Day 8. Python Libraries For DevOps

Ashvini MahajanAshvini Mahajan
11 min read

List of Python modules for DevOps

  1. os Module

    This module provides a way of using operating system functionality.

    Basics of OS Module

     #Import os module
     import os
     #Get Os name
     os.name
     #Get environment variables
     os.environ
    

    Current Working Directory

     import os
     #Get current working directory
     cwd = os.getcwd()
     print("Current working directory",cwd)
    
     #changing current working directory
     def currentPath():
         print("Current directory is",os.getcwd())
    
     currentPath()
     os.chdir('../')
     currentPath()
    

    Creating directory

     import os
     #Directory path
     directoryname="Hashnode"
     parentdirectory="/home/vboxuser/Documents"
     path =os.path.join(parentdirectory,directoryname)
     #Create directory
     os.mkdir(path)
    
     #Creating directoy with permissions
     mode=0o666
     directoryname="HashnodeP"
     path=os.path.join(parentdirectory,directoryname)
     os.mkdir(path,mode)
    
     #Create director using mkdirs
     #mkdirs creates any missing directory in path
     directory="Ashwini"
     parentdirectory="/home/vboxuser/HashnodeMissing"
     path =os.path.join(parentdirectory,directory)
     os.mkdirs(path)
    

    Listing out Files and Directories

     import os
     #List out files/directories
     path = "/"
     dirlist = os.listdir(path) 
     print("Files and directories in '", path, "' :") 
     print(dirlist)
    

    Deleting directories or Files

     import os
    
     #Deleting files
     filename='file1.txt'
     directory="/home/vboxuser/Documents"
     path=os.path.join(directory,filename)
     os.remove(path)
    
     #Deleting directory
     directory="Hashnode"
     parent="/home/vboxuser/Documents"
     path=os.path.join(parent,directory)
     os.rmdir(path)
    

  2. platform module

    Platform module is used to access underlying platform data such as operating system, interpreter version information, and hardware. It has also been used to write cross-platform script.

     import platform
     import sys
     #Various architecture information
     platform.architecture(executable=sys.executable, bits='', linkage='')
     #Returns machine type
     platform.machine()
     #returns computer network name
     platform.node()
     #Returns a single string identifying the underlying platform with as much useful information as possible.
     platform.platform(aliased=False,terse=False)
     #returns processor name
     platform.processor()
     #returns system release
     platform.release()
     #returns system os name
     platform.system()
     #Fairly portable uname interface. Returns containing six attributes: system, node, release, version, machine, and processor.
     platform.uname()
     #Returns a string identifying the compiler used for compiling Python.
     platform.python_compiler()
     #Returns the Python version as string.
     platform.python_version()
     #Returns a tuple (release, vendor, vminfo, osinfo) with vminfo being a tuple (vm_name, vm_release, vm_vendor) and osinfo being a tuple (
     platform.java_ver(release='', vendor='', vminfo=('', '', ''), osinfo=('', '', ''))
     #return a tuple (release, version, csd, ptype) referring to OS release, version number, CSD level (service pack) and OS type (multi/single processor).
     platform.win32_ver(release='', version='', csd='', ptype='')
    

  3. subprocess Module

    The Python subprocess module is for launching child processes. The parent-child

    relationship of processes is where the sub in the subprocess name comes from. When you use subprocess, Python is the parent that creates a new child process.

     import subprocess
     #Run the command with args
     subprocess.run(["ls","-l"])
    
     #It is employed to execute a command in a separate process and wait for its completion
     result =subprocess.call(["python3","--version"])
     if result ==0:
         print("Command executed")
     else:
         print("command failed")
    

    check_output

    Run command with arguments and return its output.

