BackBox Programmability with Perry Greenwood

The presentation by Perry Greenwood, Senior Product Manager, and Josh Stephens, CTO at BackBox, focuses on the company’s programmability, APIs, and integrations. They describe two key aspects of programmability: extending scripts and integrating with outside services or homegrown systems. Perry showcases the IntelliTrack scripts, which are device-aware and capable of both automation checks and remediation. A notable feature of these scripts is their ability to handle dynamic variables for tasks like configuring NTP servers, which allows for flexibility and customization based on regional or system-specific needs. The presenters explain how these tasks can be scripted using familiar tools and commands, like curl or Python, and are built upon an extensive library of over 2,300 pre-built automations.

The session also addresses the use of APIs within BackBox. Their API documentation, accessible through swaggers, includes both external APIs, which remain static, and internal APIs, which may change. They demonstrate adding devices to BackBox using an API with a CSV file, which simulates the integration with third-party systems such as CMDB or ServiceNow. This method supports scenarios where users prefer avoiding internal firewall scans and instead directly provide device data. Furthermore, the speakers highlight the capability of the API to handle various tasks such as kicking off workflows, checking job statuses, and pulling logs, essentially enabling any GUI function to be performed via API. They emphasize that a significant portion of their users utilize these API integrations for their network management and automation needs.

The presentation concludes with discussions on IPv6 support in BackBox, which is fully native, allowing operations on IPv6-only networks. They also touch on the use of out-of-band management networks and how BackBox can be integrated in such setups. Additionally, they mention the challenges and solutions related to managing overlapping IP addresses in MSP networks or during mergers and acquisitions. For addressing these issues, BackBox employs remote agents that facilitate automation and discovery tasks, demonstrating their robust support for complex and large-scale network environments.