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

pip install napalm

Note: Beginning with release 3.0.0 and later, NAPALM offers support for Python 3.6+ only.

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

We will be posting news on our slack channel and on Twitter.

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.

StackStorm

NAPALM is usable from StackStorm using the NAPALM integration pack. See that repository for instructions on installing and configuring the pack to work with StackStorm. General StackStorm documentation can be found at https://docs.stackstorm.com/, and StackStorm can be easily spun up for testing using Vagrant or Docker.

Contact

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 check you 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 napalm CLI to get_facts:

$ napalm --vendor VENDOR --user USERNAME --password PASSWORD --optional_args OPTIONAL_ARGS HOSTNAME call get_facts

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

Example:

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

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
• Network Configuration Consistency with StackStorm and NAPALM by Matt Oswalt

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 (dbarrosop@dravetech.com)
• Mircea Ulinic (ping@mirceaulinic.net)
• Kirk Byers (ktbyers@twb-tech.com)
• Elisa Jasinska (elisa@bigwaveit.org)
• Many others, check the contributors page for details.

Thanks

This project is maintained by David Barroso, Mircea Ulinic, and Kirk Byers and a set of other contributors.

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.