Network Automation with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Instructions

1. Create an Ansible inventory file named inventory in the /home/student/implement-review directory. Use the information in the following table to organize the groups in the Ansible inventory. Create as many inventory groups of managed nodes as needed.

   Managed node	Operating system
   iosxe1.lab.example.com	IOS XE
   iosxe2.lab.example.com	IOS XE
   junos1.lab.example.com	Junos
   junos2.lab.example.com	Junos

   Use the information in the following tables to define group variables for all the managed nodes in the Ansible inventory.

   Table 2.3. IOS Devices

   Variable	Value
   ansible_user	student
   ansible_ssh_private_key_file	~/.ssh/lab_rsa
   ansible_connection	ansible.netcommon.network_cli
   ansible_network_os	cisco.ios.ios

   
   

   Table 2.4. Junos Devices

   Variable	Value
   ansible_user	student
   ansible_ssh_private_key_file	~/.ssh/lab_rsa
   ansible_connection	ansible.netcommon.netconf
   ansible_network_os	junipernetworks.junos.junos

   
   

   The variables from the tables control the way Ansible connects to the managed nodes:

   • ansible_user specifies which username to use when connecting to the managed node.

   • ansible_ssh_private_key_file specifies the private key file to use as authentication when connecting to the managed node.

   • ansible_connection determines the connection type to the managed node.

   • ansible_network_os informs Ansible of the network platform of the managed node.

   1. Open the /home/student/implement-review directory in Visual Studio Code.

      • In VS Code, click View → Explorer and then click File → Open Folder.

      • Navigate to Home → implement-review and then click Open.

        Note

        If prompted, select Trust the authors of all files in the parent folder 'student' in the pop-up window, and then click Yes, I trust the authors.

   2. Create a custom static inventory named inventory in the /home/student/implement-review directory. Complete the following substeps if you do it in VS Code:

      • Click File → New File, enter inventory as the file, and then click Create New File.

      • Click Create File in the Files window behind VS Code. The Files window closes after the inventory file is created.

   3. Edit the Ansible inventory file so that it contains the following content:

      [ios]
      iosxe[1:2].lab.example.com
      
      [junos]
      junos[1:2].lab.example.com
      
      [network_devices:children]
      ios
      junos
      
      [network_devices:vars]
      ansible_user=student
      ansible_ssh_private_key_file=~/.ssh/lab_rsa
      
      [ios:vars]
      ansible_connection=ansible.netcommon.network_cli
      ansible_network_os=cisco.ios.ios
      
      [junos:vars]
      ansible_connection=ansible.netcommon.netconf
      ansible_network_os=junipernetworks.junos.junos

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2. Generate the automation content navigator configuration file in the /home/student/implement-review directory. Configure this file as follows:

   • Add an entry for the Ansible inventory file.

   • Use the hub.lab.example.com/ee-supported-rhel8:latest image as the default automation execution environment.

   • Set the pull policy to missing.

   • Set the mode to stdout.

   • Disable the creation of playbook artifacts.

   1. Use the ansible-navigator settings --effective command in a terminal to display the effective settings. Add the --eei and --pp options to the automation content navigator command to specify the automation execution environment image and the missing pull policy. Redirect the command output into a file named sample.yml.

      If you are using VS Code, click Terminal → New Terminal to open a terminal.

      [student@workstation implement-review] ansible-navigator settings \
      --effective --eei hub.lab.example.com/ee-supported-rhel8 \
      --pp missing > sample.yml

   2. Rename the sample.yml file to ansible-navigator.yml.

      [student@workstation implement-review] mv sample.yml ansible-navigator.yml

   3. Edit the ansible-navigator.yml file removing the lines not related to what was requested, and adding an entry for the inventory file. After updating the ansible-navigator.yml file, it must have the following content.

      ---
      ansible-navigator:
        ansible:
          inventory:
            entries:
              - ./inventory
        execution-environment:
          image: hub.lab.example.com/ee-supported-rhel8:latest
          pull:
            policy: missing
        mode: stdout
        playbook-artifact:
          enable: false

      Note

      This lab solution removes lines so that you can focus on a small group of settings, but the lines do not need to be removed.

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3. Create a playbook called motd_banner.yml in the /home/student/implement-review directory. Add two plays to the playbook with the necessary entries to set up a MOTD banner on the IOS and Junos managed nodes. The MOTD banner is a message displayed immediately after logging in to the managed node. The banner must read "This is an Ansible-managed node".

   Note

   Remember to always give meaningful names to plays and tasks, to make clear what they are doing.

   You can use the cisco.ios.ios_banner module to configure the banner in the IOS devices and the junipernetworks.junos.junos_banner module to configure the banner in the Junos devices.

   For the IOS managed nodes, use a handler that runs the cisco.ios.ios_config module to ensure that the banner changes are persistent.

   The junipernetworks.junos.junos_banner module requires that the netconf service be enabled on the Junos managed nodes. You can use the junipernetworks.junos.junos_netconf module to enable the Junos netconf service on port 830.

   1. Either in the GNOME terminal or in VS Code, create the motd_banner.yml file in the /home/student/implement-review directory. Add the following entry to the beginning of the file to indicate YAML format.

