IPng Networks Router Backup

SSH-based network device configuration backup tool with support for multiple device types and flexible authentication methods.

Features

• Multi-device backup: Configure multiple devices across multiple YAML files with automatic merging
• Device type templates: Reusable command sets per device type, overridable per individual device
• Flexible authentication: SSH agent, key files, or password with SSH config support
• SSH config integration: Automatically uses ~/.ssh/config settings for legacy device compatibility
• Modular configuration: Load and merge multiple YAML files for organized configuration management

Quick Start

Installation

# Install Debian package
sudo dpkg -i ipng-router-backup_X.Y.Z_amd64.deb

# Or build from source
make build

Basic Usage

1. Create configuration files:

   Device types (00-device-types.yaml):

   types:
     srlinux:
       commands:
         - show version
         - show platform linecard
         - info flat from running
     centec:
       commands:
         - show version
         - show transciever
         - show running-config
   

   Device config (config.yaml):

   devices:
     asw100:
       user: netops
       type: srlinux
     switch01:
       user: admin
       type: centec
   

2. Run backup:

# Backup all devices (multiple YAML files are automatically merged)
ipng-router-backup --yaml 00-device-types.yaml --yaml config.yaml --output-dir /backup

# Backup specific devices
ipng-router-backup --yaml 00-device-types.yaml --yaml config.yaml --output-dir /backup \
                   --host asw100

3. Check output:

ls /backup/
# asw100  asw120

cat /backup/asw100
# ## COMMAND: show version
# Hostname             : asw100
# Software Version     : v25.3.2
# ...

Authentication

The tool automatically tries authentication methods in this order:

1. SSH Agent (if SSH_AUTH_SOCK is set)
2. SSH Key File (--key-file or from ~/.ssh/config)
3. Password (--password flag)

SSH Configuration

The tool integrates with ~/.ssh/config for seamless connection to legacy devices:

# ~/.ssh/config
Host old-router*
  User admin
  Port 2222
  KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
  Ciphers aes128-cbc,aes192-cbc,aes256-cbc
  HostKeyAlgorithms +ssh-rsa

This allows connecting to older routers that require legacy SSH algorithms while maintaining security for modern devices.

Documentation

• Detailed Documentation - Complete feature guide, configuration reference, and examples
• Manual Page - Unix manual page
• Changelog - Version history and changes