Restoration of archived configurations for a network device
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- establishing, with a network device, a communication session with a client;
receiving, with the network device, a lock command from the client via the communication session;
locking candidate configuration data in response to the lock command from the client to grant an archive system exclusive access to the candidate configuration data of the network device and lock the candidate configuration data so that no other clients can edit the candidate configuration data, wherein the candidate configuration data represents an editable working copy of current operational configuration data of the network device;
after locking the candidate configuration data, receiving a load command from the client and, in response to the load command, loading, from the archive system, archived configuration, data that represents previous operational configuration data of the network device to replace the locked candidate configuration data;
in response to a first commit command from the client, temporarily committing the candidate configuration data to temporarily restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data of the network device;
upon temporarily committing the candidate configuration data, enabling a timer within the network device;
in response to receiving a second commit command from the client prior to the timer exceeding a pre-set time limit, permanently committing the candidate configuration data to restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data of the network device;
upon expiration of the timer without receiving the second commit command with the network device, executing a first rollback to undo any changes to the operational data from the archived configuration data as loaded into the candidate configuration data; and
upon failure of the communication session prior to receiving the second commit command, executing a second rollback to undo any changes made to the candidate configuration data by the archived configuration data to ensure the candidate configuration is synchronous with the operational configuration of the network device.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for reliable restoration of archived configuration. For example, a device, such as a router, comprises a first memory to store operational configuration data and a second memory to store candidate configuration data. The candidate configuration data represents a working copy of the operational configuration data. The device further includes a control unit to lock the candidate configuration data, load archived configuration data to replace the locked candidate configuration data and commit the candidate configuration data to restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data of the device. In locking the candidate configuration, the device ensures reliable restoration of the candidate configuration by helping prevent the device from becoming both unreachable and inoperable.
62 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
- establishing, with a network device, a communication session with a client;
receiving, with the network device, a lock command from the client via the communication session;
locking candidate configuration data in response to the lock command from the client to grant an archive system exclusive access to the candidate configuration data of the network device and lock the candidate configuration data so that no other clients can edit the candidate configuration data, wherein the candidate configuration data represents an editable working copy of current operational configuration data of the network device;
after locking the candidate configuration data, receiving a load command from the client and, in response to the load command, loading, from the archive system, archived configuration, data that represents previous operational configuration data of the network device to replace the locked candidate configuration data;
in response to a first commit command from the client, temporarily committing the candidate configuration data to temporarily restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data of the network device;
upon temporarily committing the candidate configuration data, enabling a timer within the network device;
in response to receiving a second commit command from the client prior to the timer exceeding a pre-set time limit, permanently committing the candidate configuration data to restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data of the network device;
upon expiration of the timer without receiving the second commit command with the network device, executing a first rollback to undo any changes to the operational data from the archived configuration data as loaded into the candidate configuration data; and
upon failure of the communication session prior to receiving the second commit command, executing a second rollback to undo any changes made to the candidate configuration data by the archived configuration data to ensure the candidate configuration is synchronous with the operational configuration of the network device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- establishing, with a network device, a communication session with a client;
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8. A device comprising:
- memory to store current operational configuration data and candidate configuration data, wherein the candidate configuration data represents an editable working copy of the current operational configuration data;
a timer;
a control unit;
a control unit configured to establish a communication session with a client and present a user interface to the client for modifying the operational configuration data via the communication session, the user interface configured to support a first commit command that requires explicit confirmation by a second commit command from the client within a time; and
wherein, upon receiving a lock command from the client, the control unit is configured to lock the candidate configuration data and grant an archive system exclusive access to the, candidate configuration data, wherein the candidate configuration data represents an editable working copy of current operational configuration data;
wherein, upon receiving a load command from the client, the control unit is configured to load from the archive system archived configuration data that represents previous operational configuration data to replace the locked candidate configuration data;
wherein, in response to the first commit command from the client, the control unit is configured to temporarily commit the candidate configuration data to temporarily restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data and, upon temporarily committing the candidate configuration data, enables the timer;
wherein, in response to receiving the second commit command from the client prior to the timer exceeding a pre-set time limit, the control unit is configured to permanently commit the candidate configuration data to restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data;
wherein, upon expiration of the timer without receiving the second commit command from the client, the control unit is configured to execute a first rollback to undo any changes to the operational data from the archived configuration data as loaded into the candidate configuration data; and
wherein, upon failure of the communication session prior to receiving the second commit command, is configured to execute a second rollback to undo any changes made to the candidate configuration data by the archived configuration data to ensure the candidate configuration is synchronous with the operational configuration of the network device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- memory to store current operational configuration data and candidate configuration data, wherein the candidate configuration data represents an editable working copy of the current operational configuration data;
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15. An archive system comprising:
- a memory to store archived configuration data that represents previous operational configuration data of a network device; and
a computing device configured to establish a communication session from the archive system to a network device to be configured, wherein the computing device of the archive system is configured to issue a lock command from the archive system to the network device via the communication session to request exclusive access to the candidate configuration data of the network device and lock the candidate configuration so that no other clients can edit the candidate configuration data, wherein the candidate configuration data represents an editable working copy of current operational configuration data of the network device;
wherein the computing device is configured to issue a load command to the network device to load the archived configuration data that represents previous operational configuration data of the network device to replace the locked candidate configuration data; and
wherein the computing device is configured to issue a first commit command to the network device to commit the candidate configuration data to temporarily restore the archived configuration data as the operational configuration data of the network device for only a pre-set time limit;
wherein the computing device is configured to, after issuing the first commit command and before expiration of the pre-set time limit, integrity testing the network device with the client to determine whether the network device is rendered inoperable by the restored archived configuration; and
wherein the computing device is configured to, when the network device is operable, issue a second commit command within the pre-set time limit to permanently commit the candidate configuration data as the operational configuration data of the network device. - View Dependent Claims (16)
- a memory to store archived configuration data that represents previous operational configuration data of a network device; and
Specification