      ---

   2. Add the following entry in the playbook file to define the start of the first play.

      - name: Configure a banner on IOS devices

   3. Add the following entries to indicate that the play applies to the IOS network devices, and to disable fact gathering for these managed nodes. Make sure that the beginning of the entries are indented two spaces.

        hosts: ios
        gather_facts: false

   4. Add the following entries to define the beginning of the task list and the first task. Indent the beginning of the task list two spaces, and indent the line for the first task four spaces. Pay attention to adding two more spaces to the indentation of each lower level.

        tasks:
          - name: Configure a MOTD banner
            cisco.ios.ios_banner:
              banner: motd
              text: This is an Ansible-managed node
              state: present

   5. Changes made by the cisco.ios.ios_banner module are not persistent. Add the highlighted lines so that if the Configure a MOTD banner task results in a change, the task triggers a handler that saves the running configuration to the startup configuration.

      Indent the notify line at the same level as the module name, and indent the handlers line at the same level as the tasks line.

        tasks:
          - name: Configure a MOTD banner
            cisco.ios.ios_banner:
              banner: motd
              text: This is an Ansible-managed node
              state: present
            notify: ios_save_changes
      
        handlers:
          - name: ios_save_changes
            cisco.ios.ios_config:
              save_when: always

   6. Add the following entries to the motd_banner.yml playbook to denote the start of the second play. Indicate that the play applies to the Junos network devices, and disable fact gathering for these managed nodes.

      Make sure that the beginning of the entry is not indented, and indent the beginning of the next entries two spaces.

      - name: Configure a banner on Junos devices
        hosts: junos
        gather_facts: false

   7. Add the following entries to define the beginning of the task list and the first task for the second play. The task must enable the netconf service on port 830. Set the ansible_connection variable to ansible.netcommon.network_cli to override the value set in the inventory file.

      Pay attention to the indentation for each level.

      • Indent the beginning of the task list two spaces, and indent the first task four spaces.

      • The lines for the variables definition and the junipernetworks.junos.junos_netconf module have six spaces of indentation.

      • The defined ansible_connection variable and the parameters for the junipernetworks.junos.junos_netconf module are indented eight spaces.

        tasks:
          - name: Enable the netconf service on port 830
            vars:
              ansible_connection: ansible.netcommon.network_cli
            junipernetworks.junos.junos_netconf:
              netconf_port: 830
              state: present

   8. Add the following entries to define the second task for the second play. Use the junipernetworks.junos.junos_banner module to configure the MOTD message. Indent the line for the task name four spaces. Indent the beginning of the module entry six spaces, and indent the beginning of the module parameters eight spaces.

          - name: Configure a MOTD banner
            junipernetworks.junos.junos_banner:
              banner: motd
              text: This is an Ansible-managed node
              state: present

   9. The complete motd_banner.yml playbook reads as follows:

      ---
      - name: Configure a banner on IOS devices
        hosts: ios
        gather_facts: false
        tasks:
          - name: Configure a MOTD banner
            cisco.ios.ios_banner:
              banner: motd
              text: This is an Ansible-managed node
              state: present
            notify: ios_save_changes
      
        handlers:
          - name: ios_save_changes
            cisco.ios.ios_config:
              save_when: always
      
      - name: Configure a banner on Junos devices
        hosts: junos
        gather_facts: false
        tasks:
          - name: Enable the netconf service on port 830
            vars:
              ansible_connection: ansible.netcommon.network_cli
            junipernetworks.junos.junos_netconf:
              netconf_port: 830
              state: present
      
          - name: Configure a MOTD banner
            junipernetworks.junos.junos_banner:
              banner: motd
              text: This is an Ansible-managed node
              state: present

      Note

      You can use different names for the plays and tasks than this solution uses.

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4. Run the motd_banner.yml playbook using automation content navigator. Optionally, verify the MOTD banner on managed nodes for the IOS and Junos devices.

   1. Use the ansible-navigator run command to run the motd_banner.yml playbook. Read through the generated output to ensure that all tasks completed successfully.

      [student@workstation implement-review]$ ansible-navigator run motd_banner.yml
      
      PLAY [Configure a banner on IOS devices] ***************************************
      
      TASK [Configure a MOTD banner] *************************************************
      changed: [iosxe1.lab.example.com]
      changed: [iosxe2.lab.example.com]
      
      RUNNING HANDLER [ios_save_changes] *********************************************
      changed: [iosxe2.lab.example.com]
      changed: [iosxe1.lab.example.com]
      
      PLAY [Configure a banner on Junos devices] *************************************
      
      TASK [Enable the netconf service on port 830] **********************************
      changed: [junos1.lab.example.com]
      changed: [junos2.lab.example.com]
      
      TASK [Configure a MOTD banner] *************************************************
      changed: [junos1.lab.example.com]
      changed: [junos2.lab.example.com]
      
      PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************
      iosxe1.lab.example.com     : ok=2    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0  ...
      iosxe2.lab.example.com     : ok=2    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0  ...
      junos1.lab.example.com     : ok=2    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0  ...
      junos2.lab.example.com     : ok=2    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0  ...

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5. Click File → Close Folder in VS Code to close the /home/student/implement-review directory, or run the cd command in a GNOME terminal to return to the student home directory.

   [student@workstation implement-review]$ cd