NAPALM

NAPALM (Network Automation and Programmability Abstraction Layer with Multivendor support) is a Python library that implements a set of functions to interact with different router vendor devices using a unified API.

NAPALM supports several methods to connect to the devices, to manipulate configurations or to retrieve data.

Supported Network Operating Systems

Please check the following link to see which devices are supported. Make sure you understand the caveats.

Documentation

Before using the library, please read the documentation at: Read the Docs

You can also watch a live demo of NAPALM to see what it is and what it can do for you.

Install

Full installation

If you want to fully install NAPALM you can do it by executing:

pip install napalm

That will install all the drivers currently available.

Partial Installation

If you want to install just a subset of the available modules you can just pick them as follows:

pip install napalm-eos napalm-junos

That will install only the eos and the junos drivers. If you want to remove or add a module later on you can just use pip to do it:

pip uninstall napalm-junos
pip install napalm-ios

Check the 'Supported Network Operating Systems' section for more information about supported modules.

Upgrading

We plan to upgrade napalm as fast as possible. Adding new methods and bugfixes. To upgrade napalm it's a simple as repeating the steps you performed while installing but adding the -U flag. For example:

pip install napalm -U

or:

pip install napalm-eos napalm-junos -U

We will be posting news on our slack channel and on Twitter (more details soon).

Automation Frameworks

Due to its flexibility, NAPALM can be integrated in widely used automation frameworks.

Ansible

Please check napalm-ansible for existing Ansible modules leveraging the NAPALM API. Make sure you read the documentation and you understand how it works before trying to use it.

SaltStack

Beginning with release code named Carbon (2016.11), NAPALM is fully integrated in SaltStack - no additional modules required. For setup recommendations, please see napalm-salt. For documentation and usage examples, you can check the modules documentation, starting from the release notes and this blog post.

Contact

Mailing List

If you have any questions, join the users' mailing list at [email protected] and if you are developer and want to contribute to NAPALM feel free to join to the developers' mailing list at [email protected]

Slack

Slack is probably the easiest way to get help with NAPALM. You can find us in the channel napalm on the network.toCode() team.

FAQ

If you have any issues using NAPALM or encounter any errors, before submitting any questions (directly by email or on Slack), please go through the following checklist:

• Make sure you have the latest release installed. We release very often, so upgrading to the latest version might help in many cases.
• Double or triple check if you indeed are able to access the device using the credentials provided.
• Does your device meet the minimum requirements?
• Some operating systems have some specific constraints. (e.g. have you enabled the XML agent on IOS-XR, or the NXAPI feature on NXOS?)
• Are you able to connect to the device using NAPALM? Check using the CLI test tool:

$ cl_napalm_test --vendor VENDOR --user USERNAME --password PASSWORD --optional_args OPTIONAL_ARGS HOSTNAME

Where vendor, username, password and hostname are mandatory. Optional arguments are specified as comma separated values.

Example:

$ cl_napalm_test --vendor junos --user napalm --password dbejmujz --optional_args 'port=12202, config_lock=False' edge01.bjm01

In case you have any errors, please review the steps above - this looks like a problem with your environment setup.

In order to get help faster, when submitting a bug/error make sure to include all the details requested.

News

Blog Posts

• NAPALM, Ansible, and Cisco IOS by Kirk Byers
• Adding Cisco IOS support to NAPALM (Network Automation and Programmability Abstraction Layer with Multivendor support) by Gabriele Gerbino
• Network orchestration with Salt and NAPALM by Mircea Ulinic

Presentations

• NANOG 64 Presentation & Demo by David Barroso and Elisa Jasinska
• Netnod Autumn Meeting 2015 Presentation by David Barroso
• Automating IXP Device Configurations with Ansible at the Euro-IX Forum by Elisa Jasinska
• Network Automation with Salt and NAPALM at NANOG 68; video; recorded demo by Mircea Ulinic

Podcasts

• NAPALM: Integrating Ansible with Network Devices on Software Gone Wild with David Barroso and Elisa Jasinska

Authors

• David Barroso ([email protected])
• Elisa Jasinska ([email protected])
• Many others, check the contributors page for details.

Thanks

This project was founded by David Barroso as part of Spotify and Elisa Jasinska as part of BigWave IT. Originally it was hosted by the Spotify organization but due to the many contributions received by third parties we agreed creating a dedicated organization for NAPALM and give a big thanks to Spotify for the support.