diff --git a/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/connection/__init__.py b/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/connection/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e69de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391
diff --git a/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/connection/netconf.py b/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/connection/netconf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..97e679c5ec097329a22edb08a9143e914bec0537
--- /dev/null
+++ b/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/connection/netconf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,444 @@
+# (c) 2016 Red Hat Inc.
+# (c) 2017 Ansible Project
+# GNU General Public License v3.0+ (see LICENSES/GPL-3.0-or-later.txt or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt)
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
+
+
+__metaclass__ = type
+
+DOCUMENTATION = """
+author:
+ - Ansible Networking Team (@ansible-network)
+ - GOAT Team
+name: netconf
+short_description: Provides a persistent connection using the netconf protocol
+description:
+- This connection plugin provides a connection to remote devices over the SSH NETCONF
+  subsystem.  This connection plugin is typically used by network devices for sending
+  and receiving RPC calls over NETCONF.
+- Note this connection plugin requires ncclient to be installed on the local Ansible
+  controller.
+version_added: 1.0.0
+requirements:
+- ncclient
+extends_documentation_fragment:
+- ansible.netcommon.connection_persistent
+options:
+  host:
+    description:
+    - Specifies the remote device FQDN or IP address to establish the SSH connection
+      to.
+    default: inventory_hostname
+    type: string
+    vars:
+    - name: inventory_hostname
+    - name: ansible_host
+  port:
+    type: int
+    description:
+    - Specifies the port on the remote device that listens for connections when establishing
+      the SSH connection.
+    default: 830
+    ini:
+    - section: defaults
+      key: remote_port
+    env:
+    - name: ANSIBLE_REMOTE_PORT
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_port
+  network_os:
+    description:
+    - Configures the device platform network operating system.  This value is used
+      to load a device specific netconf plugin.  If this option is not configured
+      (or set to C(auto)), then Ansible will attempt to guess the correct network_os
+      to use. If it can not guess a network_os correctly it will use C(default).
+    type: string
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_network_os
+  remote_user:
+    description:
+    - The username used to authenticate to the remote device when the SSH connection
+      is first established.  If the remote_user is not specified, the connection will
+      use the username of the logged in user.
+    - Can be configured from the CLI via the C(--user) or C(-u) options.
+    type: string
+    ini:
+    - section: defaults
+      key: remote_user
+    env:
+    - name: ANSIBLE_REMOTE_USER
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_user
+  password:
+    description:
+    - Configures the user password used to authenticate to the remote device when
+      first establishing the SSH connection.
+    type: string
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_password
+    - name: ansible_ssh_pass
+    - name: ansible_ssh_password
+    - name: ansible_netconf_password
+  private_key_file:
+    description:
+    - The private SSH key or certificate file used to authenticate to the remote device
+      when first establishing the SSH connection.
+    type: string
+    ini:
+    - section: defaults
+      key: private_key_file
+    env:
+    - name: ANSIBLE_PRIVATE_KEY_FILE
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_private_key_file
+  look_for_keys:
+    default: true
+    description:
+    - Enables looking for ssh keys in the usual locations for ssh keys (e.g. :file:`~/.ssh/id_*`).
+    env:
+    - name: ANSIBLE_PARAMIKO_LOOK_FOR_KEYS
+    ini:
+    - section: paramiko_connection
+      key: look_for_keys
+    type: boolean
+  host_key_checking:
+    description: Set this to "False" if you want to avoid host key checking by the
+      underlying tools Ansible uses to connect to the host
+    type: boolean
+    default: true
+    env:
+    - name: ANSIBLE_HOST_KEY_CHECKING
+    - name: ANSIBLE_SSH_HOST_KEY_CHECKING
+    - name: ANSIBLE_NETCONF_HOST_KEY_CHECKING
+    ini:
+    - section: defaults
+      key: host_key_checking
+    - section: paramiko_connection
+      key: host_key_checking
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_host_key_checking
+    - name: ansible_ssh_host_key_checking
+    - name: ansible_netconf_host_key_checking
+  proxy_command:
+    default: ''
+    description:
+      - Proxy information for running the connection via a jumphost.
+      - This requires ncclient >= 0.6.10 to be installed on the controller.
