Use paramiko for network_cli on Cisco IOS with new ansible-pylibssh #2975
Conversation
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
This commit uses the device quirks to check the version of the 'ansible-pylibssh' library, decide whether to use paramiko as network_cli connection with Cisco IOS/IOS-XE devices, and modifies the device group vars, allowing users to override this behavior on device-, device+provider, or node level. Resolves #2966
Owner
Author
|
Integration tests passed, and the code has been tested (see #2966). |
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Pull request overview
This PR implements automatic detection of ansible-pylibssh version 1.3.0+ and switches Cisco IOS/IOS-XE devices to use paramiko for network_cli connections when the problematic version is detected.
- Adds version detection logic for ansible-pylibssh library and automatically configures paramiko as the SSH connection type when version >= 1.3.0
- Implements device quirk infrastructure to apply this behavior across Cisco IOS, IOS-XE (CSR), and Catalyst 8000v devices
- Adds paramiko connection configuration to Ansible config template and warning suppression capability
Reviewed changes
Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| netsim/devices/iosv.py | Implements core use_paramiko() function with version detection logic and adds it to common IOS quirks |
| netsim/devices/csr.py | Extends CSR (IOS-XE) device quirks to include paramiko detection |
| netsim/devices/cat8000v.py | Renames class from IOSL2 to C8KV (cosmetic) and adds paramiko detection for Catalyst 8000v |
| netsim/templates/ansible.cfg.j2 | Adds paramiko connection configuration section to disable host key checking |
| tests/integration/warnings.yml | Adds configuration to suppress paramiko warning for IOS devices in tests |
ipspace
added a commit
that referenced
this pull request
Dec 28, 2025
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.
This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.
Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.
Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.
Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.
Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.
You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.
Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.
This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.
Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.
Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.
Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.
Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
This commit uses the device quirks to check the version of the 'ansible-pylibssh' library, decide whether to use paramiko as network_cli connection with Cisco IOS/IOS-XE devices, and modifies the device group vars, allowing users to override this behavior on device-, device+provider, or node level.
Resolves #2966