# NXOS Platform Options

Cisco NXOS supports multiple connections. This page offers details on how each connection works in Ansible 2.6 and how to use it.

Topics

- NXOS Platform Options
  - Connections Available
  - Using CLI in Ansible 2.6
    - Example CLI `group_vars/nxos.yml`
    - Example CLI Task
  - Using NX-API in Ansible 2.6
    - Enabling NX-API
    - Example NX-API `group_vars/nxos.yml`
    - Example NX-API Task

## Connections Available

| CLI | NX-API
--- | --- | ---
Protocol | SSH | HTTP(S)
Credentials | uses SSH keys / SSH-agent if present accepts `-u myuser -k` if using password | uses HTTPS certificates if present
Indirect Access | via a bastion (jump host) | via a web proxy
Connection Settings | `ansible_connection: network_cli` | `ansible_connection: httpapi` OR `ansible_connection: local` with `transport: nxapi` in the `provider` dictionary
Enable Mode (Privilege Escalation) supported as of 2.5.3 | supported - use `ansible_become: yes` with `ansible_become_method: enable` and `ansible_become_pass:` | not supported by NX-API
Returned Data Format | `stdout[0].` | `stdout[0].messages[0].`

For legacy playbooks, NXOS still supports `ansible_connection: local`. We recommend modernizing to use `ansible_connection: network_cli` or `ansible_connection: httpapi` as soon as possible.

## Using CLI in Ansible 2.6

### Example CLI `group_vars/nxos.yml`

    ansible_connection: network_cli
    ansible_network_os: nxos
    ansible_user: myuser
    ansible_ssh_pass: !vault...
    ansible_become: yes
    ansible_become_method: enable
    ansible_become_pass: !vault...
    ansible_ssh_common_args: '-o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p -q bastion01"'

- If you are using SSH keys (including an ssh-agent) you can remove the `ansible_ssh_pass` configuration.
- If you are accessing your host directly (not through a bastion/jump host) you can remove the `ansible_ssh_common_args` configuration.
- If you are accessing your host through a bastion/jump host, you cannot include your SSH password in the `ProxyCommand` directive. To prevent secrets from leaking out (for example in `ps` output), SSH does not support providing passwords via environment variables.

### Example CLI Task

    - name: Backup current switch config (nxos)
      nxos_config:
        backup: yes
      register: backup_nxos_location
      when: ansible_network_os == 'nxos'

## Using NX-API in Ansible 2.6

### Enabling NX-API

Before you can use NX-API to connect to a switch, you must enable NX-API. To enable NX-API on a new switch via Ansible, use the `nxos_nxapi` module via the CLI connection. Set up group_vars/nxos.yml just like in the CLI example above, then run a playbook task like this:

    - name: Enable NX-API
       nxos_nxapi:
           enable_http: yes
           enable_https: yes
       when: ansible_network_os == 'nxos'

To find out more about the options for enabling HTTP/HTTPS and local http see the nxos_nxapi module documentation.

Once NX-API is enabled, change your `group_vars/nxos.yml` to use the NX-API connection.

### Example NX-API `group_vars/nxos.yml`

    ansible_connection: httpapi
    ansible_network_os: nxos
    ansible_user: myuser
    ansible_ssh_pass: !vault...
    proxy_env:
      http_proxy: http://proxy.example.com:8080

- If you are accessing your host directly (not through a web proxy) you can remove the `proxy_env` configuration.
- If you are accessing your host through a web proxy using `https`, change `http_proxy` to `https_proxy`.

### Example NX-API Task

    - name: Backup current switch config (nxos)
      nxos_config:
        backup: yes
      register: backup_nxos_location
      environment: "{{ proxy_env }}"
      when: ansible_network_os == 'nxos'

In this example the `proxy_env` variable defined in `group_vars` gets passed to the `environment` option of the module used in the task.

Warning

Never store passwords in plain text. We recommend using SSH keys to authenticate SSH connections. Ansible supports ssh-agent to manage your SSH keys. If you must use passwords to authenticate SSH connections, we recommend encrypting them with Ansible Vault.