# FRR Platform Options

This page offers details on connection options to manage FRR using Ansible.

Topics

- FRR Platform Options

  - Connections Available

  - Using CLI in Ansible

    - Example CLI `group_vars/frr.yml`

    - Example CLI Task

## Connections Available

| CLI
--- | ---
Protocol | SSH
Credentials | uses SSH keys / SSH-agent if present accepts `-u myuser -k` if using password
Indirect Access | via a bastion (jump host)
Connection Settings | `ansible_connection: network_cli`
Enable Mode (Privilege Escalation) | not supported
Returned Data Format | `stdout[0].`

## Using CLI in Ansible

### Example CLI `group_vars/frr.yml`

    ansible_connection: network_cli
    ansible_network_os: frr
    ansible_user: frruser
    ansible_password: !vault...
    ansible_ssh_common_args: '-o ProxyCommand="ssh -W %h:%p -q bastion01"'

- The ansible_user should be a part of the frrvty group and should have the default shell set to /bin/vtysh.

- If you are using SSH keys (including an ssh-agent) you can remove the `ansible_password` configuration.

- If you are accessing your host directly (not through a bastion/jump host) you can remove the `ansible_ssh_common_args` configuration.

- If you are accessing your host through a bastion/jump host, you cannot include your SSH password in the `ProxyCommand` directive. To prevent secrets from leaking out (for example in `ps` output), SSH does not support providing passwords via environment variables.

### Example CLI Task

    - name: Gather FRR facts
      frr_facts:
        gather_subset:
         - config
         - hardware

Warning

Never store passwords in plain text. We recommend using SSH keys to authenticate SSH connections. Ansible supports ssh-agent to manage your SSH keys. If you must use passwords to authenticate SSH connections, we recommend encrypting them with Ansible Vault.