The need to know Python

In order to use Nornir you have to know some Python. This might come as wonderful news to you, or you might find it a bit scary. If you’re already a comfortable Python user, just go a head and hit next.

If you haven’t written any code before you might be heading somewhere else now. Before you go however, answer me this:

Do you know Excel?

Chances are that you know how to use Excel. It’s simple right. You just open a sheet and enter some data. It’s used by a lot of finance people and unfortunately it’s one of the most used IPAM solutions. Though aside from being a simple data entry tool, Excel has an insane amount of features. Most people will only use 5% of all the features. How good are you at Excel? Does it matter?

It’s the same way with Python, it can take very long time to fully master it. The good part is that you don’t have to become a master. As long as you know the very basics you will be able to use Nornir.

Python skills required

If you’ve never seen Python before, and don’t have any experience in other programming languages it will probably be a good idea to pick up the basics and come back here later.

In order to follow this tutorial you should be able to:

• Setup Python on your system (Linux or Mac)

• Install Virtualenv and Python packages

• Understand basic Python concepts such as:

  • Variables

  • Functions

  • Imports