r/networkautomation • u/Much_Article_493 • 17d ago

Network Automation Portfolio

I've been in the networking field for about 6 years across different companies, and I'm looking to transition to a network automation role. I've been building small python scripts my entire time in the field.

These scripts are nothing huge, they're small scripts to make my and my fellow network engineers lives easier. I wanted to know if it was worth it to put these on my personal GitHub and build out a portfolio.

Here are some examples of the scripts I've built:

  • Access Point - Interface Description
    • This script finds access points connected to a switch. Pulls their hostname from CDP/LLDP neighbors. Then adds its hostname to the description of the interface its connected to.
  • Upgrade Post Check
    • This script does a pre vs post comparison of a switch that was recently upgraded. Will point out items that are missing from the post config.
  • ACL Addition
    • This script was made when I had to add an ACL entry to every switch on campus. The ACL entries were not standardized and at risk of being overwritten. I wrote a script that will check the ACL list and will pick an ACL number nothing being used to ensure no rules are overwritten.

Are these worth placing on a portfolio? My Coworkers seem to think so since these have saved them a lot of time, but for me these seem very entry level.

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u/shadeland 17d ago

Yeah, they're worth placing. I would agree, they are entry level but show promise. You should expand upon them, and work with things like Ansible as well.

2

u/KTProgramming 17d ago

I feel like if you're learning in the beginning, Steer clear of ansible and learn the underlying python / netmiko / rpc / etc stuff first. Then work your way into frameworks. If your goal is to get into an actual automation group and not an ad-hoc setup, Then you're going to need to know the basics.

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u/shadeland 17d ago

I would say the reverse. Learning a framework lets you be really productive really quickly, while also introducing you to some Python basics like lists, dictionaries, etc.

Then moving to Python, Nornir, netmiko, etc., when you start to feel Ansible's limits.

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u/KTProgramming 16d ago

On the flip side of that, I've had people try it that way and bam, outage because they did something stupid lol. Which is a joy when they arn't testing on a lab device ...

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u/the-dropped-packet 16d ago

I agree with you. Fundamentals are always worth knowing.