Example of Networking Inventory with Ansible

One of the many use cases for Ansible and the networking modules is to grab information in real time from the network. In this example I will generate a HTML report using the template module from facts I have gathered with the nxos_facts module.

The playbook

Only two modules are needed for this example. The nxos_facts module and the template module

---
- name: build NXOS inventory report
  hosts: nxos
  connection: network_cli
  gather_facts: False

  vars:
    desired_version: "7.0(3)I7(1)"
    file_path: /var/www/html/generated_report.html

  tasks:
    - name: gathering nxos facts
      nxos_facts:
        provider: "{{login_info}}"
      register: all_facts

    - name: create HTML report
      template:
        src: report.j2
        dest: "{{ file_path }}"
      delegate_to: localhost
      run_once: true

Running the playbook

Use the ansible-playbook command:

[root@localhost ansible_inventory_report]# ansible-playbook inventory.yml

PLAY [cisco] ******************************************************************

TASK [gathering nxos facts] ***************************************************
ok: [n9k3]
ok: [n9k4]
ok: [n9k5]
ok: [n9k2]
ok: [n9k]
ok: [n9k6]

TASK [create HTML report] *****************************************************
changed: [n9k -> localhost]

PLAY RECAP ********************************************************************
n9k                        : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0
n9k2                       : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
n9k3                       : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
n9k4                       : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
n9k5                       : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
n9k6                       : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0

A very similar playbook can be used to generate a report for Cisco IOS devices using the ios_facts module

[root@localhost ansible_inventory_report]# ansible-playbook inventory-ios.yml

PLAY [build IOS XE inventory] *************************************************

TASK [gathering IOS XE facts] *************************************************
ok: [172.26.249.162]
ok: [172.26.249.161]
ok: [172.26.249.164]
ok: [172.26.249.163]
ok: [172.26.249.160]
ok: [172.26.249.151]
ok: [172.26.249.166]
ok: [172.26.249.153]
ok: [172.26.249.169]
ok: [172.26.249.152]
ok: [172.26.249.154]
ok: [172.26.249.159]

TASK [create HTML report] ***************************************************
changed: [172.26.249.160 -> localhost]

PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************
172.26.249.151             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.152             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.153             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.154             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.159             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.160             : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.161             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.162             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.163             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.164             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.166             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0
172.26.249.169             : ok=1    changed=0    unreachable=0    failed=0

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Red Hat® Ansible® Automation consists of three products:

• Red Hat® Ansible® Tower: Built for operationalizing and scaling automation, managing complex deployments and speeding up productivity. Extend the power of Ansible Tower with Workflows and Surveys to streamline jobs and simple tools to share solutions with your team.

• Red Hat® Ansible® Engine: a fully supported product built on the foundational capabilities of the Ansible project. Also provides support for select modules including Infoblox.

• Red Hat® Ansible® Network Automation: provides support for select networking modules from Arista (EOS), Cisco (IOS, IOS XR, NX-OS), Juniper (JunOS), Open vSwitch, and VyOS. Includes Ansible Tower, Ansible Engine, and curated content specifically for network use cases.