Python for Systems Automation
This hands-on course takes you from the fundamentals of Python through to building safe, reliable automation for real-world systems and infrastructure.
Prerequisites
Some familiarity with programming concepts (in any language) is assumed.
Expected Outcomes
By the end of the course, you will be able to use Python confidently to automate real-world systems and infrastructure tasks, progressing from one-off scripts to well-structured, reusable automation tools and services. You will understand core Python concepts and data handling, and know how to apply them to build automation that is readable, maintainable, and safe to run, with clear command-line interfaces, configuration management, logging, error handling, and support for dry-runs and repeatable (idempotent) operations.
You will have hands-on experience automating local and remote systems, interacting reliably with REST APIs, and exposing automation through well-defined service interfaces using modern Python frameworks. You will be able to choose appropriate libraries and design patterns for common automation problems—such as remote command execution, system monitoring, configuration generation, and producing automation artefacts—and combine them into tools that can be used confidently by yourself, shared with teammates, or extended by other systems and coding agents as your automation needs grow.
Course Syllabus
Session 1: Python Basics
Day 1 introduces Python through hands-on examples, focusing on Python's core language features and data types needed to write clear, reliable scripts and small automation tools.
- Why Python? What’s possible?
- The Jupyter notebook for rapid prototyping
- Modules and packages
- Core Python concepts, introduced through examples
- Essential data types: strings, tuples, lists, dictionaries
- Raising and handling exceptions
- Worked example: retrieving real-time data from a REST web API
Session 2: Handling, Analyzing, and Presenting Data in Python
Python offers amazingly productive tools like Polars for working with different kinds of data. Day 2 gives a thorough introduction to analyzing and visualizing data easily:
- Reading and writing essential data formats: CSV, Excel, SQL, time-series (others on request)
- Selecting and filtering data in Polars
- Data fusion: joining datasets
- Aggregation with “group by” operations; pivot tables
- Visualization and statistical graphics with Plotly Express
- Preview: turning Python analysis into interactive dashboards with Streamlit
Session 3: System Automation
Day 3 teaches you how to build reliable automation tooling in Python that an engineer or coding agent can extend safely:
- Project skeleton: repo layout, package and dependency management with uv
- Readable, "agent-friendly" Python code: type hints, docstrings, small functions
- Logging conventions and structured logs
- Command-line automation as an interface: Typer; global options, confirmation, safe defaults
- Config, secrets, and safety: .env, OS keychains, plan vs apply, idempotency
- Executing and observing systems:
- Working with the filesystem: pathlib, compression, hashing
- Automating local commands via subprocess
- Monitoring processes and system state with psutil
- Text templating for automation outputs with Jinja2
Session 4: Automation as a service
Day 4 shows you how to turn the safe, structured automation tools from Day 3 into services with structured contracts suitable for team use, CI/CD and schedulers, and integration with other systems:
- Consuming APIs reliably from Python: https, retries, auth, error handling
- FastAPI fundamentals; Pydantic models; status codes
- Exposing existing automation as APIs; background execution
- Security and safety for automation services: dependency injection, token checks, allow lists
- Remote automation via SSH with Fabric
- Structured parsing of logs: TextFSM, regexes
- Case study: building an observability-style API
Personal help
We are happy to offer on-the-spot problem-solving after each day of the training for you to ask one-on-one questions — whether about the course content and exercises or about specific problems you face in your work and how to solve them. If you would like us to prepare for this in advance, you are welcome to send us background info before the course.
Other information
-
Format:
-
Courses are conducted online via video meeting using Python Charmers' cloud notebook server for sharing code with the trainer(s).
-
Computer:
Hardware: a webcam and headset mic or quiet room. Preferably also multiple screens.
Software: a modern browser: Chrome, Firefox, or Safari (not IE or Edge); and Zoom.
Coding: we have a cloud-based coding server that supports running code and sharing code with the trainer(s).
-
Timing:
Most courses will run from 9:00 to roughly 17:00 (AEST/AEDT) each day, with breaks of 50 minutes for lunch and 20 minutes each for morning and afternoon tea.
Certificate of completion:
We will provide you a certificate if you complete the course and successfully answer the majority of the exercise questions.
Materials:
You will have access to all the course materials via the cloud server. We will also send you a bound copy of the course notes, cheat sheets, and a USB stick containing the materials, exercise solutions, and further resources.
Testimonials
“The course was delivered by trainers who were extremely knowledgeable in their field. It was really good to learn from the best!”
“Great course. Enjoyed it and will follow up with some practical implementation of some of the work.”
“One of the best training courses I've been on.”
“I loved it. Ed was inspiring.”
“Really impressed by Python's capability and excited to use as alternative to MatLab, as is free and better supported.”
“Very comprehensive intro to every aspect of python. Highly qualified trainer. Beyond my expectation on every aspect.”
“The VM setup and USB is great. Ed is an excellent instructor - he presents well and welcomes any questions. He is clearly a super smart guy who has a great grasp on what he is teaching - able to just prototype on the fly and the course overall really opened my eyes to python.”
“Course content was well presented and easily digested. Practical exercises were an essential part of the course – a good ratio of lecture/play was achieved. Well done Ed and Henry!”
“Simply awesome!!”
“Both Ed and Henry presented well…. The course structure was adjusted to suit the participants quickly and easily.”
“Excellent training course, excellently presented. Perhaps the best that I have had in the area of IT / programming.”
“One of the best programming courses I have attended - thanks!”
“This course has shown me how I could have done the work I was doing just last week 10x more efficiently in Python.”
“It was a pleasure ... Shared feedback from all involved was that it’s been one of the most beneficial and well delivered training courses we’ve been a part of.”
“Was the most fulfilling and rewarding class I have taken since "general relativity" at uni. Was extremely well run. Excellent all round!”
“Very impressed with the course, delivery. And depth of knowledge of Ed and Henry. Far exceeded my expectations and has greatly improved my core skills as well as inspired so many new ideas for my current work / projects. Thank you!”
