Lesson 1SNMP deep dive: versions v1/v2c/v3, MIBs, OIDs, walk/get/bulk, traps and informsGo deep into SNMP for watching and some control. Compare the different versions of SNMP, understand how MIBs and OIDs work, use ways to walk, get, and take many at once, and set up traps and informs in a safe way.
SNMP v1, v2c, and v3 security differencesMIB structure, OID naming, and browsingUsing get, get-next, walk, and bulkgetConfiguring traps and informs on devicesScaling SNMP polling and rate controlLesson 2Infrastructure automation tools: Ansible networking modules, module vs. connection plugins, idempotence and playbook patternsLearn how tools for automatic work on big systems handle network machines. You will use Ansible parts for networks and connection helpers, apply ways that do not change things twice, and organize playbooks for safe and growing changes in setup.
Network inventory and host variable designNetwork-specific connection plugins overviewIdempotent configuration patterns in playbooksValidating changes with check and diff modesError handling and rollback strategiesLesson 3Choosing protocols for mixed-vendor environments: trade-offs (read-only vs config), security, performance, vendor supportFind out how to pick control ways in networks from different makers. Compare ways to only read and ways to change setup, safety plans, speed effects, and help from makers to make strong and easy-to-keep automatic plans.
Read-only vs configuration change workflowsSecurity models and credential handlingLatency, throughput, and scaling considerationsVendor feature coverage and roadmap riskOperational standardization across vendorsLesson 4SSH fundamentals for network devices: key-based auth, session management, command execution, terminal settingsLook again at basic SSH as used by network machines. Learn safe entry with keys, how sessions live and end, ways to run commands, terminal setups, and strong safety ways for automatic entry.
Key generation, storage, and rotationSSH ciphers, MACs, and protocol versionsInteractive shells vs exec channelsTerminal length, paging, and promptsJump hosts, bastions, and proxy commandsLesson 5REST APIs on network gear: common vendor endpoints, authentication (token, basic, OAuth), JSON/XML payloadsLearn how REST APIs are shown on network machines. You will check common ending points, ways to prove who you are, formats for JSON or XML data sent, versions, and ways for safe, no-change-twice setup changes.
Resource modeling for interfaces and VLANsToken, basic, and OAuth authenticationJSON request and response payload designError handling and HTTP status mappingAPI versioning and backward compatibilityLesson 6gNMI and streaming telemetry: subscription models, protobuf/JSON encodings, push vs pollGo into gNMI and streaming watching for new ways to see things. Learn models to sign up, ways to code with protobuf and JSON, choices between push and ask, and how to join watching streams into checking lines.
gNMI service model and RPC operationsOn-change, sample, and once subscriptionsProtobuf message schemas and toolingJSON encoding and translation to metricsScaling collectors and buffering strategiesLesson 7Network automation libraries: Netmiko, Paramiko, Napalm, PyATS/Genie — capabilities, drivers, limitationsLook at Python tools for network automatic work and their choices. Compare Netmiko, Paramiko, Napalm, and PyATS or Genie in what they can do, drivers, simple ways, testing help, and work limits.
Paramiko SSH primitives and channelsNetmiko device drivers and send_commandNapalm getters and configuration mergePyATS and Genie parsing and testingLibrary selection and interoperabilityLesson 8Debugging and testing connections: connectivity checks, timeouts, retries, logging best practicesLook at real ways to check and fix network joins. You will plan checks for if things connect, set times to wait and try again, make logs well, and build tests that can be done again for automatic and hand work.
Designing health and connectivity checksTimeout tuning and retry backoff strategiesStructured logging and correlation IDsCapturing and analyzing protocol tracesBuilding repeatable connection test playbooksLesson 9NETCONF and YANG: RPC model, capabilities, data modeling with YANG, XML/JSON encodingsStudy NETCONF and YANG as main rules for making networks work with programs. You will learn the RPC way, talking about what can be done, YANG for data plans, and XML or JSON codes for setup and state handling.
NETCONF sessions, locks, and RPC workflowCapability discovery and server feature setsYANG modules, trees, and data typesXML and JSON encodings for YANG dataModel-driven configuration workflowsLesson 10Vendor-specific programmatic interfaces: Cisco IOS-XE/IOS-XR/JunOS RESTCONF, Arista eAPI, Fortinet/Checkpoint APIsCheck special APIs from makers that add to standard joins. Compare what Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Fortinet, and Check Point give, looking at proving who you are, data plans, speed limits, and ways to join.
Cisco IOS-XE and IOS-XR RESTCONF usageJunOS REST APIs and JSON data modelsArista eAPI transport and command formatsFortinet and Check Point firewall APIsHandling rate limits and vendor quirks
