Ansible Automation Ansible for Network Automation 3

Question 1

What is the 'ansible.netcommon.httpapi' connection plugin used for in network automation?

Accepted Answer

It connects to network devices via their REST APIs (HTTP/HTTPS) instead of SSH, used by platforms like Arista EOS eAPI, Cisco NX-OS NX-API, and FortiOS

Answer

It enables Ansible to manage web servers as network devices

Answer

It provides HTTP monitoring of network device health endpoints

Answer

It allows network devices to call Ansible Tower via HTTP callbacks

Question 2

How do you handle network device configuration backup automation with Ansible?

Accepted Answer

Use facts modules or backup-specific modules (ios_config with backup: true) combined with template modules to save timestamped configuration files

Answer

Use ansible-pull to fetch configs from devices automatically

Answer

Network device backups require proprietary tools—Ansible cannot reliably back up network configs

Answer

Use the fetch module with the running-config path for all device types

Question 3

What is 'RESTCONF' and which Ansible connection plugin supports it?

Accepted Answer

RESTCONF is an HTTP-based protocol for accessing YANG-modeled network data; Ansible supports it via the 'ansible.netcommon.httpapi' plugin with RESTCONF-specific modules

Answer

RESTCONF is a Cisco proprietary protocol; ansible.netcommon.restconf is a dedicated plugin

Answer

RESTCONF replaces NETCONF and requires the 'restconf' connection plugin

Answer

RESTCONF is used only for configuration management; NETCONF is for operational data

Question 4

What is the 'ansible.utils' collection used for in network automation contexts?

Accepted Answer

It provides filter plugins and modules for manipulating network data: IP address validation, prefix lookups, interface normalization, structured data manipulation

Answer

It contains utility playbooks for common network automation tasks

Answer

It provides performance utilities for optimizing large network inventories

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It handles utility tasks like logging and error handling for network modules

Question 5

How do you implement a network change workflow with approval gates using Ansible Tower?

Accepted Answer

Use Ansible Tower Workflow Job Templates with Approval nodes that pause execution until a human approves, then proceed with change deployment Job Templates

Answer

Use ansible-playbook with --step flag for interactive approval in Tower

Answer

Configure Tower's RBAC to require two-person approval before any network job runs

Answer

Use Tower's survey feature to add an 'approve' yes/no question before changes apply

Question 6

What Ansible network module approach enables atomic configuration changes with automatic rollback on failure for network devices?

Accepted Answer

Use NAPALM modules (napalm_install_config) with candidate configuration approach: load → compare → commit or discard on failure

Answer

Use ios_config with 'atomic: true' parameter for automatic rollback

Answer

Configure ansible.cfg with 'network_rollback: true' to enable automatic rollback

Answer

Atomic changes with rollback require Ansible Tower's workflow feature—not possible with modules alone