CCNA Automation Bootcamp

• Manual vs. automated network changes
• Programmability, APIs and controllers, in plain language
• The automation toolbox: Linux, Python, Git, APIs, Ansible
• Your first steps in a Linux terminal

LAB Guided tour: your first Linux terminal

• Navigating the Linux file system [4.11]
• File management, pipes and redirection [4.11]
• Environment variables [4.11]
• Reading and running Bash scripts [5.9]

LAB Build a network-automation workspace in Bash

• MAC addresses and VLANs [6.1]
• IP addresses, subnet masks, routes and gateways [6.2]
• Switches, routers, firewalls and load balancers [6.3]
• Reading topology diagrams [6.4]

LAB Map an application path through a topology

• Management, data and control planes [6.5]
• DHCP, DNS, NAT, SNMP and NTP [6.6]
• Common ports: SSH, HTTPS, NETCONF [6.7]
• Diagnosing app connectivity and network constraints [6.8-6.9]

LAB Diagnose why an app cannot reach its API

• Variables, data types, lists and dictionaries
• Conditionals and loops
• Running scripts and the Python interpreter
• Virtual environments and pip

LAB Parse a device inventory with Python

• Functions, classes and modules [1.5]
• Organizing code for reuse [1.5]
• MVC pattern [1.6]
• Observer pattern [1.6]

LAB Refactor a script into modules

• Comparing JSON, XML and YAML [1.1]
• Parsing into Python data structures [1.2]
• Navigating nested data
• Converting between formats

LAB Extract data from JSON, XML and YAML

• Why version control [1.7]
• Clone, add, commit, push and pull [1.8.a-d]
• Branches, merges and conflicts [1.8.e-f]
• Reading git diff [1.8.g]

LAB Branch, merge and resolve a conflict

• Agile, lean and waterfall [1.4]
• Test-driven development [1.3]
• Writing Python unit tests [4.5]
• Making code testable

LAB Write tests first, then the function

• HTTP methods and REST constraints [2.3]
• Response codes [2.4]
• Response headers and body [2.6]
• REST vs. RPC, sync vs. async [2.8]

LAB Read and interpret raw HTTP exchanges

• Building requests from API docs [2.1]
• Basic, token and API-key auth [2.7]
• The requests library [2.9]
• Troubleshooting from status codes [2.5]

LAB Call an inventory API with requests

• Webhook usage patterns [2.2]
• Rate limits and pagination [2.3]
• Sequence diagrams with API calls [5.14]
• Error handling and retries

LAB Design a webhook-driven workflow

• Value of model-driven programmability [5.1]
• YANG models [5.11]
• NETCONF and RESTCONF [3.8]
• Interpreting query results [5.10]

LAB Query and interpret RESTCONF output

• Catalyst Center, Meraki, ACI, SD-WAN and NSO [3.2]
• Listing devices and clients via APIs [3.9.a, 3.9.c]
• Controller vs. device-level management [5.2]
• Identifying automated workflows in scripts [5.7]

LAB Pull device and client lists from a controller API

• Webex APIs: spaces, people, messages [3.4, 3.9.b]
• UCS Manager, Intersight and security platforms [3.3, 3.5]
• IOS XE and NX-OS device APIs [3.6]
• Cisco SDKs and DevNet resources [3.1, 3.7]

LAB Automate Webex spaces and messages

• Edge computing benefits [4.1]
• Private, public, hybrid and edge deployment [4.2]
• VMs, bare metal and containers [4.3]
• Dockerfiles and local Docker images [4.6-4.7]

LAB Read a Dockerfile and run a container

• CI/CD pipeline components [4.4, 5.4]
• DevOps principles [4.12]
• Interpreting unified diffs [5.12]
• Code review process [5.13]

LAB Trace a change through a CI/CD pipeline

• Secrets, encryption and data handling [4.8]
• Firewalls, DNS, load balancers and reverse proxies [4.9]
• OWASP threats: XSS, SQL injection, CSRF [4.10]
• Secure coding habits

LAB Find and fix insecure code

• Infrastructure as code principles [5.5]
• Ansible, Terraform and NSO capabilities [5.6]
• Interpreting Ansible playbooks [5.8]
• Interpreting Bash automation scripts [5.9]

LAB Read and fix an Ansible playbook

• Cisco Modeling Labs and pyATS [5.3]
• Testing changes before production
• Full-domain review
• Full-length practice exam

LAB Capstone: automate, test and verify a change