What is Nornir?

Nornir is an automation framework written in Python. These days there are several automation frameworks. What makes Nornir different is that you write Python code in order to use Nornir. This is to be compared to other frameworks which typically use their own configuration language.

Why does this matter?

Typically, a specific configuration language is easy to use in a basic way. Though after a while you need to use more advanced features and might have to extend that configuration language with another programming language. While this works, it can be very hard to troubleshoot once it’s started to grow.

As Nornir allows you to use pure Python code, you can troubleshoot and debug it in the same way as you would do with any other Python code.

What does it compare to?

In some ways, you could compare Nornir to Flask, which is a web framework that allows you to create web applications. Flask provides an easy to use interface which lets you build powerful websites without forcing you to work in a particular way.

Nornir lets you automate your environment by providing you an interface which does a lot of the heavy lifting.

How much Python do you need do know?

As you write Python code to control Nornir, it’s assumed that you are somewhat familiar with Python. But how good do you have to be with Python in order to make use of Nornir? That’s actually the topic for the next section spoiler alert Not a lot!