Ansible for Network Automation Flashcards

What is the purpose of the 'ansible.netcommon.net_get' and 'net_put' modules?

Answer: net_get transfers files from network devices to the control node; net_put transfers files from the control node to network devices

'net_get' copies files FROM network devices (config backups, logs); 'net_put' copies files TO network devices (new configs, firmware).

What is the 'network_cli' persistent connection and why is it important for performance?

Answer: It maintains a persistent SSH connection across multiple tasks rather than reconnecting for each task, significantly reducing playbook execution time

Persistent connections reuse established SSH sessions across multiple tasks, avoiding the overhead of repeated SSH handshakes and authentication for every task.

How do you create a network automation inventory that separates Cisco IOS, NX-OS, and Junos devices?

Answer: Create inventory groups with group_vars defining ansible_network_os and connection parameters per vendor

Group-based inventories with group_vars per vendor type is the standard pattern for managing heterogeneous network environments.

What is the role of 'napalm' (Network Automation and Programmability Abstraction Layer with Multivendor support) in Ansible network automation?

Answer: NAPALM provides a vendor-agnostic Python API for network devices that Ansible can use via the 'napalm' collection, enabling consistent operations across IOS, NX-OS, EOS, and Junos

NAPALM abstracts vendor differences, providing a unified API for operations like get_interfaces(), get_bgp_neighbors(), and load_merge_candidate() across multiple network OS vendors.

What is 'config diff' functionality in Ansible network modules and why is it useful?

Answer: Network config modules can show a diff between desired and current device configuration, enabling review before applying changes and supporting --check mode

Network modules' diff support enables reviewing what would change before applying, similar to 'terraform plan', enabling safer network change management.

How do you generate network device configurations from templates using Ansible?

Answer: Use the 'template' module with Jinja2 templates to render device-specific configurations from variable data, then push with network config modules

Jinja2 templating with variable-driven data is the standard approach for generating consistent, scalable network device configurations.