---
id: unicon-plugins
version: "26.7"
license: Apache 2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# unicon.plugins — Unicon Connection Library Plugins

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 325.1K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Unicon Plugins is the extensible plugin layer for the unicon network device connection library. It provides platform-specific implementations that allow unicon to manage CLI sessions across multiple network device vendors (Cisco and others) through a unified API. The plugins handle vendor-specific quirks, CLI mode transitions, command validation, and error detection—abstracting away the complexity of direct telnet, SSH, or serial connections.

This package is a component of the Cisco pyATS framework and is designed for network engineers and automation developers who need reliable, multi-vendor CLI access without writing low-level expect-like code. It depends on unicon for the core session management, pyyaml for configuration, PrettyTable for output formatting, and cryptography for secure credential handling.

Use it for:

- Automate configuration and monitoring tasks across heterogeneous network device fleets with a single API.
- Build network testing and validation scripts that work consistently across different vendor CLI interfaces.
- Integrate network device management into Cisco pyATS test automation frameworks.
- Handle complex CLI mode navigation (enable, configure, admin modes) without manual state tracking.
- Develop custom platform plugins for proprietary or less common network device types.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Unicon Plugins extends the unicon package with platform-specific connection handlers and services for network device CLI management across multiple vendors.

Yes, if you are already using unicon or Cisco pyATS for network automation. The active maintenance, permissive Apache 2.0 license, low install friction, and zero known vulnerabilities make it a safe choice. Install only if you need multi-vendor CLI connection support; it is a plugin component and requires unicon as a prerequisite.

## Install

pip install unicon-plugins
uv add unicon-plugins
poetry add unicon-plugins

## Installing unicon.plugins

Before you install: Active maintenance with a release 7 days ago. Low install friction as a pure Python wheel with four straightforward runtime dependencies: unicon, pyyaml, PrettyTable, and cryptography.

License in practice: Apache 2.0 permissive license allows commercial and private use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most integration scenarios.

Quickstart:

pip install unicon-plugins

from unicon.plugins import <platform_plugin>
conn = <platform_plugin>.Connection(host='device_ip', username='user', password='pass')
conn.connect()

Requires the unicon main package to be installed separately; this is the plugins component only.

Verify before relying:

- Which specific network platforms (IOS, NXOS, etc.) are supported by the current plugin set.
- Whether additional platform plugins require separate installation or are bundled.
- Performance characteristics under high-volume or long-running connection scenarios.

## Package facts

- License: Apache 2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 325.1K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

network device CLI connection, unicon plugins, multi-vendor network automation, expect-like CLI interaction, network device session management, cisco pyats integration, telnet ssh serial connection, network-automation, cli-management, multi-vendor

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/unicon-plugins) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/unicon-plugins/)