Grpc for Cisco IOS-XR in python

Author: Karthik Kumaravel

Contact: kkumara3@cisco.com

This is a small repo showing how to use GRPC in python for the IOS-XR end node.The repo is consisted of three main componenets, the compiled pb2 file from the IDL, a python client accessing the pb2 file, and an example python file. The example is a small python file showing how to set up the connection and use one of the rpc calls. Please look at the unit-testing and client page for more rpc calls. At the bottom of the repo, there is a walkthrough of how to create your own client.

If you find any problems with this repo, please file a bug so I can fix it. If you need help, feel free to contact me.

GRPC Calls

The file is called example_grpc.py. This file has an excamples of the different rpc calls. This configuration shows how to get things started with self signed certs.

• Download the repository
• Install grpc

pip install grpcio

(sudo may be required)

• ssh into the router and turn on grpc and tls on the router, below is an example configuration.

interface GigabitEthernet 0/0/0/0
 ipv4 address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
 no shut

grpc
 tls
 port 57777
 !
!

• Copy the autogenerated .pem file to the 'keys' folder in the client directory.

scp cisco@192.168.1.2:/misc/config/grpc/ems.pem ./

(note if you don't want to use TLS, don't pass the cred and options)

• If you are using your own box, change the parameters in the example.py file to have the proper authentication credentials.
• Run the program

python grpc_example.py

Getting here from the beginning

To create a client of your own there are a few steps to follow.

• Download the proto file for IOS-XR's grpc: https://github.com/CiscoDevNet/grpc-getting-started
• Follow the instructions to generate the client/server code in python using the grpc-getting-started's proto file: http://www.grpc.io/docs/tutorials/basic/python.html#generating-client-and-server-code
• From here create a client, an example can be found here: http://www.grpc.io/docs/tutorials/basic/python.html#creating-the-client
• At this point you should have a client similar to the one in this repo

Other Useful Links

If you would like to test this all out with IOS-XRv, use the following link to request access to the vagrant box.

https://xrdocs.github.io/

To be done

Here is a list of current work to be done

• Add example vagrant setup
• Examples of all the different tests
• More unit testing
• Documentation around MDT telemetry