Manage OSPF for network automation with Ansible validated content

In the quickly evolving networking environment, efficient management of routing protocols is essential for reliable and optimized network performance.

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a powerful tool for streamlining repetitive tasks and orchestrating complex network configurations. One crucial aspect of platform-agnostic network management is the management of routing protocols, and in this blog post, we'll explore how Ansible Automation Platform can be utilized to manage OSPF (Open Shortest Path First), a widely used dynamic routing protocol.

At AnsibleFest 2022 we announced a new form of content included in the platform, called Ansible validated content.  We also have detailed blogs on Network Automation with Ansible Validated Content using the network.base collection, and BGP Management with Ansible Validated Content using the network.bgp collection. Now, we are adding a network validated content Collection called network.ospf to manage your OSPF protocols. 

OSPF is a widely used dynamic routing protocol, and Ansible Automation Platform can significantly streamline the management of OSPF configurations. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of managing OSPF with Ansible Automation Platform, including some practical examples of how to automate common OSPF tasks that are part of network management.

Network OSPF Continue reading

BGP Management with Ansible Validated Content using the network.bgp collection

At AnsibleFest 2022, we announced a new addition to the content ecosystem offered through the platform which is Ansible validated content. Ansible validated content is use cases-focused automation content that is packaged as Collections that contain Ansible plugins, roles and playbooks that you can use as an automation job through Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

Now that we understand what Ansible validated content is, we still have  to see what it brings to  network automation practices. We have already talked about a generic Ansible validated content for network automation which is network.base.

Network Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is more focused  on very specific use cases –  managing BGP resources and neighborship,  platform-agnostic network automation and enhancing the experience of BGP management by providing production ready -content.

Network BGP Use Cases

The network.bgp Collection enables users to manage the BGP resources independent of platforms, as well as performing BGP health checks. It includes the following capabilities: 

• Build Brownfield Inventory. The `persist` action enables users to be able to get the BGP global and address family facts  and store it as inventory host_vars. The idea is to have this dynamic inventory as a single source of truth for Continue reading

Fundamentals of Network Automation with Ansible Validated Content using the network.base collection

We introduced resource modules in Ansible 2.9, which provided a path for users to ease network management, especially across multiple different product vendors. This announcement was significant because these resource modules added a well structured representation of device configurations and made it easy to manage common network configurations.

At AnsibleFest 2022, we announced a new addition to the content ecosystem offered through the platform: Ansible validated content. Ansible validated content is use cases-focused automation that is packaged as Collections. They contain Ansible plugins, roles and playbooks that you can use as an automation job through Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform.

The Ansible validated content for network base focuses on abstract platform-agnostic network automation and enhances the experience of resource module consumption by providing production-ready content. This network base content acts as the core to the other network validated content, which I will explain more about in the examples below.

Network base use cases

The network.base Collection acts as a core for other Ansible validated content, as it provides the platform agnostic role called Resource Manager, which is the platform-agnostic entry point for managing all of the resources supported for a given network OS. It includes the Continue reading

Getting Started With BGP Address Family Resource Modules

Modern enterprise networks have grown a lot in size and complexity, making them more difficult to manage than ever before. Working on these complex networks manually can be tedious, time-consuming, costly, and more prone to error.

Red Hat Ansible Network Automation resource modules provide a path for users to ease the network management, especially across multiple different product vendors. This enables users to manipulate configuration as structured data without worrying about network platform specific details.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the newly added BGP address family resource module using junipernetwork.junos.junos_bgp_address_family as an example. Similar blogs are also available, which cover resource modules for OSPFv2, ACLs, BGP Global and route maps.

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information between autonomous systems (AS) on the internet. The protocol is often classified as a path vector protocol, but is sometimes also classed as a distance-vector routing protocol. It is used in larger network setups, as Network World so aptly observes:

BGP has been called the glue of the Internet and the postal service of the internet. One comparison likens BGP to GPS applications on mobile phones.

Managing Continue reading

Getting Started With BGP Global Resource Modules

With the increasing size and complexity of modern enterprise networks, the demand on simplifying the networks management becomes more intense. The introduction of resources modules with Ansible Engine 2.9 provide a path to users to ease the network management, especially across multiple different product vendors.

In the past, we’ve already covered resource modules for OSPF management and for ACLs. However, simplifying network management is not limited to rather local network setups or intra domain routing only. “Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to exchange routing and reachability information between autonomous systems (AS) on the internet. The protocol is often classified as a path vector protocol but is sometimes also classed as a distance-vector routing protocol.” It is used in larger network setups, as the NetworkWorld so aptly observes:

BGP has been called the glue of the Internet and the postal service of the internet. One comparison likens BGP to GPS applications on mobile phones.

Managing BGP manually for a network device can be a very difficult and tedious task, and more often this needs to be performed carefully, as the manual process is more prone to human error.

This blog post goes Continue reading

Getting Started With OSPFV2 Resource Modules

With the increasing size and complexity of modern enterprise networks, the demand on simplifying the networks management becomes more intense. The introduction of resources modules with Ansible 2.9 provide a path to users to ease the network management, especially across multiple different product vendors.

In the past, we’ve already covered resource modules for VLAN management and for ACLs. However, simplifying network management is not limited to rather local network setups: Open Shortest Path First ( OSPFv2) is a protocol used to distribute IP routing information throughout a single Autonomous System (AS). It is used in larger network setups, as the Wikipedia page so aptly observes:

OSPF is a widely used IGP in large enterprise networks. IS-IS, another LSR-based protocol, is more common in large service provider networks.

Managing OSPFv2 manually for a network device can be a very difficult and tedious task, and more often this needs to be performed carefully, as the manual process is more prone to human error.

This blog post goes through the OSPFV2 resource module for the VyOS network platform. We will walk through several examples and describe the use cases for each state parameter and how we envision these being used in Continue reading