SEC 3. Building your own containerised PKI (root CA) with Linux and Docker to simplify and secure network automation
Hello my friend,
You know our passion to network automation. We truly believe, that this is the only sustainable way for the network development and operation. In the same time, one the key goals of the automation is to make your network secure and safe. Therefore, the security of the automation and communication channels used by automation is very important. So today we’ll take a look how to build
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Can automation make your network better?
Automation is the key component of the perpetual engine of your network development and operation. It allows you to run the network quick, stable, and safe. And we are willing you to benefit as much as you can from that.
We have created a new training, which is focused only on the Nornir and you can use it for the network (and not only) automation. It is an organic extension of our network automation training, which assumes you are already Continue reading
Tools 4. Checking bandwidth between your servers, VMs, containers or even PIs and Android/Apple phone using iperf
Hello my friend,
We hope you are doing well and staying safe during this COVID times. To make your stay a bit more pleasant, we are offering you and interesting read, which will give you ideas how to test network performance between your endpoints, which can be any Server, virtual machine (VM), container, or even Raspberry PI node. Yes, we continue our troubleshooting series. Take a brew, and get started.
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Can automation help with fixing your network issues?
Automation is your extra pair of hands. Or even more than that. Capability to create the network automation solutions, from a basic scripts for info collection or simple configuration to complicated logic, which takes into account exiting environment and is integrated with your other OSS/BSS, is one of the key skills, what allows you to build a successful career in the constantly changing network field.
We have created a new training, which is focused only on the Nornir Continue reading
pygnmi 7. Integration of pygnmi with Nornir
Hello my friend,
With this blogpost we continue the series of pygnmi tutorials covering various use cases of our Python library created to help you with managing your network devices via GNMI. And today we show you, how easily you can use it with Nornir, if you like this automation framework.
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Can it be enough automation?
Yes, it can be. But how to understand, what you should automate and what shouldn’t? What are the success strategies to start the automation projects and what are the receipts of disaster? What is the most efficient ways and technologies depending on context, and how to identify? Should you still stick to CLI? Is the model-driven automation all the time suitable? There are gazillions of questions about the network automation, which you may have in your mind, but don’t know whom to ask. We are here to help you.
At our trainings, advanced network automation and automation with Nornir (2nd Continue reading
Tools 3. Checking your connectivity bandwidth with Speedtest
Hello my friend,
Continuing our discussion about the network troubleshooting tools we can’t pass by one of the most popular and widely used, which is named SpeedTest.
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Can automation help with performance troubleshooting?
Doing the collection and initial analysis of the information during the troubleshooting could be quite a time-consuming task. On the other hand, the troubleshooting of the live outages should be as quick as possible to minimise the downtime of the affected services. That’s where the automation can help you.
In our network automation training we explain how to use existing open-source tools and create your own with Ansible, Bash and Python. Leveraging them and all possible interfaces (CLI, NETCONF, RESTCONF, gNMI) we teach you how to effectively build, operate and troubleshoot your network.
Brief description
From the name of the tool, SpeedTest, it is obvious that the main goal is to measure the “speed”. In fact, it measures Continue reading
DC. Part 17. High-available server cluster connected to DC fabric.
Hello my friend,
In the vast majority of cases we speak about the network, network devices and network configuration. Which is absolutely legitimate, as we write about the networks. However, sometimes exactly the same network technologies live in the server world and do the same things under different names. So today we’ll take a look how to create the high-available server cluster using the Keepalived.
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Servers are perfect for automation
The network exists to span the applications and customers. However, it doesn’t host applications itself; instead, they are hosted on the servers. That’s why automation of the servers is very big topic and, in all honesty, the automation originally has started in the server world.
In the same time, the tools and approaches you learn at our network automation training are universal: they are applicable both for the network and servers automation. Automate all things!
At our network automation training we explore the Linux setup and Continue reading
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2021
Dear friend,
This year was unbelievable. But despite all the horrible things related to COVID19 and lockdown, you and we are still alive. Moreover, the networking and automation industry is growing. It means, we are together on the right side, but we need continuously sharp existing and develop new skills.
