Ansible (or Python+Paramiko/Netmiko) seems to be the tool used in most do-it-yourself network automation presentations and videos. Did you know there’s a scripting/automation alternative that’s hugely popular in parts of sysadmin and virtualization universe that almost nobody talks about in networking (because everyone is focused on huge data center fabrics and unicorns) – PowerShell (now also available on OSX and Linux).

I know a few people that use PowerShell to automate physical and virtual networks: Mitja Robas is using it to manage SAN networks, Cisco UCS servers, routers that support REST API, and Nexus switches, and Anthony Burke and Nick Bradford wrote modules that allow you to manage VMware NSX.

The three of them will explain the basics of PowerShell, and how you can use it to manage physical or virtual network devices, including devices that don’t have vendor-supplied PowerShell cmdlets (as long as they support REST API)… and because they decided to do it for free, the webinar is free – all you have to do is register.