Ansible for Network Engineers: Quick Start GNS3 & Ansible

Learn practical troubleshooting steps for GNS3 2.1 on Windows 10, including when to disable firewall and antivirus, reboot, and consult the GNS3 community for solutions.

Learn to install and configure Cisco IOS images in GNS3 2.1 using Dynamips, including importing images via S3, setting ram and idle PC value, building two-router OSPF network, and saving configurations.

Install and integrate the GNS3 VM with VMware Workstation, warn against version 14, downgrade to version 12, import the GNS3 VM, and enable nested virtualization for operation.

Create a custom ansible.cfg and local hosts inventory, disable host key checking, and set an ssh timeout of five seconds to enable Ansible list hosts all.

Retrieve ARP cache across network devices using an Ansible playbook in YAML, run against all hosts, store and print output, and filter results with grep and regular expressions.

Create an Ansible cli playbook in yaml format, start with three dashes, name a play to manage a single host on local server using a local connection, and skip facts.

Iterate the Ansible playbook to configure multiple tasks, including global switch settings and an IPv6 neighbor discovery policy, with campus design guidelines and debug outputs showing changes.

Explore automation with DevOps tools and distinguish agent lists versus agent based DevOps tools, compare push and pull methodologies, and review DevOps tools including Ansible and Puppet.

Leverage cumulus automation to programmatically configure ethernet interfaces, layer 2 information, ip addressing, motd, quagga conf file, and time services, enabling multi-switch changes and hardware-based routing decisions.

Compare popular automation tools, focusing on Ansible's agentless push model, playbooks, and modules, with notes on Cfengine, Chef, Puppet, and Saltstack, plus their app stores and configurations.

Automate ssh key provisioning in the ZTP script by fetching the authorized_keys file with wget, setting ownership, and placing it in the home cumulus/.ssh directory for passwordless switch access.

Explore the Ansible hosts file, define a group like leaf with DNS or IP entries, and run playbooks or ad hoc commands against nested leaf groups.

Compare ad hoc commands and playbooks in Ansible for network tasks, highlighting inventory configuration, module usage (command module), and remotely gathering net show system output from a switch.

Run a simple ansible playbook using the playbook file, gather switch facts with the setup module, render the networking config to /etc/network/interfaces, restart networking, and review the recap.

Use multiple files to configure dynamic routing between switches with OSPF using Ansible. Structure the playbook with roles, tasks, variables in a template file, and handlers in a separate file.

Explore how Ansible uses a directory structure to locate templates and files automatically. Scale playbooks by organizing tasks into roles with common files, templates, and variables.

Explore the order of playbook execution in Ansible for network engineers, starting with the common role, executing its tasks, rendering templates with variables, and pushing configurations to the switch.

Run an ansible playbook to gather facts from leaf one and leaf two, then license the switch and configure OSPF in the etc/network/interfaces file, with a color-coded recap of results.

Install and configure Ansible on a Linux system, install Cumulus Linux modules from Ansible Galaxy, and implement zero touch provisioning via a web server and DHCP settings for switches.

Learn to install Ansible for network devices, using the network automation appliance or a local Ubuntu setup. Explore supported systems, prerequisites, and how SSH-based, agentless management works.