    If the return code was non-zero it raises a CalledProcessError. The CalledProcessErrorobject will have the return code in the returncode attribute and any output in the output attribute.

     import subprocess
     try: 
         ans = subprocess.check_output(["python3", "--version"], text=True) 
         print(ans) 
    
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e: 
         print(f"Command failed with return code {e.returncode}")
    

    pipe

    To start a new process, or in other words, a new subprocess in Python, you need to use the Popen function call. It is possible to pass two parameters in the function call.

    stdin, stdout and stderr specify the executed program’s standard input, standard output and standard error file handles, respectively.

     import subprocess
     process = subprocess.Popen(['cat', 'example.py'], stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
     stdout, stderr = process.communicate()
     print(stdout)
    

  4. sys Module

    This module provides access to some variables used or maintained by the interpreter and to functions that interact strongly with the interpreter.

     import sys
     #Version of python interpreter
     sys.version
     #Get input directly from the command line using stdin. 
     #save this to file Hash.py and run it using python3 Hash.py command
     print("Enter message here:")
     for line in sys.stdin:
         line= line.rstrip():
         print(f"Input :{line}")
     #Display output directly to the screen console using stdout
     sys.stdout.write("Hashnode")
     #Its error messages go to stderr
     print('This is an error message', file=sys.stderr)
     #Write stderr to file
     sys.stderr = open('err.txt', 'w')
     print('This is an error message', file=sys.stderr)
     #List of command line arguments passed to script.
     #Save this code as math.py and run it using python3 math.py
     n = len(sys.argv)
     print("Total arguments passed:", n)
     print("\nName of Python script:", sys.argv[0])
     print("\nArguments passed:", end = " ")
     for i in range(1, n):
         print(sys.argv[i], end = " ")
     Sum = 0
     for i in range(1, n):
         Sum += int(sys.argv[i])
    
     print("\n\nResult:", Sum)
    
     #exit from program using sys.exit
     salary=10000
     if salary <=10000:
         sys.exit("Salary is less than 10000")
    

  5. psutil Module

    psutil (process and system utilities) is a cross-platform library for retrieving information on running processes and system utilization (CPU, memory, disks, network, sensors) in Python. It is useful mainly for system monitoring, profiling and limiting process resources and management of running processes.

    CPU.

     import psutil
     #CPU
     #psutil.cpu_times()- This function gives system CPU times as a named tuple.
     #Parameters:  
     #user – time spent by normal processes executing in user mode
     #system – time spent by processes executing in kernel mode
     #idle – time when system was idle
     #nice – time spent by priority processes executing in user mode
     #iowait – time spent waiting for I/O to complete. This is not accounted in idle time counter.
     #irq – time spent for servicing hardware interrupts
     #softirq – time spent for servicing software interrupts
     #steal – time spent by other operating systems running in a virtualized environment
     #guest – time spent running a virtual CPU for guest operating systems under the control of 
     #the Linux kernel
     psutil.cpu_times()
     #psutil.cpu_percent(1) -current system CPU utilization in percentage
     print(psutil.cpu_percent(1))
    
     #It counts logical or physical core in system using logical=true/false flag
     print("Number of cores in system", psutil.cpu_count(logical=True))
    
     #psutil.cpu_stats() -This function gives CPU statistics as a named tuple. The statistics includes : 
     #ctx_switches – number of context switches since boot.
     #interrupts – number of interrupts since boot.
     #soft_interrupts – number of software interrupts since boot.
     #syscalls – number of system calls since boot. Always set to 0 in Ubuntu.
     print("CPU Statistics", psutil.cpu_stats())
    
     #psutil.cpu_freq() – This gives CPU frequency as a tuple that includes current, min and 
     #max frequencies expressed in Mhz.
     print(psutil.cpu_freq())
    
     #psutil.getloadavg() – This function gives the average system load
     print(psutil.getloadavg())
    

    Memory

     import psutil
     #Memory
     #psutil.virtual_memory() - This gives information about physical memory
     psutil.virtual_memory()
     #psutil.swap_memory() - Details of swap memory
     psutil.swap_memory()
    

    Disks

     import psutil
     #Disks
     #psutil.disk_partitions() - details of all mounted disk partitions like device, 
     #mount point and filesystem type.
     psutil.disk_partitions()
     #psutil.disk_usage('/') -details of disk usage
     psutil.disk_usage('/')
    

    Network

     import psutil
     #psutil.net_io_counters() - details of network
     psutil.net_io_counters()
     #psutil.net_connections(kind='tcp') - list of socket connections
     psutil.net_connections(kind='tcp')
     #psutil.net_if_addrs() - get address of each network interface card
     psutil.net_if_addrs()
    

    Other system info

     import psutil
     #psutil.boot_time() -get system boot time
     psutil.boot_time()
     #psutil.users() - list of users connected on system
     psutil.users()
    

  6. re Module

    This module provides regular expression matching operations.A regular expression (or RE) specifies a set of strings that matches it; the functions in this module let you check if a particular string matches a given regular expression

    Characters used int pattern:

    . - this matches any character except a newline.

