Explore Cisco IOS XE Automation at Cisco Live US 2025

Cisco IOS XE offers advanced programmability and automation capabilities that simplify network management and reduce complexity. By utilizing open, standards-based APIs such as NETCONF, RESTCONF, and gNMI, network administrators can efficiently provision and configure devices, minimizing manual errors. The integration of Zero-Touch Provisioning with DevOps toolkits accelerates device onboarding, while model-driven telemetry provides real-time data collection for enhanced monitoring and troubleshooting. Cisco’s automation solutions are extensible across the entire device lifecycle, supporting seamless software upgrades and patching. These features allow our customers to drive business outcomes and be at the cutting edge of network automation, enabling faster, more secure, and efficient network operations. 

Ready to dive deeper into Cisco IOS XE programmability, automation and telemetry? Join us at Cisco Live AMEA in San Diego June 8 – 12, 2025!  

These sessions cover topics ranging from getting started with Cisco IOS XE programmability and automation, tooling with YANG Suite and Terraform, and topics ranging from modern approaches for IOS XE network management to Streaming Telemetry to Atomic Configuration Replace. For the first time ever, there will be a four-hour technical seminar covering an overview of all things programmability with Cisco IOS XE. See the details of the upcoming Cisco Live sessions below: 

Technical Seminar 

Automating All Things YANG, All the time – Programmability and Automation 101 with Cisco IOS XE [TECOPS-2314] 

This programmability and automation on Cisco Catalyst IOS XE includes an overview of the YANG based APIs and the associated tooling. The session will cover automation at every device stage including device onboarding, device configuration management, device monitoring and device optimization. Many tools such as YANG Suite will be used to demonstrate finding a YANG model and building API calls to push to Catalyst devices. The Model-Driven Telemetry capabilities will also be discussed and the example Docker container for collection and visualization will be demonstrated. Guest Shell, the Python and NETCONF API, and other innovations that enable our devices to be deployed, managed, and configured with ease at scale. 

Breakout Sessions 

Atomic Config Replace with Cisco Catalyst 9000 [BRKENS-2604] 

Atomic Configuration and atomic config replace is becoming more and more requested, and this session dives deep into the newly introduced features within IOS XE and the Catalyst 9000 family. Being able to manage configuration in an atomic fashion allows teams to more effectively manage the change and network configuration drift. Using CLI or API the atomic config replace features will be demonstrated so that you can immediately benefit from leveraging either partial config or complete config replace. Easily replace ACL, policies, or interface configurations, or supply a complete config and that config will be set regardless of existing configuration.  

Cisco IOS XE: Telemetry, Automation, and YANG—Oh My! [BRKOPS-1401] 

This programmability and automation on Cisco Catalyst IOS XE includes an overview of the YANG based APIs and the associated tooling. The session will cover automation at every device stage including device onboarding, device configuration management, device monitoring and device optimization. Many tools such as YANG Suite will be used to demonstrate finding a YANG model and building API calls to push to Catalyst devices. The Model-Driven Telemetry capabilities will also be discussed and the example Docker container for collection and visualization will be demonstrated. Guest Shell, the Python and NETCONF API, and other innovations that enable our devices to be deployed, managed, and configured with ease at scale. 

gRPC, gNMI, gNOI… Oh My! An Enterprise Network Automation Journey [BRKDEV-2017] 

How many Google API micro services are there on Cisco IOS XE, and what are their capabilities? At the end of this session not only will you be able to answer this question with confidence but you will also have a deep understanding of the solutions and real world use cases that are enabled as part of the Google Network Management API. But what about Model-Driven Telemetry? What are the best practices for mutual TLS authentication and collection of large amounts of telemetry data ? This session covers the complete Programmability & Automation lifecycle of the Cisco Catalyst 9000 when managed using gRPC, gNMI and gNOI… oh my! 

The Network of the Future is Here – Let’s Automate your IPv6 deployment with Python! [BRKOPS-2223] 

IPv6 marks a new horizon in the world of networking, promising limitless IP addresses and enhanced network performance. It is time to embark on this journey – but let’s do it the right way from the beginning: using automation! In this 90 minute breakout you will learn how to plan your IPv6 transition and how to use Python to automate setting the plan into action. You will learn about the must knows of IPv6 as well as useful Python libraries that can help you on this journey, and see practical real life Python examples of deploying IPv6 configurations in your network. Workflow decisions such as automated testing and sources of truth will also be covered. This session is designed for network engineers who have a need to start implementing IPv6. The session’s target audience has little or no prior experience with Python automation and is fairly new to IPv6 as well. After the breakout, the attendees have a possibility to try the presented topics in practice through Capture the Flag missions. 

