Network Automation with Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform

Instructions

1. Open VS Code and switch to the Terminal tab, or open a GNOME terminal, and create the directory structure for a role named net_backup. The role must include the meta, tasks, and vars directories.

   Run the following commands to create the role and display the initial role structure and files:

   [student@workstation ~]$ cd /home/student/simplify-roles
   [student@workstation simplify-roles]$ mkdir roles; cd roles
   [student@workstation roles]$ ansible-galaxy init net_backup
   - Role net_backup was created successfully
   [student@workstation roles]$ rm -rvf \
   net_backup/{files,defaults,templates,handlers,tests}
   ...output omitted...
   [student@workstation roles]$ tree net_backup/
   net_backup/
   ├── README.md
   ├── meta
   │   └── main.yml
   ├── tasks
   │   └── main.yml
   └── vars
       └── main.yml
   
   3 directories, 4 files

2. Open the /home/student/simplify-roles directory in VS Code.

   • Create the roles/net_backup/tasks/junos_netconf_enable.yml task file to enable NETCONF on the Junos managed nodes.

   • Create the roles/net_backup/tasks/backup_junos.yml task file to back up the configurations on the Junos managed nodes.

   • Create the roles/net_backup/tasks/backup_ios.yml task file to back up the configurations on the IOS managed nodes.

   1. Open VS Code and then click File → Open Folder.

   2. Navigate to Home → simplify-roles and click Open.

      Note

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

   3. Create a task file named roles/net_backup/tasks/junos_netconf_enable.yml to enable NETCONF on the Junos managed nodes.

      The completed file must consist of the following content:

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

   4. Create a task file named roles/net_backup/tasks/backup_junos.yml to back up the configurations on the Junos managed nodes.

      The completed file must consist of the following content:

      ---
      - name: Backup Junos configurations
        junipernetworks.junos.junos_config:
          backup: true
          backup_options:
            dir_path: "{{ backup_path }}"
            filename: "{{ inventory_hostname }}.cfg"

   5. Create a task file roles/net_backup/tasks/backup_ios.yml to back up the configurations on the IOS managed nodes.

      The completed file must consist of the following content:

      ---
      - name: Backup IOS XE configurations
        cisco.ios.ios_config:
          backup: true
          backup_options:
            dir_path: "{{ backup_path }}"
            filename: "{{ inventory_hostname }}.cfg"

3. Create a task file named roles/net_backup/tasks/junos.yml. Add two tasks to the file to include the junos_netconf_enable.yml and backup_junos.yml task files.

   The completed file must consist of the following content:

   ---
   - name: Enable NETCONF
     ansible.builtin.include_tasks:
       file: junos_netconf_enable.yml
   
   - name: Create Junos backup files
     ansible.builtin.include_tasks:
       file: backup_junos.yml

4. Create the roles/net_backup/tasks/ios.yml file. Add a task to the file that includes the tasks/backup_ios.yml task file.

   The completed file must consist of the following content:

   ---
   - name: Create IOS backup files
     ansible.builtin.include_tasks:
       file: tasks/backup_ios.yml

5. Define the role variable called backup_path in the roles/net_backup/vars/main.yml file. Set the backup_path variable to the backups value.

   The completed file must consist of the following content:

   ---
   # vars file for net_backup
   backup_path: backups

6. Edit the roles/net_backup/tasks/main.yml task file to dynamically include the junos.yml and ios.yml task files.

   Use the tree command to display the final role structure and files.

   1. Edit the roles/net_backup/tasks/main.yml task file to dynamically include the junos.yml and ios.yml task files.

      The completed file must consist of the following content:

      ---
      # tasks file for net_backup
      - name: Backup network device configs
        ansible.builtin.include_tasks:
          file: "{{ ansible_network_os.split('.')[2] }}.yml"

   2. Use the tree command to display the final role structure and files:

      [student@workstation simplify-roles]$ tree roles/net_backup
      roles/net_backup
      ├── README.md
      ├── meta
      │   └── main.yml
      ├── tasks
      │   ├── backup_ios.yml
      │   ├── backup_junos.yml
      │   ├── ios.yml
      │   ├── junos.yml
      │   ├── junos_netconf_enable.yml
      │   └── main.yml
      └── vars
          └── main.yml
      
      3 directories, 9 files

7. Edit the roles/net_backup/meta/main.yml file to document your role. Add your name, a role description, and, optionally, your company name:

   galaxy_info:
     author: your name
     description: your role description
     company: your company (optional)
   ...output omitted...

   Note

   Normally, you should also modify the README.md file to document your role.

   That step is skipped in this exercise to save time.

8. Create a playbook named net_backup.yml that uses the net_backup role, and then run the playbook.

   1. Create a playbook in the /home/student/simplify-roles directory named net_backup.yml that uses the net_backup role. Add the following content to the playbook:

      ---
      - name: Back up managed network node configurations
        hosts:
          - junos
          - ios
        gather_facts: false
        tasks:
          - name: Backup network managed node configurations
            ansible.builtin.include_role:
              name: net_backup
            when: ansible_network_os is defined

   2. Run the net_backup.yml playbook:

      [student@workstation simplify-roles]$ ansible-navigator run net_backup.yml
      ...output omitted...

9. Display the contents of some files generated by the playbook to verify that it was successful, or review them in VS Code.

   [student@workstation simplify-roles]$ head backups/iosxe1.lab.example.com.cfg
   ...output omitted...
   [student@workstation simplify-roles]$ head backups/junos2.lab.example.com.cfg
   ...output omitted...

10. Click File → Close Folder in VS Code to close the /home/student/simplify-roles directory, or run the cd command in a GNOME terminal to return to the student home directory:

    [student@workstation simplify-roles]$ cd