Netconf enabled Platform Options

This page offers details on how the netconf connection works in Ansible and how to use it.

Connections available
Using NETCONF in Ansible

Connections available

	NETCONF all modules except `junos_netconf`, which enables NETCONF
Protocol	XML over SSH
Credentials	uses SSH keys / SSH-agent if present accepts `-u myuser -k` if using password
Indirect Access	via a bastion (jump host)
Connection Settings	`ansible_connection: ansible.netcommon.netconf`

The ansible_connection: local has been deprecated. Please use ansible_connection: ansible.netcommon.netconf instead.

Using NETCONF in Ansible

Enabling NETCONF

Before you can use NETCONF to connect to a switch, you must:

install the ncclient Python package on your control node(s) with pip install ncclient
enable NETCONF on the Junos OS device(s)

To enable NETCONF on a new switch via Ansible, use the platform specific module via the CLI connection or set it manually. For example set up your platform-level variables just like in the CLI example above, then run a playbook task like this:

- name: Enable NETCONF
  connection: ansible.netcommon.network_cli
  junipernetworks.junos.junos_netconf:
  when: ansible_network_os == 'junipernetworks.junos.junos'

Once NETCONF is enabled, change your variables to use the NETCONF connection.

Example NETCONF inventory [junos:vars]

[junos:vars]
ansible_connection=ansible.netcommon.netconf
ansible_network_os=junipernetworks.junos.junos
ansible_user=myuser
ansible_password=!vault |

Example NETCONF task

- name: Backup current switch config
  junipernetworks.junos.netconf_config:
    backup: yes
  register: backup_junos_location

Example NETCONF task with configurable variables

- name: configure interface while providing different private key file path
  junipernetworks.junos.netconf_config:
    backup: yes
  register: backup_junos_location
  vars:
    ansible_private_key_file: /home/admin/.ssh/newprivatekeyfile

Note: For netconf connection plugin configurable variables see ansible.netcommon.netconf.

Bastion/Jumphost configuration

To use a jump host to connect to a NETCONF enabled device you must set the ANSIBLE_NETCONF_SSH_CONFIG environment variable.

ANSIBLE_NETCONF_SSH_CONFIG can be set to either:: ;* 1 or TRUE (to trigger the use of the default SSH config file ~/.ssh/config)

The absolute path to a custom SSH config file.

The SSH config file should look something like:

Host *
  proxycommand ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -W %h:%p [email protected]
  StrictHostKeyChecking no

Authentication for the jump host must use key based authentication.

You can either specify the private key used in the SSH config file:

IdentityFile "/absolute/path/to/private-key.pem"

Or you can use an ssh-agent.

ansible_network_os auto-detection

If ansible_network_os is not specified for a host, then Ansible will attempt to automatically detect what network_os plugin to use.

ansible_network_os auto-detection can also be triggered by using auto as the ansible_network_os. (Note: Previously default was used instead of auto).

Warning

Never store passwords in plain text. We recommend using SSH keys to authenticate SSH connections. Ansible supports ssh-agent to manage your SSH keys. If you must use passwords to authenticate SSH connections, we recommend encrypting them with Ansible Vault.