Junos OS Platform Options

Juniper Junos OS supports multiple connections. This page offers details on how each connection works in Ansible and how to use it.

Connections Available

CLIjunos_netconf & junos_commandmodules onlyNETCONFall modules except junos_netconf,which enables NETCONF
ProtocolSSHXML over SSH
Credentialsuses SSH keys / SSH-agent if presentaccepts -u myuser -k if using passworduses SSH keys / SSH-agent if presentaccepts -u myuser -k if using password
Indirect Accessvia a bastion (jump host)via a bastion (jump host)
Connection Settingsansible_connection: network_cliansible_connection: netconf
Enable Mode (Privilege Escalation)not supported by Junos OSnot supported by Junos OS
Returned Data Formatstdout[0].- json: result[0]['software-information'][0]['host-name'][0]['data'] foo lo0- text: result[1].interface-information[0].physical-interface[0].name[0].data foo lo0- xml: result[1].rpc-reply.interface-information[0].physical-interface[0].name[0].data foo lo0

For legacy playbooks, Ansible still supports ansible_connection=local on all JUNOS modules. We recommend modernizing to use ansible_connection=netconf or ansible_connection=network_cli as soon as possible.

Using CLI in Ansible

Example CLI inventory [junos:vars]

  1. [junos:vars]
  2. ansible_connection=network_cli
  3. ansible_network_os=junos
  4. ansible_user=myuser
  5. ansible_password=!vault...
  6. ansible_ssh_common_args='-o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p -q bastion01"'
  • If you are using SSH keys (including an ssh-agent) you can remove the ansible_password configuration.
  • If you are accessing your host directly (not through a bastion/jump host) you can remove the ansible_ssh_common_args configuration.
  • If you are accessing your host through a bastion/jump host, you cannot include your SSH password in the ProxyCommand directive. To prevent secrets from leaking out (for example in ps output), SSH does not support providing passwords via environment variables.

Example CLI Task

  1. - name: Retrieve Junos OS version
  2.   junos_command:
  3.     commands: show version
  4.   when: ansible_network_os == 'junos'

Using NETCONF in Ansible

Enabling NETCONF

Before you can use NETCONF to connect to a switch, you must:

  • install the ncclient python package on your control node(s) with pip install ncclient
  • enable NETCONF on the Junos OS device(s)

To enable NETCONF on a new switch via Ansible, use the junos_netconf module via the CLI connection. Set up your platform-level variables just like in the CLI example above, then run a playbook task like this:

  1. - name: Enable NETCONF
  2.   connection: network_cli
  3.   junos_netconf:
  4.   when: ansible_network_os == 'junos'

Once NETCONF is enabled, change your variables to use the NETCONF connection.

Example NETCONF inventory [junos:vars]

  1. [junos:vars]
  2. ansible_connection=netconf
  3. ansible_network_os=junos
  4. ansible_user=myuser
  5. ansible_password=!vault |
  6. ansible_ssh_common_args='-o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p -q bastion01"'

Example NETCONF Task

  1. - name: Backup current switch config (junos)
  2.   junos_config:
  3.     backup: yes
  4.   register: backup_junos_location
  5.   when: ansible_network_os == 'junos'

Warning

Never store passwords in plain text. We recommend using SSH keys to authenticate SSH connections. Ansible supports ssh-agent to manage your SSH keys. If you must use passwords to authenticate SSH connections, we recommend encrypting them with Ansible Vault.