autocml 0.0.5

A set of wrapper libraries and command line tools for interacting with Cisco's CML or VIRL2 application

AutoCML

Authentication

This library (and associated scripts) supports authentication via environment variables. This library supports a variety of different variable names, meant to suit the different names Cisco already uses.

Purpose	This Library	VIRL Library	Breakout Tool	Example
CML Controller	CML_HOST	VIRL2_URL	BREAKOUT_CONTROLLER	192.168.0.50
Username	CML_USER	VIRL2_USER	BREAKOUT_USERNAME	admin
Password (Base-64)	CML_PASS64			cGFzc3dvcmQ=
Password	CML_PASS	VIRL2_PASS	BREAKOUT_PASSWORD	password

Any combination of the above variables can be used, although the leftmost variable name will be prioritized in case of conflicts. Using CML_PASS64 is recommended (and prioritized over other password variables) to prevent the likelyhood of successful shoulder-surfers.

Bash example

CML_HOST="<cml server hostname/IP address>"
CML_USER="admin"
CML_PASS="password"

Note: Above example uses a plaintext password. I first recommend converting it to base64, then passing it in a CML_PASS64 environment variable.

Installing

The following should work in both Linux/Bash, and PowerShell.

pip install virl2-client # Install official VIRL/CML library from Cisco
pip install autocml # Install this library + associated utilities

Scripts

This library includes common scripts/commands useful for administrative purposes, or for automating common lab scenarios.

cml-add-users

Loads in a CSV file containing a list of users (a sample CSV can be saved by running cml-add-users --template <OUTPUT TEMPLATE FILENAME>

By default, it adds the users in the csv file to the authenticated CML instance. It only adds/affects users that do not already exist.

Can also delete users that are listed in the csv, if a --delete flag is passed.

Example template:

Username,Password,Full Name,Description,Roles,Groups
user1,plaintext password,User One,The first user,admin,admin_group
user2,another_password,User Two,The second user,,"net378,net123"

Example usage: cml-add-users <USER CSV FILENAME>

View help info for more details (cml-add-users --help)

(Currently untested as the primary author does not have admin access to a multi-user instance)

cml-verify-ints

Asserts a lab's interfaces against a .csv file. The csv file must have exactly three columns, (device ID/label, interface, and IP address (with optional CIDR notation)) and may look like the following:

Node Label,Int,IPv4
n0,GigabitEthernet0/0,192.168.0.24/26
R2,Fa0/2,10.1.34.2/24
R3,L1,10.255.0.3/32

One ran, it will print a report showing which interfaces match, or do not match. Interfaces not listed will not be checked.

Can also dump a CSV of interfaces, that can later be used with this utility to double-check interface addresses.

Also has a flag to emit results as JSON, although it cannot read in JSON inputs.

cml-bulk-labs

Allows for downloading/uploading/deleting lab YAMLs in bulk for archival purposes. Useful when migrating YAML labs files from one CML controller to another (like for a fresh upgrade).

View the help for detailed configuration options/features (cml-bulk-labs --help)

cml-dump-cfgs (WIP)

cml-dump-cmds (WIP)

cml-dump-pings (WIP)

cml-pcap (WIP)

cml-start-session (WIP)

Opens a tabbed terminal emulator to have a tab for each node's console within a lab.