Let's talk About Networks, by Jerome Tissieres
I just completed the Programming for Network Engineers (PRNE) learning path training on Cisco U and would like to share this with you:
For a limited time, you have FREE access to learn Python AND earn 24 Cisco Continuing Education credits to apply toward recertification.
The PRNE Learning Path must be completed before November 22, 2024.
I recently tested the NVIDIA Air Infrastructure Simulation Platform and would like to share my first experiences with you.
It seems like yesterday when I saw my first network automation presentation at a conference. I remember it very well; it was in 2015 at the Cisco Network Innovation Summit in Prague. Mr. Tim Szigeti was presenting the first version of the Cisco APIC-EM, the future Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) controller. I talked already about it in a previous article, written in 2018, about my journey toward network programmability and automation.
After its presentation, and for many years afterward, the question was on everyone’s lips:
This is a very short post, as a complement to my previous post about PyATS, Genie, and RobotFramework.
I just passed the Cisco DevNet DCAUTO (300-635) exam (Yay!). This is my 3rd Cisco exam on network automation after NPDESI in 2018 (replaced now by the DevNet program), and DevNet CORE (DEVCOR) in 2020. But this time, I documented everything I read, so I could report it here and build a Cisco DCAUTO exam study resources. By doing this, I hope to help anyone who wants to study for this certification. And, as I have already passed the DevNet CORE exam, I am now Cisco certified DevNet Professional.
Have you ever wanted to compare the operational state of a bunch of network devices between two specific times? Not only if the interfaces are up or down, but the number and status of BGP peers, the number of prefixes received, the number of entries into a MAC-address table, etc?
This is something quite laborious to do with classical NMS or Do-It-Yourself scripts. And this is where pyATS can become a real asset.
Here are my first steps with pyATS: Network Test & Automation Solution.
On 23 October 2020, I took and passed the Cisco Certified DevNet Professional Core exam (350-901 DEVCOR) on my first attempt. I explain here the resources I used to study and pass this exam.
If you have more than three Cisco Nexus switches in nx-os mode, and you are not using Cisco DCNM or any other similar tool, you probably already have encountered this question: How to automate file uploads to your Cisco Nexus switches?
Here is a turnkey Python script using Netmiko’s SCP function to do this.
When people ask me “what a network engineer should do to start in network automation?”, my first answer is: start with small things. Try to automate basic and repetitive tasks you do every day. Go after the low-hanging fruits first. Then, step by step, you can do more and more complex things. This is how I learn the best.
In the same vein, I want to share with you my recent experience of automating a very basic and repetitive task: shutdown thousands of unused network access ports.
Here is my journey to start learning network programmability and automation, and how I get the Cisco network programmability specialist certification (300-550 exam). In this post, I give you the links towards all the resources which I used to study.