Ansible on Arista EOS 4.33 Automation Complete Guide

By Luca Berton · Published 2024-01-01 · Category: installation

Automate Arista EOS 4.33 with Ansible: arista.eos collection, eAPI, AVD/CVP, EVPN-VXLAN, MLAG, OSPF/BGP, configuration drift.

Arista EOS 4.33 is a current 4.33.x train running on 7050X/7280R/7500R/7800R series switches. Ansible's arista.eos collection plus the Arista Validated Designs (AVD) roles drive day-0 EVPN-VXLAN fabrics, MLAG, OSPF/BGP, and CloudVision (CVP) integration. This is the master Ansible guide for EOS 4.33.

Arista EOS 4.33 release facts

Item	Value
Train	4.33.x
Programmability	eAPI (REST/JSON-RPC), gNMI, OpenConfig YANG
Validated automation	Arista Validated Designs (AVD)
Telemetry	TerminAttr/CVP

Ansible-core compatibility

Use ansible-core 2.18 LTS with arista.eos >= 9.0 and AVD ≥ 5.0 roles via arista.avd.

Inventory

[eos]
spine01 ansible_host=10.20.0.1
spine02 ansible_host=10.20.0.2
leaf01 ansible_host=10.20.0.10
leaf02 ansible_host=10.20.0.11

[eos:vars]
ansible_network_os=arista.eos.eos
ansible_connection=ansible.netcommon.httpapi
ansible_httpapi_use_ssl=true
ansible_httpapi_validate_certs=false
ansible_user=admin
ansible_password='{{ vault_eos_password }}'

Backup running-config

- name: Backup EOS configs
  hosts: eos
  gather_facts: false
  tasks:
    - name: Save running-config
      arista.eos.eos_config:
        backup: true
        backup_options:
          dir_path: ./backups

OSPF underlay

- name: OSPFv2 underlay
  hosts: eos
  gather_facts: false
  tasks:
    - name: OSPF
      arista.eos.eos_ospfv2:
        config:
          processes:
            - process_id: 1
              router_id: "{{ rid }}"
              areas:
                - area_id: '0.0.0.0'
        state: merged

MLAG

- name: MLAG between leaf01/leaf02
  hosts: leaf01:leaf02
  gather_facts: false
  tasks:
    - name: MLAG config
      arista.eos.eos_config:
        lines:
          - mlag configuration
          - domain-id mlag1
          - local-interface Vlan4094
          - peer-address 10.0.0.{{ peer_id }}
          - peer-link Port-Channel999

EVPN-VXLAN with AVD

group_vars/EVPN_FABRIC.yml:

fabric_name: dc1
underlay_routing_protocol: ebgp
overlay_routing_protocol: ebgp
local_users:
  - name: admin
    privilege: 15
    role: network-admin
    sha512_password: "{{ vault_admin_sha512 }}"

Playbook:

- name: Build EVPN fabric with AVD
  hosts: EVPN_FABRIC
  gather_facts: false
  tasks:
    - import_role: { name: arista.avd.eos_designs }
    - import_role: { name: arista.avd.eos_cli_config_gen }
    - import_role: { name: arista.avd.eos_config_deploy_eapi }

CloudVision (CVP) integration

- name: Push configs through CVP
  hosts: localhost
  tasks:
    - name: Apply configlets via CVP
      arista.cvp.cv_configlet_v3:
        configlets:
          spine01: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.file', 'intended/spine01.cfg') }}"
        state: present

Drift detection

- name: Drift check on EOS
  hosts: eos
  gather_facts: false
  tasks:
    - name: Compare to intended
      arista.eos.eos_config:
        src: "intended/{{ inventory_hostname }}.cfg"
        diff_against: intended
      register: drift

Best practices

Adopt AVD over hand-written templates — it encodes Arista's reference designs and validates inputs.
Use eAPI (httpapi) transport for performance; SSH is fallback.
Push through CVP for change management and audit when available.
Combine drift detection with TerminAttr telemetry to alert on out-of-band changes.

Conclusion

EOS 4.33 with arista.eos and the AVD framework gives the most opinionated, deterministic networking automation experience available today. Ansible orchestrates AVD inputs and CVP delivery for production-grade fabric rollouts.

Connecting Ansible to Arista EOS

# inventory.ini
[arista]
switch1 ansible_host=10.0.0.10

[arista:vars]
ansible_connection=ansible.netcommon.network_cli
ansible_network_os=arista.eos.eos
ansible_user=admin
ansible_password="{{ vault_arista_password }}"
ansible_become=true
ansible_become_method=enable

Common EOS Tasks

- name: Manage Arista EOS switches
  hosts: arista
  gather_facts: false
  tasks:
    - name: Gather EOS facts
      arista.eos.eos_facts:
        gather_subset: all

    - name: Show version info
      ansible.builtin.debug:
        msg: "{{ ansible_net_version }} — {{ ansible_net_model }}"

    - name: Configure VLANs
      arista.eos.eos_vlans:
        config:
          - vlan_id: 100
            name: Production
            state: active
          - vlan_id: 200
            name: Development
            state: active

    - name: Configure interfaces
      arista.eos.eos_l3_interfaces:
        config:
          - name: Management1
            ipv4:
              - address: 10.0.0.10/24

    - name: Save running config
      arista.eos.eos_command:
        commands:
          - write memory

Backup Configuration

    - name: Backup switch config
      arista.eos.eos_config:
        backup: true
        backup_options:
          filename: "{{ inventory_hostname }}_{{ ansible_date_time.date }}.cfg"
          dir_path: /backups/arista/

FAQ

Which collection do I need for Arista EOS?

Install arista.eos: ansible-galaxy collection install arista.eos. It requires ansible.netcommon as a dependency.

Does Ansible support eAPI (REST) for Arista?

Yes. Set ansible_connection=ansible.netcommon.httpapi and ansible_httpapi_use_ssl=true to use eAPI instead of SSH.

Can I manage Arista CloudVision with Ansible?

Yes. Use the arista.cvp collection for CloudVision Portal automation, including configlets, containers, and change control.

Category: installation

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