# backing up a cisco device using telnet **URL:** \ **Category:** Ansible Project\ **Created:** [February 22, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823 "2018-02-22T14:08:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 2:08pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/1 "2018-02-22T14:08:11Z")
Is there any information that allows me to backup a cisco device using telnet rather than ssh as the device do not support SSH ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/2 "2018-02-23T14:27:06Z")
You need to use the expect module for this. ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/3 "2018-02-23T16:43:17Z")
Thanks Any examples as there is very scanty information on ansible website for this Daley ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/4 "2018-02-23T21:01:18Z")
There are some in the list if you search the archive, one thread is this one [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/ansible-project/iK29xd4QeaE/nNfmvjdOAAAJ](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/ansible-project/iK29xd4QeaE/nNfmvjdOAAAJ) ---
**Author:** ![Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Claudia_de_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/5 "2018-02-24T13:21:32Z")
Hi, You can try using the new (as of Ansible 2.4) “preview” telnet module: # telnet - Executes a low-down and dirty telnet command > **[Ansible Documentation — Ansible Community Documentation](https://docs.ansible.com/projects/ansible/latest/index.html)** Make sure your host file entries resolve in DNS or just use the IP. Sample host file group: ` [cisco] arctic-sw01 host=10.1.10.100 port=22 username=cisco password=cisco 10.1.10.100 username=cisco password=cisco ` Sample Playbook - here I am just getting the show inventory output (because its short) and saving it to a variable called output with is a data structure of all the output. Then I take the part I want to save, the actual show inventory output and save it to a file called .txt in the ./FACTs directory. You can uncomment the term len 0 and show run commands and do the same. ` ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/6 "2018-02-26T14:32:25Z")
Thanks for your reply it was very useful but I am getting errors ansible-playbook -i hosts backup\_config-cisco12.yml -vvv ansible-playbook 2.4.2.0 config file = /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg configured module search path = [u’/home/ansible/.ansible/plugins/modules’, u’/usr/share/ansible/plugins/modules’] ansible python module location = /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ansible executable location = /usr/bin/ansible-playbook python version = 2.7.12 (default, Dec 4 2017, 14:50:18) [GCC 5.4.0 20160609] Using /etc/ansible/ansible.cfg as config file Parsed /etc/ansible/hosts inventory source with ini plugin PLAYBOOK: backup\_config-cisco12.yml \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* 1 plays in backup\_config-cisco12.yml PLAY [cisco] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* META: ran handlers TASK [run show command via Telnet] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* task path: /etc/ansible/backup\_config-cisco12.yml:8 fatal: [10.101.250.12]: FAILED! =\> { “changed”: true, “msg”: “Telnet action failed: telnet connection closed”, “output”: } …ignoring TASK [debug] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* task path: /etc/ansible/backup\_config-cisco12.yml:22 ok: [10.101.250.12] =\> { “output”: { “changed”: true, “failed”: true, “msg”: “Telnet action failed: telnet connection closed”, “output”: } } TASK [copy] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* task path: /etc/ansible/backup\_config-cisco12.yml:25 fatal: [10.101.250.12]: FAILED! =\> { “msg”: “The task includes an option with an undefined variable. The error was: list object has no element 0\n\nThe error appears to have been in ‘/etc/ansible/backup\_config-cisco12.yml’: line 25, column 9, but may\nbe elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem.\n\nThe offending line appears to be:\n\n\n - local\_action: copy content="{{ output.output[0] }}" dest="./etc/ansible/backup{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt"\n ^ here\nWe could be wrong, but this one looks like it might be an issue with\nmissing quotes. Always quote template expression brackets when they\nstart a value. For instance:\n\n with\_items:\n - {{ foo }}\n\nShould be written as:\n\n with\_items:\n - "{{ foo }}"\n\nexception type: \\nexception: list object has no element 0” } …ignoring META: ran handlers META: ran handlers PLAY RECAP \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* 10.101.250.12 : ok=3 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 This is the config below ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/7 "2018-02-26T15:02:00Z")
In YAML the rule is if it start with a quote it must end with the same qoute and vice versa. I recommend using YAML syntax and not Ansible syntax.   - local\_action:       module: copy       content: "{{ output.output[0] }}"       dest: "./etc/ansible/backup{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt" Or use delegate\_to: localhost   - copy:       content: "{{ output.output[0] }}"       dest: "./etc/ansible/backup{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt"     delegate\_to: localhost For completenesses to make the Ansible syntax work   - local\_action: 'copy content="{{ output.output[0] }}" dest="./etc/ansible/backup{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt"' I think this also work   - local\_action: copy content={{ output.output[0] }} dest=./etc/ansible/backup{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt ---
**Author:** ![Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Claudia_de_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 3:18pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/8 "2018-02-26T15:18:27Z")
It also looks like your telnet session is failing. One reason for the error below is an incorrect username or password for the device so check your hosts file. TASK [configure new account via Telnet] \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* fatal: [10.1.10.100]: FAILED! =\> {“changed”: true, “failed”: true, “msg”: “Telnet action failed: telnet connection closed”, “output”: } …ignoring Finally…make sure the directory you are saving your files to exists so look carefully at your path…did you intend to make that relative to your current working directory (./)? ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/9 "2018-02-26T16:02:44Z")
