the worlds gone mad

we've lost the hope we had

Posted on 2 March 2022   4 min read

Pynetbox API calls using variables

using variables for netbox api urls and filters

Recently whilst using pynetbox to create NetBox environment objects I had a need to use variables in the URL of the API calls to allow for reusable functions to perform API calls based on the URL and data fed in as arguments. The reason the URL needs to be fed in as an argument when calling the function is because each NetBox element uses a different API URL.


Posted on 9 October 2021   13 min read

Nornir: Tasks, Plugins and Templates

building and running tasks

Nornir tasks are run against all or a subset of inventory members with the result formatted into a framework structured to show what was run against whom and the results. Tasks can be custom built python code or pre-built plugins that have been installed and imported.


Posted on 3 October 2021   10 min read

Nornir: Inventory Structure and Filtering

updating and filtering the inventory

The inventory is at the core of Nornir holding all the hosts that tasks will be run against and the variables that will be used by those tasks. Before any tasks can be run by Nornir the inventory has to be initialised.


Posted on 28 September 2021   12 min read

Nornir - The Basics

general nornir information to get started

If you have an understanding of Python and have been working with Ansible it is likely at some point you will get to the stage where you ask yourself ‘there has to be something better’. For network automation that better could well be Nornir.


Posted on 13 February 2021   15 min read

Automate Leaf and Spine Deployment - Part3

fabric variables and dynamic inventory

The 3rd post in the ‘Automate Leaf and Spine Deployment’ series goes the through the variables from which the core fabric declaration is made and how this transposes into a dynamic inventory. This uses only the base and fabric roles to create the fabric ready for the service sub-roles (tenant, interface and route) to be deployed on top of the fabric at a later stage.