, assert…).
• Use postman.
• Automate testing and validation of the network.
• Use scrapli, Genie, batfish and Suzieq.

Review

CLI, NETCONF, RESTCONF, structured versus unstructured data, gNMI and when to use which. PEP 8. Naming conventions. Packages, modules, Classes and methods. The scrapli library. Netmiko versus scrapli.

Hands on: scrapli, Dictionaries versus Regular Expressions.

Modules and Functions

Writing your own modules, containers versus packages, virtual environments. Best practices, calling functions, writing your own functions. Parameters, arguments. Named arguments, dictionaries as arguments. Builtins. Docstrings. Main. __name__, __main__ . Program arguments.

Hands on: Getting interfaces, showing interface status using Netmiko and functions. Using dictionaries as arguments. Writing your own modules.

Parsing strategies

Turning unstructured data into structured data. textfsm, PyATS Genie parser, NAPALM getters, Template Text Parser.

Hands on: Genie parser, TTP. Accessing structured data with lists and dictionaries.

Classes, objects and Python

Python classes in Genie, PyEZ and others .

Hands on: studying network automation classes, objects, methods and attributes.

Configuration management – more nornir, ncclient, requests

Nornir tasks. Nornir results, Nornir functions, Nornir plugins. Nornir processors. YANG, YANG models, pyang. NETCONF hello. Capabilities. Schemas. Filters. Subtrees. XPATH. Exploring available YANG data models. NETCONF and network wide transactions. Asserting NETCONF capabilities. Configuration types. Locking configurations, commits. NETCONF data stores. Netconf-console. RESTCONF differences from NETCONF. URI construction. Postman. More XML and JSON. Git and configuration versions.

Hands on: Nornir and Jinja2. Exploring available models, NETCONF filters. Using postman.

Python error handling and debugging

Context handlers, try, assert, logging, pdb, pytest, unit testing, chatgpt.

Hands on: Writing code with each of the error handling methods, investigating what happens on an error. Use chatgpt to debug your code.

Python Automation Testing

Testing and validation. pyATS, Genie. Testbed file. Genie parse, genie learn, genie diff. Genie conf, Genie ops, Genie SDK, Genie harness. Xpresso.

Hands on: Using Genie for state comparisons of the network.

Network analysis

Batfish, pybatfish, configuration analysis, analysing routing, analysing ACLs. Pandas. Pandas dataframe. Filtering and selecting values of interest.

Hands on: Use Batfish to analyse network snapshots, find network adjacencies, flow path analysis.

Network observability

Suzieq, using docker, using as a package. Sqpoller, suzieq-gui, suzieq-cli, sq-rest-server. Namespaces and seeing devices, network state and Asserts. Time based analysis, snapshots and changes.

Hands on: Suzieq: Gathering data from the network, analysing data from the network. Network state assertion.

Telemetry

gRPC, gNMI. CAP, GET, SET. Subscriptions. Model Driven telemetry.

Hands on: Analysing telemetry data with Python.

Concurrency

asyncio, threads, processes. Nornir concurrency. Scrapli and netmiko concurrency.

Hands on: Multiple SSH connections to devices at same time. Scarpli asyncio.