We sincerely thank you for your interest in our projects, blogs and trainings. For your questions, comments and suggestions. It means for us a lot.
We wish you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Stay healthy and safe during the holiday times and the whole new year.
All the best,
Team Karneliuk.com
pygnmi 3. Usage of gNMI Capabilities.
Hello my friend,
Some time ago we’ve started sharing with you the details of pygnmi – our new open-source Python library created to simplify the management of the network elements with gNMI. The library is already almost fully operational and we want to start sharing the usage scenarios with you.
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Don’t you want to automate boring stuff?
Every job, especially network operation, has lots of routing tasks, which are boing and time consuming. Some of such tasks could be already automated in your company, but the vast majority is still waiting you. In our trainings:
- We explain the advantages and challenges of network automation in multivendor networks (leveraging network operating systems from Cisco, Nokia, Arista, Cumulus).
- We teach you how to reach quick wins in network automation to fuel your automation projects for a long run.
- We covers all the details of the automation protocols, data models and teach you how to apply it in real Continue reading
Tools 2. How to learn your public IP? Programatically?
Hello my friend,
Just recently we have started discussion about the tools about the performance troubleshooting in networks. One of the questions we were asked afterwards was, how to programatically get your public IP? Well, that is interesting one.
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Can automation help with performance troubleshooting?
Yes, and that was a question we’ve started this blogpost with is about that. How can we rely the automation tools by troubleshooting? How can we get our IP to make any diagnostics? You will see some things right in this blogpost
Our network automation training has two faces: either live or self-paced. So you can choose yourself, what works better for you. On our side, we guide you from the foundation of the automation for the small networks till advanced automation use cases in big data centres, service providers, and clouds. You will lean how to structure the data using YANG modules, how to serialise it using JSON, XML, Protocol Continue reading
Tools 1. Top 5 tools for network performance troubleshooting
Hello my friend,
some time ago we’ve been recently engaged in the troubleshooting of the performance issues. Namely, the speed of the communication between the application’s endpoints in two data centres was not persistent. Instead, it was deviating a lot having multiple TCP retransmissions for certain flows. The issues was successfully solved, and we’d like to share with you the tools we have used to identify and validate various aspects of traffic forwarding.
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Can automation help with performance troubleshooting?
Absolutely. During our network automation training we show how to utilise various Linux tools from configuration management tools (e.g. Ansible) and programming languages (Bash, Python). That gives you ready examples from our training, which you can use in your network immediately, and endless possibilities to create your own automated troubleshooting workflows.
Our network automation training has two faces: either live or self-paced. So you can choose yourself, what works better for you. On our side, we Continue reading
Installing FTP client (or any other Linux tool) on Cumulus Linux
Hello my friend,
Recently I’ve been engage in some troubleshooting with Cumulus and was looking for the way, how can I send the cl-support file from my switches directly to the vendor support bypassing downloading them to my laptop.
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Eager to learn about network automation?
We are here to help you. At our network automation training you learn all you need to know to be successful with such tasks in your profession:
- Foundation, operation and administration of Linux, Docker, KVM
- Structure, syntax, and content of YANG models
- Structure, syntax, and application of various data encoding formats: JSON, XML, Protocol Buffers (Protobuf)
- Operation and application of different transport protocols SSH, HTTP, gRPC
- Operation and application of management specifications: CLI, gNMI, NETCONF, RESTCONF/REST API
- How to use and manage everything above with Ansible, Bash, and Python
Brief description
Let’s take a closer look into the issue. The Cumulus Linux is based on the Continue reading
Ansible 2.10 introduction
Hello my friend,
as you know, Ansible is one of the leading tools for the automation of the IT and network infrastructure. We have written a lot about it earlier (e.g. CLI configs, OpenConfig with NETCONF, or VNF-M). Recently Red Hat announced the new version of Ansible (Ansible 2.10), which changes a lot the way we used to work with that.
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means, electronic, mechanical or photocopying, recording,
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Eager to learn about network automation?
