#100daysofccdeve — Public Fediverse posts

Last day of my DevNet Expert challenge, even if there are still 9 days left...

Next week I will start a new job and as result I need to stop my Cisco DevNet Expert journey. It was not a second of a wasted time and work as I learned so much about Network Automation & Programmability which I definitely can bring into all of the new challenges that lies ahead.

Thank you all for following my DevNet Expert challenge along and for your contributions. Thanks a lot to Cisco DevNet for all the passion and inspiration, special thanks to the DevNet Expert Training and the outstanding Masterclass bootcamps I attended, and of course thank you to the Cisco Learning & Certifications team for supporting me and my journey which is available on the Cisco Learning Network: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/question/0D56e0000DhU0UzCQK/100-days-of-devnet-expert-challenge

I will take some days off and be back with sharing my new career challenge next week.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 90 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Final day of the DevNet Expert Training Masterclass v1.1 Bootcamp.

Today we covered how to run and inspect Docker containers and networks along with the various options to let containers communicate with each other or being isolated.

The we moved on to more advanced container topics with Kubernetes, looked into Pods, Deployments, and Services and how you can autoscale and manage updates to your containers.

The last topics we tackled was Data Center APIs and what are the challenges with authentication and using the correct requests/filters to gather the date we want.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 89 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today was another full day of the DevNet Expert Training Masterclass v1.1 Bootcamp.

First we started with certificates and encryption. We created and signed certificates using different ways.

After that we continued with Hashicorp's Vault as secret management and learned how to securely manage and access credentials.

Then we covered some git operations like branch, checkout, merge, or rebase and looked into the format-patching, cherry-picking, and bug hunting with the bisect operation.

From git we jumped over to Gitlab CI/CI pipelines and created pipelines with multiple stages and how we can manage files as artifacts between jobs.

We closed the day with looking into ThousandEyes and AppDynamics which are new topics of version 1.1 of the exam which will be active from August 20, 2024. More information about this can be found here: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/cisco-certification-roadmaps

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 88 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today was day four of the https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/devnet-expert-training/ Masterclass v1.1 Bootcamp. Today we had great menu.

As starter we had some pyATS. We learned about the Python Automated Test System developed by Cisco and how to validate the intended state of the network using Testcases for example.

The main course was about Ansible with connection plug-ins such as network CLI and HTTPAPI. We learned how to use variables and create roles for different configuration use cases.

For dessert we had Terraform and its ACI provider. One of the challenges is the usage of complex structures of variables and to integrate them with loops.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #neteng

Day 87 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge and day three of the DevNet Expert Training Masterclass v1.1 Bootcamp. Today was a full packed day with a lot of topics.

After a quick look into the lab exam design and structure we started to learn using RESTCONF with JSON to add, replace, or delete device configuration.

Then we moved on with CLI scraping using the Python libraries Netmiko and Scrapli which you can find both on the equipment and software list of the lab exam.

After the lunch break we dived into Jinja templates and how to use them to generate configuration out of JSON or YAML data.

We closed the day with a long session about Model-Driven Telemetry and how it overcomes the caveats of traditional network management tools like SNMP.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 86 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today was the second day of the https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/devnet-expert-training/ Masterclass v1.1 Bootcamp.

https://www.devnetexperttraining.com/masterclass#h.hx4xaapthe0o

We started the day with diving into YANG modeling, how to create custom YANG models, and how to generate XML payload using Cisco YANG Suite.

Then we moved on with NETCONF and how to use the Python library ncclient to configure devices with the XML payload we created based on the YANG models.

In case you missed it, I wrote two blog posts about it:

https://blog.kuhlcloud.de/automation/python/2024/02/22/netconf-xml.html
https://blog.kuhlcloud.de/automation/python/2024/03/27/netconf_validation.html

In the afternoon we continued with Cisco NSO and how we can create simple configuration templates, but also more advanced templates (or services) using Python-and-template skeletons and apply configuration to devices.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 85 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today the DevNet Expert Training Masterclass v1.1 Bootcamp started with day 1.