+    type: string
+    env:
+      - name: ANSIBLE_NETCONF_PROXY_COMMAND
+    ini:
+      - {key: proxy_command, section: paramiko_connection}
+    vars:
+      - name: ansible_paramiko_proxy_command
+      - name: ansible_netconf_proxy_command
+  netconf_ssh_config:
+    description:
+    - This variable is used to enable bastion/jump host with netconf connection. If
+      set to True the bastion/jump host ssh settings should be present in ~/.ssh/config
+      file, alternatively it can be set to custom ssh configuration file path to read
+      the bastion/jump host settings.
+    type: string
+    ini:
+    - section: netconf_connection
+      key: ssh_config
+    env:
+    - name: ANSIBLE_NETCONF_SSH_CONFIG
+    vars:
+    - name: ansible_netconf_ssh_config
+"""
+
+import json
+import logging
+import os
+
+from ansible.errors import AnsibleConnectionFailure, AnsibleError
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_bytes, to_native, to_text
+from ansible.module_utils.basic import missing_required_lib
+from ansible.module_utils.parsing.convert_bool import BOOLEANS_FALSE, BOOLEANS_TRUE
+from ansible.module_utils.six import PY3
+from ansible.module_utils.six.moves import cPickle
+from ansible.playbook.play_context import PlayContext
+from ansible.plugins.connection import ensure_connect
+from ansible.plugins.loader import netconf_loader
+
+from ansible_collections.ansible.netcommon.plugins.plugin_utils.connection_base import (
+    NetworkConnectionBase,
+)
+from ansible_collections.ansible.netcommon.plugins.plugin_utils.version import Version
+
+try:
+    from ncclient import __version__ as NCCLIENT_VERSION
+    from ncclient import manager
+    from ncclient.operations import RPCError
+    from ncclient.transport.errors import AuthenticationError, SSHUnknownHostError
+    from ncclient.xml_ import to_ele, to_xml
+    from paramiko import ProxyCommand
+
+    HAS_NCCLIENT = True
+    NCCLIENT_IMP_ERR = None
+# paramiko and gssapi are incompatible and raise AttributeError not ImportError
+# When running in FIPS mode, cryptography raises InternalError
+# https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1778939
+except Exception as err:
+    HAS_NCCLIENT = False
+    NCCLIENT_IMP_ERR = err
+
+logging.getLogger("ncclient").setLevel(logging.INFO)
+
+
+class Connection(NetworkConnectionBase):
+    """NetConf connections"""
+
+    transport = "ansible.netcommon.netconf"
+    has_pipelining = False
+
+    def __init__(self, play_context, new_stdin, *args, **kwargs):
+
+        super(Connection, self).__init__(play_context, new_stdin, *args, **kwargs)
+        # If network_os is not specified then set the network os to auto
+        # This will be used to trigger the use of guess_network_os when connecting.
+        self._network_os = self._network_os or "auto"
+
+        self.netconf = netconf_loader.get(self._network_os, self)
+        if self.netconf:
+            self._sub_plugin = {
+                "type": "netconf",
+                "name": self.netconf._load_name,
+                "obj": self.netconf,
+            }
+            self.queue_message(
+                "vvvv",
+                "loaded netconf plugin %s from path %s for network_os %s"
+                % (
+                    self.netconf._load_name,
+                    self.netconf._original_path,
+                    self._network_os,
+                ),
+            )
+        else:
+            self.netconf = netconf_loader.get("default", self)
+            self._sub_plugin = {
+                "type": "netconf",
+                "name": "default",
+                "obj": self.netconf,
+            }
+            self.queue_message(
+                "vvvv",
+                "unable to load netconf plugin for network_os %s, falling back to default plugin"
+                % self._network_os,
+            )
+
+        self.queue_message("log", "network_os is set to %s" % self._network_os)
+        self._manager = None
+        self.key_filename = None
+        self._ssh_config = None
+        self._config_mode = None
+
+    def exec_command(self, cmd, in_data=None, sudoable=True):
+        """Sends the request to the node and returns the reply
+        The method accepts two forms of request.  The first form is as a byte
+        string that represents xml string be send over netconf session.
+        The second form is a json-rpc (2.0) byte string.
