stockpiler: A Python repository from lykinsbd

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.

Supported Platforms

Today, Stockpiler can back up any Cisco IOS-like device that understands the more system:running-config command. This includes devices running these operating systems:

Cicso IOS
Cisco IOS-XE
Cisco ASA OS
Cisco Nexus OS

Further device support can be easily added as needed by creating additional Nornir Tasks for them.

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 following 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 either locate a file with credentials, to prompt you for credentials, or to use the credentials in the Nornir inventory. 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 OSError and exit.

To propmt for credentials, supply the command line argument --credential_prompt.

To provide a file with the credential values, supply the command line argument --credential_file <file path>. This file must only be readable by the user executing Stockpiler, and must be Base 64 encoded with the original contents in the following format, otherwise Stockpiler will raise an OSError.

STOCKPILER_USER:USERNAME
STOCKPILER_PW:PASSWORD
STOCKPILER_ENABLE:PASSWORD

To utilize the Nornir Inventory credentials, supply the command line argument --credential_from_inventory.

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:

Stockpiler requires Python 3.7 or higher.
Stockpiler utilizes Python Virtual Environments for isolation of the code/environment.
Stockpiler utilizes a very recent release of Netmiko. This requires some specific handling (as outlined below), until Napalm updates their dependencies in napalm>=3.0.0.

Installation Steps