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Important: ciscoconfparse2

As of December 14, 2023 ciscoconfparse2 is released; this is equivalent to version 2.0 of ciscoconfparse, but ciscoconfparse2 is a different PYPI project.

You should upgrade; here's why, ciscoconfparse2:

Introduction: What is ciscoconfparse?

Short answer: ciscoconfparse is a Python library that helps you quickly answer questions like these about your Cisco configurations:

It can help you:

Speaking generally, the library examines an IOS-style config and breaks it into a set of linked parent / child relationships. You can perform complex queries about these relationships.

Cisco IOS config: Parent / child

Generic Usage

The following code will parse a configuration stored in exampleswitch.conf and select interfaces that are shutdown.

In this case, the parent is a line containing interface and the child is a line containing the word shutdown.

from ciscoconfparse import CiscoConfParse

parse = CiscoConfParse('exampleswitch.conf', syntax='ios')

for intf_obj in parse.find_parent_objects('^interface', '^\s+shutdown'):
    print("Shutdown: " + intf_obj.text)

The next example will find the IP address assigned to interfaces.

from ciscoconfparse import CiscoConfParse

parse = CiscoConfParse('exampleswitch.conf', syntax='ios')

for ccp_obj in parse.find_objects('^interface'):

    intf_name = ccp_obj.re_match_typed('^interface\s+(\S.+?)$')

    # Search children of all interfaces for a regex match and return
    # the value matched in regex match group 1.  If there is no match,
    # return a default value: ''
    intf_ip_addr = ccp_obj.re_match_iter_typed(
        r'ip\saddress\s(\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)\s', result_type=str,
        group=1, default='')
    print(f"{intf_name}: {intf_ip_addr}")

Cisco IOS Factory Usage

CiscoConfParse has a special feature that abstracts common IOS / NXOS / ASA / IOSXR fields; at this time, it is only supported on those configuration types. You will see factory parsing in CiscoConfParse code as parsing the configuration with factory=True. A fraction of these pre-parsed Cisco IOS fields follows; some variables are not used below, but simply called out for quick reference.

from ciscoconfparse import IPv4Obj, IPv6Obj
from ciscoconfparse import CiscoConfParse

##############################################################################
# Parse an example Cisco IOS HSRP configuration from:
#     tests/fixtures/configs/sample_08.ios
#
# !
# interface FastEthernet0/0
#  ip address 172.16.2.1 255.255.255.0
#  ipv6 dhcp server IPV6_2FL_NORTH_LAN
#  ipv6 address fd01:ab00::/64 eui-64
#  ipv6 address fe80::1 link-local
#  ipv6 enable
#  ipv6 ospf 11 area 0
#  standby 110 ip 172.16.2.254
#  standby 110 ipv6 autoconfig
#  standby 110 priority 150
#  standby 110 preempt delay minimum 15
#  standby 110 track Dialer1 75
#  standby 110 track FastEthernet 0/1
#  standby 110 track FastEthernet1/0 30
#  standby 111 ip 172.16.2.253
#  standby 111 priority 150
#  standby 111 preempt delay minimum 15
#  standby 111 track Dialer1 50
#
##############################################################################
parse = CiscoConfParse('tests/fixtures/configs/sample_08.ios', syntax='ios', factory=True)
for ccp_obj in parse.find_objects('^interface'):

    # Skip if there are no HSRPInterfaceGroup() instances...
    if len(ccp_obj.hsrp_interfaces) == 0:
        continue

    # Interface name, such as 'FastEthernet0/0'
    intf_name = ccp_obj.name

    # Interface description
    intf_description = ccp_obj.description

    # IPv4Obj
    intf_v4obj = ccp_obj.ipv4_addr_object

    # IPv4 address object: ipaddress.IPv4Address()
    intf_v4addr = ccp_obj.ipv4_addr_object.ip

    # IPv4 netmask object: ipaddress.IPv4Address()
    intf_v4masklength = ccp_obj.ipv4_addr_object.masklength

    # set() of IPv4 secondary address/prefixlen strings
    intf_v4secondary_networks = ccp_obj.ip_secondary_networks

    # set() of IPv4 secondary address strings
    intf_v4secondary_addresses = ccp_obj.ip_secondary_addresses

    # List of HSRP IPv4 addrs from the ciscoconfpasre/models_cisco.py HSRPInterfaceGroup()
    intf_hsrp_addresses = [hsrp_grp.ip for hsrp_grp in ccp_obj.hsrp_interfaces]

