Automating Config Deployment with NetBox
At BCIX we have moved from writing switch configurations by hand to a mostly automated process centered around NetBox.
Previously, the information required for the network switch configurations has been scattered across different tools and locations:
- IXP Manager (an open-source management platform designed to facilitate the operations and administration of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) developed by INEX)
- NetBox
- existing device configurations.
This over time created inconsistencies. To solve this issue, we have come up with a four step plan:
- Collecting Data in NetBox using ansible
- Generating the configs with jinja2-templates
- Compare and validate actual vs intended configurations
- Deployment of the configs on the switches
This improved consistency across IXP Manager, NetBox and the switch configurations. Additionally this has enabled us to leverage NetBox for further automation tasks like preparing, announcing and doing Maintenances on the BCIX Peering Platform more efficiently.
