2-3: Creating a Survey

This module demonstrates the use of Ansible Automation Platform survey feature. Surveys set extra variables for the playbook similar to "Prompt for Extra Variables" does, but in a user-friendly question and answer way. Surveys also allow for validation of user input.

Learning objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  • Create a Job Template for configuring a banner on multiple network operating systems

  • Create a self-service survey to collect user input for Job Template variables

  • Launch a Job Template with a survey and verify the results on network devices

Step 1: Create a Job Template

  1. Open the web UI and click on the Templates link on the left menu.

    Templates link

  2. Click on the blue Create template button and select Create job template to create a new job template (make sure to select Job Template and not Workflow Template)

    Parameter Value

    Name

    Network-Banner

    Job Type

    Run

    Inventory

    Workshop Inventory

    Project

    Workshop Project

    Execution Environment

    Network EE

    Playbook

    playbooks/network_banner.yml

    Credential

    Workshop Credential

  3. Scroll down and click the blue Create job template button.

Step 2: Examine the playbook

Here is what the network_banner.yml Ansible Playbook looks like:

---
- name: set router banners
  hosts: routers
  gather_facts: no

  tasks:
    - name: load banner onto network device
      vars:
        - network_banner:  "{{ net_banner | default(None) }}"
        - banner_type: "{{ net_type | default('login') }}"
      include_role:
        name: "../roles/banner"
You can also view the Ansible Playbook here: https://github.com/network-automation/toolkit

The role banner has a very simple main.yml file:

- name: configure banner
  include_tasks: "{{ ansible_network_os }}.yml"

The ansible_network_os variable is being used to parameterize the network OS and create a vendor neutral playbook.

If you are working with a junos device, this playbook would call for a task file called junos.yml. If you are using an IOS-XE device, this playbook would call for a task file called ios.yml. This file will in turn contain the platform specific tasks:

---
- name: add the junos banner
  junos_banner:
    text: "{{ network_banner }}"
    banner: "{{ banner_type }}"
Please observe that there are task files created for ios, nxos, eos and junos for this playbook.

Also note that we are passing in 2 variables to the task file.

  1. network_banner: This variable is populated using the net_banner variable

  2. banner_type: This variable is populated by a variable named net_type

Step 3: Create a survey

In this step you will create a "survey" of user input form to collect input from the user and populate the values for the variables net_banner and banner_type.

  1. Click on the Survey tab within the Network-Banner Job Template

    Survey tab

  2. Click the blue Create survey question button

    Add survey button

  3. Fill out the fields

    Parameter Value

    Question

    Please enter the banner text

    Description

    Please type into the text field the desired banner

    Answer Variable Name

    net_banner

    Answer type

    Textarea

    Required

    Checkmark

    For example:

    Survey question one

  4. Click the blue Create survey question button

  5. Click the blue Create survey question button in the Survey tab to add another question

    Add survey button

  6. Next we will create a survey prompt to gather the banner_type. This will either be "motd" or "login" and will default to "login" per the playbook above.

    Parameter Value

    Question

    Please enter the banner type

    Description

    Please choose an option

    Answer Variable Name

    net_type

    Answer type

    Multiple Choice (single select)

    Multiple Choice Options

    login, motd

    Default answer

    login

    Required

    Checkmark

    For example:

    Survey question two

  7. Click the blue Create survey question button

  8. Ensure the toggle switch is set to Survey Enabled

    Survey toggle

  9. Click Back to Templates

Step 4: Launch the Job Template

Launch the Network-Banner job template you created in Step 1. If you are not already on that template, open Templates in the left menu, find Network-Banner in the list, and open it—then follow the steps below.

  1. Click the rocket ship icon next to Network-Banner to launch that job template (or open Network-Banner and use Launch from the template detail view).

    Launch job template from Templates list

    The job will immediately prompt the user to set the banner and the type.

  2. Type in the banner message you want for the routers.

  3. Choose between login and motd.

  4. Click next to see how the survey rendered the input as extra vars for the Ansible Playbook. For this example the banner text is set as "This router was configured by Ansible".

    Survey screen

  5. Click the blue Finish button to submit the survey and start the job.

    Finish button

Let the job run to completion. Let the instructor know if anything fails.

Step 5: Verify the banner

The Network-Banner job applied the same banner intent across every router in the inventory—Cisco IOS-XE, Arista EOS, and Juniper Junos—without you choosing per-device syntax. Ansible used each host’s ansible_network_os (and the shared banner role) so the right modules and CLI ran for each platform; that vendor-specific work stays in the role and is largely invisible to the person running the template.

  1. Log in to one of the routers and confirm the banner appears as you set it in the survey

    ssh rtr1

    The banner will appear on login. Here is an example from above:

    [rhel@vscode ~]$ ssh rtr1
Warning: Permanently added 'rtr1,3.237.253.154' (RSA) to the list of known hosts.

This router was configured by Ansible

  2. Verify on additional routers

Module summary

In this module, you successfully:

  • Created a Job Template for configuring a banner on multiple network operating systems including Arista EOS, Cisco IOS and Juniper Junos

  • Created a self-service survey for the Job Template to fill out the network_banner and banner_type variables

  • Executed a Job Template on all four routers, loading a banner on them simultaneously