We are here to help you. At our network automation training you learn all you need to know to be successful with such tasks in your profession:
- Linux, Docker, KVM
- YANG models
- JSON, XML, Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) data formats
- SSH, REST API, gRPC transport
- gNMI, NETCONF, RESTCONF protocols
- How to use and manage everything above with Ansible, Bash, and Python
What that is about
Ansible 2.10 is more than a just another Ansible’s update. It is a new approach, paradigm shift, Continue reading
pygnmi 2. How to use pyGNMI?
Hello my friend,
In the previous article we have mentioned that we have started building our own Python package, which will allow you to easily interact with the network functions over gNMI. Today we want to share with you some progress and explain, how you can start benefiting from it right now.
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Is automation really so important?
Amount of network-related tasks in each company is growing years, if company is doing well. The number of employees is not. That creates a need for business relying on technologies to “do more with less”. The automation is a key enabler for this approach. And we are keen to help your business (or yourself) to find a right approach to network automation and successfully implement it. In our trainings:
- We explain the advantages and challenges of network automation in multivendor networks.
- We teach you how to reach quick wins in network automation to fuel your automation projects for Continue reading
pygnmi 1. Intro to pure Python gNMI module by karneliuk.com.
Hello my friend,
It took a while since our latest post from the Code Express (CEX) series. During this time we were working heavy to launch an advanced version of our industry-leading network automation training. However, this time we were working on something special…
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Automate all the network things
Each and every element in the network can be automated. It is always the question, if it shall be. Both of these questions are subject to our training:
- We teach you how automate each and every network function in your network.
- We teach you how to identify, what makes sense to automate, what not, and how to make your network automation successful.
At our network automation training (either live or self-paced) you will guide you from the foundation of the automation for the small networks till advanced automation use cases in big data centres, and clouds. You will lean how to structure the data using YANG Continue reading
CEX (Code EXpress) 13. Creating your own Python modules.
Hello my friend,
Recently we have learned how to use the external modules to make your Python’s code more powerful. At some point, perhaps already now, you started creating user-defined functions so good that you would like to re-use them in other projects.
Automate all the things
Network automation is one of the most important things named by CIOs in Gather’s research. As such, the companies are (and will be) looking for the experts, who are able to develop new solutions and find creative ways to improve networks’ efficiency via automation. And we are keen to help you with that?
At our network automation training, either self-paced or instructor lead, you will learn the leading technologies, protocols, and tools used to manage the networks in the busiest networks worldwide, such as Google data centres. However, once you master all the skills, you will be able to automate the network of any scale. You will see the opportunities and you will exploit them.
Secret words: NETCONF, REST API, gRPC, JSON , XML, Protocol buffers, SSH, OpenConfig, Python, Ansible, Linux, Docker; and many other wonderful tools and techniques are waiting for you in our training!
Don’t miss opportunity to start your network Continue reading
HS. Part 7. Interoperability of Nokia SRLinux and Microsoft Azure SONiC
Hello my friend,
we continue the series of the blogpost dedicated to the overview of the Nokia SR Linux. Today we will speak about the interoperability and its joint operation with Microsoft Azure SONiC, another disaggregated OS, which is used in the hyper scale data centres.
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Automate your data centre infrastrcutre
The data centres and applications they host might be very static, if that is classical enterprise workloads. However, in the world of the clouds the frequency of the changes performed in the data centre network and servers can be very high. Effectively, it can be so high that doing them manually is impractical.
At our network automation training (either live or self-paced) you will learn the foundation of the automation for the small and big data centres, and clouds. You will lean how to structure the data using YANG modules, how to serialise it using JSON, XML, Protobuf depending on the application requirements Continue reading
CEX (Code EXpress) 12. Using Python modules.
Hello my friend,
In the previous blogpost we have shared how some thoughts how you can parse the CSV file and how in general to work with external files. But the beauty of the programming languages including Python, is that there are always more than one way of doing things. And with learning it more, you are opening new ways.
Automate all the things
Raise of the 5G in the Service Provider world, micro services in Data Centres and mobility in Enterprise networks significantly changes the expectations about the way the network operate and the pace the changes are implemented. It is impossible to meet those expectation without automation.
