Nautobot Workshop Blog Series - Overview

Nautobot Workshop Blog Series

“Nautobot Workshop” is a blog series that guides you through building a fully automated network lab using Nautobot, Containerlab, and Docker. Starting from environment setup on Ubuntu, each post will walk through deploying Nautobot with nautobot-docker-compose, modeling network topologies with Containerlab and vrnetlab-based routers, and populating Nautobot with real device data using Ansible. You’ll also learn how to use Nautobot’s GraphQL API for dynamic inventory, generate device configurations with Jinja2 templates, and enforce configuration compliance using the Golden Config plugin. This series is ideal for network engineers looking to integrate source of truth, automation, and lab simulation into a streamlined workflow.

Workshop Outline

Part 1: Environment Setup - Release date 6/5

Goal: Build a repeatable automation lab foundation using Ubuntu, Containerlab, Nautobot, and vrnetlab.

• Install and prepare Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

• Install dependencies:

  • Docker
  • Containerlab
  • vrnetlab (for IOL)
  • nautobot-docker-compose
• Clone and configure:
  • containerlab-topology
  • nautobot-docker-compose
• Validate working environment:
  • Spin up Nautobot stack
  • Verify IOL devices launch via containerlab

Part 2: Review the Network Topology - Release date 6/12

Goal: Understand the multi-site MPLS lab you’ll be modeling in Nautobot.

• Overview of uploaded diagrams:
  • Provider topology
  • East Data Center
  • West Data Center
  • In-band Management
• Discuss ASN layout, IP schemes (v4/v6), and router roles (RR, PE, P, CE)
• Management overlay discussion and how it ties into automation

Part 3: Adding Devices to Nautobot via Ansible - Release date 6/19

Goal: Automate network inventory onboarding.

• Use networktocode.nautobot Ansible collections
• Build YAML or Jinja templates for devices, interfaces, and IPs
• Write a playbook to:
  • Create Sites, Devices, Interfaces, IP Addresses, Connections
• Validate in Nautobot UI

Part 4: Building ContainerLab topology from the Nautobot Inventory - Release date 6/26

Goal: Create a virtual topology based on the Nautobot inventory that can be used for testing and validation.

• Write GraphQL queries for device + interface inventory
• Write a Jinja2 template to create the CLAB topology YAML
• Write a Jinja2 template to create an initial configuration with MGMT reachability

Part 5 - Nautobot Golden Configuration - Configuration Backups - Release date 7/03

Goal: Enable automated configuration backups from network devices to a Git repository using the Nautobot Golden Configuration app.

• Configure GitHub secret in Nautobot Secrets
• Create a Secrets Group for GitHub token access
• Add and sync a Git repository to store backups
• Prepare Git repo with jobs/ and backup-configs/ folders
• Create a GraphQL query for SOT Aggregation
• Update Golden Config Settings to:
• Define backup paths
• Associate SOT Aggregation Query
• Enable required Golden Config Jobs
• Execute Backup Configurations Job for EOS and IOS devices
• Confirm backups stored in Git under backup-configs/

Part 6 - Nautobot Golden Configuration - Intended Configurations - Release date 7/10

Goal: Validate that device configurations match the intended state generated from Nautobot source-of-truth data.

• Define what configuration compliance means in Nautobot
• Set up a Git repo for intended configuration templates
• Create modular Jinja2 templates by platform and role (e.g., IOS, EOS)
• Update Golden Config Settings to point to intended config templates
• Extend the container environment to support custom Jinja filters
• Generate and validate intended configurations
• Run the compliance job and view compliance status in the Nautobot UI

Part 7 - Nautobot Ansible Dynamic Inventory - Release date 7/017

Goal: Use Nautobot as a dynamic inventory source in Ansible to generate and deploy real device configurations.

• Configure Ansible to use Nautobot’s GraphQL API for dynamic inventory
• Secure API access with environment variables and Ansible Vault
• Build an Ansible role to query device data from Nautobot
• Use Jinja2 templates to generate platform-specific configurations
• Push configurations to Cisco devices using cisco.ios.ios_config
• Demonstrate how source-of-truth data drives real configuration deployment

Part 8 - Nautobot Config Context and Custom Fields - - Release date 7/24

Goal: Leverage Nautobot’s Config Context and Custom Fields to drive dynamic, structured configuration generation from a Git-backed source of truth.

• Define and store structured Config Context data in Git for centralized version control
• Create Config Context Schemas to validate and organize data for:
  • VRF definitions
  • User account configurations
  • Global protocol settings (OSPF, MPLS, BGP)
  • Cisco HTTP server settings (e.g., ip http server)
  • SSH access configurations
  • Line VTY parameters
• Assign Config Contexts to devices based on role, location, or other criteria
• Enable context weighting to ensure fallback/default configurations
• Create interface-level Custom Fields to track OSPF-specific metadata:
  • Interface type (point-to-point, point-to-multipoint)
  • Area assignment
• Use this structured data in Jinja2 templates to generate context-aware, platform-specific configurations