In the morning we learned how to build Python CLI applications using the given Python libraries and software available from the exam topics and from the equipment and software list.

In the afternoon we continued with building our own Python REST APIs. We covered some new content like GraphQL and OpenAPI. While exploring GraphQL APIs we also got the opportunity to learn something about Star Wars: Use the force!

Both parts were filled with hands-on lab tasks in well-prepared lab environments for all students. The rack rental is available for everyone and not limited to the Masterclass.

https://www.devnetexperttraining.com/rack-rental

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 83 and 84 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Yesterday and today I was reading through the Software Design, Development, and Deployment topics using the Cisco Certified DevNet Professional DEVCOR 350-901 Official Cert Guide available from Cisco Press.

https://www.ciscopress.com/store/cisco-certified-devnet-professional-devcor-350-901-9780137370443

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 82 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge with some delays in posting because of a private/business trip. Yesterday I started to cleanup all my GitHub repositories used for my studies. As you can imagine over the months of studies I dumped a lot files into my private study repository and sometimes it was not structured and ordered.

Starting the DevNet Expert Training Masterclass Instructor-Led Bootcamp next week with a clean repository will be a great feeling and good start.

How do you manage your study files and code examples?

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 81 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. After my side steps into GitLab courses & certifications, I took a look about the HashiCorp Terraform and Vault courses and their related certifications.

https://www.hashicorp.com/certification

There are a lot of good resources mentioned in the study guides like videos, documentation, and blog post for the products mentioned above. But for the exam topics the courses go far beyond the scope.

➡️ For Terraform you need to know how to...

2.9 Use Terraform to statefully manage infrastructure, given support documentation
2.9.a Loop control
2.9.b Resource graphs
2.9.c Use of variables
2.9.d Resource retrieval
2.9.e Resource provision
2.9.f Management of the state of provisioned resources

➡️ For Vault you need to know how to...

5.4 Use a secret management system to secure an application

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/s/devnet-expert-exam-topics-lab

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 80 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today I moved on with GitLab Agile Project Management course and completed it. The course is about the Plan stage in the Software Development Lifecycle. The topics are not directly related to the exam topics, but it's close to domain 1.0 Software Design, Development, and Deployment.

The purpose of the Plan stage is to plan and organize your work and track the progress of that work. Managing your organization in groups and subgroups to keep track of permissions and level of access for the projects is one of the fundamental features in GitLab.

In Gitlab you organize the ideas, features, bugs, or tasks of projects in issues and combining them in epics while taking advantage of milestones. You can create iterations for sprints in your Agile project management framework and create your own issue boards to keep track of everything.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 79 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Back from a short sightseeing trip. Now the countdown to the DevNet Expert v1.1 Masterclass Instructor-Led Bootcamp is running. Only one week left to join. I'm really happy to attend again and very curious about all the updates and improvements.

https://www.devnetexperttraining.com/masterclass#h.hx4xaapthe0o

Alongside I completed the GitLab Security Essentials course today and took the exam. All GitLab exams have two parts. The first part is a multiple choice question test where you get your result immediately after the last question. The second part is a practice lab where you need to show what you have learned through the course and submit the repository for grading.

https://university.gitlab.com

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 78 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. I moved on with the #GitLab Security Essentials course. Here is a short summary about the security features available within Gitlab.

https://university.gitlab.com/courses/gitlab-security-essentials-s2

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 77 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today I was a little bit left and right from the DevNet Expert exam topics, but nevertheless close to it.

