netconf_config – netconf device configuration

Synopsis

  • Netconf is a network management protocol developed and standardized by the IETF. It is documented in RFC 6241.

  • This module allows the user to send a configuration XML file to a netconf device, and detects if there was a configuration change.

Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the host that executes this module.

  • ncclient

Parameters

Parameter Choices/Defaults Comments
backup
boolean
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
This argument will cause the module to create a full backup of the current running-config from the remote device before any changes are made. If the backup_options value is not given, the backup file is written to the backup folder in the playbook root directory or role root directory, if playbook is part of an ansible role. If the directory does not exist, it is created.
backup_options
dictionary
added in 2.8
This is a dict object containing configurable options related to backup file path. The value of this option is read only when backup is set to yes, if backup is set to no this option will be silently ignored.
dir_path
path
This option provides the path ending with directory name in which the backup configuration file will be stored. If the directory does not exist it will be first created and the filename is either the value of filename or default filename as described in filename options description. If the path value is not given in that case a backup directory will be created in the current working directory and backup configuration will be copied in filename within backup directory.
filename
-
The filename to be used to store the backup configuration. If the the filename is not given it will be generated based on the hostname, current time and date in format defined by <hostname>_config.<current-date>@<current-time>
commit
boolean
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
This boolean flag controls if the configuration changes should be committed or not after editing the candidate datastore. This option is supported only if remote Netconf server supports :candidate capability. If the value is set to False commit won't be issued after edit-config operation and user needs to handle commit or discard-changes explicitly.
confirm
-
added in 2.7
Default:
0
This argument will configure a timeout value for the commit to be confirmed before it is automatically rolled back. If the confirm_commit argument is set to False, this argument is silently ignored. If the value of this argument is set to 0, the commit is confirmed immediately. The remote host MUST support :candidate and :confirmed-commit capability for this option to .
confirm_commit
boolean
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
This argument will execute commit operation on remote device. It can be used to confirm a previous commit.
content
-
The configuration data as defined by the device's data models, the value can be either in xml string format or text format. The format of the configuration should be supported by remote Netconf server

aliases: xml
default_operation
-
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • merge
  • replace
  • none
The default operation for <edit-config> rpc, valid values are merge, replace and none. If the default value is merge, the configuration data in the content option is merged at the corresponding level in the target datastore. If the value is replace the data in the content option completely replaces the configuration in the target datastore. If the value is none the target datastore is unaffected by the configuration in the config option, unless and until the incoming configuration data uses the operation operation to request a different operation.
delete
boolean
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
It instructs the module to delete the configuration from value mentioned in target datastore.
error_option
-
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • stop-on-error ←
  • continue-on-error
  • rollback-on-error
This option controls the netconf server action after an error occurs while editing the configuration.
If error_option=stop-on-error, abort the config edit on first error.
If error_option=continue-on-error, continue to process configuration data on error. The error is recorded and negative response is generated if any errors occur.
If error_option=rollback-on-error, rollback to the original configuration if any error occurs. This requires the remote Netconf server to support the error_option=rollback-on-error capability.
format
-
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • xml ←
  • text
The format of the configuration provided as value of content. Accepted values are xml and text and the given configuration format should be supported by remote Netconf server.
host
string / required
Specifies the DNS host name or address for connecting to the remote device over the specified transport. The value of host is used as the destination address for the transport.
hostkey_verify
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
If set to yes, the ssh host key of the device must match a ssh key present on the host if set to no, the ssh host key of the device is not checked.
lock
-
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • never
  • always ←
  • if-supported
Instructs the module to explicitly lock the datastore specified as target. By setting the option value always is will explicitly lock the datastore mentioned in target option. It the value is never it will not lock the target datastore. The value if-supported lock the target datastore only if it is supported by the remote Netconf server.
look_for_keys
boolean
    Choices:
  • no
  • yes ←
Enables looking in the usual locations for the ssh keys (e.g. :file:`~/.ssh/id_*`)
password
string
Specifies the password to use to authenticate the connection to the remote device. This value is used to authenticate the SSH session. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_PASSWORD will be used instead.
port
integer
Default:
830
Specifies the port to use when building the connection to the remote device. The port value will default to port 830.
save
boolean
added in 2.4
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
The save argument instructs the module to save the configuration in target datastore to the startup-config if changed and if :startup capability is supported by Netconf server.
source_datastore
-
added in 2.7
Name of the configuration datastore to use as the source to copy the configuration to the datastore mentioned by target option. The values can be either running, candidate, startup or a remote URL