    ^ - Matches start of string

    $ - Matches end of string

    * - Any number of repetitions

    + - One or more repetitions

    ? - Zero or one repetitions

    \ - Escape special characters

    [] - Used to indicate set of characters

    | - Means OR , A|B either A or B

    {} - Indicate the number of occurrences of a preceding regex to match.

    () - Group of regex

    \A - Matches only at the start of string

    \b -Matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a word.

    \B - Matches the empty string, but only not at the beginning or end of a word.

    \d - Matches any decimal digit

    \D - Matches which is not a decimal digit

    \s - Matches whitespace character

    \S - Matches not a whitespace character

    \w - Matches word characters

    \W - Matches not word characters

    \Z - Matches only at the end of string

    Functions

     import re
     #re.findall() -  find all occurences of pattern
     string = "My sisters age is 45 and my age is 30"
     pattern="\d+"
     match = re.findall(pattern,string)
     print(match)
    

     import re
     #expression pattern into a regular expression object, 
     #which can be used for matching using its match()
     p =re.compile('[a-e]')
     match = p.findall("This is Hashnode blog Day 8")
     print(match)
    

     import re
     #re.compile(pattern, flags=0) - Compile a regular 
     #re.split() - split string by occurences of characters
     print(re.split('\W+', 'set width=20 and height=10')) 
     print(re.split('\d+', 'set width=20 and height=10'))
    

     import re
     #re.search() - Scan through string looking for the first location where 
     #the regular expression pattern #produces a match, and return
     #a corresponding Match
     string ="Day 8. Python Libraries for DevOps"
     pattern= "(\w+$) (\d+)"
     match= re.search(pattern,string)
     if match != None:
         print("Match Index :",match.start(),match.end())
         print("Day :",match.group(0))
     else
         print("Pattern not found")
    

     import re
     #re.sub() - Return the string obtained by replacing the leftmost 
     #non-overlapping occurrences of pattern in string by the replacement 
     re.sub(r'\sAND\s', ' & ', 'Baked Beans And Spam', flags=re.IGNORECASE)
    
     #re.subn() - It is same as re.sub() except it returns  count of 
     #the total of replacement and the new string rather than just the string.
    
     #re.escape() - Escape special characters in pattern.
     print(re.escape('https://www.python.org'))
    

  7. scapy Module

    Scapy is a powerful Python-based interactive packet manipulation program and library.

    It is able to forge or decode packets of a wide number of protocols, send them on the wire, capture them, store or read them using pcap files, match requests and replies, and much more. It is designed to allow fast packet prototyping by using default values that work.

     from scapy.all import *
     #stacking layers
     #The / operator has been used as a composition operator between two layers. 
     #When doing so, the lower layer can have 
     #one or more of its defaults fields overloaded according to the upper layer.
     #src - source IP
     #dst - destination IP
     #Show IP fields
     ls(IP, verbose=True)
    
     packet = Ether()/IP(dst="www.hashnode.com")/TCP()
     packet.summary()
    
     from scapy.all import *
     #sniff - Sniffing the network is as straightforward as sending and 
     #receiving packets. The sniff() function returns a list of Scapy packets
     sniff(count=2, prn=lambda p: p.summary())
    

     from scapy.all import *
    
     #Send/Receive packet
     #The sr1() function sends a packet and returns the corresponding answer. 
     #srp1() does the same for layer two packets, i.e. Ethernet.
     p = sr1(IP(dst="8.8.8.8")/UDP()/DNS(qd=DNSQR()))
     p[DNS].an
    

  8. requests and urlib3 Module

    The requests module is used to send Http request.

