I Automated My Network Documentation with AI and Python
Network documentation is always outdated. Configs change constantly, but the docs never keep up. This video walks through a complete AI-powered workflow that takes raw show command output from live Cisco devices and turns it into a finished operational runbook and network diagram in about 10 minutes.
What you'll learn:
How to collect show commands from network devices using Python and Netmiko
How to redact sensitive data (IPs, hostnames, credentials, serial numbers) before sending anything to a public LLM
How to assemble a structured prompt and generate a full runbook with ChatGPT
How to restore real values back into the AI-generated runbook
How to generate a draw.io network diagram with zero AI involved
Why redaction matters and how to think about LLM data safety
All 5 scripts are free on GitHub. There's also a CML lab YAML file so you can replicate the exact lab and run everything yourself.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:43 What We're Building
01:21 Script 1: Collecting Show Commands
03:55 Why Redaction Matters
05:32 Script 2: Running the Redactor
07:00 Reviewing Redacted Output
08:00 Script 3: Prompt Assembler
09:14 Pasting Into ChatGPT
10:01 AI Limitations (Full Disclosure)
11:36 Script 4: Restoring Real Values
12:45 Reviewing the Finished Runbook
13:54 Script 5: Diagram Generator
15:48 Download the Scripts
16:26 Recap
Resources:
GitHub (all 5 scripts + CML lab YAML): https://github.com/GTalksTech/netops-...
Netmiko (Kirk Byers): https://github.com/ktbyers/netmiko
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https://gtalkstech.com
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