What Are You Going to Test in Network Automation CI/CD Pipeline?
Network automation CI/CD pipeline seems to be the next hot thing, with vendors and bloggers describing in detail how you could get it done. How realistic is that idea for an average environment that’s barely starting its automation journey?
TL&DR: it will take a long time to get there, and lack of tests is the first showstopper.
Checking Network Device Configurations in a GitOps CI Pipeline
Here’s a fun fact network automation pundits don’t want to hear: if you’re working with replaceable device configurations (as we did for the past 20 years, at least those fortunate enough to buy Junos), you already meet the Infrastructure-as-Code requirements. Storing device configurations in a version control system and using reviews and merge requests to change them (aka GitOps) is just a cherry on the cake.
When I made a claim along these same lines a few weeks ago during the Network Automation Concepts webinar, Vladimir Troitskiy sent me an interesting question: