Network automation for out-of-band, with Ansible, REST APIs and MCP

Details

How do you put console servers in the same playbooks as the rest of the network?

Install the lantronix.oob collection and treat the SLC 9000 like any other inventory host. Version 1.2.0 has 22 modules and is certified and published on Red Hat Automation Hub. SLC modules handle per-device work like system settings, network interfaces, serial ports and config backup. Percepxion modules handle fleet work like device inventory, Smart Groups, firmware, jobs and audit log queries.

The modules call the REST APIs directly. There’s no CLI scraping and no expect script holding the playbook together. Credentials stay in Ansible Vault like the rest of your inventory.

What can the APIs do that the UI can’t?

They let the console layer join pipelines. The SLC 9000 REST API, version 2.0, covers configuration and operations on a single unit. The Percepxion REST API covers the fleet, including a fully queryable event log you can pull on a schedule into your own monitoring or ticketing layer. Percepxion schedules jobs across the fleet, manages firmware, applies config templates, and backs up and restores Lantronix appliance configuration.

On the SLC 9000, managed-device automation runs config pull and push, health checks and interface actions against Cisco IOS and IOS-XE devices. Console access is vendor-neutral, and each port answers direct SSH on TCP 3000 plus the port number, so a script can open port 7 on TCP 3007 without a lookup table.

Where do the MCP servers fit?

They put console access in the AI client your team already uses. The Percepxion MCP server has 38 tools and works at fleet scale through the cloud API. The SLC MCP server has 33 tools and works against one console server at a time, which suits lab work, config development and troubleshooting a single unit. An engineer asks which sites are behind on firmware, or what’s on port 12, and gets an answer without opening a portal.

How do new devices join the automation without a hands-on step?

Smart Groups do it. When a device calls home, Percepxion evaluates its Smart Group policies and applies the matching firmware and configuration automatically, which is how zero-touch provisioning works for new sites. The SLC 9000 registers device-side first over an outbound-only MQTT connection, so the playbook that ships the next site doesn’t need a firewall change to reach it. If a change ever does go wrong in-band, the same console path gives your automation a way back to the device.