    # A bool for using HSRP bia mac-address...
    intf_hsrp_usebia = any([ii.use_bia for ii in ccp_obj.hsrp_interfaces])

    ##########################################################################
    # Print a simple interface summary
    ##########################################################################
    print("----")
    print(f"Interface {ccp_obj.interface_object.name}: {intf_v4addr}/{intf_v4masklength}")
    print(f"  Interface {intf_name} description: {intf_description}")

    ##########################################################################
    # Print HSRP Group interface tracking information
    ##########################################################################
    print("")
    print(f"  HSRP tracking for {set([ii.interface_name for ii in ccp_obj.hsrp_interfaces])}")
    for hsrp_intf_group in ccp_obj.hsrp_interfaces:
        group = hsrp_intf_group.hsrp_group
        # hsrp_intf_group.interface_tracking is a list of dictionaries
        if len(hsrp_intf_group.interface_tracking) > 0:
            print(f"  --- HSRP Group {group} ---")
            for track_intf in hsrp_intf_group.interface_tracking:
                print(f"    --- Tracking {track_intf.interface} ---")
                print(f"    Tracking interface: {track_intf.interface}")
                print(f"    Tracking decrement: {track_intf.decrement}")
                print(f"    Tracking weighting: {track_intf.weighting}")


    ##########################################################################
    # Break out inidividual interface name components
    #   Example: 'Serial3/4/5.6:7 multipoint'
    ##########################################################################
    # The base ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() instance
    intf_cisco_interface = ccp_obj.interface_object
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() name, 'Serial3/4/5.6:7 multipoint'
    intf_name = ccp_obj.interface_object.name
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() prefix, 'Serial'
    intf_prefix = ccp_obj.interface_object.prefix
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() digit separator, '/'
    digit_separator = ccp_obj.interface_object.digit_separator or ""
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() slot, 3
    intf_slot = ccp_obj.interface_object.slot or ""
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() card, 4
    intf_card = ccp_obj.interface_object.card or ""
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() card, 5
    intf_port = ccp_obj.interface_object.port
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() subinterface, 6
    intf_subinterface = ccp_obj.interface_object.subinterface or ""
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() channel, 7
    intf_channel = ccp_obj.interface_object.channel or ""
    # The ciscoconfparse/ccp_util.py CiscoInterface() interface_class, 'multipoint'
    intf_class = ccp_obj.interface_object.interface_class or ""

    ##########################################################################
    # Extract all IPv4Obj() with re_match_iter_typed()
    ##########################################################################
    _default = None
    for _obj in ccp_obj.children:
        # Get a dict() from re_match_iter_typed() by caling it with 'groupdict'
        intf_dict = _obj.re_match_iter_typed(
            # Add a regex match-group called 'v4addr'
            r"ip\s+address\s+(?P<v4addr>\S.+?\d)\s*(?P<secondary>secondary)*$",
            # Cast the v4addr regex match group as an IPv4Obj() type
            groupdict={"v4addr": IPv4Obj, "secondary": str},
            # Default to None if there is no regex match
            default=_default,
        )
        intf_ipv4obj = intf_dict["v4addr"]

    ##########################################################################
    # Extract all IPv6Obj() with re_match_iter_typed()
    ##########################################################################
    _default = None
    for _obj in ccp_obj.children:
        # Get a dict() from re_match_iter_typed() by caling it with 'groupdict'
        intf_dict = _obj.re_match_iter_typed(
            # Add regex match-groups called 'v6addr' and an optional 'ipv6type'
            r"ipv6\s+address\s+(?P<v6addr>\S.+?\d)\s*(?P<v6type>eui.64|link.local)*$",
            # Cast the v6addr regex match group as an IPv6Obj() type
            groupdict={"v6addr": IPv6Obj, "v6type": str},
            # Default to None if there is no regex match
            default=_default,
        )
        intf_ipv6obj = intf_dict["v6addr"]
        intf_ipv6type = intf_dict["v6type"]
        # Skip this object if it has no IPv6 address
        if intf_ipv6obj is _default:
            continue

When that is run, you will see information similar to this...

