netconf module

Archives Ansible Developer
1

Hi there

I’ve coded a very simple netconf module, for edit-config operations. You can see it here: https://github.com/lpenz/ansible-modules-extras/commit/02beadea716e923185bbba5aa44211efc36ee47a
There are still a couple of things I’d like to add, but I’m also accepting feedback if anyone finds it interesting.
BTW, is it on scope for ansible extra?

Cheers
Leandro Penz

2

Yes, extras is right place, left comments in linked commit

3

Great! Thanks!
I’ll take a look at it tonight

4

Hello!

After several changes, documentation improvements and more tests, I think the netconf module is ready for another review round and/or PR:
https://github.com/lpenz/ansible-modules-extras/commit/f502aabb2b0c63ce95d7237d818bac0dc0c08792

I also created a repository that provisions containers with netconf servers and test it:
https://github.com/lpenz/ansible-testing-netconf
I’m not sure, though, if that’s the best way around validating modules…

Cheers
Leandro

5

Hi Leandro,

If you think its good to go, I would recommend that you submit a pull request and we can do a full review and provide comments and/or feedback as well as help you with testing.

Thanks,
Peter

6

Hi there!

I took a better look around and found out about the networking group, and that some modules (at least junos) already use netconf!
Is the per-manufacturer module a convention? I thought netconf was supposed to be a generic protocol (schema aside).
To test the netconf module, I created a test repository (https://github.com/lpenz/ansible-testing-netconf) that might be helpful if the module is more generic - or maybe even to test the junos code if it does not deviate too much from the standard. Anyway, I’d like to help. (disclaimer: I work for DATACOM, a Brazilian network equipment manufacturer)

Cheers
Penz

7

“if it does not deviate too much from the standard”

I think there in lies the real problem. Netconf, while standardized to a degree, isn’t uniformly implemented across devices. In addition, there a number of devices manufacturers that have made the choice not to implement netconf which is why we decided to treat each NOS independently. That said, I think there could be value in a generic netconf module if you wish to continue to build and maintain it. The other option is to build modules specific to your product set simliar to what you see with JNPR. It really comes down to your choice.

Also, we hold a weekly network IRC meeting on Freenode (#ansible-meeting) at 1600 UTC. Its a good opportunity to see other activity going on around networking in the Ansible community and offer up the questions and/or answers.