Network device configuration using separate logic and version-based configuration files
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- locating a first file that describes attributes allowed by multiple versions of network devices and constraints associated with each attribute;
locating a second set of files that store version-based differences relating to the attributes allowed by the multiple versions of the network devices, where the second set of files further includes links to fields, in the first file, that correspond to the multiple versions of the network devices;
extracting, using the links included in the second set of files, a set of constraints associated with the attributes of one or more of the network devices from the first file; and
using the set of constraints for the attributes of the one or more of the network devices to validate configuration data for the one or more of the network devices.
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Abstract
A set of network devices having varying device attributes, such as varying attributes due to different operating system versions, different hardware versions, or different hardware platforms, may be efficiently managed. A syntax file may be used to describe constraints relating to attributes of multiple versions of the network devices. At least one device configuration file (DCF) stores version-based differences relating to the different versions of the network devices, the syntax file and at least one the one DCF collectively describe a set of constraints for the attributes of the network devices.
34 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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locating a first file that describes attributes allowed by multiple versions of network devices and constraints associated with each attribute; locating a second set of files that store version-based differences relating to the attributes allowed by the multiple versions of the network devices, where the second set of files further includes links to fields, in the first file, that correspond to the multiple versions of the network devices; extracting, using the links included in the second set of files, a set of constraints associated with the attributes of one or more of the network devices from the first file; and using the set of constraints for the attributes of the one or more of the network devices to validate configuration data for the one or more of the network devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 29, 30)
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10. A server comprising:
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a processor; and a computer memory operatively coupled to the processor, the computer memory including; programming instructions to cause the processor to receive configuration data for a particular network device, programming instructions to generate constraints relating to attributes of the particular network device based on a syntax file that includes constraints relating to attributes allowed by a plurality of network devices and at least one device capability file that includes version-based differences between different versions of the plurality of network devices, where the constraints are extracted from the syntax file using a link located in the at least one device capability file; and programming instructions to validate the received configuration data for the particular network device based on the generated constraints relating to the attributes of the particular network device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 31)
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20. A system comprising:
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a plurality of network devices, each of the network devices being associated with configuration data; and a management server to receive the configuration data for at least one of the plurality of network devices, obtain a set of constraints, for attributes of the at least one of the plurality of network devices, based on a first file that describes constraints relating to attributes allowed by multiple versions of network devices and based on one or more second files that store version-based differences relating to the different versions of the network devices, where the one or more second files further store links that are used to obtain the set of constraints from the first file, and validate the configuration data for the at least one of the plurality of network devices based on the set of constraints obtained using the stored links. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A device comprising:
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means for locating a first file that describes attributes allowed by multiple versions of network devices and constraints associated with each attribute; means for locating a second set of files that store version-based differences relating to the attributes allowed by the multiple versions of the network devices, where the second set of files further include links to fields, in the first file, that correspond to the multiple versions of the network devices; means for extracting, a set of constraints associated with the attributes of one or more of the network devices from the first file, using the links included in the second set of files; and means for validating configuration data for a particular network device against the set of constraints for the attributes of the particular network device.
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26. A memory for storing data for access by an application program being executed on a computing device, the memory comprising:
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a first file to describe constraints relating to attributes allowed by multiple versions of network devices; and at least one second file to store version-based differences relating to the different versions of the network devices, where the at least one second file stores links to fields in the first file that apply to a particular network device, where the links are used to extract the constraints from the first file, and where the first file and the at least one second file collectively describing a set of constraints for the attributes of the network devices. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification