NAPALM vs Netmiko

NAPALM is a free Python library for automating network devices from multiple vendors through a shared API. It connects to devices, changes configurations, and retrieves operational data. Its core drivers cover Arista EOS, Cisco IOS, Cisco IOS-XR, Cisco NX-OS, and Juniper JunOS, with additional community drivers. Configuration methods include replace, merge, compare, commit-confirm, and rollback, although availability depends on the platform. Getters can return device facts, configurations, interface information, BGP neighbors, and environment data, with coverage varying by driver. For validation, NAPALM can compare live device state against YAML expectations and create a compliance report. The project identifies integrations with Ansible, SaltStack, and StackStorm. Installation uses `pip install napalm`, which includes the currently available core drivers. Version 5.1.0 and later supports Python 3.9 and later. It is self-hosted, licensed under Apache-2.0, and free at free. Documentation advises checking platform-specific caveats before use.

Netmiko is a free Python library for connecting to network devices and automating command-line tasks. It simplifies SSH connections and also documents supported Telnet device types. The library can collect output from show commands and make configuration changes while handling low-level device state. Its device list spans vendors and separates platforms by regular, limited, and experimental testing status. Regularly tested examples include Arista vEOS, Cisco IOS variants and NX-OS, Juniper Junos, and Linux. Documentation shows how to install with pip, connect to devices, run commands such as “show ip int brief,” and send configuration command sets that enter configuration mode. The project also links to API documentation, a secure copy tutorial, and guidance on using TextFSM. Optional extras support the bulk-encryption CLI and compatibility with Paramiko 4. Netmiko Tools can encrypt sensitive YAML values using Fernet or AES128; the guidance recommends protecting the key and keeping it out of version control. The project uses the MIT license, with bug reports and feature requests directed to GitHub issues.