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 SNMP types, know MIBs and OIDs, use walk, get, and bulk actions, and set 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 patternsKnow how tools for automating infrastructure handle network machines. You will use Ansible modules for networks and connection plugins, apply patterns that do not repeat changes, and arrange playbooks for safe, growing setup changes.
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 supportLearn to pick management protocols in networks from mixed makers. Compare ways for reading only and changing setups, security ways, effect on speed, and support from makers to plan strong, easy-to-keep automation 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 at basic SSH as used by network machines. Learn key-based login, life of sessions, ways to run commands, terminal setups, and ways to make security stronger for automatic access.
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 ends, login ways, formats for JSON or XML data, versions, and patterns for safe, non-repeating 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 telemetry for modern watching. Learn models for subscribing, encodings in protobuf and JSON, choices between push and poll, and how to join telemetry streams into watching 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 libraries for network automation and their choices. Compare Netmiko, Paramiko, Napalm, and PyATS or Genie in terms of 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 connections. You will plan checks for connection, set times for waiting and trying again, arrange logs, 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 programming networks. You will learn the RPC model, talking about capabilities, modeling data with YANG, and encodings in XML or JSON 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 APIs from makers that add to standard ways. Compare offers from Cisco, Juniper, Arista, Fortinet, and Check Point, looking at login, data models, limits on speed, 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
