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Python Automation for IT

Scripts that run unattended - files, processes, APIs and remote hosts.

39 published guides

30 of 39 guides need path access. Unlock Python Automation path

39-guide Python Automation for IT learning path · 39 published · about 708 min of reading · 8 learning tracks · reviewed 24 August 2026

Start Here3 guides

What this track is, what it is not, and the three machines it automates.

  1. Concepts 14 min

    Python Automation for IT Overview

    The five domains, what the track is not, and one script that touches every one of them.

    5 domains, 50-question mock

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Installation 13 min

    Python Automation Practice Lab

    Why two managed hosts rather than one, why the system Python refuses installs, and why the targets run a different Python.

    1 control node, 2 targets

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  3. Concepts 14 min

    Python Standard Library for Automation

    What needs no dependency, what earns one, and the three places a module can come from on the same machine.

    18 modules, 0 installs

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

Scripting Foundations6 guides

Arguments, exit codes, logging, configuration and a virtual environment that pins it.

  1. Hands-on Lab 17 min

    Python Command-Line Arguments with argparse

    Positional and optional arguments, types, choices, subcommands - and the exit status each rejection produces.

    Domain 1

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Concepts 16 min

    Python Script Exit Codes

    What the caller sees, the conventions worth following, and the wrap at 256 that turns 256 failures into success.

    Domain 1

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  3. Hands-on Lab 18 min

    Python Logging for Unattended Scripts

    Levels, streams, a format worth using - and precisely what percent-style defers, which is not what you have been told.

    Domain 1

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  4. Hands-on Lab 18 min

    Python Configuration and Environment Variables

    Four layers of precedence, everything arriving as a string, and where a secret is allowed to live.

    Domain 1

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  5. Hands-on Lab 17 min

    Python Virtual Environments and Pinning

    Create, pin, rebuild - and why anything scheduled names its interpreter in full.

    Domain 1

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  6. Hands-on Lab 19 min

    Python Error Handling for Scheduled Jobs

    Narrow clauses, a top-level handler, cleanup that always runs - and a real cron run showing what a script is actually given.

    Domain 1

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

Files and Data Formats7 guides

pathlib, CSV, JSON, YAML, INI and TOML, and the regex work in between.

  1. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python pathlib and Filesystem Operations

    Paths as objects, the parts of a filename, finding files - and the one line that survives cron.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Hands-on Lab 17 min Paid

    Python CSV and Tabular Data

    DictReader, typing the columns once, the quoting you get for free - and what a ragged file does silently.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  3. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python JSON and Nested Data

    The four functions, what has no JSON equivalent, and why a dictionary does not survive a round trip.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  4. Hands-on Lab 19 min Paid

    Python YAML, INI and TOML Configuration

    The same settings in four formats, what each gives back, and the three YAML surprises that corrupt data silently.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  5. Hands-on Lab 20 min Paid

    Python Regular Expressions for Logs

    Named groups, a compiled pattern, greedy against lazy - and knowing when a split would have done.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  6. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python Encodings, Temp Files and Atomic Writes

    Which encoding a file is read with, what errors= buys you, and the write that cannot leave a half-file behind.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  7. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python Archives and Bulk File Operations

    shutil for copies, moves and archives - plus a module-shadowing accident this capture had, kept on purpose.

    Domain 2

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

OS and Process Automation7 guides

subprocess without a shell, environment, permissions, signals and scheduling.

  1. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python subprocess Without a Shell

    The list form, what shell=True really does, and an injection that deletes a file.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Hands-on Lab 15 min Paid

    Python subprocess Output and Return Codes

    check=True, the exception it raises, text against bytes, and feeding something on standard input.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  3. Hands-on Lab 15 min Paid

    Python Process Environment and Working Directory

    What a child inherits, why env= replaces rather than adds, and why cwd= beats os.chdir.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  4. Hands-on Lab 16 min Paid

    Python File Permissions and Ownership

    The mode a new file gets, why it is not 666, and writing a secret with no window where it is readable.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  5. Troubleshooting 20 min Paid

    Python Signals, Timeouts and Process Termination

    The timeout that kills the child, the one that does not, and a script that shuts down cleanly.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  6. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python Locking and Single-Instance Scripts

    Two runs colliding, the lock file that jams for ever, and the one the kernel cleans up.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  7. Configuration 20 min Paid

    Python Scripts with cron and systemd Timers

    The same script under both, with the environment difference measured rather than described.

    Domain 3

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

APIs and Cloud7 guides

requests, authentication, pagination, retries, and the SDK patterns that follow.

  1. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python HTTP Requests and Status Codes

    A first call, the difference between ok and 200, and a Session measured by what it saved.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Best Practices 20 min Paid

    Python API Authentication and Secrets

    The token out of the source, the four ways it leaks anyway, and a redaction filter that works.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  3. Hands-on Lab 16 min Paid

    Python JSON API Requests and Responses

    json= against data=, a 400 worth reading, and the five types json= refuses.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  4. Hands-on Lab 18 min Paid

    Python API Pagination and Rate Limits

    Following the server's own pointer, a generator that fetches only what you use, and 3 of 8 against 8 of 8.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  5. Best Practices 22 min Paid

    Python Retries, Timeouts and Backoff

    The two timeouts, the naive retry that works and is still wrong, and what must never be retried.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  6. Hands-on Lab 16 min Paid

    Python urllib Without requests

    The stdlib equivalent of everything so far, and an honest list of what is missing.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  7. Concepts 20 min Paid

    Python Cloud SDK Patterns with boto3

    The credential chain, the region that fails loudly against the one that does not, and testing it all with no account.

    Domain 4

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

Remote Hosts and CI/CD7 guides

Paramiko over SSH, an inventory of hosts, pytest, mocking and a pipeline.

  1. Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

    Python Remote Commands with Paramiko

    SSH from Python: the host key decision, the failure nothing raises for, and four different timeouts.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Configuration 20 min Paid

    Python SSH Keys and Host Inventory

    A key that can only do one thing, one file that says what exists, and the ssh_config trap.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  3. Hands-on Lab 20 min Paid

    Python SFTP File Transfers

    put and get, the rename that makes an upload atomic, and the errors that carry no errno.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  4. Best Practices 22 min Paid

    Python Multi-Host Failure Handling

    Per-host results, three kinds of failure, 12.5s against 3.0s, and three exit codes.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  5. Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

    Testing Python Automation with pytest

    A failure that tells you what went wrong, one test that covers ten cases, and pytest's four exit codes.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  6. Hands-on Lab 22 min Paid

    Mocking subprocess and HTTP in Python

    monkeypatch, patch, the target that looks right and is not, and the mock that agrees with everything.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  7. Configuration 20 min Paid

    CI Pipeline for Python Automation

    Four gates that each fail and then pass, the same commands in a workflow file, and a hook somebody bypasses.

    Domain 5

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

Readiness2 guides

The 50-question mock, the five domains, and the mistakes that fail a script in production.

  1. Concepts 14 min Paid

    Python Automation Mock Exam

    What the pool holds, how a mock samples it, and what 70% of fifty actually costs you.

    Exam craft

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

  2. Best Practices 20 min Paid

    Python Automation Production Failure Patterns

    Every failure this path demonstrated, in one file, through a linter - and the four it cannot see.

    Exam craft

    Updated 24 Aug 2026

Command Cheat Sheets1 sheet

Searchable references for the standard library and the tools around it.

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