Simplifying OcNOS Configuration Backups with Ansible

Configuration backups are one of those operational tasks that every network team acknowledges is critical but often lacks a clean, automated solution for. OcNOS does not have built-in scheduled backup functionality, but it integrates cleanly with Ansible — making it straightforward to build a robust backup workflow using tools most network teams already have.

This guide covers three approaches from simple to full production-grade:

1. Basic SSH backup using Ansible raw module
2. NETCONF-based structured config retrieval
3. Git-backed version history with drift detection

Approach 1: SSH Backup with Ansible

# backup-ocnos.yaml -- Simple Ansible playbook for OcNOS config backup
# Run via cron: ansible-playbook backup-ocnos.yaml
# Or schedule with Ansible AWX / AAP

- name: Backup OcNOS configurations
  hosts: ocnos_nodes
  gather_facts: false

  vars:
    backup_dir: "/opt/network-backups/ocnos"
    timestamp: "{{ lookup('pipe', 'date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S') }}"

  tasks:
    - name: Create backup directory per host
      file:
        path: "{{ backup_dir }}/{{ inventory_hostname }}"
        state: directory
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Fetch running configuration
      ansible.netcommon.cli_command:
        command: show running-config
      register: running_config

    - name: Save configuration to file
      copy:
        content: "{{ running_config.stdout }}"
        dest: "{{ backup_dir }}/{{ inventory_hostname }}/running-config-{{ timestamp }}.txt"
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Save latest symlink
      file:
        src: "{{ backup_dir }}/{{ inventory_hostname }}/running-config-{{ timestamp }}.txt"
        dest: "{{ backup_dir }}/{{ inventory_hostname }}/running-config-latest.txt"
        state: link
      delegate_to: localhost

Approach 2: NETCONF Structured Backup

# netconf-backup.yaml -- Retrieve config via NETCONF for structured storage
# Produces XML files that can be diff'd and fed back into NETCONF

- name: NETCONF configuration backup
  hosts: ocnos_nodes
  connection: netconf
  gather_facts: false

  tasks:
    - name: Get full running configuration via NETCONF
      netconf_get:
        source: running
        filter: |
          <filter type="subtree">
            <interfaces xmlns="http://openconfig.net/yang/interfaces"/>
            <routing xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-routing"/>
            <network-instances xmlns="http://openconfig.net/yang/network-instance"/>
          </filter>
      register: netconf_config

    - name: Save NETCONF XML config
      copy:
        content: "{{ netconf_config.output }}"
        dest: "/opt/network-backups/ocnos/{{ inventory_hostname }}/netconf-{{ timestamp }}.xml"
      delegate_to: localhost

Approach 3: Git-Backed Version Control with Drift Detection

# git-backup.yaml -- Full production backup with Git version history
# Detects configuration changes and alerts if drift is detected

- name: Git-backed OcNOS configuration backup
  hosts: ocnos_nodes
  gather_facts: false

  vars:
    git_repo: "/opt/network-configs"

  tasks:
    - name: Fetch running configuration
      ansible.netcommon.cli_command:
        command: show running-config
      register: running_config

    - name: Write config to Git working directory
      copy:
        content: "{{ running_config.stdout }}"
        dest: "{{ git_repo }}/{{ inventory_hostname }}.cfg"
      delegate_to: localhost

    - name: Check for config changes (Git diff)
      command: git -C {{ git_repo }} diff --name-only
      register: git_diff
      delegate_to: localhost
      changed_when: git_diff.stdout != ""

    - name: Commit changes if config drifted
      shell: |
        cd {{ git_repo }}
        git add {{ inventory_hostname }}.cfg
        git commit -m "Config change detected on {{ inventory_hostname }} at {{ timestamp }}"
      delegate_to: localhost
      when: git_diff.stdout != ""

    - name: Alert on configuration drift
      debug:
        msg: "ALERT: Configuration change detected on {{ inventory_hostname }}"
      when: git_diff.stdout != ""

Scheduling Backups with Cron

# crontab -e -- Schedule daily backups at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /usr/bin/ansible-playbook /opt/ansible/git-backup.yaml   -i /opt/ansible/inventory.yaml   >> /var/log/ocnos-backup.log 2>&1

# Weekly full backup with retention cleanup (keep 90 days):
0 3 * * 0 find /opt/network-backups/ocnos -name "*.txt"   -mtime +90 -delete

• Automating Network Deployments with OcNOS
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IP Infusion Engineering Team