New Training: Automate Cisco IOS-XE Devices with Netconf

In this 7-video skill, CBT Nuggets trainer Knox Hutchinson teaches you how to automate Cisco networks by using the NETCONF protocol and Python libraries like NCCLIENT. Watch this new Cisco training.

Learn Cisco with one of these courses:

• Automating APIs and Protocols for Cisco Enterprise Solutions

• Cisco CCNP Automating Cisco Enterprise Solutions

This training includes:

• 7 videos

• 31 minutes of training

You’ll learn these topics in this skill:

• Introducing Netconf

• The Netconf Protocol

• The Netconf Protocol Workflow

• Netconf Capabilities

• Getting Data with Netconf and Ncclient

• Changing Configurations with Ncclient

• Summarizing Netconf

What is the Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF)?

The Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) is a network management protocol for installing, manipulating and deleting network device configurations. Developed by the IETF, NETCONF works on top of a RPC layer and uses XML-based data encoding for both configuration data and its messages, which are exchanged over a secure transport layer. The protocol was created as a replacement for CLI.

NETCONF consists of four layers. Configuration and notification data exists in the Content Layer. The Operations Layer contains the commands necessary to both obtain and edit configuration data. The Messages Layer includes the means for encoding RPCs and providing notifications of them. Finally, the Secure Transport Layer securely delivers messages between the client and the server.

At the end of a successful configuration, the protocol sends messages indicating exactly what has changed about the configuration.