Nautobot Ansible Collection: Installation
This is the first post as I shift into taking a closer look at the Nautobot Ansible Collection. The collection includes many of the needed modules to effectively manage your Nautobot environment. If This will take a deeper dive into several of the components of the inventory plugin, but not all of the options. The documentation for all of the collection can be found at:
- ReadTheDocs: https://nautobot-ansible.readthedocs.io
- Galaxy Page: https://galaxy.ansible.com/networktocode/nautobot
This post is going to give information on how to install the collection as it may be applicable to every post in the series (as they get posted).
If you were a user of the NetBox Ansible Collection previously, you will notice a few differences. The first big difference in the modules is that there is no preface of nautobot_ before each module. Since this Collection is developed after Ansible 2.10 they are using the FQCN (Fully Qualified Collection Name), there is no longer the need to prefix the name to the module name. So where there was a netbox_device before it will now be just device, underneath the FQCN of networktocode.nautobot.device as an example.
Installation#
Installation is done via Ansible Galaxy. It is recommended to have the latest version of the collection when working on it as there are updates happening routinely. There is a Python requirement with many the modules of the pynautobot Python package.
It does not matter which order you install these in, you just need to install both before you start using the module.
Installation - pynautobot#
To install you execute the following to get the latest version of pynautobot:
Installation - Nautobot Collection#
The collection is installed via Ansible Galaxy as a primary method to install. You can also install the collection manually from GitHub, but the galaxy method is the preferred method.
If you add on --force at the end, Ansible Galaxy will install the latest version on top of what you may already have. If you already have a version of the collection installed, Galaxy will not overwrite what you already have.
Verification of Installation#
Once you have run the steps there are many ways to verify that the installation is completed successfully for the Python package. The one that I like to use is to execute a pip freeze | grep <package_name>. The execution looks like this on the current date:
To verify that you have installed the Nautobot Ansible Collection, you can execute the Ansible Doc command to get the current documentation. This is done as followed with the device module to verify that the docs load:
If the module is not installed properly you will see, with a key in on the first line
When the collection is installed properly you will see the following output with the command:
> NETWORKTOCODE.NAUTOBOT.DEVICE (/root/.ansible/collections/ansible_collections/networktocode/nautobot/plugins/modules/device.py)
Creates, updates or removes devices from Nautobot
OPTIONS (= is mandatory):
= data
Defines the device configuration
type: dict
SUBOPTIONS:
- asset_tag
Asset tag that is associated to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: str
- cluster
Cluster that the device will be assigned to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- comments
Comments that may include additional information in regards to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: str
- custom_fields
must exist in Nautobot
[Default: (null)]
type: dict
- device_role
Required if `state=present' and the device does not exist yet
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- device_type
Required if `state=present' and the device does not exist yet
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- face
Required if `rack' is defined
(Choices: Front, front, Rear, rear)[Default: (null)]
type: str
- local_context_data
Arbitrary JSON data to define the devices configuration variables.
[Default: (null)]
type: dict
= name
The name of the device
type: str
- platform
The platform of the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- position
The position of the device in the rack defined above
[Default: (null)]
type: int
- primary_ip4
Primary IPv4 address assigned to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- primary_ip6
Primary IPv6 address assigned to the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- rack
The name of the rack to assign the device to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- serial
Serial number of the device
[Default: (null)]
type: str
- site
Required if `state=present' and the device does not exist yet
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- status
The status of the device
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- tags
Any tags that the device may need to be associated with
[Default: (null)]
type: list
- tenant
The tenant that the device will be assigned to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- vc_position
Position in the assigned virtual chassis
[Default: (null)]
type: int
- vc_priority
Priority in the assigned virtual chassis
[Default: (null)]
type: int
- virtual_chassis
Virtual chassis the device will be assigned to
[Default: (null)]
type: raw
- query_params
This can be used to override the specified values in ALLOWED_QUERY_PARAMS that is defined
in plugins/module_utils/utils.py and provides control to users on what may make
an object unique in their environment.
[Default: (null)]
elements: str
type: list
- state
Use `present' or `absent' for adding or removing.
(Choices: absent, present)[Default: present]
type: str
= token
The token created within Nautobot to authorize API access
type: str
= url
URL of the Nautobot instance resolvable by Ansible control host
type: str
- validate_certs
If `no', SSL certificates will not be validated. This should only be used on personally
controlled sites using self-signed certificates.
[Default: True]
type: raw
NOTES:
* Tags should be defined as a YAML list
* This should be ran with connection `local' and hosts `localhost'
REQUIREMENTS: pynautobot
AUTHOR: Network to Code (@networktocode), David Gomez (@amb1s1)
METADATA:
metadata_version: '1.1'
status:
- preview
supported_by: community
VERSION_ADDED_COLLECTION: networktocode.nautobot
EXAMPLES:
- name: "Test Nautobot modules"
connection: local
hosts: localhost
gather_facts: False
tasks:
- name: Create device within Nautobot with only required information
networktocode.nautobot.device:
url: http://nautobot.local
token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Test Device
device_type: C9410R
device_role: Core Switch
site: Main
status: active
state: present
- name: Create device within Nautobot with empty string name to generate UUID
networktocode.nautobot.device:
url: http://nautobot.local
token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: ""
device_type: C9410R
device_role: Core Switch
site: Main
status: active
state: present
- name: Delete device within nautobot
networktocode.nautobot.device:
url: http://nautobot.local
token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Test Device
state: absent
- name: Create device with tags
networktocode.nautobot.device:
url: http://nautobot.local
token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Another Test Device
device_type: C9410R
device_role: Core Switch
site: Main
status: active
local_context_data:
bgp: "65000"
tags:
- Schnozzberry
state: present
- name: Update the rack and position of an existing device
networktocode.nautobot.device:
url: http://nautobot.local
token: thisIsMyToken
data:
name: Test Device
rack: Test Rack
position: 10
face: Front
state: present
RETURN VALUES:
- device
Serialized object as created or already existent within Nautobot
returned: success (when `state=present')
type: dict
- msg
Message indicating failure or info about what has been achieved
returned: always
type: str
Summary#
Overall the process for getting going with this collection is two steps, of installing the Python dependency and installing the collection via Ansible Galaxy. With these done, you are on your way to using the Nautobot Ansible Collection in your environment.
Up Next#
- Ansible Inventory with Nautobot collection
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