How to Install RANCID on POP! OS Latest

RANCID (Really Awesome New Cisco confIg Differ) is an open-source tool that helps in managing network device configuration files. It is widely used by network administrators who need to keep track of changes to configurations across multiple devices, and also helps to detect unauthorized changes and prevent downtime.

In this tutorial, we'll walk you through the process of installing RANCID on POP! OS Latest, a popular Linux distribution based on Ubuntu.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure that you have:

  • sudo access on the POP! OS Latest machine
  • an internet connection
  • basic knowledge of Linux command line

Step 1: Install required packages

First, we'll update the package list and install some required packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install make gcc expect git perl ssh

Step 2: Clone the RANCID repository

Next, we'll clone the RANCID repository from the official website to the local machine:

cd /opt
sudo git clone https://github.com/dotwaffle/rancid-git.git rancid

Step 3: Install RANCID

We'll now install RANCID by running the installation script provided in the cloned repository:

cd rancid
sudo ./INSTALL

Follow the on-screen prompts, and when asked to enter the location for the RANCID base directory, choose any directory that suits your environment (e.g. /var/lib/rancid).

Once the installation is complete, you'll need to update the configuration file with device information:

sudo nano /var/lib/rancid/.cloginrc

Add the device login credentials to this file in this format:

add user@device {password} {device-type}

For example:

add [email protected] password cisco

Save and close the file.

Step 4: Test RANCID

RANCID should now be installed and ready to use. You can test it by running the following command:

sudo /usr/local/rancid/bin/rancid-run

This command will fetch configuration files from the devices listed in .cloginrc and store them in the RANCID base directory.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we showed you how to install RANCID on POP! OS Latest. By following these steps, you can now manage network device configuration files and prevent downtime.