System and method for verifying a network device's configuration

Abstract

A system and method for verifying the state of a device configuration corresponding to a network device is described. In one embodiment, the method includes determining a desired state of a device, retrieving a device configuration stored in a repository, retrieving another device configuration from the network device, and identifying differences between the device configuration retrieved from the network device with the device configuration retrieved from the repository. A record of the differences is then provided to a system administrator.

1 . A method for verifying the state of a device configuration corresponding to a network device, wherein the device configuration includes a plurality of configuration commands, the method comprising: 
 determining a desired state of a device;    retrieving a device configuration stored in a repository, wherein the device configuration stored in the repository corresponds to the desired state of the device;    retrieving another device configuration from the network device;    identifying differences between the device configuration retrieved from the network device with the device configuration retrieved from the repository; and    providing a record of the differences to a system administrator.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  including: 
 converting the device configuration retrieved from the repository into an XML-based format; and    converting the device configuration retrieved from the network device into the XML-based format.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein converting the device configuration retrieved from the network device includes converting the device configuration retrieved from the network device into an XML document or an XML document object model, and wherein converting the device configuration retrieved from the repository includes converting the device configuration retrieved from the repository into an XML document or an XML document object model.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , including: 
 retrieving the device configuration stored in the repository as a software programmable object; and    converting the device configuration retrieved from the network device into an software programmable object.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  including: 
 providing the record to an event bus    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  including: 
 providing the record to a policy server.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the record includes providing the record via an application programmable interface.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein providing the record includes providing the record via a document.  
     
     
         9 . A method for providing a vendor independent representation of device configurations wherein each of the device configurations include a plurality of configuration commands, the method comprising: 
 retrieving a device configuration stored in a data repository;    translating the retrieved configuration into a vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration;    making the vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration available via an applications programmable interface;    retrieving the vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration via the application programmable interface;    modifying the vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration;    resubmitting the modified vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration back to the application programmable interface;    applying a configuration corresponding to the modified vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration to a device; and    storing the modified vendor-independent representation of the retrieved configuration.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the vendor independent representation of the retrieved configuration is an XML document object model.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the vendor independent representation of the retrieved configuration is a software programmable object.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the vendor independent representation of the retrieved configuration is an XML document.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the vendor independent representation of the retrieved configuration is a document.  
     
     
         14 . A method for verifying a configuration corresponding to a network device, wherein the configuration includes a plurality of configuration commands, the method comprising: 
 determining a required configuration of a device wherein the determining the required configuration of a network device comprises: 
 assessing the network device requirements;  
 choosing the vendor, type model and operating system needed to fulfill the required assessment;  
   choosing configuration commands to fulfill the required assessment by consulting a representation of a command structure for the network device;    generating required network device configuration commands;    submitting the required network configuration commands to the network device; and    storing the device configuration.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the representation of a command structure for the network device is an XML schema.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the representation of a command structure for the network device is a software programmable object.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the representation of a command structure for the network device is a document.