Cisco pyATS Network Test and Automation Solution: Data-driven and reusable testing for modern networks

• Copyright 2025
• Dimensions: 7-3/8" x 9-1/8"
• Pages: 720
• Edition: 1st

• Book
• ISBN-10: 0-13-803167-3
• ISBN-13: 978-0-13-803167-1

Unlock the power of automated network testing with the Cisco pyATS framework.

Written by industry experts John Capobianco and Dan Wade, Cisco pyATSNetwork Test and Automation Solution is a comprehensive guide to the Cisco pyATS framework, a Python-based environment for network testing, device configuration, parsing, APIs, and parallel programming.

Capobianco and Wade offer in-depth insights into the extensive capabilities of pyATS and the pyATS library (Genie). You'll learn how to leverage pyATS for network testing, including software version testing, interface testing, neighbor testing, and reachability testing. You'll discover how to generate intent-based configurations, create mock devices, and integrate pyATS into larger workflows using CI/CD pipelines and artificial intelligence. You'll explore the pyATS Blitz feature, which introduces a low-code no-code approach to network testing by allowing you to configure devices and write test cases using YAML, much like Ansible. And you'll learn how to reset devices during or after testing with the pyATS Clean feature, build a pyATS image from scratch for containerized application deployment, and much more.

Whether you're a network professional, software developer, or preparing for the Cisco DevNet Expert Lab exam, this book is a must-have resource.

Understand the foundations of NetDevOps and the modern network engineer's toolkit

• Install, upgrade, and work with the pyATS framework and library
• Define test cases, control the flow of test execution, and review test results with built-in reporting features
• Generate automated network documentation with Jinja2 templates and Genie Conf objects
• Apply CI/CD practices in network automation with GitLab, Ansible, and pyATS
• Leverage artificial intelligence in pyATS for enhanced network automation

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pyATS Triggers and Verifications

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Table of Contents

    Introduction xxx

Chapter 1 Foundations of NetDevOps 1

    Traditional Network Operations 2

    Software Development Methodologies 11

    NetDevOps 14

    Comparing Network Automation Tools 21

    The Modern Network Engineer Toolkit 22

    CI/CD 32

    Summary 35

    References 36

Chapter 2 Installing and Upgrading pyATS 37

    Installing pyATS 37

    Upgrading pyATS 42

    Troubleshooting pyATS 45

    Summary 47

Chapter 3 Testbeds 49

    What Is YAML? 49

    What Is a Testbed? 51

    Device Connection Abstractions 60

    Testbed Validation 63

    Dynamic Testbeds 66

    Intent-based Networking with Extended Testbeds 68

    Summary 70

Chapter 4 AEtest Test Infrastructure 73

    Getting Started with AEtest 74

    Testscript Structure 75

    AEtest Object Model 82

    Runtime Behavior 85

    Test Results 88

    Processors 91

    Data-Driven Testing 94

    Running Testscripts 108

    Testscript Flow Control 117

    Reporting 126

    Debugging 133

    Summary 134

Chapter 5 pyATS Parsers 137

    Vendor-Agnostic Automation 138

    pyATS learn 139

    pyATS Parsers 146

    Parsing at the CLI 148

    Parsing with Python 159

    Dictionary Query 160

    Differentials 162

    Summary 167

Chapter 6 Test-Driven Development 169

    Introduction to Test-Driven Development 170

    Applying Test-Driven Development to Network Automation 172

    Introduction to pyATS 174

    The pyATS Framework 175

    Summary 187

    Endnotes 188

Chapter 7 Automated Network Documentation 189

    Introduction to pyATS Jobs 190

    Running pyATS Jobs from the CLI 196

    pyATS Job CLI Logs 199

    pyATS Logs HTML Viewer 203

    Jinja2 Templating 205

    Business-Ready Documents 206

    Summary 232

    References 232

Chapter 8 Automated Network Testing 233

    An Approach to Network Testing 234

    Software Version Testing 235

    Interface Testing 243

    Neighbor Testing 259

    Reachability Testing 262

    Intent Validation Testing 267

    Feature Testing 271

    Summary 276

Chapter 9 pyATS Triggers and Verifications 279

    Genie Objects 279

    Genie Harness 282

    Verifications 286

    Triggers 290

    Trigger and Verification Example 296

    Summary 301

Chapter 10 Automated Configuration Management 303

    Intent-Based Network Configuration 303

    Generating Configurations with pyATS 304

    Configuring Devices with pyATS 309

    Summary 320

Chapter 11 Network Snapshots 321

    Network Profiling 321

    Comparing Network State 324

    Polling Expected State 332

    Robot Framework with Genie 333

    Summary 335

    References 335

Chapter 12 Recordings, Playbacks, and Mock Devices 337

    Recording pyATS jobs 337

    Playback Recordings 341

    Mock Devices 342

    Mock Device CLI 344

    Summary 345

Chapter 13 Working with Application Programming Interfaces (API) 347

    pyATS APIs 347

    REST Connector 353

    YANG Connector 385

    gNMI 389

    Summary 395

Chapter 14 Parallel Call (pcall) 397

    Scaling Performance 397

    Parallel Call (pcall) 400

    Performance Comparison 406

    Summary 409

Chapter 15 pyATS Clean 411

    Getting Started 411

    Clean YAML 423

    Clean Execution 436

    Developing Clean Stages 443

    Summary 456

Chapter 16 pyATS Blitz 459

    Blitz YAML 459

    Blitz Usage 481

    Blitz Development 481

    Custom Blitz Actions 481

    Custom Blitz Sections 482

    Useful Tips 483

    Summary 484

Chapter 17 Chatbots with Webex 485

    Integrating pyATS with Webex 486

    pyATS Job Integration 487

    pyATS Health Check Integration 489

    Adaptive Cards 490

    Customized Job Notifications 492

    Summary 502

Chapter 18 Running pyATS as a Container 503

    Introduction to Containers 504

    pyATS Official Docker Container 506

    pyATS Image Builder 507

    Building a pyATS Image from Scratch 510

    Summary 513

Chapter 19 pyATS Health Check 515

    Health Checks 515

    Custom Health Checks 517

    Health Check Usage 523

    Summary 525

Chapter 20 XPRESSO 527

    Installing XPRESSO 529

    Getting Started with XPRESSO 536

    Transforming a pyATS Job into XPRESSO 538

    Summary 556

Chapter 21 CI/CD with pyATS 557

    What Is CI/CD? 557

    CI/CD In NetDevOps 560

    NetDevOps Scenario 562

    NetDevOps in Action 565

    Whats Next? 572

    Summary 573

Chapter 22 Robot Framework 575

    What Is the Robot Framework? 575

    Getting Started with Robot Framework 576

    Robot Integration with pyATS 582

    Summary 590

Chapter 23 Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in pyATS 591

    OpenAI API 597

    Retrieval Augmented Generation with LangChain 612

    Rapid Prototyping with Streamlit 621

    Summary 631

Appendix A Writing Your Own Parser 633

Appendix B Secret Strings 651

9780138031671, TOC, 6/5/2024

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