still having errors ERROR! Syntax Error while loading YAML. The error appears to have been in ‘/etc/ansible/backup\_config-cisco12.yml’: line 26, column 1, but may be elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem. The offending line appears to be: module: copy content: “{{ output.output[0] }}” ^ here We could be wrong, but this one looks like it might be an issue with missing quotes. Always quote template expression brackets when they start a value. For instance: with\_items: - {{ foo }} Should be written as: with\_items: - “{{ foo }}” exception type: \ exception: while parsing a block collection in “”, line 2, column 1 did not find expected ‘-’ indicator in “”, line 26, column 1 ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/10 "2018-02-26T16:15:39Z")
Since you have syntax error you need to show the code. ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/11 "2018-02-26T17:02:41Z")
:x ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/12 "2018-02-26T17:03:30Z")
ansible@ansible-new:/etc/ansible$ vi backup\_config-cisco12.yml ignore\_errors: yes tasks: - name: run show command via Telnet telnet: user: “{{ username }}” password: “{{ password }}” login\_prompt: "Username: " prompts: - “[\>|#]” command: # - terminal length 0 # - show run - show inventory register: output - debug: var=output - local\_action: module: copy content: “{{ output.output[0] }}” dest: “./etc/ansible/backup{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt” 27,1 ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/13 "2018-02-26T17:13:13Z")
The "- local\_action" line is indented one space to much. In YAML indentation is very impotent and it need to be consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Claudia_de_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/14 "2018-02-26T17:18:44Z")
As Kai Stian Olstad mentioned, spacing is very important. Use a good text editor to make sure everything lines up. Below is the playbook using Sublime. Note the subtle lines to help you make sure everything lines up. ![Inline image 1](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/original/2X/7/7330422c4da0dc08660d2956f8c586243c1bcf94.png) ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 11:26am UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/15 "2018-02-27T11:26:50Z")
Thanks but still getting errors this is my code ---
**Author:** ![Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Claudia_de_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/16 "2018-02-27T13:42:16Z")
Hi, I mentioned this before. Are you certain this is the correct path “./etc…” This means that relative to where you are running your playbook you nave a directory called etc/ansible/backup/ if you are trying to save your backup files to /etc/ansible/backup (absolute path) then you do not need the “.”. and you must make sure that directory exists. local\_action: copy content=“{{ output.output[0] }}” dest=“\*\*./etc/ansible/backup/{{ inventory\_hostname }}.\*\*txt” ---
**Author:** ![Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kai\_Stian\_Olstad](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Kai_Stian_Olstad)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/17 "2018-02-27T14:11:02Z")
> Thanks > but still getting errors > > this is my code > > --- >   hosts: cisco You are now missing the dash infront of hosts. I think it's time that you read the documentation and this is a good start [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/YAMLSyntax.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/YAMLSyntax.html) [https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/playbooks\_intro.html](https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/playbooks_intro.html) Study the examples and pay attention to indentation, then look at you code and compare them. >   connection: local >   ignore\_errors: yes >   tasks: >       - name: run show commands via Telnet >         telnet: >           user: "{{ username }}" >           password: "{{ password }}" >           login\_prompt: "Username: " >           prompts: >             - "[\>|#]" >           command: >             # - terminal length 0 >             # - show run >             - show inventory >         register: output >       - debug: var=output.output >       - local\_action: copy content="{{ output.output[0] }}" > dest="./etc/ansible/backup/{{ inventory\_hostname }}.txt" > and my errors message And you are back to using code that doesn't work. ---
**Author:** ![Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Claudia\_de\_Luna](https://forum.ansible.com/u/Claudia_de_Luna)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/18 "2018-02-27T14:14:00Z")
Also, make sure your playbook is in proper YAML (I suspect your directory does exist as you would get an explicit error for that if it did not) ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/19 "2018-02-27T14:23:12Z")
Thanks Claudia, I have removed the . from est=“\*\*./etc/ansible/backup/{{ inventory\_hostname }}.\*\*txt” but still having this errors it says the hosts I cannot see anything wrong with my hosts or connection The error appears to have been in ‘/etc/ansible/backup-cisconew.yml’: line 3, column 1, but may be elsewhere in the file depending on the exact syntax problem. The offending line appears to be: - hosts: cisco connection: local ^ here exception type: \ exception: while parsing a block collection in “”, line 2, column 1 did not find expected ‘-’ indicator in “”, line 3, column ---
**Author:** ![DOkuwa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/ansible/user_avatar/forum.ansible.com/dokuwa/32/1471_2.png) [@DOkuwa](https://forum.ansible.com/u/DOkuwa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823/20 "2018-02-27T15:36:01Z")
[![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7BXseSRjKMc/WpV60F9P4DI/AAAAAAAAGWw/U3RUeNYjp9oCupen8bo3wyKcNOgkjHB5ACLcBGAs/s320/YAML-new.PNG)](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7BXseSRjKMc/WpV60F9P4DI/AAAAAAAAGWw/U3RUeNYjp9oCupen8bo3wyKcNOgkjHB5ACLcBGAs/s1600/YAML-new.PNG) Thanks I am also, seeing this on YAML editing file [Next page](https://forum.ansible.com/t/backing-up-a-cisco-device-using-telnet/26823.md?page=2)