Network Automation using Ansible for EIGRP Network

Abstract

Network automation has evolved into a solution that emphasizes efficiency in all areas. Furthermore, communication and computer networks rely on a platform that provides the necessary technological infrastructure for packet transfer through the Internet using routing protocols. The Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) is a hybrid routing protocol that combines the properties of both distance-vector and link-state routing methods. The traditional technique to configure EIGRP is inefficient and requires repeated processes compared to the network automation concept. Network automation helps to assist network administrators in automating and verifying the EIGRP configuration using scripting. This paper implemented network automation using Ansible to configure EIGRP routing and advanced configuration in the GNS3 environment. This study is focused on automated scripting to configure IP Addresses to the interfaces, EIGRP routing protocol, a default static route and advanced EIGRP configurations. Ansible ran the scripting on Network Automation Docker and pushed the configurations to the routers. The network automation docker communicated with other routers via SSH. In the testing phase, the running configuration between the traditional approach and automation scripting in the Ansible playbook was compared to verify EIGRP configurations' accuracy. The findings show that Ansible has successfully deployed the configuration to the routers with no errors. Ansible can help network administrators minimized human mistakes, reduce time-consuming and enable device visibility across the network environment. Implementing EIGRP authentication and hardening process can enhance the network security level for future study.