Getting Started with Network Automation
IMPORTANT TO NOTE
This is the 90 minute version of this workshop. For the longer extended session please 🔬 click here
The Ansible Network Automation Workshop is a 90 minute, hands-on workshop covering Ansible Automation with respect to routers and switches. Attendees will learn how to pull facts from devices, build templated network configurations, and apply these concepts at scale with Ansible Automation Platform. You’ll put it all together by exploring the job templates, surveys, access controls and more.
NOTE
In this workshop, attendees will be managing network devices, specifically a Cisco IOS-XE router.
NOTE
This workshop is also known as the Network Automation 90-min Technical Workshop
Workshop Resources
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Workshop content and exercises | labs.demoredhat.com/webpages/network |
| Follow-up assets | Follow-up assets spreadsheet |
| Post-event survey | Post-event survey |
| Certain registration page & promotional email copy | Registration page & promotional email copy |
| Presenter instructions and guide | Presenter instructions and guide |
| Certain event banners | Event banners (Google Drive) |
Who is this workshop best for?
This workshop is intended as an introductory course for Ansible Network Automation. For more in-depth training please refer to Red Hat Training Ansible for Network Automation. The intended audience is someone who has limited or no exposure to writing Ansible Playbooks or using Ansible Automation Platform. This workshop will cover common network scenarios and topics and is best suited for network engineers or folks interested in network automation.
Target audience
This workshop is geared toward network operators, network engineers, cloud administrators, DevOps engineers, security professionals and anyone interested in network automation.
Attendee Prerequisites
- A basic understanding of working with Linux systems
- A basic understanding of Visual Studio Code. [Available for MacOS, Windows and Linux]
- Attendees must bring/use a laptop with ADMIN rights and the ability to SSH to a lab environment hosted in a public cloud.
- Must bring/use a laptop with Chrome 73+, Firefox 60+, Edge 40+, or Safari 12+ installed.
There is no student prep work required prior to the workshop. It is recommended to complete the free Red Hat training course Ansible Basics: Automation Technical Overview.
Presentation Deck
- Google Slides - For Red Hat employees
Lab provisioner
Labs are available via the Red Hat Demo Platform under the Introduction to Ansible Network Automation Workshop catalog item and Instruqt. For large events, use the lab hotstarter: https://red.ht/lab-hotstarter
Lab Index (Estimate total time ⏱️ 90 minutes)
| Activity | Link | Estimated Time |
|---|---|---|
| Slides: Introduction + Workshop Brief | 🖥️ Google Slides | ⏱️ 10 minutes |
| Lab 1: Network automation basics — First playbook | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 20 minutes |
| Slides: Brief for Lab 2 | 🖥️ Google Slides | ⏱️ 10 minutes |
| Lab 2: Network automation — Backup and restore | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 20 minutes |
| Slides: Brief for Lab 3 | 🖥️ Google Slides | ⏱️ 5 minutes |
| Lab 3: Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform for network administrators | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 25 minutes |
Supplemental Labs
| Lab Title | Description | Link | Estimated Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network automation basics: Resource modules | Learn Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform playbook basics for network automation. | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 20 minutes | |
| Network automation basics: Facts | Learn about retrieving facts from a Cisco IOS-XE device. | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 20 minutes | |
| Network automation basics: Infrastructure visability and awareness | Learn how to use Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to retrieve facts from network infrastructure and create dynamic documentation. | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 20 minutes | |
| Network automation basics: Surveys | Learn how to create an automation controller survey to configure a Cisco IOS network device. | 🚀 Launch Lab | ⏱️ 20 minutes |
Demos
Any of the individual labs (that make up the workshop) can be used as a standalone demo.
Learning Resources
Documentation
Going Further
Additional collateral for network automation:
| ebook title | external link | RHCC Link (employees and partners) |
|---|---|---|
| Network automation for everyone | on redhat.com | Content Center |
| Network automation guide: Expand automation across multivendor networks | on redhat.com | Content Center |
| Connect and communicate with reliable, security-focused network | on redhat.com | Content Center |
| Automate your network with Red Hat | on redhat.com | Content Center |
Ansible Workshop
This is an official Ansible Workshop
This workshop is maintained by the Red Hat Ansible Technical Marketing Team.
Please open an issues on Github
