IOS-XE & IOS-XR NETCONF vs gNMI

[gbieli]

Hi,

I work in a project where we have C8500/ASR1006-X with IOS-XE >=17.6 and ASR9k with 64bit IOS-XR >=7.4. I'm currently evaluating the programmability interfaces that both IOS operating systems offer. They both seem to support NETCONF and gNMI. As I understand NETCONF is older and probably more mature than gNMI, which is the newer one. We plan to access these interfaces with Ansible and/or Python.

Now to the question: which one of these interfaces would you use on the mentioned platforms and IOS versions and why?

Regards,

Gérard

[Alexander Stevenson]

Hello @gbieli,

That's a pretty deep question. I hope my reply can stir up some more interest in this discussion. 

I did see a Cisco Blog based on a book that takes a deep dive on this subject: Architect & DE Discussions
Network Programmability with YANG: The Structure of Network Automation with YANG, NETCONF, RESTCONF, and gNMI.

Some other relevant resources:

• Networking Field Day Exclusive Cisco Service Provider gNMI Programmatic Configuration - video includes demo on IOS-XR
• Model-Driven Programmability for Cisco IOS XR - detailed Cisco Live presentation

Hope this helps!