We will use a pretty straightforward example to execute show version. We will name this file junos_netconf_1.py:

  #!/usr/bin/env python3

  from ncclient import manager

  conn = manager.connect(
      host='192.168.24.252',
      port='830',
      username='netconf',
      password='juniper!',
      timeout=10,
      device_params={'name':'junos'},
      hostkey_verify=False)

  result = conn.command('show version', format='text')
  print(result)
  conn.close_session()

All the fields in the script should be pretty self explanatory with the exception of device_params. Starting from ncclient 0.4.1, the device handler was added to specify different vendors or platforms, for example, the name can be juniper, CSR, Nexus, or Huawei. We also added hostkey_verify=False because we are using a self-signed certificate from the Juniper device.

The returned output is an rpc-reply encoded in XML with and output element:

    <rpc-reply message-id="urn:uuid:7d9280eb-1384-45fe-be48-
    b7cd14ccf2b7">
     <output>
    Hostname: foo
    Model: olive
    JUNOS Base OS boot [12.1R1.9]
    JUNOS Base OS Software Suite [12.1R1.9]
    <omitted>
    JUNOS Runtime Software Suite [12.1R1.9]
    JUNOS Routing Software Suite [12.1R1.9]
    </output>
    </rpc-reply>

We can parse the XML output to just include the output text:

      print(result.xpath('output')[0].text)

In junos_netconf_2.py, we will make configuration changes to the device. We will start with some new imports for constructing new XML elements and the connection manager object:

      #!/usr/bin/env python3

      from ncclient import manager
      from ncclient.xml_ import new_ele, sub_ele

      conn = manager.connect(host='192.168.24.252', port='830', 
    username='netconf' , password='juniper!', timeout=10, 
    device_params={'name':'junos'}, hostkey_v erify=False)

We will lock the configuration and make configuration changes:

      # lock configuration and make configuration changes
      conn.lock()

      # build configuration
      config = new_ele('system')
      sub_ele(config, 'host-name').text = 'master'
      sub_ele(config, 'domain-name').text = 'python'

You can see from the XML display that the node structure with 'system' is the parent of 'host-name' and 'domain-name':

     <system>
        <host-name>foo</host-name>
        <domain-name>bar</domain-name>
    ...
    </system>

We can then push the configuration and commit the configuration. These are normal best practice steps for Juniper configuration changes:

      # send, validate, and commit config
      conn.load_configuration(config=config)
      conn.validate()
      commit_config = conn.commit()
      print(commit_config.tostring)

      # unlock config
      conn.unlock()

      # close session
      conn.close_session()

Overall, the NETCONF steps map pretty well to what you would have done in the CLI steps. Please take a look at the junos_netconf_3.py script for a combination of the previous examples and the functional example.