At our network automation training, either self-paced or instructor lead, you will learn the leading technologies, protocols, and tools used to manage the networks in the busiest networks worldwide, such as Google data centres. However, once you master all the skills, you will be able to automate the network of any scale. You will see the opportunities and you will exploit them.
Secret words: NETCONF, REST API, gRPC, JSON , XML, Protocol buffers, SSH, OpenConfig, Python, Ansible, Linux, Docker; and many other wonderful tools and techniques are waiting for you Continue reading
HS. Part 6. First impression from Nokia SRLinux.
Hello my friend,
In this HS blog series we have covered so far the automated build of the network topology for hyper scale data centre using Microsoft Azure SONiC. Today Nokia has announced a new product for data centre, which is called SRLinux. In the next couple of articles we’ll review it from the architectural and automation standpoint.
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Thanks
We want to thank Nokia team for providing us the details and assisting in creating these materials. It won’t be possible without your help, dear partners.
Network automation training – now as a self-paced course as well
Following your asks we open a new format for the network automation training – self-paced format:
- It doesn’t matter what your timezone is.
- It doesn’t matter how much hours weekly do you have to study.
- It doesn’t matter how solid is your current background in automation, scripting and software development.
Because you decide on your own when, how often and Continue reading
CEX (Code EXpress) 11. Working with files and parsing CSV.
Hello my friend,
With this post we start the second series of the Code EXpress (CEX) blogposts covering Python (namely, Python 3.8) basics for the network engineers. Previously we have covered the most simple elements and heading now to more complex scenarios.
Automation for networks and not only
Knowing how to improve the efficiency of your network or IT operation via applying some of the automation techniques with Ansible or Python is getting more and more important.
Boost up your skills with the industry best network automation training covering the details of the NETCONF/YANG, REST API with Bash, Ansible and Python for managing network devices from Cisco, Nokia, Arista and Cumulus. Besides you get the Linux management skills, as well as network virtualisation (KVM) and containerisation (Docker).
What are we going to do today?
In today’s blogpost we are going to cover the basics of the working with file in Python. Despite there are multiple ways how you can do, we will share, we believe, one of the most popular and convenient way:
- Using context manager with … as … you will open the CSV file in your Python script.
- Using Continue reading
4 years on air.
Hello my friend,
Traditionally in the beginning of June (5th of June to be accurate), we celebrate the anniversary of our blogging. And in this year it is already 4 years, since we started in 2016!
In terms of the absolute numbers, we have crossed the mark in 100 posted blogs! Hurray! And we were marked as Cisco Champion 2020 one more time! Also Hurray!
Let’s reflect what has happened global as well…
Live automation training
The biggest new introduction is the live online network automation training. Years of real practical experience of implementing and automating network solutions for service provider and data centres across Europe and North America are now available for you. Just join our network automation training in this run or in any next and learn:
- Why to automate?
- How to automate?
- What is the toolkit (YANG, XML, YAML, JSON, Protobuf, NETCONF, RESTCONF, gNMI/gRPC, VS Code, Atom, POSTman, Python, Ansible, Linux, Docker and many others)?
- How do different vendors behave (Cisco, Nokia, Arista, Cumulus)?
GitHub projects
There were multiple mini-series of the blogposts supported by the code at the GitHub:
GNMI. Part 4. Configuring Arista EOS and Nokia SR OS with gRPC/gNMI and OpenConfig/YANG.
Hello my friend,
We have received a lot of positive feedbacks in the social media regarding our previous post about collecting info from Nokia SR OS and Arista EOS using gRPC/gNMI. Thank you! Today we will cover the configuration part; hence, you will learn how to configure Arista EOS and Nokia SR OS using the gRPC transport with gNMI specification and OpenConfig YANG modules.
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Start your network automation journey
Just in two weeks we start the new network automation training! This time we have ever biggest agenda with all the cutting edge technologies (NETCONF, REST API, gNMI), data models (YANG, Protobuf, JSON, XML, YAML), vendors (Cisco, Nokia, Arista, Cumulus) and a lot of programming (Ansible, Python, Bash) salted with Linux administration, virtualisation, containerisation and many more
In one place you will learn all the technologies and tolls you need to start or improve your career in the world of the Continue reading