Implementing Automation for Cisco Data Center Solutions (DCAUI) v1.1

The Implementing Automation for Cisco Data Center Solutions (DCAUI) v1.1 course teaches you how to implement Cisco® Data Center automated solutions including programming concepts, orchestration, and automation tools. Through a combination of lessons and hands-on practice, you will manage the tools and learn the benefits of programmability and automation in the Cisco-powered Data Center. You will examine Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI®), Software-Defined Networking (SDN) for data center and cloud networks, Cisco Nexus® (Cisco NX-OS) platforms for device-centric automation, and Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco UCS®) for Data Center compute. You will study their current ecosystem of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), software development toolkits, and relevant workflows along with open industry standards, tools, and APIs, such as Python, Ansible, Git, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), Yaml Ain't Markup Language (YAML), Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF), Representational State Transfer Configuration Protocol (RESTCONF), and Yet Another Generation (YANG).

Course outline

Describing the Cisco ACI Policy Model
Describing the Cisco APIC REST API
Using Python to Interact with the ACI REST API
Using Ansible to Automate Cisco ACI
Introducing Cisco NX-OS Programmability
Describing Day-Zero Provisioning with Cisco NX-OS
Implementing On-Box Programmability and Automation with Cisco NX-OS
Implementing Off-Box Programmability and Automation with Cisco NX-OS
Automating Cisco UCS Using Developer Tools
Implementing Workflows Using Cisco UCS Director
Describing Cisco DCNM
Describing Cisco Intersight

Course objectives

After taking this course, you should be able to:

Leverage the tools and APIs to automate Cisco ACI powered data centers.
Demonstrate workflows (configuration, verification, healthchecking, monitoring) using Python, Ansible, and Postman.
Leverage the various models and APIs of the Cisco Nexus OS platform to perform day 0 operations, improve troubleshooting methodologies with custom tools, augment the CLI using scripts, and integrate various workflows using Ansible and Python.
Describe the paradigm shift of Model Driven Telemetry and understand the building blocks of a working solution.
Describe how the Cisco Data Center compute solutions can be managed and automated using API centric tooling, by using the Python SDK, PowerTool, and Ansible modules to implement various workflows on Cisco UCS, Cisco IMC, Cisco UCS Manager, Cisco UCS Director, and Cisco Intersight.

Who should attend?

This course is designed for network and software engineers who hold the following job roles:

Network engineer
Systems engineer
Wireless engineer
Consulting systems engineer
Technical solutions architect
Network administrator
Wireless design engineer
Network manager
Site reliability engineer
Deployment engineer
Sales engineer
Account manager

Prerequisites

Before taking this course, you should have the following knowledge and skills:

Basic programming language concepts
Basic understanding of virtualization and VMware
Ability to use Linux and Command Line Interface (CLI) tools, such as Secure Shell (SSH) and bash
CCNP level data center knowledge
Foundational understanding of Cisco ACI