How to design and deploy Cisco Network & Automation

"The lab content in this guide generated 50,000+ impressions and 319 reactions from network engineers on LinkedIn within 48 hours of publication."

If you're a network engineer who's tired of configuring devices manually — this lab guide changes everything.

Most Cisco training stops at the CLI. This one takes you all the way from routing protocols to Python automation — in 7 structured, hands-on days using Cisco Packet Tracer.

Built by Onyedikachi Onwe, a practicing Nigerian network engineer with 7+ years of enterprise infrastructure experience and founder of Atlas Kenji Ltd (RC 8731547).

━━ WHAT'S INSIDE ━━

Day 1 — Network Foundations & Topology Setup

Build a 3-router, 4-switch enterprise topology from scratch. IP addressing with VLSM, SSH v2 hardening, CDP/LLDP discovery, device initialisation.

Day 2 — Routing Deep Dive (OSPF, EIGRP & BGP)

Multi-area OSPF configuration, EIGRP deployment, eBGP peering with a simulated ISP, route redistribution, prefix-list filtering, path selection tuning.

Day 3 — Switching, VLANs & EtherChannel

Full VLAN database, 802.1Q trunking, Rapid PVST+, PortFast/BPDU Guard, LACP and PAgP EtherChannel, HSRP gateway redundancy.

Day 4 — Network Security (ACLs, NAT & Zone-Based Firewall)

Extended named ACLs, NAT overload (PAT), static NAT for DMZ, Zone-Based Firewall policy, anti-spoofing, AAA configuration.

Day 5 — Python Network Automation

Connect to devices via Netmiko over SSH. Automate bulk config backups, push configs from CSV inventory, parse output with TextFSM and ntc-templates, build Jinja2 config templates, write a compliance checker.

Day 6 — NETCONF/YANG & REST APIs

Enable NETCONF on IOS-XE. Use ncclient to retrieve and modify device config. RESTCONF GET/PUT/PATCH operations with Python requests. Navigate Cisco YANG data models.

Day 7 — Capstone Automation Pipeline

YAML intent file as single source of truth. Jinja2 renders device configs. Python orchestrator deploys to all devices via Netmiko. Post-deployment ping matrix and compliance verification. Full project pushed to GitHub.

━━ WHAT YOU GET ━━

✓ Complete 7-day lab guide (PDF + Word format)

✓ All Cisco Packet Tracer topology files (.pkt)

✓ 10+ Python automation scripts (Netmiko, Jinja2, TextFSM, ncclient)

✓ Sample network_intent.yaml capstone file

✓ IP addressing tables and network diagrams

✓ Verification commands cheatsheet

✓ Troubleshooting reference guide

✓ LinkedIn post templates (10-day content plan)

✓ Lifetime access — download once, keep forever

━━ WHO THIS IS FOR ━━

This guide is for you if:

→ You hold a CCNA or equivalent and want to push toward CCNP level

→ You want to add Python automation to your networking skillset

→ You're building a portfolio for remote engineering roles

→ You want to understand NETCONF/YANG — what enterprise employers actually hire for

→ You're a Nigerian network engineer ready to compete globally

━━ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ━━

Onyedikachi Onwe is a Network & IT Infrastructure Specialist based in Lagos, Nigeria, with 7+ years of enterprise networking experience across Cisco and Huawei infrastructure. He is the founder of Atlas Kenji Ltd (RC 8731547) — a registered network infrastructure consulting firm — and Atlas Networking Concept (RC 9498526), Nigeria's practical network automation training brand.

This guide was built from real lab work, real scripts, and real troubleshooting — not textbook theory.

━━ PUBLISHED BY ━━

Atlas Networking Concept — RC No. 9498526

A division of Atlas Kenji Ltd — RC No. 8731547

atlasnetworkingconcept.com · atlaskenji.com