I started with the GitLab Security Essentials course to learn how security spans across the DevSecOps lifecycle and what it means to "shift security left": https://university.gitlab.com/courses/gitlab-security-essentials-s2

Then later today I attended "Getting Started with NetBox: The Basics". As my current experiences with NetBox are all from self-learning using the documentation, I thought it would make sense to take the opportunity offered by NetBoxLabs: https://netboxlabs.com/netbox-training/

Both topics are closely linked to the DevNet Expert exam topics. You have to troubleshoot GitLab CI/CD pipelines, so it's good thing to know GitLab security. You also have to consume and use REST APIs, according to the equipment and software list not necessarily NetBox, but it's a good practice to play with different REST APIs.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 76 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Today I decided to attend the DevNet Expert Masterclass Instructor-Led Bootcamp starting on 22nd April 2024 to finalize my preparation for the 2nd lab attempt.

https://www.devnetexperttraining.com/#h.hx4xaapthe0o

I'm looking forward to an intensive week full of great learning content with highly motivated DevNet Expert candidates.

Other than that I received the positive gradings for the #GitLab Certified Git Associate and GitLab Certified CI/CD Associate today which I completed last week.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 75 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Follow my journey on the Cisco Learning Network: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/0D76e00000AziUz?chatterLikeNotification&emtm=1712519759210

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 74 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Follow my journey on the Cisco Learning Network: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/0D76e00000AziQd?chatterLikeNotification&emtm=1712434613277

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 73 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. I finished my side trip to #GitLab CI/CD pipelines for now. I was able to create a pipeline for my lab build including testing. Tomorrow I'll continue on full scale labs.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 72 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge: https://buff.ly/49p3RNT

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Day 71 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge: https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/0D76e00000AzhT7?chatterLikeNotification&emtm=1712164010304

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 70 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Back from Easter break and out of the rabbit hole of Streaming Telemetry, gRPCs, and Google Protocol buffers. Reviewing some results of my last lab challenges before moving on. A busy week ahead!

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 69 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. After my lab challenges today I dived into the rabbit hole of Streaming Telemetry and found some interesting resources.

While searching through some resources I stumbled over the Cisco Live session from 2020 presentation "Streaming telemetry: The value of "realtime" analytics for the network" by my Cisco Learning Network Designated VIP buddy Stuart Clark: https://www.ciscolive.com/c/dam/r/ciscolive/emea/docs/2020/pdf/DEVLIT-4023.pdf

“Protocol buffers are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data think XML, but smaller, faster, and simpler”. Which brought me further down the rabbit hole to the gRPC and protocol buffers: https://grpc.io/docs/what-is-grpc/introduction/ 

...and even further down to the Protocol Buffers: https://protobuf.dev/overview/

Happy Easter to everyone! 🐰 🐣

I hope to find back out of the rabbit hole during the Easter break...will be back on Tuesday!

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 68 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. After doing some full scale lab challenges I realized again how important it is to know the documentation to quickly find missing bits.

During the lab exam you won't have time to browse through the documentation pages. It could be helpful to know where something is to be found in case you can't remember. If you can find a missing bit within seconds and then quickly continue your work on the lab tasks it should be fine.

There is a useful documentation collection on the DevNet Expert Training page which I recommend all lab exam candidates.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

https://www.devnetexperttraining.com/devnet-articles/useful-docs

Day 67 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Finally I completed my work on the blog post to validate device configs using NETCONF + YANG. It was a real battle... 😅

https://blog.kuhlcloud.de/automation/python/2024/03/27/netconf_validation.html

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 66 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge was the day of distractions and disruptions. I studied almost nothing because a lot of personal things which needs to take priority. Will move on tomorrow.

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng

Day 65 of my 100 days of DevNet Expert challenge. Back from a few days off and right back into fight with XML again. This time I was successful and won the fight. 💪

With the help of the ElementTree XML API I was able to climb the XML reply data tree, grab the data I wanted, and validate it.

https://docs.python.org/3/library/xml.etree.elementtree.html

Building the correct filter to get the data you wanted back from in the XML reply is one of the steps during this process. Try to avoid getting amounts of unneeded data back in the reply.

I developed a Python script to validate the XML configuration using NETCONF and YANG models. All my example tests for my blog post were successful.

Now I need to bring everything together and publish the example files on my GitHub repository. Stay tuned!

#100daysofCCDevE #CCDevE #CiscoCert #DevNet #CiscoChampion #NetEng