switchssh
Recently, I was working on developing Ansible modules for HP Switches– Pro Vision and Comware 5.2. The first type of switch I implemented a driver for was an HP 1910 24G (Comware 5.2). More recently, I implemented a rudimentary Ansible module for an HP 3800 (Pro Vision).
Each of these switch OSs had their own peculiarities and to have a means to talk to each required some technical gymnastics. For instance, specifically the HP 1910 24G, based on Comware, by default doesn’t include the full CLI command-set unless one enters a “developer-mode” (this required digging around the HP networking forums), which requires entering confirmation and a code. There are other Comware-based switches that have the full command-set without this developer-mode.
The Pro Vision OS (on an HP 3800) has a full command set but trying to parse output in its default vt100 terminal settings was a parsing nightmare. Setting Pro Vision to “raw” terminal settings solved that issue. Then of course there is a banner message to dismiss upon logging in.
Both switch OSs required having to disable paging– that being, when a page worth of data is displayed, a prompt of “more” (text varied according to OS) would require subsequent space-bar to to continue, an added complexity that I was glad to discover could be disabled.
While implementing basic modules for both OSs, I was cognizant that I had some duplication that I would need to consolidate and abstract out of both code-bases before I added even more functionality to either driver. That’s where this simple yet useful python module I created– switchssh – came into being.
I pulled out any code that simply pertained to the communication layer of talking to each switch. There were some common things that pertained to both switches, but where it differed, I used polymorphism to handle those differences. The top level class is switchssh, the subclasses pro_vision and comware_hp_1910.
Usage
Using these modules is painfully simple, as this simple script below shows using the comware_hp_1910 subclass:
#!/usr/bin/env python
from switchssh.comware_hp_1910 import ComWareHP1910
import os
import re
import pprint
pp = pprint.PrettyPrinter(indent=2)
# simple script that shows how to use the library with comware
def main():
conn = ComWareHP1910('192.168.1.x',
'admin',
'redacted',
read_end="<HP>",
dismiss_banner=False)
out = conn.exec_command("display current-configuration\n", read_end='<HP>')
pp.pprint(out)
prompt = conn._get_prompt()
print "prompt: %s\n" % prompt
main()
The output would be (truncated):
[ ' display current-configuration',
'#',
' version 5.20, Release 1513P62',
'#',
' sysname HP',
'#',
' domain default enable system',
'#',
' ip ttl-expires enable',
'#',
' password-recovery enable',
'#',
'vlan 1',
'#',
'vlan 5',
' name vlan 5',
'#',
'domain system',
' access-limit disable',
' state active',
' idle-cut disable',
' self-service-url disable',
'#',
'interface Vlan-interface1',
' ip address dhcp-alloc',
'#',
'interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1',
' stp edged-port enable',
'#',
'interface GigabitEthernet1/0/2',
' stp edged-port enable',
'#',
'return']
prompt: <HP>
...
For Pro Vision:
#!/usr/bin/env python
from switchssh.pro_vision import ProVision
import os
import re
import pprint
pp = pprint.PrettyPrinter(indent=2)
# simple script to show how to use this library
def main():
conn = ProVision('192.168.1.x',
'operator',
'redacted',
read_end="tty=none",
dismiss_banner=True)
out = conn.exec_command("show run\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("configure\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("vlan 88\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("name eighty-eight\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("exit\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("exit\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("show run\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("configure\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("no vlan 88\n")
pp.pprint(out)
out = conn.exec_command("show run\n")
pp.pprint(out)
main()
Part of the output:
[ ' show run',
'',
'Running configuration:',
'',
'; J9575A Configuration Editor; Created on release #KA.15.03.3015',
'; Ver #01:00:01',
'',
'hostname "HP E3800-24G-2SFP+ Switch" ',
'module 1 type J9575x ',
'vlan 1 ',
' name "DEFAULT_VLAN" ',
' untagged 1,8-26 ',
' ip address 192.168.1.200 255.255.255.0 ',
' no untagged 2-7 ',
' exit ',
'vlan 66 ',
' name "VLAN" ',
' ip address 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0 ',
' ip address 192.168.11.2 255.255.255.0 ',
' tagged 5-8 ',
' exit ',
'vlan 44 ',
' name "VLAN_44" ',
' untagged 2-7 ',
'',
' ip address 192.168.3.4 255.255.255.0 ',
' ip address 192.168.5.6 255.255.255.0 ',
' tagged 20-24 ',
' exit ',
'console terminal none',
'snmp-server community "public" unrestricted',
'snmp-server contact "Patrick Galbraith"',
'oobm',
' ip address dhcp-bootp',
' exit',
'no autorun',
'no dhcp config-file-update',
'no dhcp image-file-update',
'password manager',
'password operator',
'',
...
There are simple code examples for each type of switch in the ./bin directory of the the module
Summary
This module is just a simple beginning and more work is required to clean up the methods to have a better naming scheme as well as error handling.
It can be found on switchssh repo. The installation instructions are included. My intent it to have this be a PyPI module for easier installation. Also, I will be refactoring both of my Ansible modules to utilize switchssh.