----
Interface FastEthernet0/0: 172.16.2.1/24
  Interface FastEthernet0/0 description: [IPv4 and IPv6 desktop / laptop hosts on 2nd-floor North LAN]

  HSRP Group tracking for {'FastEthernet0/0'}
  --- HSRP Group 110 ---
    --- Tracking Dialer1 ---
    Tracking interface: Dialer1
    Tracking decrement: 75
    Tracking weighting: None
    --- Tracking FastEthernet 0/1 ---
    Tracking interface: FastEthernet 0/1
    Tracking decrement: 10
    Tracking weighting: None
    --- Tracking FastEthernet1/0 ---
    Tracking interface: FastEthernet1/0
    Tracking decrement: 30
    Tracking weighting: None
  --- HSRP Group 111 ---
    --- Tracking Dialer1 ---
    Tracking interface: Dialer1
    Tracking decrement: 50
    Tracking weighting: None
GRP {'addr': <IPv6Obj fd01:ab00::/64>}
RESULT <IOSIntfLine # 231 'FastEthernet0/0' primary_ipv4: '172.16.2.1/24'> <IPv6Obj fd01:ab00::/64>

Are there private copies of CiscoConfParse()?

Yes. Cisco Systems maintains their own copy of CiscoConfParse(). The terms of the GPLv3 license allow this as long as they don't distribute their modified private copy in binary form. Also refer to this GPLv3 License primer / GPLv3 101. Officially, modified copies of CiscoConfParse source-code must also be licensed as GPLv3.

Dear Cisco Systems: please consider porting your improvements back into the github ciscoconfparse repo.

Are you releasing licensing besides GPLv3?

I will not; however, you can take the solution Cisco does above as long as you comply with the GPLv3 terms. If it's truly a problem for your company, there are commercial solutions available (to include purchasing the project, or hiring me).

What if we don't use Cisco IOS?

Don't let that stop you.

As of CiscoConfParse 1.2.4, you can parse brace-delimited configurations into a Cisco IOS style (see Github Issue #17), which means that CiscoConfParse can parse these configurations:

CiscoConfParse also handles anything that has a Cisco IOS style of configuration, which includes:

Docs

Installation and Downloads

If you're interested in the source, you can always pull from the github repo:

Github Star History

Github Star History Chart

What is the pythonic way of handling script credentials?

  1. Never hard-code credentials
  2. Use python-dotenv

Is this a tool, or is it artwork?

That depends on who you ask. Many companies use CiscoConfParse as part of their network engineering toolbox; others regard it as a form of artwork.

Pre-requisites

The ciscoconfparse python package requires Python versions 3.7+ (note: Python version 3.7.0 has a bug - ref Github issue #117, but version 3.7.1 works); the OS should not matter.

Other Resources

Bug Tracker and Support

Dependencies

Unit-Tests and Development

Semantic Versioning and Conventional Commits

Execute Unit tests

The project's test workflow checks ciscoconfparse on Python versions 3.7 and higher, as well as a pypy JIT executable.

If you already git cloned the repo and want to manually run tests either run with make test from the base directory, or manually run with pytest in a unix-like system...

$ cd tests
$ pytest -vvs ./test_*py
...

Execute Miss Report

If you already have have pytest and pytest-cov installed, run a test line miss report as shown below.

$ cd tests
$ pytest --cov-report=term-missing --cov=ciscoconfparse ./
...

Editing the Package

This uses the example of editing the package on a git branch called develop...

Sphinx Documentation

Building the ciscoconfparse documentation tarball comes down to this one wierd trick:

License and Copyright

ciscoconfparse is licensed GPLv3

The word "Cisco" is a registered trademark of Cisco Systems.

Author

ciscoconfparse was written by David Michael Pennington (mike [~at~] pennington [.dot.] net).

Interesting Users (and some downstream projects)

The following are featured CiscoConfParse users / projects:

Other Useful Network Management Projects