To get the most out of this book

The hardware and software requirements for this book are Python (3.5 onward), IIS, Windows, Linux, an Ansible installation, and real routers.

You need an internet connection to download the Python libraries. Also, basic knowledge of Python, along with knowledge of networking and basic familiarity with web servers such as IIS, is required.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packt.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packt.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.

You can download the code files by following these steps:

1. Log in or register at www.packt.com.
2. Select the SUPPORT tab.
3. Click on Code Downloads & Errata.
4. Enter the name of the book in the Search box and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:

• WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
• Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
• 7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux

The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Practical-Network-Automation-Second-Edition. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781789955651_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "From the installation directory, we just need to invoke python.exe, which will invoke the Python interpreter."

A block of code is set as follows:

index="main" earliest=0 | where interface_name="Loopback45" | dedup interface_name,router_name | where interface_status="up" | stats values(interface_name) values(interface_status) by router_name | table router_name

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

# map URL to Classes
app.add_route("/decode", decod)
app.add_route('/encode', encod)

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

pip install gevent

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.