Steps for adding a new vendor

Create a new vendor directory underneath netmiko/netmiko:

$ cd netmiko/netmiko
$ mkdir arista

Make the directory a Python package:

$ cd arista
$ touch __init__.py

Create a new module for the vendor:

$ vi arista_ssh.py
from netmiko.cisco_base_connection import CiscoSSHConnection

class AristaSSH(CiscoSSHConnection):
    pass

Inherit from the CiscoSSHConnection class. Note, the netmiko package will need to be in your PYTHONPATH

Update __init__.py to export the new class:

$ vi __init__.py
from netmiko.arista.arista_ssh import AristaSSH

__all__ = ['AristaSSH']

Update the dispatcher adding the new class:

$ cd netmiko/netmiko
$ vi ssh_dispatcher.py
from netmiko.cisco import CiscoIosSSH
from netmiko.cisco import CiscoAsaSSH
from netmiko.arista import AristaSSH            # Add here

CLASS_MAPPER = {
    'cisco_ios'     : CiscoIosSSH,
    'cisco_asa'     : CiscoAsaSSH,
    'arista_eos'    : AristaSSH,        # Add Here (device_type to class mapping)
}

Your class will need to support the following methods:

def __init__(self, ip, username, password, secret='', port=22, device_type='', verbose=True):
def establish_connection(self, sleep_time=3, verbose=True):
def disable_paging(self):
def find_prompt(self):
def clear_buffer(self):
def send_command(self, command_string, delay_factor=1, max_loops=30):
def strip_prompt(self, a_string):
def strip_command(self, command_string, output):
def normalize_linefeeds(self, a_string):
def enable(self):
def config_mode(self):
def exit_config_mode(self):
def send_config_set(self, config_commands=None):
def cleanup(self):
def disconnect(self):

As much as possible, you should re-use the inherited methods from CiscoSSHConnection and BaseConnection (i.e. only re-write what you have to).

BaseConnection is intended to be generic (i.e. irrespective of the vendor) CiscoSSHConnection is Cisco-IOS specific (because lots of vendors imitate Cisco IOS).

You should also write unit tests and verify the functionality of your new class. See netmiko/tests/test_cisco_ios.py and netmiko/tests/test_cisco_ios_enable.py.

Note, you will also need to update the ‘packages’ section of ‘setup.py’ file if you are adding a completely new package.