napalm-linux

NAPALM driver for generic Linux systems — Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL, Rocky, Alpine, Arch and any other distribution reachable via SSH.

Connects over SSH using Netmiko (linux device type) and automatically detects the installed package manager (apt, dnf, yum, apk, pacman).

Requirements

Dependency	Minimum version
Python	3.9
NAPALM	4.0
Netmiko	4.0
napalm-device-types	0.2.0

Installation

pip install napalm napalm-linux

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/chrismanivong/napalm-linux
pip install -e napalm-linux/

When working in the NetOrk monorepo, install both packages as editable:

pip install -e vendor/napalm-device-types/ -e vendor/napalm-linux/

Quick start

from napalm import get_network_driver

Driver = get_network_driver("linux")

with Driver(
    "10.0.0.5",
    "admin",
    "s3cr3t",
    optional_args={
        # "port": 22,
        # "pkg_manager": "apt",   # force package manager; auto-detected by default
        # "sudo_password": "sudo-pass",  # for commands that need root; without it,
        #                                # `sudo -n` (passwordless sudo) is tried
        # "debugging": True,      # enable verbose logging
    },
) as dev:
    facts = dev.get_facts()
    print(facts)

    # OS-specific methods (from napalm-device-types OSDriver)
    packages = dev.get_packages()
    updates  = dev.get_pending_updates()
    services = dev.get_services()
    users    = dev.get_users()
    procs    = dev.get_processes()
    jobs     = dev.get_cron_jobs()

    # Upgrade specific packages
    result = dev.apply_updates(["openssh-server", "curl"])
    print(result)  # {"success": True, "output": "..."}

    # Upgrade everything with pending updates
    result = dev.apply_updates([])

    # Restart a service (start, stop, restart, enable, disable)
    result = dev.manage_service("cron", "restart")
    print(result)  # {"success": True, "output": ""}

Supported NAPALM methods

Standard NAPALM

Method	Supported	Notes
open() / close()	✅	SSH via netmiko linux
is_alive()	✅
get_facts()	✅	DMI / /proc/uptime / ip link
get_interfaces()	✅	ip link show
get_interfaces_ip()	✅	ip addr show
get_arp_table()	✅	ip neigh show
get_config()	✅	Returns ip addr + ip route output
ping()	✅	Executes ping on the remote host
load_merge_candidate()	❌	Not applicable for generic Linux
load_replace_candidate()	❌	Not applicable for generic Linux
compare_config()	❌	Not applicable for generic Linux
commit_config()	❌	Not applicable for generic Linux
discard_config()	❌	Not applicable for generic Linux
rollback()	❌	Not applicable for generic Linux

OSDriver extensions (napalm-device-types)

Method	Supported	Package managers
get_packages()	✅	apt, dnf, yum, apk, pacman
get_pending_updates()	✅	apt, dnf, yum, apk, pacman
apply_updates(packages)	✅	apt, dnf, yum, apk, pacman
get_services()	✅	systemd, one round trip (fallback: SysV service)
manage_service(name, action)	✅	systemd: start, stop, restart, enable, disable
get_users()	✅	/etc/passwd + /etc/group
get_processes()	✅	ps axo
get_cron_jobs()	✅	user crontabs + /etc/cron.d/

Package manager auto-detection

The driver probes for each binary in order via command -v:

apt → dnf → yum → apk → pacman

Force a specific package manager:

optional_args={"pkg_manager": "dnf"}

SSH user permissions

The SSH user needs read access to:

Data	Required permission
/etc/passwd, /etc/group	world-readable (default)
/proc/uptime, /sys/class/dmi/…	world-readable (default)
User crontabs (/var/spool/cron/…)	root or sudo required
systemctl list-unit-files, systemctl show	unprivileged
systemctl start/stop/restart/enable/disable	root, or sudo (with sudo_password, or passwordless)
apt list --upgradable	may require apt-get update (root)
dnf check-update / yum check-update	unprivileged, but slower without cache

For full functionality it is recommended to run as root or grant passwordless sudo for the above commands.

get_services() and manage_service() come from napalm-device-types' SystemdServicesMixin; this driver supplies only the transport. An action runs as timeout 45 systemctl --no-ask-password <action> -- <unit>.service, so a unit that hangs on its way up or down cannot hold the session, and only the exit status decides whether it succeeded. Without a sudo password it uses sudo -n, which fails at once instead of waiting for a password prompt.

On OpenMediaVault (napalm-openmediavault inherits this driver), enabling or disabling a unit that OMV manages itself — Samba, NFS, SSH — may be reverted the next time OMV applies its configuration.

Tested distributions

Distribution	Version	Package manager	Tested
Debian	12 (Bookworm)	apt	✅
Ubuntu	22.04 LTS	apt	✅
Rocky Linux	9	dnf	planned
Alpine Linux	3.19	apk	planned
Arch Linux	rolling	pacman	planned

Contributions for additional distributions and versions are welcome.

Development

# Create venv
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install in editable mode with dev dependencies
pip install -e ../napalm-device-types/ -e ".[dev]"

# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v

# Lint / format
ruff check napalm_linux/
ruff format napalm_linux/

License

Apache 2.0