Thola-ansible

This is a collection of ansible modules that uses Thola to retrieve data about network devices. Thola is a new open source tool for identifying, reading and monitoring network devices.

If you are interested in Thola have a look at our website and the repository.

Modules

Modules are separated in read, check and identify. Currently the following modules are available:

Check Modules

Module	Description
thola_check_cpu_load_facts	Checks the CPU load of a device
thola_check_disk_facts	Checks the disk usage of a device
thola_check_hardware_health_facts	Checks the hardware health of a device
thola_check_identify_facts	Checks if identify matches some expectations
thola_check_interface_metrics_facts	Checks the interfaces of a device
thola_check_memory_usage_facts	Checks the memory usage of a device
thola_check_sbc_facts	Checks an SBC device
thola_check_server_facts	Checks a linux server
thola_check_snmp_facts	Checks SNMP availibility
thola_check_ups_facts	Checks whether a UPS device has its main voltage applied

Read Modules

Module	Description
thola_read_available_components_facts	Reads the available components for the device
thola_read_count_interfaces_facts	Counts the interfaces of a device
thola_read_cpu_load_facts	Reads the CPU load of a device
thola_read_disk_facts	Reads the disk of a device
thola_read_hardware_health_facts	Reads the hardware health of a device
thola_read_interfaces_facts	Reads the interfaces of a device
thola_read_memory_usage_facts	Reads the memory usage of a device
thola_read_sbc_facts	Reads values of an sbc device
thola_read_server_facts	Reads the server values of a device
thola_read_ups_facts	Reads values of a ups device

Identify Module

Module	Description
thola_identify_facts	Identifies properties of a device

Requirements

To be able to execute the module properly, you have to run a thola API. If you don't know how to install / run it have a look at this section

You also need to have the thola-client python module installed on your system. This can be done by the following command:

pip install thola-client

How to run a Thola API

Installation instructions can be found here.

To run the api take a look at this page.

Example

Inventory file:

[devices]
device1 ansible_host="192.168.178.1" snmp_community="public" snmp_version="2c" snmp_port=161

Playbook file:

- name: "thola identify some facts"
  hosts: devices
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - name: Gather facts (thola)
      inexio.thola.thola_identify_facts:
        host: "{{ ansible_host }}"
        api_host: 'http://localhost:8237'
        community: "{{ snmp_community }}"          # Default: "public"
        version: "{{ snmp_version }}"              # Default: "2c"
        port: "{{ snmp_port }}"                    # Default:  161

    - name: Print gathered facts
      debug:
        var: ansible_facts

Playbook Output:

$ ansible-playbook identify_playbook.yml

PLAY [thola identify facts] ****************************
                                                 
TASK [Gather facts (thola)] ****************************
                                               
TASK [Print gathered facts] ****************************
ok: [cisco7200] => {
    "ansible_facts": {
        "net_model": "7206VXR",
        "net_model_series": "7206",
        "net_os": "ios",
        "net_serialnum": "4279212345",
        "net_system": "ios",
        "net_vendor": "Cisco",
        "net_version": "12.4(24)T5"
    }
}

device1 : ok=1 changed=0 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0

Nautobot Integration

Thola's Ansible module can be used to inventory your network devices into an existing Nautobot instance. The following example shows how to add basic property information (e.g. os, version) to a device in Nautobot. We use the Nautobot Ansible collection for this.

Show example playbook

- name: "thola add to nautobot"
  hosts: devices
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - name: Gather identify facts (thola)
      inexio.thola.thola_identify_facts:
        host: "{{ ansible_host }}"
        api_host: 'http://localhost:8237'
        community: "{{ snmp_community }}"
        version: "{{ snmp_version }}"
        port: "{{ snmp_port }}"

    - name: Add gathered identify data
      networktocode.nautobot.device:
        url: "{{ lookup('env', 'NAUTOBOT_URL') }}"
        token: "{{ lookup('env', 'NAUTOBOT_TOKEN') }}"
        data:
          name: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
          custom_fields:
            system: "{{ ansible_facts['net_system'] }}"
            os_family: "{{ ansible_facts['net_os'] }}"
            distribution: "{{ ansible_facts['net_os'] }}"
            distribution_version: "{{ ansible_facts['net_version'] }}"
            serialnumber: "{{ ansible_facts['net_serialnum'] }}"
          status: active
        state: present
        validate_certs: False

If you want to automatically add interface information of your devices to Nautobot, Thola in combination with Nautobot's device_interface module can help you.

Show example playbook

- name: "thola add interfaces to nautobot"
  hosts: devices
  gather_facts: no
  tasks:
    - name: Gather interface facts (thola)
      inexio.thola.thola_read_interfaces_facts:
        host: "{{ ansible_host }}"
        api_host: 'http://localhost:8237'
        community: "{{ snmp_community }}"
        version: "{{ snmp_version }}"
        port: "{{ snmp_port }}"
        
    - name: Add gathered interfaces data
      connection: local
      vars:
        ansible_python_interpreter: /opt/ansible/bin/python3
      networktocode.nautobot.device_interface:
        url: "{{ lookup('env', 'NAUTOBOT_URL') }}"
        token: "{{ lookup('env', 'NAUTOBOT_TOKEN') }}"
        data:
          device: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
          name: "{{ data['if_name'] }}"
          description: "{{ data['if_descr'] }}"
          mtu: "{{ '1' if ((data['if_mtu'] < 1) or (data['if_mtu'] >= 65536)) else data['if_mtu'] }}"
          type: "Virtual"
          enabled: "{% if data['if_admin_status'] == 'up' %} true {% else %} false {% endif %}"
          mac_address: "{{ data['if_phys_address'] }}"
        state: present
        validate_certs: False
      loop: "{{ ansible_facts['interfaces'] }}"
      loop_control:
        loop_var: data
        label: "{{ data['if_name'] }}"