+        """
+        if self._manager:
+            # to_ele operates on native strings
+            request = to_ele(to_native(cmd, errors="surrogate_or_strict"))
+
+            if request is None:
+                return "unable to parse request"
+
+            try:
+                reply = self._manager.rpc(request)
+            except RPCError as exc:
+                error = self.internal_error(
+                    data=to_text(to_xml(exc.xml), errors="surrogate_or_strict")
+                )
+                return json.dumps(error)
+
+            return reply.data_xml
+        else:
+            return super(Connection, self).exec_command(cmd, in_data, sudoable)
+
+    def update_play_context(self, pc_data):
+        """Updates the play context information for the connection"""
+        pc_data = to_bytes(pc_data)
+        if PY3:
+            pc_data = cPickle.loads(pc_data, encoding="bytes")
+        else:
+            pc_data = cPickle.loads(pc_data)
+        play_context = PlayContext()
+        play_context.deserialize(pc_data)
+        self._play_context = play_context
+
+    @property
+    @ensure_connect
+    def manager(self):
+        return self._manager
+
+    def _get_proxy_command(self, port=22):
+        proxy_command = None
+
+        # TO-DO: Add logic to scan ssh_* args to read ProxyCommand
+
+        proxy_command = self.get_option("proxy_command")
+
+        sock = None
+        if proxy_command:
+            if Version(NCCLIENT_VERSION) < "0.6.10":
+                raise AnsibleError(
+                    "Configuring jumphost settings through ProxyCommand is unsupported in ncclient version %s. "
+                    "Please upgrade to ncclient 0.6.10 or newer." % NCCLIENT_VERSION
+                )
+
+            replacers = {
+                "%h": self._play_context.remote_addr,
+                "%p": port,
+                "%r": self._play_context.remote_user,
+            }
+
+            for find, replace in replacers.items():
+                proxy_command = proxy_command.replace(find, str(replace))
+            sock = ProxyCommand(proxy_command)
+
+        return sock
+
+    def _connect(self):
+        if not HAS_NCCLIENT:
+            raise AnsibleError(
+                "%s: %s"
+                % (
+                    missing_required_lib("ncclient"),
+                    to_native(NCCLIENT_IMP_ERR),
+                )
+            )
+
+        self.queue_message("log", "ssh connection done, starting ncclient")
+
+        allow_agent = True
+        if self._play_context.password is not None:
+            allow_agent = False
+        setattr(self._play_context, "allow_agent", allow_agent)
+
+        self.key_filename = self._play_context.private_key_file or self.get_option(
+            "private_key_file"
+        )
+        if self.key_filename:
+            self.key_filename = str(os.path.expanduser(self.key_filename))
+
+        self._ssh_config = self.get_option("netconf_ssh_config")
+        if self._ssh_config in BOOLEANS_TRUE:
+            self._ssh_config = True
+        elif self._ssh_config in BOOLEANS_FALSE:
+            self._ssh_config = None
+
+        # Try to guess the network_os if the network_os is set to auto
+        if self._network_os == "auto":
+            for cls in netconf_loader.all(class_only=True):
+                network_os = cls.guess_network_os(self)
+                if network_os:
+                    self.queue_message("vvv", "discovered network_os %s" % network_os)
+                    self._network_os = network_os
+
+        # If we have tried to detect the network_os but were unable to i.e. network_os is still 'auto'
+        # then use default as the network_os
+
+        if self._network_os == "auto":
+            # Network os not discovered. Set it to default
+            self.queue_message(
+                "vvv",
+                "Unable to discover network_os. Falling back to default.",
+            )
+            self._network_os = "default"
+        try:
+            ncclient_device_handler = self.netconf.get_option("ncclient_device_handler")
+        except KeyError:
+            ncclient_device_handler = "default"
+        self.queue_message(
+            "vvv",
+            "identified ncclient device handler: %s." % ncclient_device_handler,
+        )
+        device_params = {"name": ncclient_device_handler}
+        if self._config_mode:
+            device_params['config_mode'] = self._config_mode
+
+        try:
+            port = self._play_context.port or 830
+            self.queue_message(
+                "vvv",
+                "ESTABLISH NETCONF SSH CONNECTION FOR USER: %s on PORT %s TO %s WITH SSH_CONFIG = %s"
+                % (
+                    self._play_context.remote_user,
+                    port,
+                    self._play_context.remote_addr,
+                    self._ssh_config,
+                ),
