Nokia SR Linux — Management

Day-2 inventory, facts and config management for Nokia SR Linux data center fabrics (VXLAN/EVPN). Part of the multi-vendor Data Center automation guide.

Repository

Nokia

SR Linux

gNMI / JSON-RPC

VXLAN / EVPN

Model the fabric once in a vendor-neutral inventory

Collect facts from Nokia via API/SSH

Push config from intent, never hand-edit per box

Setup, key commands & run examples

inventory/fabric.yml

Inventory

Describe each Nokia device once — role, mgmt IP and VTEP — so the same workflow targets it and every other vendor in the fabric.

inventory/fabric.yml

yaml

leaf21:
  role: leaf
  vendor: nokia
  mgmt: 10.0.0.21
  vtep: 10.255.0.21
  napalm: null   # API/gNMI driven

connect.py

Connect

Open a session to a Nokia SR Linux device. This platform is API/gNMI driven, so use its native client.

connect.py

python

from pygnmi.client import gNMIclient

# Nokia SR Linux — no NAPALM driver; use gNMI
host = ("10.0.0.22", 57400)
with gNMIclient(target=host, username="admin", password="secret",
                insecure=True) as gc:
    state = gc.get(path=["/interface"])

facts.sh

Day-2 facts

The day-2 management read-outs you will automate on Nokia: version, EVPN peers and interface state.

facts.sh

bash

# inventory & health snapshot — Nokia SR Linux
show version
show interface brief
show network-instance default protocols bgp neighbor

Best practices

One intent model, many renderers
Keep a single fabric description and render Nokia config from it — never SSH in to edit CLI by hand.
Prefer structured APIs
Use the Nokia structured API (gNMI / JSON-RPC) instead of screen-scraping CLI.
Version your inventory
Treat fabric.yml as the source of truth in git; every change is a reviewable PR.
Idempotent runs
Management scripts should be safe to re-run — collect, compare, only change what drifted.

Hands-on exercises

Guided practice tasks — copy the starter snippet, run it against a lab device, and extend it to meet the goal.

Exercise 1

Nokia inventory report

Goal: Connect to the leaf, pull version + model and print one inventory row.

exercise_1

python

from pygnmi.client import gNMIclient

# Nokia SR Linux — no NAPALM driver; use gNMI
host = ("10.0.0.22", 57400)
with gNMIclient(target=host, username="admin", password="secret",
                insecure=True) as gc:
# TODO: print hostname, model and OS version

Exercise 2

Interface drift check

Goal: Compare live interface admin/oper state against the intended list and report mismatches.

exercise_2

python

intended = {"Ethernet1", "Ethernet2"}
# TODO: read live interfaces and report any intended port that is down

Curated videos & guides

Checklist — pitfalls, gotchas & verification

Common pitfalls

•Screen-scraping Nokia CLI when a structured API exists — output formats change between releases.
•Storing credentials in the script instead of a vault / env vars.
•Editing boxes by hand so the inventory no longer matches reality.

Gotchas to watch

•Nokia needs its API enabled (gNMI server) before automation can connect.
•Management VRF: make sure your reachability is over the mgmt VRF, not the data plane.

Verify it works

•Re-run the report and confirm every device returns facts.
•Confirm the inventory row matches the physical device (model, serial, OS).