The SwiNOG 40 event started with an interesting presentation on Building Trustworthy Network Automation (video) by Damien Garros (now CEO @ OpsMill) who discussed the principles one can use to build a trustworthy network automation solution, including idempotency, dry runs, and transactional changes. He also covered the crucial roles of the declarative approach, version control, and testing.

If you have ever watched any of my network automation materials, you won’t be surprised by anything he said, but if you’re just starting your network automation journey, you MUST watch this presentation to get your bearings straight.