Python for Network Engineers: Zero to Automated Networks

Most network engineers do not need to become software developers. They need to stop doing the same task two hundred times by hand.

This course takes you from no Python at all to writing automation you can run against production infrastructure. It is built from my book, Python for Network Engineers — From Zero to Automated Networks, and every example uses network data: show command output, interface counters, VLAN databases, inventory files, device configuration.

You start with the environment — installing Python, virtual environments, pip, VS Code and Git — because that is where most people give up before they have written a line of code. Then you learn the language itself, taught through network problems rather than generic tutorials: parsing show output with strings and regular expressions, structuring device data with lists and dictionaries, handling the errors a real fleet throws at you, and reading and writing CSV, JSON and YAML inventories.

From there you connect to devices. Paramiko first, so you understand what is happening underneath, then Netmiko, then pushing configuration with a six-step safety pattern that keeps a routine change from becoming an incident. Concurrency, so a fifty-device collection takes thirty seconds instead of eight minutes. Credentials handled properly, never hard-coded. Then the API layer: requests, RESTCONF, NETCONF, NAPALM, Nornir and pyATS, with a clear view of when each one is the right tool and when it is not.

The last two sections are the payoff. Jinja2 templating to generate configuration at scale from YAML data, then the scripts engineers actually run: configuration backup with change detection, daily health reports, pre- and post-change verification, topology discovery, IPAM and inventory reconciliation, notifications and scheduling. The course closes with using AI inside a network workflow safely, and packaging your work as a tested repository with continuous integration.

Every video lesson has a companion article with a full, heavily commented Python solution you can run. Exercises target free Cisco DevNet sandboxes and lab tools such as Containerlab, EVE-NG and GNS3, so you can practise against real devices without touching anything of your own. Please note that this course does not include demonstration video lessons. All practical work is carried out using written articles that provide step-by-step procedures.

I have spent my career in enterprise networking. This is the course I wish had existed when I started automating.

Before enrolling, please watch the free preview lessons — so you know exactly what you're getting.

Independent course. Not affiliated with any vendor.

This course is produced independently. It is not affiliated with, authorised by, sponsored by, or endorsed by Cisco Systems, Inc., Juniper Networks, Inc., Fortinet, Inc., Arista Networks, Inc., the Python Software Foundation, or any other vendor, standards body or certification programme.

Cisco, IOS, IOS-XE, NX-OS, DevNet, Juniper, Junos, Fortinet, FortiOS, Arista, EOS, Python, and all other product names, logos and brands referenced in this course are the property of their respective owners. They are used here for identification and educational purposes only, and their use does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by their owners.

All labs use publicly available sandboxes, vendor-neutral emulation, or equipment you already own. You are responsible for obtaining any licences required to run vendor software in your own lab.
This course contains the use of AI.