# Ansible to connect to certain switchports on Cisco 2960 **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [June 20, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221 "2020-06-20T03:04:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jason2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jason2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason2)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2020, 3:04am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/1 "2020-06-20T03:04:55Z")
I am working on a project that would require me to bump (shutdown and re-enable) switchports that are connected to an Access Point. I have created a playbook to run a command “show cdp neighbours” on the switch, and that output would look like: ![sh cdp neighbours.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/9/97b173088e9402e734a0c2a613f828b796ef3478.jpeg) What I want to do, is to use ansible to only run a command (ansible play) on Gig 1/0/19 in this case. For other switches, it may be more switchports and maybe in different format (eg. Gi 2/0/35). Is there a way to filter ansible output by looking for ‘AIR-AP280’ and then extract that corresponding Local Interface (switchport number)? Or if there is another way to get done what I want, then great. Any suggestions/recommendations? It is over 50 switches, so it would be great if ansible can do what I want to do. ---
**Author:** ![Jason](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jason/32/304_2.png) [@Jason](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/2 "2020-06-20T03:22:03Z")
I would use the genie module and run the show cdp neighbor command. Then set fact and use that with the when command. > **(attachments)** > > ![sh cdp neighbours.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/9/97b173088e9402e734a0c2a613f828b796ef3478.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Jason2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jason2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason2)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/3 "2020-06-20T18:34:10Z")
Thanks. If you don’t mind me asking because I am not familiar with this, can you give me an example of how to use the set fact and when statement for my case? ---
**Author:** ![Jason](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jason/32/304_2.png) [@Jason](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/4 "2020-06-22T13:05:55Z")
Something like that I suppose. #Sets a varaiable for cdp neighbor detail - name: Run show cdp neighbors command ios\_command: commands: - show cdp neighbors detail register: neighbors # Using the Genie Filter Plugin from the Genie Parse Role # Set pyats\_neighbors as a dictionary - name: Set fact with Genie Filter Plugin set\_fact: pyats\_neighbors: “{{ neighbors[‘stdout’][0] | clay584.genie.parse\_genie(command=‘show cdp neighbors detail’, os=‘ios’) }}” - name: Add interface desription ios\_interfaces: config: - name: “{{ item.value.local\_interface }}” description: “{{ item.value.device\_id }} - {{ item.value.port\_id }}” state: merged loop: “{{ q(‘dict’, pyats\_neighbors.index) }}” when: item.value.port\_id is “AIR-AP280” ---
**Author:** ![Jason2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jason2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason2)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/5 "2020-06-22T19:44:21Z")
Thanks alot. I have been getting this error for the past few days when trying to use genie: fatal: [SW1]: FAILED! =\> { “msg”: “template error while templating string: no filter named ‘clay584.genie.parse\_genie’. String: {{ neighbors[‘stdout’][0] | clay584.genie.parse\_genie(command=‘show cdp neighbors’, os=‘ios’) }}” } **This is my playbook (what you sent but I needed to import the role first):** - hosts: uwioc-switches gather\_facts: no tasks: - name: Import role include\_role: name: clay584.parse\_genie - name: Run show cdp neighbors ios\_command: commands: - show cdp neighbors register: neighbors # Using the Genie Filter Plugin from the Genie Parse Role # Set pyats\_neighbors as a dictionary - name: Set fact with Genie - name: Import role include\_role: name: clay584.parse\_genie - name: Run show cdp neighbors ios\_command: commands: - show cdp neighbors register: neighbors # Using the Genie Filter Plugin from the Genie Parse Role # Set pyats\_neighbors as a dictionary - name: Set fact with Genie Filter Plugin set\_fact: pyats\_neighbors: “{{ neighbors[‘stdout’][0] | clay584.genie.parse\_genie(command=‘show cdp neighbors’, os=‘ios’) }}” - name: Add interface description ios\_interfaces: config: - name: “{{ item.value.local\_interface }}” description: “{{ item.value.device\_id }} - {{ item.value.port\_id }}” state: merged loop: “{{ q(‘dict’, pyats\_neighbors.index) }}” when: item.value.port\_id is “AIR-AP280” My python version is 3.6.8 and Ansible is 2.9.9 I followed this guide to install the necessary libraries: [https://developer.cisco.com/codeexchange/github/repo/clay584/parse\_genie/](https://developer.cisco.com/codeexchange/github/repo/clay584/parse_genie/) The error still persists. Also posted the issue on GitHub. Not sure if it is bug in the parsing library. Any assistance would greatly be appreciated. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Jason](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jason/32/304_2.png) [@Jason](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/6 "2020-06-22T20:15:30Z")
I am using the collection not the role. So it looks like this at the top. Had to add the interpreter variable because Ansible kept using Python 2 ---
**Author:** ![Jason2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jason2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason2)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2020, 8:48pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/7 "2020-06-22T20:48:48Z")
This error shows: fatal: [SW1]: FAILED! =\> {“msg”: “template error while templating string: no filter named ‘clay584.genie.parse\_genie’. String: {{ neighbors[‘stdout’][0] | clay584.genie.parse\_genie(command=‘show cdp neighbors’, os=‘ios’) }}”} This is the full playbook I am using: ---
**Author:** ![Jason](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jason/32/304_2.png) [@Jason](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/8 "2020-06-23T15:21:35Z")
Not sure it seems like it is looking for the filter. Have you used a collection before? Is the collections\_path defined in the ansible.cfg? ---
**Author:** ![Jason2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jason2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason2)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/9 "2020-06-23T15:29:26Z")
No I have never used a collection before. So my ansible.cfg is currently to the default ---
**Author:** ![Jason](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jason/32/304_2.png) [@Jason](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/10 "2020-06-23T15:33:28Z")
You need to add a new line under [defaults] collections\_paths = /path/to/collections ---
**Author:** ![Jason2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@Jason2](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason2)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/11 "2020-06-23T17:30:16Z")
I added it. Now this shows: fatal: [SW1]: FAILED! =\> { **“msg”: “parse\_genie: Genie package is not installed. To install, run ‘pip install genie’.”** } When I do pip or pip3 install genie, it says requirements already satisfied (as I already installed it). Just to show you what my directories look like: ![directory genie.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/0/026d0ea4b93ee9d8f1ec1192e3d1ac591acb22bf.jpeg) And under [defaults] in my ansible.cfg: **collections\_paths = /etc/ansible/collections/ansible\_collections/** Tried putting a less specific and then a more specifc path to the collections folder also. (= /etc/ansible/collections, = /etc/ansible/collections/ansible\_collections/clay584/genie) Prior to this, I did a **ansible-galaxy collection install clay584.genie** to install the collection and it said this: Installing ‘clay584.genie:0.1.11’ to ‘/root/.ansible/collections/ansible\_collections/clay584/genie’ Did I do anything wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Jason](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/jason/32/304_2.png) [@Jason](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Jason)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/ansible-to-connect-to-certain-switchports-on-cisco-2960/33221/12 "2020-06-23T18:04:59Z")
Well at this point I would probably remove genie. Then create a virtual python environment. Run the pip install commands and see if that works for you. If you are still running into issues I would reach out to the guys who made genie - I think Clay is in the group there too. [https://eurl.io/#r18UzrQVr](https://eurl.io/#r18UzrQVr) > **(attachments)** > > ![directory genie.JPG](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/0/026d0ea4b93ee9d8f1ec1192e3d1ac591acb22bf.jpeg)