Python for Networking & Systems Administrators

Python for Networking & Systems Administrators (SysAdmin)

Learn Core Python Scripting for Task Automation and Network Programming

Targeted for network administrators looking to automate administrative tasks across a set of distributed clients Python for Networking / Systems Administrators is an introductory and beyond-level practical, hands-on Python training course that leads the student from the basics of writing and running Python scripts to more advanced features such as file operations, regular expressions, working with binary data, and using the extensive functionality of Python modules with a focus on network-focused modules such as SSH, Git, and RESTful services. This comprehensive, practical course provides an in-depth exploration of working with the programming language, not an academic overview of syntax and grammar.  Students will immediately be able to use Python to complete these types of tasks in the real world.

This course is about 50% hands-on lab to 50% lecture ratio, combining engaging, informed instructor presentations, demonstrations and discussions with extensive machine-based student labs and practical project work.

Audience/Prerequisite

• Users new to Python and scripting, enabling them to use basic Python skills on the job in a variety of ways
• Advanced users, system administrators and web site administrators who want to use Python to support their server installations
• Anyone else who wants to automate or simplify common tasks with the use of Python scripts

In this class you will learn how to: 

• Create working Python scripts following best practices
  
• Use python data types appropriately
• Read and write files with both text and binary data
• Search and replace text with regular expressions
• Get familiar with the standard library and its work-saving modules
• Create "real-world", basic level professional Python applications
• Know when to use collections such as lists, dictionaries, and sets
• Understand Pythonic features such as comprehensions and iterators
• Write robust code using exception handling

Course Outline

Part 1: An Overview of Python

• What is Python?
• The Birth of Python
• About Interpreted Languages
• Advantages & Disadvantages of Python
• How to get Python
• Which version of Python?
• The end of Python 2
• Getting Help
• One day on Dagobah

Part 2: The Python Environment

• Starting Python
• If the interpreter is not in your PATH
• Using the interpreter
• Trying out a few commands
• Running Python scripts (explicit & implicit)
• Using  pydoc
• Python Editors and IDEs

Part 3: Getting Started

• Using variables
• Keywords and Built ins
• Variable typing
• Strings
• Single-delimited & Triple-delimited string literals
• Raw string literals
• Unicode characters
• String operators and methods
• String Methods
• Numeric literals
• Math operators and expressions
• Converting among types
• Writing to the screen
• String & Legacy String Formatting
• Command line parameters
• Reading from the keyboard

Part 4: Flow Control

• About flow control
• What’s with the white space?
• if and elif
• Conditional Expressions
• Relational & Boolean Operators
• While loops
• Alternate ways to exit a loop

Part 5: Array Types

• About Array Types
• Lists
• Tuples
• Indexing and slicing
• Iterating through a sequence
• Unpacking tuples
• Nested sequences
• Functions for all sequences
• Using enumerate()
• Operators and keywords for sequences
• The range() function
• List comprehensions
• Generator Expressions

Part 6: Working with files

• Text file I/O
• Opening a text file
• The with block
• Reading a text file & Writing to a text file

Part 7: Dictionaries

• About dictionaries
• Creating dictionaries
• Getting dictionary values
• About sets, Creating Sets and Working with Sets

Part 8:  Functions

• Defining a function
• Returning values
• Function parameters
• Variable scope

Part 9:  Sorting

• Sorting Overview
• The sorted() function
• Custom sort keys
• Lambda functions
• Sorting nested data
• Sorting dictionaries
• Sorting in reverse
• Sorting lists in place

Part 10:  Errors and Exception Handling

• Syntax errors
• Exceptions
• Handling exceptions with try
• Handling multiple exceptions
• Handling generic exceptions
• Ignoring exceptions
• Using else
• Cleaning up with finally

Part 11: Using Modules

• What is a module?
• Creating Modules
• The import statement
• Where did __pycache__ come from?
• Module search path
• Packages
• Example
• Module Aliases
• When the batteries aren’t included

Part 12: An Introduction to Python Classes

• About O-O programming
• Defining classes
• Constructors
• Instance methods
• Properties
• Class methods and data
• Static Methods
• Private methods
• Inheritance
• Untangling the nomenclature

Part 13: Regular Expressions

• Regular Expressions
• RE Syntax Overview
• Finding matches 
• RE Objects
• Compilation Flags
• Groups
• Special Groups
• Replacing text
• Replacing with a callback
• Splitting a string

Part 14: Network Programming

• Grabbing a web page
• Consuming Web services
• HTTP the easy way
• Sending e-mail & Email Attachments
• Remote Access
• Copying files with Paramiko

Part 15: Sockets

• Sockets & Socket Options
• Server & Client concepts
• Application protocols
• Forking servers

Part 16: Multiprogramming

• Multiprogramming
• What Are Threads?
• The Python Thread Manager
• The threading Module
• Threads for the impatient
• Creating a thread class
• Variable sharing
• Using queues
• Debugging threaded Programs
• The multiprocessing module
• Using pools
• Alternatives to multiprogramming

Part 17: Closures

• What is a closure and why do I need one?
• How can I make one?
• Factory Function
• Using functools.partial()

Part 18: Serializing Data: XML, XPath, JSON, CSV

• About XML
• Which module to use?
• Getting Started With ElementTree
• How ElementTree Works
• Elements
• Creating, Parsing and Navigating the XML Document 
• Navigating the XML Document
• Using XPath
• About JSON
• Reading, Writing and Customizing JSON
• CSV Data