Cat Has Magic- Top 30 Python Libraries for Network/Wi-Fi Engineers
Libraries of Python code and assisting tools like ChatGPT are the combination for rapid magic
Last month, I explored Python scripting and the CWNP Certified Python Network Administrator and Engineer course. Generally speaking, Python itself comes with useful libraries, many of which we tap into with coding. The Python Language Reference — Python 3.13.7 documentation Additionally, generous people and communities put together code. I have a github location with Meraki code jadexing/Merakicode: Code for Meraki Wi-Fi.
How would you know what libraries and capabilities exist? See list below. ChatGPT combined with Python libraries create a powerful toolkit for network automation, monitoring, and data analysis.
⚡ Automation Libraries
Netmiko – SSH automation for multi-vendor network devices (Kirk Byers)
NAPALM – Multi-vendor network configuration and monitoring (NAPALM community)
Paramiko – Low-level SSH and SFTP connectivity (Robey Pointer)
ncclient – NETCONF protocol implementation for device configuration (ncclient community)
paramiko-expect – Adds expect-like functionality to Paramiko for interactive sessions (Kirk Byers)
sh – Simplifies shell command execution for network tools (Michael Schneider)
🖥 Monitoring & Analysis Libraries
PySNMP – SNMP monitoring, querying, and management (Ilya Etingof)
psutil – System and network interface statistics (CPU, memory, I/O, network) (Giampaolo Rodola)
Scapy – Packet crafting, sniffing, and Wi-Fi packet analysis (Philippe Biondi)
pyshark – Capturing and analyzing packets using Tshark in Python (Kimi Liu)
wifi – Scanning and connecting to Wi-Fi networks programmatically (Shane Mc Cormack)
netifaces – Retrieves network interface information for multiple OS platforms (Doug Hellmann)
pyroute2 – Linux network configuration and routing management (Sergei Shtyka)
socket – Low-level TCP/UDP network programming (Python Standard Library)
📊 Data Handling & Visualization Libraries
requests – HTTP/HTTPS API communication with network controllers (Kenneth Reitz)
json – Parsing and handling JSON data from APIs and network tools (Python Standard Library)
xml / ElementTree – Parsing and manipulating XML configurations and API responses (Python Standard Library)
pandas – Data organization, manipulation, and analysis of network metrics (Wes McKinney)
numpy – Fast numerical operations on large network datasets (Travis Oliphant et al.)
matplotlib – Plotting and visualizing network trends and Wi-Fi analytics (John D. Hunter)
seaborn – Advanced statistical visualizations for network data (Michael Waskom)
re – Regular expressions for parsing configs and output (Python Standard Library)
BeautifulSoup – HTML/XML parsing for network dashboards and controllers (Leonard Richardson)
netaddr – IP address manipulation, subnet calculations, and validation (Scott David Daniels)
ipaddress – Standard library for IP address operations and subnetting (Python Standard Library)
pytest – Testing network scripts and automation workflows (Holger Krekel et al.)
rich – Pretty terminal output and tables for network data reporting (Will McGugan)
tabulate – Formatting network data into professional tables for reports (Olivier Grisel)
cryptography – Secure handling of credentials and certificates for network devices (Cryptography.io team)
colorama – Adds color-coded output for easier monitoring and debugging (Jonathan Hartley)
It becomes fun to dive in. If you have any library suggestions or ideas for my Meraki code, please let me know.