Network Automation with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Instructions

1. Check the existing hostname and DNS settings for the Cisco IOS managed nodes.

   1. Navigate to https://controller.lab.example.com and log in as admin using redhat as the password.

   2. Click the main menu icon at the top left of the page. Navigate to Resources → Templates and click the Launch Template icon for the Check Cisco DNS job template.

      The job displays the following output:

      ...output omitted...
      TASK [Display hostname] *********************************************************
      ok: [iosxe1.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_hostname']": "iosxe1.lab.example.com"
      }
      ok: [iosxe2.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_hostname']": "iosxe2.lab.example.com"
      }
      
      TASK [Display DNS lookup status] ************************************************
      ok: [iosxe1.lab.example.com] => {
          "lookup_enabled_msg | trim": "DNS lookup enabled"
      }
      ok: [iosxe2.lab.example.com] => {
          "lookup_enabled_msg | trim": "DNS lookup enabled"
      }
      
      TASK [Display DNS name servers] *************************************************
      ok: [iosxe2.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip name-server .*$', multiline=true) | first": "ip name-server 172.25.250.220"
      }
      ok: [iosxe1.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip name-server .*$', multiline=true) | first": "ip name-server 172.25.250.220"
      }
      
      TASK [Display DNS domain search] ************************************************
      ok: [iosxe1.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip domain list .*$', multiline=true)": [
              "ip domain list lab.example.com"
          ]
      }
      ok: [iosxe2.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip domain list .*$', multiline=true)": [
              "ip domain list lab.example.com"
          ]
      }
      ...output omitted...

2. Create the Configure Cisco DNS job template.

   1. Navigate to Resources → Templates and click Add → Add job template. Create the job template with the following settings, and then click Save:

      Field	Value
      Name	Configure Cisco DNS
      Inventory	Common
      Project	Surveys
      Playbook	cisco_configuration.yml
      Credentials	Cisco IOS XE Auth

3. Add four survey questions to the Configure Cisco DNS job template.

   1. Navigate to Resources → Templates and then click the Configure Cisco DNS link. Click the Survey tab.

   2. Use the following tables for the survey questions. For each survey question, click Add to begin creating the question and then click Save when you finish.

      Table 4.2. Survey Question 1

      Field	Value
      Question	Default domain name
      Description	This domain is used to set the hostname of the node.
      Answer variable name	global_domain_name
      Answer type	Text
      Required	(selected)
      Minimum length	1
      Maximum length	251
      Default Answer	lab.example.com

      
      

      Important

      This exercise does not change DNS records. When you launch the Configure Cisco DNS job template, entering a value other than lab.example.com for the global_domain_name variable does set a new hostname, but you cannot reach the managed node by the new hostname.

      Table 4.3. Survey Question 2

      Field	Value
      Question	Enable DNS lookups?
      Answer variable name	ios_dns_lookup_enabled
      Answer Type	Multiple Choice (single select)
      Required	(selected)
      Multiple Choice Options	true (selected as default)
      	false (not selected as default)

      
      

      Table 4.4. Survey Question 3

      Field	Value
      Question	Select DNS servers
      Answer variable name	ios_name_servers
      Answer Type	Multiple Choice (multiple select)
      Required	(selected)
      Multiple Choice Options	172.25.250.220 (selected as default)
      	1.1.1.1 (not selected as default)
      	8.8.8.8 (not selected as default)

      
      

      Table 4.5. Survey Question 4

      Field	Value
      Question	Select domain search paths
      Answer variable name	ios_domain_search
      Answer Type	Multiple Choice (multiple select)
      Required	(selected)
      Multiple Choice Options	lab.example.com (selected as default)
      	example.com (not selected as default)
      	redhat.com (not selected as default)
      	ansible.com (not selected as default)

      
      

4. Enable the survey for the Configure Cisco DNS job template.

   1. Navigate to Resources → Templates and click the Configure Cisco DNS link. Click the Survey tab.

   2. Click Survey Disabled and verify that the label changes to Survey Enabled.

      Figure 4.5: Enabled survey with questions

5. Launch the Configure Cisco DNS job template.

   1. Navigate to Resources → Templates and click the Launch Template icon for the Configure Cisco DNS job template. The automation controller web UI opens a dialog box with the job template survey.

   2. Select 1.1.1.1 as an additional entry from the Select DNS servers list.

   3. Select example.com as an additional entry from the Select domain search paths list.

   4. Click Next to preview the settings for the job template.

   5. Click Launch to launch the job template and use the variables defined by the survey. The Configure Cisco DNS job displays a status of Successful.

6. Verify the changes made by the Configure Cisco DNS job template.

   1. Navigate to Resources → Templates and click the Launch Template icon for the Check Cisco DNS job template.

      The job output displays the updated DNS name servers and domain search entries:

      ...output omitted...
      TASK [Display DNS name servers] *************************************************
      ok: [iosxe1.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip name-server .*$', multiline=true) | first": "ip name-server 172.25.250.220 1.1.1.1"
      }
      ok: [iosxe2.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip name-server .*$', multiline=true) | first": "ip name-server 172.25.250.220 1.1.1.1"
      }
      
      TASK [Display DNS domain search] ************************************************
      ok: [iosxe2.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip domain list .*$', multiline=true)": [
              "ip domain list lab.example.com",
              "ip domain list example.com"
          ]
      }
      ok: [iosxe1.lab.example.com] => {
          "ansible_facts['net_config'] | regex_findall('^ip domain list .*$', multiline=true)": [
              "ip domain list lab.example.com",
              "ip domain list example.com"
          ]
      }
      ...output omitted...