DEVNET & Cisco U Sessions 

Modern approaches for IOS XE network device management on Cat9k [DEVNET-1110] 

If you manage any number of IOS XE devices directly then this session is for you because it will very quickly make you an expert in the operating system’s Day0-N features so that you can manage the network more efficiently. Day0 includes the long standing ZTP Zero-Touch provisioning but when encryption is required end-to-end then the Secure ZTP features can be used. A comparison and benefits of each will be demonstrated 

Day 1 API with a focus on the tooling to enable success regardless of NETCONF or RESTCONF & Ansible or Terraform. What are the best practices when moving away from the CLI and leveraging automation? What about Atomic config replace operations? 

Day 2 Telemetry helps transition from slow SNMP to enhanced speeds with YANG to demonstrate the top sustainability usecases. 

Day N shows the ping and traceroute livetools and other features for keeping the operational costs low by using the built-in automation capabilities. 

Observability at TorIX: Custom Telemetry Solutions on Next-gen Campus Switching [CISCOU-1059] 

The Toronto Internet Exchange is one of the larger global Internet Exchange Points and a critical interconnection point for many organizations. The in-production telemetry visualization solution includes comprehensive insights into the Enterprise Network using next gen campus switches and the Model-Driven Telemetry (MDT) feature. This solution from Blue Flag Consulting translates real business questions into actionable visualizations to help answers questions like “What is the hourly error rate for production switches in San Diego” and “What is the total bandwidth this month for ISP traffic?” Topics include configuring telemetry subscriptions and securely sending telemetry data through the telemetry stack: Telegraf, InfluxDB, and Grafana. Join us and elevate your Enterprise Networking with the latest campus switching and explore the vast array of telemetry capabilities and visualization insights! 

Walk-in Labs for Hands-On 

These sessions are available within the world of solutions throughout the duration of the Cisco Live week 

Efficiently monitoring device statistics in real-time using gRPC Dial-out with IOS XE [LABPRG-2004] 

Model-Driven Telemetry (MDT) addresses many of the shortfalls of legacy monitoring capabilities and provides an improved way to manage network devices. The traditional use of the pull model, and does not scale well. This lab shows gRPC Dial-Out provides more efficient, reliable mechanism to push telemetry data to collect periodic data & triggered events. 

Explore and test YANG models for model-driven telemetry on IOS XE with Cisco’s YANG Suite [LABOPS-2000] 

Considering moving away from SNMP-based network monitoring to model-based telemetry? Your journey might begin with the task of researching complex and interdependent YANG models to find the data paths needed to implement your automation or streaming telemetry strategy. That’s where Cisco’s YANG Suite tooling excels and can greatly reduce the time necessary for this research. YANG Suite abstracts the complexities of dealing with YANG models in their native text format and allows you to easily build and test network APIs using a variety network protocols including NETCONF, RESTCONF, and gNMI. In this session, participants will get valuable hands-on experience with YANG Suite software and will learn to perform common tasks required to support model-driven automation and telemetry projects. The lab will track a common research and testing workflow where the participant will: • Explore YANG models using YANG Suite’s graphical interface • Build RPCs in YANG Suite • Send RPCs to live Cisco infrastructure and observe results 

Hands-On Lab: Monitoring Cisco IOS XE Devices with RESTCONF [LABDEV-2001] 

This lab session offers a practical introduction to monitoring Cisco IOS XE devices using RESTCONF. Participants will learn how to create their own custom monitoring tool using Python to retrieve and manage device configurations, monitor network performance, and enhance operational visibility. Through guided exercises, attendees will gain hands-on experience in setting up RESTCONF on Cisco IOS XE devices, crafting API requests, and interpreting responses. By the end of the session, participants will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively integrate RESTCONF into their network management workflows. This session requires basic knowledge in programming and API understanding. 

Stay Connected 

Browse the full session catalog and register for Cisco Live here. Looking forward to seeing you at Cisco Live! 

No matter where you are on your programmability and automation journey there is always new and exciting content to help you to dive even deeper while learning about new technologies and capabilities for the enterprise network. 

Not able to attend Cisco Live this time? No worries! Check out Cisco IOS XE programmability sessions from the previous Cisco Live Events: 

2025 – Amsterdam 

2024 – Melbourne 

2024 – Las Vegas 

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