cli_parse¶

Collection Note

This module is part of the ansible.utils collection. To install the collection, use:

ansible-galaxy collection install ansible.utils

Added in version 1.0.0.

Synopsis¶

Parse cli output or text using a variety of parsers

Parameters¶

Parameter	Defaults / Choices	Comments
command str		The command to run on the host
parser dict required		Parser specific parameters
parser.command		The command used to locate the parser's template
parser.name		The name of the parser to use
parser.os		Provide an operating system value to the parser For `ntc_templates` parser, this should be in the supported `_` format.
parser.template_path		Path of the parser template on the Ansible controller This can be a relative or an absolute path
parser.vars		Additional parser specific parameters See the cli_parse user guide for examples of parser specific variables U(https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/network/user_guide/cli_parsing.html)
set_fact str		Set the resulting parsed data as a fact
text str		Text to be parsed

Notes¶

Note

The default search path for a parser template is templates/{{ short_os }}_{{ command }}.{{ extension }}
=> short_os derived from ansible_network_os or ansible_distribution and set to lower case
=> command is the command passed to the module with spaces replaced with _
=> extension is specific to the parser used (native=yaml, textfsm=textfsm, ttp=ttp)
The default Ansible search path for the templates directory is used for parser templates as well
Some parsers may have additional configuration options available. See the parsers/vars key and the parser's documentation
Some parsers require third-party python libraries be installed on the Ansible control node and a specific python version
example Pyats requires pyats and genie and requires Python 3
example ntc_templates requires ntc_templates
example textfsm requires textfsm
example ttp requires ttp
example xml requires xml_to_dict
Support of 3rd party python libraries is limited to the use of their public APIs as documented
Additional information and examples can be found in the parsing user guide:
https://docs.ansible.com/ansible/latest/network/user_guide/cli_parsing.html

Examples¶

# Using the native parser

# -------------
# templates/nxos_show_interface.yaml
# - example: Ethernet1/1 is up
#   getval: '(?P<name>\S+) is (?P<oper_state>\S+)'
#   result:
#     "{{ name }}":
#         name: "{{ name }}"
#         state:
#         operating: "{{ oper_state }}"
#   shared: True
#
# - example: admin state is up, Dedicated Interface
#   getval: 'admin state is (?P<admin_state>\S+)'
#   result:
#     "{{ name }}":
#         name: "{{ name }}"
#         state:
#         admin: "{{ admin_state }}"
#
# - example: "  Hardware: Ethernet, address: 0000.5E00.5301 (bia 0000.5E00.5301)"
#   getval: '\s+Hardware: (?P<hardware>.*), address: (?P<mac>\S+)'
#   result:
#     "{{ name }}":
#         hardware: "{{ hardware }}"
#         mac_address: "{{ mac }}"

- name: Run command and parse with native
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    command: "show interface"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.native
    set_fact: interfaces_fact


- name: Pass text and template_path
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.native
      template_path: "{{ role_path }}/templates/nxos_show_interface.yaml"


# Using the ntc_templates parser

# -------------
# The ntc_templates use 'vendor_platform' for the file name
# it will be derived from ansible_network_os if not provided
# example cisco.ios.ios => cisco_ios

- name: Run command and parse with ntc_templates
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    command: "show interface"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.ntc_templates
  register: parser_output

- name: Pass text and command
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.ntc_templates
      command: show interface
  register: parser_output


# Using the pyats parser

# -------------
# The pyats parser uses 'os' to locate the appropriate parser
# it will be derived from ansible_network_os if not provided
# in the case of pyats: cisco.ios.ios => iosxe

- name: Run command and parse with pyats
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    command: "show interface"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.pyats
  register: parser_output

- name: Pass text and command
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.pyats
      command: show interface
  register: parser_output

- name: Provide an OS to pyats to use an ios parser
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.netcommon.pyats
      command: show interface
      os: ios
  register: parser_output


# Using the textfsm parser

# -------------
# templates/nxos_show_version.textfsm
#
# Value UPTIME ((\d+\s\w+.s.,?\s?){4})
# Value LAST_REBOOT_REASON (.+)
# Value OS (\d+.\d+(.+)?)
# Value BOOT_IMAGE (.*)
# Value PLATFORM (\w+)
#
# Start
#   ^\s+(NXOS: version|system:\s+version)\s+${OS}\s*$$
#   ^\s+(NXOS|kickstart)\s+image\s+file\s+is:\s+${BOOT_IMAGE}\s*$$
#   ^\s+cisco\s+${PLATFORM}\s+[cC]hassis
#   ^\s+cisco\s+Nexus\d+\s+${PLATFORM}
#   # Cisco N5K platform
#   ^\s+cisco\s+Nexus\s+${PLATFORM}\s+[cC]hassis
#   ^\s+cisco\s+.+-${PLATFORM}\s*
#   ^Kernel\s+uptime\s+is\s+${UPTIME}
#   ^\s+Reason:\s${LAST_REBOOT_REASON} -> Record

- name: Run command and parse with textfsm
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    command: "show version"
    parser:
      name: ansible.utils.textfsm
  register: parser_output

- name: Pass text and command
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.utils.textfsm
      command: show version
  register: parser_output

# Using the ttp parser

# -------------
# templates/nxos_show_interface.ttp
#
# {{ interface }} is {{ state }}
# admin state is {{ admin_state }}{{ ignore(".*") }}

- name: Run command and parse with ttp
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    command: "show interface"
    parser:
      name: ansible.utils.ttp
    set_fact: new_fact_key

- name: Pass text and template_path
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.utils.ttp
      template_path: "{{ role_path }}/templates/nxos_show_interface.ttp"
  register: parser_output

# Using the XML parser

# -------------
- name: Run command and parse with xml
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    command: "show interface | xml"
    parser:
      name: ansible.utils.xml
  register: parser_output

- name: Pass text and parse with xml
  ansible.utils.cli_parse:
    text: "{{ previous_command['stdout'] }}"
    parser:
      name: ansible.utils.xml
  register: parser_output

Return Values¶

Key	Data Type	Description	Returned
parsed	dict	The structured data resulting from the parsing of the text	always
stdout	str	The output from the command run	when provided a command
stdout_lines	list	The output of the command run split into lines	when provided a command

Authors¶

Bradley Thornton (@cidrblock)