New Training: Automate Networks with the RESTCONF Protocol

In this 7-video skill, CBT Nuggets trainer John McGovern demonstrates how to automate networks using Python programming and the RESTCONF protocol! Watch this new networking training.

Watch the full course: Advanced Network Automation with Cisco and Python

This training includes:

• 7 videos

• 1.1 hours of training

You’ll learn these topics in this skill:

• RESTCONF Overview

• Methods & Response Codes

• GET Requests

• Nornir Integration

• Parsing Requests

• Query Parameters

• Configuring Devices using RESTCONF

The Secret to RESTCONF Lies is in Its RESTful Name

Although RESTCONF is considered a more robust and capable protocol compared to NETCONF, the comparison isn’t perfect. Consider this: the NETCONF protocol provides a standardized interface for interacting with network devices and instructing them in interaction with YANG datastores. Humans might like using a CLI, but applications you’re looking to automate can use NETCONF to great success.

Compare that to the RESTCONF protocol. It’s an HTTP-based protocol that provides an interface for accessing YANG datastores. That might sound similar, but consider two things. First, RESTCONF uses datastore concepts defined in NETCONF. Second, it’s an HTTP-based protocol.

There’s no RESTCONF without NETCONF. And the operations that RESTCONF executes it does so with HTTP methods. RESTCONF gets its name from the fact that it uses familiar RESTful APIs. This makes it even more valuable for network and application automation. With RESTCONF, automation solutions can interact with one another and have a higher degree of fidelity.