[c-nsp] using RANCID in a CCIE lab

[Ryan West]

On Sun, May 29, 2011 at 13:10:57, Keegan Holley wrote:
> Cc: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> Subject: Re: [c-nsp] using RANCID in a CCIE lab
> 
> rancid is a good tool.  It's also base on expect and perl so it's easy 
> to modify the scripts to do other things.  I installed this in a few 
> other labs
> (non-certification) the biggest problem I ran into was everyone's 
> tendency to blow away the routes,interface IP's and account info that 
> alows RANCID to do it's work.  Beyond that it's a great tool.  Be careful where you run it.
> It's a pain to install on certain linux distros.
> 

It can modified pretty easily to allow backup and configuration pushes via a terminal server.  Look for user_chat to see the modifications to clogin that allow it.  RANCID is great IMO, with all the expect and credential information in place, it's easily adaptable cron jobs and scripts.   I'm far from a programmer, but I was able to setup an automated block list for the ASA based off the emerging threats IP list using RANCID to push the changes.

-ryan