📅 June 4, 2026 | Chicago, IL
Arista’s 2026 Network Automation Summer Camp
Event Details
In today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape, network automation has become a critical necessity rather than just a convenience. This shift replaces manual, error-prone processes with scalable, consistent, and repeatable automated workflows. With many different offerings, options, and vendor based solutions, it can be difficult to know where or how to start.
Join us on this FREE four-part course on Network Automation throughout the month of June. Starting on Thursday June 4th, and continuing every Thursday through June 25th, in a mixture of in-person and remote sessions, Arista will be hosting 2 ½ hour afternoon sessions focusing on the fundamentals of Network Automation. Earn “Summer Camp Badge” stickers for attending each course and completing the lab work. Earn all 4 badges (attend all 4 events) to earn one of Three event rewards.
**Please select your prize preference on the registration form at the bottom of the page. You can choose between a Range Finder, Charging Block/Bluetooth Speaker or Smart Coffee Mug**
Vendor-Agnostic Approach This 4-day course will leverage vendor-agnostic and no cost solutions such as Git, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), YAML, Jinja2, and Ansible. Because these open-source tools have massive, active communities, they offer broad vendor support that spans across multiple technology silos, including Network, Compute, Storage, Cloud, and Security.
Course Accessibility This course is designed to be highly accessible to engineers who have never done network automation prior. While previous coding experience is helpful, it is completely optional, as tools like Ansible, Jinja, and YAML use straightforward, human-readable syntax that makes it easy to get started. At the same time, the camp will provide powerful insights and additional tools, such as advanced templating, data modeling, and automated validation.
*Zoom links for the 2nd and 3rd virtual events will not be provided unless you attend the first in person session
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June 4
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Upcoming Sessions
1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Day 1 - June 4th
Session 1:
Git: Git is the most commonly used version control system, tracking changes to files over time by storing snapshots (commits). The ATD labs introduce users to command-line basics, including initializing repositories, staging files, creating branches, merging changes, and pushing code to GitHub.
VS Code: Visual Studio Code is a lightweight but powerful source code editor with built-in Git integration. The labs cover how network engineers can use VS Code to visually compare file diffs, execute Git commands directly from the GUI, and manage remote connections or Dev Containers.
1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Day 2 - June 10th
Session 2:
YAML & Jinja2: These are two interdependent foundational pieces of network automation. The YAML labs introduce the language's syntax and role in creating data models for configuration files. The Jinja labs focus on using this powerful Python templating engine to generate configurations. Participants will learn how to write Jinja templates and render network device configurations by combining them with YAML data models.
1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Day 3 - June 17th
Session 3:
Ansible: The ATD labs teach participants how a single Control Node can manage and execute tasks on hundreds of network endpoints (Managed Nodes) using SSH or APIs. The modules dive into the anatomy of Ansible, covering configuration files, inventory structures, variable precedence (such as host_vars and group_vars), writing YAML-based playbooks, and utilizing Ansible Galaxy collections. We will show you how to apply this to your existing brownfield network as well as a brand new greenfield network.
1:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Day 4 - June 25th
Arista Validated Design: The final day leverages Arista's AVD Ansible Collection to manage network environments as code. The labs guide users through building a network CI pipeline for configuration development, deployment, documentation, and validation. Participants will learn to structure network data models (defining physical topologies, network services like VLANs/VRFs, and connected endpoints). Finally, the labs cover running specific playbooks (build.yml and deploy.yml) to generate configurations and deploy them to the switches, including optional deployments utilizing Arista CloudVision.
Where: Expansive Loop 318 West Adams Street, 16, Chicago, IL 60606