Cisco NSO

Cisco NSO is a tool for multi vendor network automation. See https://cisco-tailf.gitbook.io/nso-docs for documentation.

Installation

  • Download the docker container and any NEDs from https://software.cisco.com/download/home/286331591/type. You can also use NEDs from 3rd parties or make your own.

  • You need to extract the docker image and load and tag it in docker. See the commands below.

sh nso-6.4-freetrial.container-image-prod.linux.x86_64.signed.bin
docker load -i nso-6.4.container-image-prod.linux.x86_64.tar.gz
docker tag cisco-nso-prod:6.4 cisco-nso-prod

Notes:

  • The download is a 90 Day trial.

  • You can also provide your own docker image or add a license following the Cisco documentation.

  • You must update the Docker tag when switching to a new version

Using NSO

  • Add the following lines to the lab topology file to enable NSO.

tools:
  nso:

  • The URL used to connect to NSO is printed during netlab up process.

  • You can connect to the CLI with the netlab connect nso command. You can edit the NSO configs this way and access the Cisco NSO CLI with the ncs_cli -C -u admin command.

  • You have to reload NSO after making configuration changes with the ncs --reload command.

Notes:

  • Username is admin and password is admin.

  • The Cisco NSO tool was tested with with production image of release 6.4. The development image is used for creating NEDs.

  • WebUI and Local Authentication have been enabled and NED Package upload has been enabled by the WebUI.

  • Data collected by NSO is stored on a lab-specific Docker volume and remains intact across lab runs until you execute the netlab down –cleanup command.