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Net-CLI-Interact-1.111590
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/ Net::CLI::Interact::Manual::Cookbook

NAME

Net::CLI::Interact::Manual::Cookbook - Miscellaneous recipes

Windows Support

The library works just fine under native windows (i.e use something like Strawberry Perl - no need for cygwin), for Telnet, Serial and SSH connections. However one additional step is required for you to have success:

You must download the plink.exe application, and pass its filesystem location in the app parameter to new(). Do not try to use any other Telnet or SSH programs (for instance the Windows bundled telnet) - they will not work. Here's an example:

my $s = Net::CLI::Interact->new(
    personality => "cisco",
    transport => "Telnet",
    (Net::CLI::Interact::Transport::is_win32() ?
        (app => '..\..\..\Desktop\plink.exe') : () ),
);

Unix Support

The library works fine on most Unix platforms. It will try to use the native telnet, ssh (openssh) and cu programs for Telnet, SSH and Serial connections, respectively. If you want to use another application, pass it in the app parameter to new.

In some Unix environments there can be zombie child processes left around after running your script. If this happens, set the reap option, like so:

my $s = Net::CLI::Interact->new(
    personality => "cisco",
    transport => "Telnet",
    connect_options => {
       reap => 1,
   },
);

Phrasebook Entries

Prompts

These are nothing more than named regular expressions:

prompt configure
    match /\(config[^)]*\)# ?$/

Macros

This example waits for the device to ask "[startup-config]?" and then responds with the text startup-config.

macro copy_run_start
    send copy running-config startup-config
    match /Destination filename \[startup-config\]\?$/
    send startup-config

To send instead a press of the Return key (output record separator), use:

macro write_mem
    send copy running-config startup-config
    match /Destination filename \[startup-config\]\?$/
    send ''

To instead allow the user to pass in the file name, use a sprintf format.

macro save_to_file
    send copy running-config startup-config
    match /Destination filename \[startup-config\]\?$/
    send %s

The user must then pass a parameter to the macro call, even if it's an empty string:

$s->macro('save_to_file', { params => ['file_name'] });
# or
$s->macro('save_to_file', { params => [''] });

Continuations

These are Macros which start with a match instead of a send:

macro more_pages
    match / --More-- /
    send ' '

Note that the parameter of the send is not sent with a Return character (output record separator) appended.

When included in a macro, the continuation can be in-line, like this:

macro show_ip_route
    send show ip route
    follow / --More-- / with ' '

Running Commands

Standalone Commands

Simply send the command you wish to execute to the library. If not already done, a connection to the device will be established automatically:

$s->cmd('show ip int br');

Normally this matches against a default prompt, which has been discovered automatically, or set by you:

$s->set_prompt('user_prompt');

It's also possible to pass in a custom prompt for this command only:

$s->cmd('show ip int br', { match => qr/special prompt>$/ });

Composite Macro Commands

Call a predefined Macro from the phrasebook using this method:

$s->macro('write_mem');

Sometimes the Macro needs parameters:

$s->macro('to_priv_exec', { params => ['my_password'] });

You can't really create a Macro on the fly very easily, but with suitable use of cmd(), set_prompt(), and the match option to cmd() it's possible to achieve some simple flexibility.

Reconfiguring On-the-Fly

Phrasebook

It's possible to load a new phrasebook by the following method, which must be passed at least the name of the personality:

$s->set_phrasebook({ personality => 'ios' });

You can pass any options which the Phrasebook module itself would take.

Prompt

The current prompt can be changed by passing the name of the new Prompt as it is known by the phrasebook:

$s->set_prompt('name');

If you want to test whether the current prompt matches a diffrent named Prompt from the phrasebook, this method can be used:

$s->prompt_looks_like('name');