aliases: source
src
-
added in 2.4
Specifies the source path to the xml file that contains the configuration or configuration template to load. The path to the source file can either be the full path on the Ansible control host or a relative path from the playbook or role root directory. This argument is mutually exclusive with xml.
ssh_keyfile
path
Specifies the SSH key to use to authenticate the connection to the remote device. This value is the path to the key used to authenticate the SSH session. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_SSH_KEYFILE will be used instead.
target
-
added in 2.4
Default:
"auto"
Name of the configuration datastore to be edited. - auto, uses candidate and fallback to running - candidate, edit <candidate/> datastore and then commit - running, edit <running/> datastore directly

aliases: datastore
timeout
integer
Default:
10
Specifies the timeout in seconds for communicating with the network device for either connecting or sending commands. If the timeout is exceeded before the operation is completed, the module will error.
username
string
Configures the username to use to authenticate the connection to the remote device. This value is used to authenticate the SSH session. If the value is not specified in the task, the value of environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_USERNAME will be used instead.
validate
boolean
added in 2.7
    Choices:
  • no ←
  • yes
This boolean flag if set validates the content of datastore given in target option. For this option to work remote Netconf server should support :validate capability.

Notes

Note

  • This module requires the netconf system service be enabled on the remote device being managed.

  • This module supports devices with and without the candidate and confirmed-commit capabilities. It will always use the safer feature.

  • This module supports the use of connection=netconf

  • For information on using netconf see the Platform Options guide using Netconf

  • For more information on using Ansible to manage network devices see the Ansible Network Guide

  • This module is supported on ansible_network_os network platforms. See the Network Platform Options for details.

Examples

- name: use lookup filter to provide xml configuration
  netconf_config:
    content: "{{ lookup('file', './config.xml') }}"

- name: set ntp server in the device
  netconf_config:
    content: |
        <config xmlns:xc="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
            <system xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-system">
                <ntp>
                    <enabled>true</enabled>
                    <server>
                        <name>ntp1</name>
                        <udp><address>127.0.0.1</address></udp>
                    </server>
                </ntp>
            </system>
        </config>

- name: wipe ntp configuration
  netconf_config:
    content: |
        <config xmlns:xc="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
            <system xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-system">
                <ntp>
                    <enabled>false</enabled>
                    <server operation="remove">
                        <name>ntp1</name>
                    </server>
                </ntp>
            </system>
        </config>

- name: configure interface while providing different private key file path (for connection=netconf)
  netconf_config:
    backup: yes
  register: backup_junos_location
  vars:
    ansible_private_key_file: /home/admin/.ssh/newprivatekeyfile

- name: configurable backup path
  netconf_config:
    backup: yes
    backup_options:
      filename: backup.cfg
      dir_path: /home/user

Return Values

Common return values are documented here, the following are the fields unique to this module:

Key Returned Description
backup_path
string
when backup is yes
The full path to the backup file

Sample:
/playbooks/ansible/backup/config.2016-07-16@22:28:34
diff
dictionary
when diff is enabled
If --diff option in enabled while running, the before and after configuration change are returned as part of before and after key.

Sample:
{'after': '<rpc-reply> <data> <configuration> <version>17.3R1.10</version>...<--snip-->', 'before': '<rpc-reply> <data> <configuration> <version>17.3R1.10</version>...<--snip-->'}
server_capabilities
list
success
list of capabilities of the server

Sample:
['urn:ietf:params:netconf:base:1.1', 'urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:confirmed-commit:1.0', 'urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:candidate:1.0']


Status

Red Hat Support

More information about Red Hat’s support of this module is available from this Red Hat Knowledge Base article.

Authors

  • Leandro Lisboa Penz (@lpenz)

Hint

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