+            )
+
+            params = dict(
+                host=self._play_context.remote_addr,
+                port=port,
+                username=self._play_context.remote_user,
+                password=self._play_context.password,
+                key_filename=self.key_filename,
+                hostkey_verify=self.get_option("host_key_checking"),
+                look_for_keys=self.get_option("look_for_keys"),
+                device_params=device_params,
+                allow_agent=self._play_context.allow_agent,
+                timeout=self.get_option("persistent_connect_timeout"),
+                ssh_config=self._ssh_config,
+            )
+            # sock is only supported by ncclient >= 0.6.10, and will error if
+            # included on older versions. We check the version in
+            # _get_proxy_command, so if this returns a value, the version is
+            # fine and we have something to send. Otherwise, don't even send
+            # the option to support older versions of ncclient
+            sock = self._get_proxy_command(port)
+            if sock:
+                params["sock"] = sock
+
+            # raise AnsibleError(f"{manager}")
+            self._manager = manager.connect(**params)
+
+            self._manager._timeout = self.get_option("persistent_command_timeout")
+        except SSHUnknownHostError as exc:
+            raise AnsibleConnectionFailure(to_native(exc))
+        except AuthenticationError as exc:
+            if str(exc).startswith("FileNotFoundError"):
+                raise AnsibleError(
+                    "Encountered FileNotFoundError in ncclient connect. Does {0} exist?".format(
+                        self.key_filename
+                    )
+                )
+            raise
+        except ImportError:
+            raise AnsibleError(
+                "connection=netconf is not supported on {0}".format(self._network_os)
+            )
+
+        if not self._manager.connected:
+            return 1, b"", b"not connected"
+
+        self.queue_message("log", "ncclient manager object created successfully")
+
+        self._connected = True
+
+        super(Connection, self)._connect()
+
+        return (
+            0,
+            to_bytes(self._manager.session_id, errors="surrogate_or_strict"),
+            b"",
+        )
+
+    def close(self):
+        if self._manager:
+            self._manager.close_session()
+        super(Connection, self).close()
+
+    def set_config_mode(self, config_mode):
+        """Set the config_mode passed from the module."""
+        if config_mode:
+            self._config_mode = config_mode
diff --git a/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/modules/nokia_netconf_config.py b/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/modules/nokia_netconf_config.py
index 97fa604a1c52d334af5a15401ffab84f84870c72..381fe55ab69276d9be78fefbc8cbfd54e5b8983d 100644
--- a/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/modules/nokia_netconf_config.py
+++ b/geant/gap_ansible/plugins/modules/nokia_netconf_config.py
@@ -420,6 +420,8 @@ diff:
     "before": "<rpc-reply>\n<data>\n<configuration>\n <version>17.3R1.10</version>...<--snip-->"
 """
 
+from enum import Enum
+
 from ansible.module_utils._text import to_text
 from ansible.module_utils.basic import AnsibleModule
 from ansible.module_utils.connection import Connection, ConnectionError
@@ -440,6 +442,12 @@ except ImportError:
     from xml.etree.ElementTree import fromstring, tostring
 
 
+class ConfigMode(Enum):
+    GLOBAL = 'global'  # Default global candidate mode
+    PRIVATE = 'private'  # Private candidate mode
+    EXCLUSIVE = 'exclusive'  # Exclusive candidate mode
+    MD_CLI = 'md_cli'  # Model-Driven CLI configuration mode
+
 def validate_config(module, config, format="xml"):
     if format == "xml":
         try:
@@ -487,6 +495,7 @@ def main():
         commit_comment=dict(type="str", default=''),
         validate=dict(type="bool", default=False),
         get_filter=dict(type="raw"),
+        config_mode=dict(type='str', required=False, default=None, choices=[ConfigMode.PRIVATE.value,]),
     )
 
     mutually_exclusive = [("content", "source_datastore", "delete", "confirm_commit")]
@@ -511,6 +520,7 @@ def main():
     save = module.params["save"]
     filter = module.params["get_filter"]
     format = module.params["format"]
+    config_mode = module.params['config_mode']
 
     try:
         filter_data, filter_type = validate_and_normalize_data(filter)
@@ -543,6 +553,10 @@ def main():
         )
 
     conn = Connection(module._socket_path)
+    if config_mode and config_mode == ConfigMode.PRIVATE.value:
+        # with this PR https://github.com/ncclient/ncclient/pull/594 we only added private mode
+        conn.set_config_mode(config_mode)
+
     capabilities = get_capabilities(module)
     operations = capabilities["device_operations"]