     import requests
     #get() method sends a GET request to a web server and 
     #it returns a response object.It is used to get resource data
     response = requests.get("https://hashnode.com/")
     print(f"{response.status_code}: {response.reason}")
    

     import requests
     #head() method sends a HEAD request to a web server and 
     #it returns a response object.It is used to get header information
     response = requests.head("https://hashnode.com")
     print(response.status_code)
     print(response.headers["Content-Type"])
     print(response.text)
    

     import requests
     #post() method sends a POST request to a web server 
     #and it returns a response object.It is used to create or update resource
     data = {
       "blog": "Day 9.Python Projects"
     }
     response = requests.post("https://hashnode.com", data=data)
     print(f"{response.status_code}: {response.reason}")
    

     import requests
     #put() method sends a PUT request to a web server 
     #and it returns a response object.It is used to update resource
     json = {
       "blog": "Day 9.Python Projects"
     }
     response = requests.put("https://httpbin.org/put", json=json)
     print(response.json()["json"])
    

     import requests
     #delete() method sends a DELETE request to a web server 
     #and it returns a response object.It is used to delete resource
     response = requests.put("https://www.google.com")
     print(f"{response.status_code}: {response.reason}")
    

  9. json Module

    It is a lightweight data interchange format inspired by JavaScript object literal syntax. It is mainly used for storing and transferring data between the browser and the server.

     import json
     #json.loads - It converts json data to python object
     students='{"John":35,"Jane":45,"Kate":42}'
     student_dict=json.loads(students)
     print(student_dict)
    

     import json
     #json.dumps - It convert python object to json data
     students_dict={"John":35,"Jane":45,"Kate":42}
     students_json=json.dumps(students_dict)
     print(students_json)
    

  10. boto3 Module

    Boto3 is the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Software Development Kit (SDK) for Python, which allows Python developers to write software that makes use of services like Amazon S3 and Amazon EC2.

    client

    Client is a low level class object. For each client call, you need to explicitly specify the targeting resources, the designated service target name must be pass long. You will lose the abstraction ability.

    import boto3
    #create s3 bucket
    s3 = boto3.resource('s3')
    bucket_name="DemoBucket"
    s3.create_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
    
    #upload file to s3 bucket
    filename="file1.txt"
    with open(file_name, 'rb') as file:  
        s3.upload_fileobj(file, bucket_name, file_name)  
    
    # Download a file from the bucket  
    download_file_name = 'downloaded-file.txt'  
    with open(download_file_name, 'wb') as file:  
        s3.download_fileobj(bucket_name, file_name, file)  
    
    #list all buckets
    response=s3.list_buckets()
    for bucket in response["Buckets"]
        print(bucket["Name"])
    

    resource

    This is the high-level service class recommended to be used. This allows you to tied particular AWS resources and passes it along, so you just use this abstraction.

    import boto3
    #create s3 bucket
    s3 = boto3.resource('s3')
    bucket_name="DemoBucket"
    s3.create_bucket(Bucket=bucket_name)
    
    #upload file to s3 bucket
    filename="file1.txt"
    with open(file_name, 'rb') as file:  
        s3.Bucket(bucket_name).put_object(Key=file_name,Body=file)  
    
    # Download a file from the bucket  
    download_file_name = 'downloaded-file.txt'  
    with open(download_file_name, 'wb') as file:  
        s3.Bucket(bucket_name).download_file(file_name, file)  
    
    #list all buckets
    for bucket in s3.Bucket(bucket_name).objects.all()
        print(bucket)
    

    session

    Session where to initiate the connectivity to AWS services. E.g. following is default session that uses the default credential profile~/.aws/credentials

    import boto3
    #create session
    session=boto3.Session(aws_access_key_id="Your_access_key",
    aws_secret_access_key="Your_Scret_key",resgion_name="us-east-1")
    #create s3
    s3=session.client("s3")
    #List all buckets
    response=s3.list_buckets()
    #print all buckets
    for bucket in response["Buckets"]:
        print(bucket["Name"])
    

  11. yaml Module

    PyYAML is a YAML parser and emitter for Python.

    YAML’s block collections use indentation for scope and begin each entry on its own line. Block sequences indicate each entry with a dash and space ( "-"). Mappings use a colon and space (":") to mark each mapping key: value pair.

    import yaml
    #Python object
    names_yaml = """
    - 'eric'
    - 'justin'
    - 'mary-kate'
    """
    #Convert yaml document to python object
    names = yaml.safe_load(names_yaml)
    
    #dump converts python object into yaml file
    with open('names.yaml', 'w') as file:
        yaml.dump(names, file)
    #print file content
    print(open('names.yaml').read())
    
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Written by

Ashvini Mahajan
Ashvini Mahajan

I am DevOps enthusiast and looking for opportunities in DevOps.