System Role for EOS

The arista.eos-system role is designed to simplify global system configuration. You don't have to write any Ansible tasks yourself. Instead, just create an object that meets the requirements listed below, and this role will handle the rest.

This role allows you to configure IP Routing, hostname, and CLI users.

Installation

To install the role, run this command:

ansible-galaxy install arista.eos-system

Requirements

You need an SSH connection to your Arista device. You can use built-in EOS connection variables or the provider dictionary for convenience.

Role Variables

This role uses the following key variables: hostname, eos_ip_routing_enabled, and eos_users.

hostname

Key	Type	Notes
hostname	string	The name to set as the hostname for the device.

eos_ip_routing_enabled

Key	Type	Notes
eos_ip_routing_enabled	boolean: true, false*	Enables or disables IPv4 routing on the switch. By default, switches have 'no ip routing'.

eos_users (list)

Each entry should include the following keys:

Key	Type	Notes
name	string (required)	The unique username. Usernames must follow specific format rules. Valid names can start with A-Z, a-z, or 0-9.
encryption	choices: md5, sha512	The password encryption method.
secret	string	The hashed password that has been generated before.
nopassword	boolean: true, false*	If true, creates a user without a password. Cannot be used with secret and encryption.
role	string	The role assigned to the user.
privilege	int: 0-15	Sets the user’s privilege level (0 to 15). Default is 1 if this key is omitted.
sshkey	string	The SSH key for the user, stored in /home/USER/.ssh/authorized_keys.
state	choices: present*, absent	Indicates if the CLI User should be created or removed.

* Default value if none specified

Configuration Variables

Key	Choices	Description
eos_save_running_config	true*, false	Determines if changes to the running-config should be saved to memory and startup-config.

* Default value if none specified

Connection Variables

You need to provide the connection details for Ansible EOS roles to communicate with the devices. This may be set in group_vars, host_vars, or the playbook.

Key	Required	Choices	Description
host	yes		The DNS name or IP address of the remote device.
port	no		The port to connect to on the remote device. Defaults to common transport ports (cli=22, http=80, https=443).
username	no		The username for authenticating the connection. Uses the environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_USERNAME if not specified.
password	no		The password for authenticating the connection. Uses the environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_PASSWORD if not specified.
ssh_keyfile	no		The SSH key file for authentication (for cli transport only). Uses the environment variable ANSIBLE_NET_SSH_KEYFILE if not specified.
authorize	no	yes, no*	Indicates if privileged mode should be used before sending commands. Defaults to non-privileged mode.
auth_pass	no		The password for entering privileged mode, if necessary. Does nothing if authorize=no.
transport	yes	cli*, eapi	The connection type (cli for SSH, eapi for API).
use_ssl	no	yes*, no	Specifies if SSL should be used with eapi transport. Ignored if transport=cli.
provider	no		Allows passing all connection arguments as a dictionary.

* Default value if none specified

Ansible Variables

Key	Choices	Description
no_log	true, false*	Prevents logging of module arguments and output during playbook execution. Defaults to true for tasks that manage EOS configuration.

* Default value if none specified

Dependencies

This role is based on modules included in Ansible core, which were added in version 2.1.0.

• Requires Ansible 2.1.0 or later.

Example Playbook

Here's a simple example of using the arista.eos-system role to set up CLI users, IP routing, and hostname without writing any tasks.

Sample hosts file:

[leafs]
leaf1.example.com

Sample host_vars/leaf1.example.com file:

provider:
  host: "{{ inventory_hostname }}"
  username: admin
  password: admin
  use_ssl: no
  authorize: yes
  transport: cli

eos_users:
  - name: superadmin
    encryption: md5
    secret: '$1$J0auuPhz$Pkr5NnHssW.Jqlk17Ylpk0'
    privilege: 15
    role: network-admin
  - name: simplebob
    nopassword: true
    privilege: 0
    role: network-operator

hostname: leaf1
eos_ip_routing_enabled: yes

Simple Playbook to Apply Configuration (leaf.yml):

- hosts: leafs
  roles:
    - arista.eos-system

Run the Playbook:

Execute the following command:

ansible-playbook -i hosts leaf.yml

Developer Information

Contributions are welcome! For development guidelines, please refer to Arista Roles for Ansible - Development Guidelines (test/arista-ansible-role-test/README) for more information, including how to test and develop role enhancements.

License

Copyright (c) 2015, Arista Networks EOS+ All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted under certain conditions.

Conditions apply regarding copyright notice, documentation, and endorsement of this software.

This software is provided "as is," without warranties. Liability for damages is not covered.

Author Information

If you have any issues, please use our GitHub repo or email us at ansible-dev@arista.com.