Stockpiler

Stockpiler gathers network device configurations and stores them in a local Git repository.

Stockpiler utilizes Nornir, Netmiko, and GitPython for a fully self-contained backup solution, and has been tested to function on Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Using Stockpiler

Once installed in an environment Stockpiler can be called directly/ad-hoc, or more commonly, by a Cron Job or other system scheduling tool such as creating a Systemd service.

The most basic execution of Stockpiler would be simply executing the following:

stockpiler

This will read the credentials from the Inventory or the environment, then attempt a backup of devices in the Nornir Inventory at /etc/stockpiler/inventory and put the resultant backups into a Git repository in /opt/stockpiler.

However, there are many configuration options available as well to specify Inventory location, provide custom credentials, utilize a SOCKS proxy, and so forth.

Another, more complex execution example could be:

 stockpiler \
 --inventory /home/brett/mah_inventory \
 --output /home/brett/stockpiler_backups \
 --proxy localhost:8000 \
 --log_level DEBUG \
 --logging_dir /home/brett/stockpiler_logs \
 --prompt_for_credentials

See stockpiler --help for full command information.

Credentials

By default, Stockpiler will look in the follwoing three Environment Variables for the username/password/enable_password to use:

• STOCKPILER_USER
• STOCKPILER_PW
• STOCKPILER_ENABLE

Note that if STOCKPILER_ENABLE is not set, Stockpiler will utilize the STOCKPILER_PW for both values.

In addition, if these values are not set, you must tell Stockpiler to prompt you for credentials with the argument --prompt_for_credentials. By default it will not do so, as it is intended to be run in a non-interactive scenario, i.e. by a Cron job, and will simply raise an IOError and exit.

Configuration

As Stockpiler utilizes Nornir for the underlying inventory and task handling, see the Nornir documentation for more information on creating an inventory file or your configuration options

While we have provided a simple nornir_conf.yaml file, you are welcome to provide your own or customize the one provided by the package. See the Nornir documentation on Configuration for more information on the options available to you.

If you are using Windows (or wish to host your inventory in a different location than /etc/stockpiler/inventory), you will need to create a custom Nornir config file with your inventory paths.

Installation

Notes:

1. Stockpiler utilizes a very recent release of Netmiko. This requires some specific handling (as outlined below), until other libraries update their dependencies.
2. Stockpiler requires Python 3.7 or higher.
3. Stockpiler utilizes Python Virtual Environments for isolation of the code/environment.

Installation Steps

1. Create a directory for the Stockpiler virtual environment: mkdir stockpiler
2. Create a virtual environment in that directory: python3 -m venv stockpiler
3. Navigate to the new directory and activate it: cd stockpiler;source bin/activate
4. Install Stockpiler: pip install stockpiler
5. Edit the dependencies, this will require you to find the Napalm and Nornir METADATA files in your virtual environment:
   • Paths should be similar to:
     • lib/python3.7/site-packages/napalm-2.5.0.dist-info/METADATA
   • In each file, find the lines similar to below that reference Netmiko:
     • Requires-Dist: netmiko (==2.4.2)
   • Edit it to include 3.0.0, similar to the below:
     • Requires-Dist: netmiko (>=2.4.2)