Network Automation JSON vs XML vs YAML for Network Engineers: One Payload, Three Ways Every network automation interface speaks in one of three data formats. RESTCONF uses JSON. NETCONF uses XML. Ansible and most J Jul 12, 2026 4 min read
Network Automation Jinja2 Templates for Network Configs: From Variables to Rendered CLI Copying a router config, pasting it, and changing the IP addresses by hand is how configuration errors are born. Jinja2 J Jul 12, 2026 4 min read
Network Automation On-Box Python: Scripting IOS XE from the Inside Off-box automation - a Python script on a server driving routers over SSH - is where most network automation lives, and J Jul 12, 2026 4 min read
Network Automation Guest Shell on IOS XE: Linux Inside Your Router There is a full Linux environment hiding inside your router. Guest Shell is a Linux container (CentOS or a minimal J Jul 12, 2026 4 min read
IP Services Expert Services Troubleshooting: NAT, DHCP, and SLA Ticket Scenarios Services break in ways that routing never does. A route either exists or it does not; a NAT translation either J Jul 12, 2026 6 min read
IPv6 IPv6 Services Closure: NPTv6, DHCPv6-PD, and General Prefix IPv6 does several things differently from IPv4, and a few of them are genuinely better - once you understand them. Prefix J Jul 12, 2026 5 min read