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Integration Overview

hier-config-cli is designed to integrate seamlessly with various automation tools and workflows. This section provides examples and best practices for integrating hier-config-cli into your network automation stack.

Integration Options

hier-config-cli can be integrated into your workflows in several ways:

Command-Line Integration

  • Direct shell execution
  • Shell scripts and batch processing
  • Cron jobs for scheduled tasks

Automation Frameworks

  • Nornir: Python-based automation framework
  • Ansible: Configuration management and automation
  • CI/CD Pipelines: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins

Programmatic Integration

  • Subprocess calls from Python
  • REST API wrappers
  • Custom automation tools

Common Integration Patterns

Pre-Change Validation

Use hier-config-cli to validate configuration changes before applying them:

graph LR
    A[Generate Config] --> B[Run hier-config-cli]
    B --> C{Review Output}
    C -->|Approved| D[Apply to Device]
    C -->|Rejected| E[Revise Config]
    E --> A

Post-Change Verification

Verify that changes were applied correctly:

graph LR
    A[Apply Config] --> B[Fetch Running Config]
    B --> C[Run hier-config-cli]
    C --> D{Differences?}
    D -->|None| E[Success]
    D -->|Found| F[Alert/Rollback]

Configuration Compliance

Continuously check for configuration drift:

graph LR
    A[Golden Config] --> B[Scheduled Job]
    B --> C[Fetch Running Config]
    C --> D[Run hier-config-cli]
    D --> E{Drift Detected?}
    E -->|Yes| F[Alert/Ticket]
    E -->|No| G[Continue Monitoring]
    G --> B

Integration Best Practices

1. Error Handling

Always check exit codes and handle errors appropriately:

#!/bin/bash

if hier-config-cli remediation \
  --platform ios \
  --running-config running.conf \
  --generated-config intended.conf \
  --output remediation.txt; then
  echo "Remediation generated successfully"
else
  echo "Error generating remediation"
  exit 1
fi

2. Logging

Enable verbose logging for troubleshooting:

# Add to your automation scripts
hier-config-cli -vv remediation \
  --platform ios \
  --running-config running.conf \
  --generated-config intended.conf \
  2>> hier-config-cli.log

3. File Management

Organize configuration files systematically:

configs/
├── running/
│   ├── router1_running.conf
│   ├── router2_running.conf
│   └── switch1_running.conf
├── intended/
│   ├── router1_intended.conf
│   ├── router2_intended.conf
│   └── switch1_intended.conf
└── output/
    ├── remediation/
    ├── rollback/
    └── future/

4. Version Control

Store all configurations in Git:

# Commit intended configs
git add configs/intended/
git commit -m "Update intended configurations"

# Generate and commit remediation
hier-config-cli remediation \
  --platform ios \
  --running-config configs/running/router1.conf \
  --generated-config configs/intended/router1.conf \
  --output configs/output/remediation/router1.txt

git add configs/output/remediation/router1.txt
git commit -m "Generate remediation for router1"

5. Parallel Processing

Process multiple devices concurrently:

#!/bin/bash

# Process devices in parallel
for device in router1 router2 switch1; do
  (
    hier-config-cli remediation \
      --platform ios \
      --running-config configs/running/${device}.conf \
      --generated-config configs/intended/${device}.conf \
      --output configs/output/remediation/${device}.txt
  ) &
done

# Wait for all background jobs
wait

echo "All devices processed"

Integration Examples

Quick Reference

Tool/Platform Page Use Case
Nornir Nornir Integration Python-based automation at scale
Ansible Ansible Integration Configuration management
GitHub Actions CI/CD Integration Automated testing and validation
GitLab CI CI/CD Integration Pipeline integration
Jenkins CI/CD Integration Legacy CI/CD systems

Simple Shell Script

#!/bin/bash
# simple-remediation.sh

DEVICE=$1
PLATFORM=$2

hier-config-cli remediation \
  --platform ${PLATFORM} \
  --running-config configs/running/${DEVICE}.conf \
  --generated-config configs/intended/${DEVICE}.conf \
  --output configs/output/${DEVICE}_remediation.txt

echo "Remediation generated for ${DEVICE}"

Usage: 

./simple-remediation.sh router1 ios

Python Wrapper

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Simple Python wrapper for hier-config-cli."""

import subprocess
import sys
from pathlib import Path

def generate_remediation(device: str, platform: str) -> bool:
    """Generate remediation for a device."""
    cmd = [
        "hier-config-cli",
        "remediation",
        "--platform", platform,
        "--running-config", f"configs/running/{device}.conf",
        "--generated-config", f"configs/intended/{device}.conf",
        "--output", f"configs/output/{device}_remediation.txt",
    ]

    try:
        result = subprocess.run(cmd, check=True, capture_output=True, text=True)
        print(f"✓ Remediation generated for {device}")
        return True
    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
        print(f"✗ Error generating remediation for {device}: {e.stderr}")
        return False

if __name__ == "__main__":
    if len(sys.argv) != 3:
        print("Usage: wrapper.py <device> <platform>")
        sys.exit(1)

    device = sys.argv[1]
    platform = sys.argv[2]

    success = generate_remediation(device, platform)
    sys.exit(0 if success else 1)

Next Steps

Explore specific integration guides: