The practical work uses a widely adopted open-source platform as the source of truth, integrated with automation frameworks. The methods taught transfer to any source-of-truth platform; the specific tools are confirmed in your joining instructions.
Advanced · 2 days · Central London · in person only
Network Automation Advanced
Two days taking the source-of-truth model into production: REST and GraphQL APIs, automation frameworks, compliance checks and a CI pipeline.
£2,700 ex VAT per delegate
01The course
This two-day course is for engineers who already understand the fundamentals of automating a network from a source of truth and want to take that into production. It goes well beyond generating a configuration from a template, into data quality, integration, event-driven automation and change pipelines.
Working from a source of truth, you will use its REST and GraphQL APIs in depth, extend its data model, and wire it into automation frameworks. The course treats automation as an engineering discipline: how to design an architecture around the source of truth, keep its data trustworthy, and check the network against its intended state at scale.
This is a professional training course sold to businesses only. It is taught in person by a practising network automation engineer, and the majority of each day is spent in the lab.
Travel and any accommodation are your own responsibility to arrange and pay for. Please do not book travel before the confirmation date for your chosen course date; Rockwey is not liable for travel, accommodation or any other costs. Delegates travelling from outside London will need accommodation before and during the course. Day 1 starts at 09:30 and Day 2 finishes at 17:00.
02Outcomes
What you will be able to do
- Query and modify source of truth data in depth with its REST API, and shape precise read queries with GraphQL, knowing when to prefer each.
- Extend the source of truth's data model with custom fields, scoped configuration data and validation rules that enforce data quality.
- Build event-driven automation triggered by changes in the source of truth, using webhooks.
- Integrate the source of truth into automation frameworks as their inventory and data source.
- Generate device configurations and run compliance checks against intended state across many devices, with templates and code structured for maintainability across a fleet.
- Apply data quality and migration strategies to populate and maintain a trustworthy source of truth.
- Design an automation architecture centred on a source of truth, with clear boundaries between systems.
- Build a CI pipeline that validates and controls network change before it reaches production.
03Prerequisites
- Completion of the Network Automation Fundamentals course, or equivalent practical experience modelling a network in a source-of-truth platform and generating configuration from it.
- You do not need to be a programmer or write code from scratch, but every delegate, including those who have completed Fundamentals, needs to be comfortable making REST API calls and understanding the responses. The exercises work from prepared examples, and we will suggest practice materials to work through between the two courses.
- Day-to-day networking knowledge from running or supporting networks.
04Agenda
- Recap of the source-of-truth model and where this course takes it.
- The source of truth's REST API in depth: filtering, pagination, bulk operations and writes.
- GraphQL: shaping precise read queries and when to prefer it over REST.
- Extending the data model: custom fields and scoped configuration data.
- Enforcing data quality with validation rules.
- Data quality and migration strategies for populating a trustworthy source of truth.
- The source of truth as a dynamic inventory and data source for playbook-driven automation.
- Driving automation workflows from the source of truth.
- Generating device configurations across many devices from source-of-truth data.
- Compliance checking: comparing running state against intended state at scale.
- Structuring templates and code for maintainability across a fleet.
- Webhooks: triggering automation from changes in the source of truth.
- Designing event-driven workflows and their failure handling.
- Designing an automation architecture around a source of truth.
- Building a CI pipeline to validate and gate network change before production.
- Bringing it together: a review exercise across the full workflow.
05Equipment
Bring your own equipment
Delegates bring their own laptop, as Rockwey does not provide equipment. It needs to meet these requirements:
- A laptop with a modern web browser on its current version (Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari).
- All labs run remotely, so nothing needs installing beyond an SSH client. One is built into macOS and Linux; on Windows, install Windows Terminal or PuTTY before arriving.
- If you cannot install software, a terminal in the browser over port 443 works instead, provided the connectivity check passes.
- The ability to join a guest wireless network. A corporate VPN must not be forced on the connection, as it commonly blocks lab access.
- Outbound network access on ports 22 (SSH) and 443 (HTTPS).
Run the connectivity check as soon as your place is booked, so we can resolve any issues before you arrive.
06Dates & booking
Dates, venue and availability
Venue: confirmed with each course date, central London. A vegetarian lunch, teas, coffees and soft drinks are included in the price. No dinner is provided.
Each course day runs 09:30 to 17:00, with registration and coffee from 09:00.
Courses run with 10 to 14 delegates. If fewer than 10 places are booked, we will cancel that date. We confirm or cancel each course on its confirmation date, 10 working days before the start, so you have a firm answer before you book travel. Bookings close three working days before the course starts. We cannot accept bookings after that point.
Booked delegates receive joining instructions (venue address, daily timings, building access and a phone number for the day) no later than five working days before the course.
Next course: November 2026, central London. The exact date will be published by 1 October. Register interest below and we will let you know as soon as it is published.
No date is open for booking yet. Register your interest and we will email you as soon as the date is published. This is an enquiry, not a booking, and it commits neither of us to anything. We reply within two working days.
We sell our courses to businesses rather than individuals. To book, we'll need your organisation's legal name and its company or tax registration number. You do not need a UK VAT number.
Payment is by bank transfer in pounds sterling. UK customers can pay by BACS; international customers can use the IBAN and SWIFT details on the invoice. We accept purchase orders but not card payments. Your place is confirmed once payment clears.
Delegates who attend the full course receive a Rockwey certificate of completion. It is not a vendor certification or a professional accreditation.
Full terms and conditions.
Rockwey is an independent training provider. Our courses are vendor-neutral and are not sponsored, accredited or endorsed by any technology vendor. Any trademarks shown in course materials remain the property of their respective owners.