[dev] FRRouting Ansible Module Discussion

Mon May 8 12:00:41 EDT 2017

Hi Phil,

For FRR we have been using the core Ansible template module to manage the
frr.conf configuration file.  Then to run an individual command I use the
core command or shell modules.  The reason for this is mostly so we don't
have to write any sort of custom API's or wrappers to configure FRR.
However you're idea is inline with many of the other vendors who have
implemented a config via cli module and command module for their
platforms.  Cumulus put out a module with Ansible 2.3 using NCLU:
http://docs.ansible.com/ansible/nclu_module.html which you can use to
configure FRR and for running arbitrary commands on FRR and Linux OS in
general.  To be fair NCLU is mostly used in a Cumulus specific environment
but if you want to do a command/config module I would take a look at that
one.  It kind of gives you the best of both worlds, CLI for running
commands and idempotency using a templated file.

There are pros and cons to using a command CLI model versus a template
model I would be happy to discuss and hear your thoughts it's something
we've been going through a lot internally and with customers.  I can see
the value of a command module to "wrapper" the vtysh -c stuff and
potentially eliminate the pain of order of operations.

Here are some examples of what we've been doing to maybe generate some
ideas:

Example of an adhoc command:
ansible -a "vtysh -c 'show ip route'" leaf01

Example for Ansible variable and template for configuring BGP (Since you
mentioned you wanted to write modules I'll drop the code example here):

Routing
v
ariables:

vars:
  bgp:
    leaf01:
      myasn: "64603"
      routerid: "10.30.1.1"
      aggregate: "10.0.0.0/8"
      networks: ["192.168.254.0/24","192.168.254.0/24"]
      internal_fabric:
        interfaces: ["swp49","swp50","swp51","swp52"]
        prefix_list_in: "allow_rack_subnets"
        prefix_list_out: "allow_default"

  prefix_lists:
    leaf01:
      allow_default:
        - "10 permit 0.0.0.0/0"
        - "100 deny any"
      allow_rack_subnets:
        - "10 permit 192.168.254.0/24"
        - "20 permit 10.0.0.0/8 le 32"
        - "100 deny any"

Template file:
{% set bgpvars = bgp[ansible_hostname] -%}
!
router bgp {{ bgpvars.myasn }}
 bgp router-id {{bgpvars.routerid}}
 bgp bestpath as-path multipath-relax
 aggregate-address {{bgpvars.aggregate}} summary-only
{% for network in bgpvars.networks %}
 network {{network}}
{% endfor %}
{### Build the spine/leaf fabric ###}
 neighbor internal_fabric peer-group
 neighbor internal_fabric remote-as external
 neighbor internal_fabric capability extended-nexthop
 neighbor internal_fabric prefix-list
{{bgpvars.internal_fabric.prefix_list_out}} out
 neighbor internal_fabric prefix-list
{{bgpvars.internal_fabric.prefix_list_in}} in
{### Configure interfaces ###}
{% for interface in bgpvars.internal_fabric.interfaces %}
 neighbor {{interface}} interface v6only peer-group internal_fabric
{% endfor %}
!
 address-family ipv6 unicast
  neighbor internal_fabric activate
 exit-address-family
!
{### Configure prefix lists ###}
{% set lists = prefix_lists[ansible_hostname] -%}
{% for list_name in lists.keys() -%}
  {% for seq in lists[list_name] %}
 ip prefix-list {{list_name}} seq {{seq}}
{% endfor %}
{% endfor %}
!
end

Regards,

Jason Heller
--
Consulting Architect | Cumulus Networks | +1 650.383.6700 x1193
<(650)%20383-6700>

Join Cumulus on Slack: https://slack.cumulusnetworks.com/
Connect with me @jaheller

On Wed, May 3, 2017 at 11:17 AM, Phil Huang <phil_huang at edge-core.com>
wrote:

> Hi Donald,
>
> Thanks for your introduction
>
> Hi Jason,
>
> Nice to meet you virtually
> May I know that do you have any plan to do it in your side?
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Open Networking Solution Engineer
> Open Networking Business Unit
> Edgecore Networks Corporation
>
> Mail: phil_huang at edge-core.com
> Tel: +886-3-563-8888 Ext: 3585
> http://blog.pichuang.com.tw
>
>
> On 03/05/2017, 02:42, "Donald Sharp" <sharpd at cumulusnetworks.com> wrote:
>
>     Phil -
>
>     I've cc'ed Jason Heller who has been working on a bunch of automation
>     work with Ansible.  I believe Jason might have some ideas for how to
>     proceed as well as a source to answer questions if you have any.
>
>     thanks!
>
>     donald
>
>     On Tue, May 2, 2017 at 12:12 PM, Phil Huang <phil_huang at edge-core.com>
> wrote:
>     > Hi Teams,
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > Since Anisble has released version 2.3, the most network vendor
> implement
>     > their own Ansible module into their automation solution.
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > I am intersting to develop FRRouting Ansible Module into FRRouting
> GitHub
>     > Repos.
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > Focus two modules:
>     >
>     > 1.       frr_config - Manage FRRouting configuration using CLI
>     >
>     > 2.       frr_command -  Run commands on remote devices running
> FRRouting
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > Does anyone have any idea?
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > Thanks
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > --
>     >
>     > Open Networking Solution Engineer
>     > Open Networking Business Unit
>     >
>     > Edgecore Networks Corporation
>     >
>     >
>     > Mail: phil_huang at edge-core.com
>     > Tel: +886-3-563-8888 Ext: 3585
>     >
>     > http://blog.pichuang.com.tw
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     >
>     > _______________________________________________
>     > dev mailing list
>     > dev at lists.frrouting.org
>     > https://lists.frrouting.org/listinfo/dev
>     >
>
>
>

-- 
Jason Heller
Consulting Architect | Cumulus Networks | +1 650.383.6700 x1193
<(650)%20383-6700>

Join Cumulus on Slack: https://slack.cumulusnetworks.com/
Connect with me @jaheller
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.frrouting.org/pipermail/dev/attachments/20170508/cc007b8f/attachment.html>