Infrastructure as Code (IaC) allows automation, provisioning, and management of the technology stack. Manual tasks are translated into reusable, robust, distributable code. IaC relies on practices that have been successfully used for years in software development.
NaC makes the network intent itself the source of truth. In this lab, the host_vars model files
describe the VRFs, Networks, attachments, and optional policies that should exist on the ND-managed fabric. The
pipeline will validate those model files, deploy them to staging for review, and then deploy the same intent to
production after the merge request is approved.
NOTE: When using NX-OS, the staging environment can be simulated using Nexus 9000v virtual switches before deploying to your production environment.
Now that you have a high level understanding of CI/CD, let's build it out!