Method and system of receiving and translating CLI command data within a routing system

• US 7,953,886 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2005
• Issued: 05/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Varanasi, Sastry, Bettadapur, Prakash, Bansal, Anil, Tjong, Jung
• Primary Examiner(s): Lin; Kenny S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ali; Farhad
• Application Number:
  US11/178,136
• Publication Number:
  US 20070011348A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,153 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-226, 709/238
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/60 Router architectures

Abstract

A method and system of receiving and translating data using an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem of a routing system are shown. Input is received at the IOS CLI parser subsystem. The input is traversed. Where the input originates from outside of the router, the input is translated into a corresponding CLI statement. Where the input originates from within the router, the input is translated into a prescribed output format. The translated input is output.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, with a command line interface (CLI) parser, an input command configured to request an operation be performed by a routing system, wherein the input command is configured in an extensible markup language (XML) format having a CLI syntax with CLI keywords sequenced according to configuration rules for CLI commands;

translating, with the CLI parser, the input command from the XML format having the CLI syntax into a CLI command that, when executed, is configured to prompt the routing system to perform the operation, wherein the translating of the input command into the CLI command includes identifying at least one XML tag that includes an XML parameter to indicate the XML tag includes one or more CLI keywords, extracting the one or more CLI keywords from the input command, and arranging the one or more CLI keywords into the CLI command according to the CLI syntax of the input command, wherein the routing system is configured to perform the operation responsive to the execution of the CLI command;

translating an output message, generated in response to performance of the operation, from a CLI format into an XML format having the CLI syntax, wherein the translating includes parsing the output message to identify at least one CLI token, translating each CLI token of the output message into a corresponding XML value according to a stored mapping of CLI tokens-to-XML values, and generating the output message in the XML format with the XML values; and

transmitting the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax to a remote device external from the routing system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the input command is formatted in accordance with an XML schema of CLI rules and behaviors enforced by an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the translation of the input command from XML format having a CLI syntax into a CLI command comprises:

parsing the input command to identify an XML command attribute;

traversing the input after the XML command attribute to identify any keywords and any parameters associated with the XML command attribute;

translating the XML command attribute into the CLI command; and

translating the keywords and any parameters into associated attributes of the CLI command.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax includes data formatted in accordance with an XML data model of CLI rules and behaviors enforced by an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the translation of the output message from the CLI format into the XML format having the CLI syntax comprises:

parsing the output message to identify at least one CLI token;

accessing a stored mapping of CLI tokens-to-XML values;

translating each CLI token of the output message into a corresponding XML value, in accordance with said stored mapping; and

generating the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax with the XML values.

6. A computer-usable memory device having computer-readable program code embedded therein for causing a computer system to:

receive an input command requesting an operation be performed by a routing system, wherein the input command is configured in an extensible markup language (XML) format having a command line interface (CLI) syntax with CLI keywords sequenced according to configuration rules for CLI commands;

translate the input command from the XML format having the CLI syntax into a CLI command, wherein the routing system is configured to execute the CLI command and perform the operation, and wherein the computer system is further configured to translate the input command by identifying at least one XML tag that includes an XML parameter to indicate the XML tag includes one or more CLI keywords, extracting the one or more CLI keywords from the input command, and arranging the one or more CLI keywords into the CLI command according to the CLI syntax of the input command;

translate an output message from a CLI format into XML format having the CLI syntax, wherein the output message is generated in the CLI format by the routing system responsive to the performance of the operation, and wherein the translating includes parsing the output message to identify at least one CLI token, translating each CLI token of the output message into a corresponding XML value according to a stored mapping of CLI tokens-to-XML values, and generating the output message in the XML format with the XML values; and

transmit the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax to a remote device external from the routing system.

7. The computer-usable memory device of claim 6, wherein the input command is formatted in accordance with an XML schema of CLI rules and behaviors enforced by an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem.

8. The computer-usable memory device of claim 7, wherein the translation of the input command from XML format having a CLI syntax into a CLI command comprises:

parsing the input command to identify an XML command attribute;

traversing the input after the XML command attribute to identify any keywords and any parameters associated with the XML command attribute;

translating the XML command attribute into the CLI command; and

translating the keywords and any parameters into associated attributes of the CLI command.

9. The computer-usable memory device of claim 6, wherein the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax includes data formatted in accordance with an XML data model of CLI rules and behaviors enforced by an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem.

10. The computer-usable memory device of claim 6, wherein the translation of the output message from the CLI format into the XML format having the CLI syntax comprises:

parsing the output message to identify at least one CLI token;

accessing a stored mapping of CLI tokens-to-XML values;

translating each CLI token of the output message into a corresponding XML value, in accordance with said stored mapping; and

generating the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax with the XML values.

11. A system comprising:

an input port device to receive an input command requesting an operation be performed by a routing system, wherein the input command is configured in an extensible markup language (XML) format having a command line interface (CLI) syntax with CLI keywords sequenced according to configuration rules for CLI commands;

means for translating the input command from the XML format having the CLI syntax into a CLI command by identifying at least one XML tag that includes an XML parameter to indicate the XML tag includes one or more CLI keywords, extracting the one or more CLI keywords from the input command, and arranging the one or more CLI keywords into the CLI command according to the CLI syntax of the input command;

means for performing the operation responsive to the CLI command;

means for generating an output message in a CLI format responsive to the performance of the operation;

means for translating the output message from the CLI format into XML format having the CLI syntax, wherein the means for translating includes means for parsing the output message to identify at least one CLI token, means for translating each CLI token of the output message into a corresponding XML value according to a stored mapping of CLI tokens-to-XML values, and means for generating the output message in the XML format with the XML values; and

means for transmitting the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax to a remote device external from the routing system.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the input command is formatted in accordance with an XML schema of CLI rules and behaviors enforced by an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the means for translating of the input command from XML format having a CLI syntax into a CLI command comprises:

means for parsing the input command to identify an XML command attribute;

means for traversing the input after the XML command attribute to identify any keywords and any parameters associated with the XML command attribute;

means for translating the XML command attribute into the CLI command; and

means for translating the keywords and any parameters into associated attributes of the CLI command.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax includes data formatted in accordance with an XML data model of CLI rules and behaviors enforced by an internetwork operating system (IOS) command line interface (CLI) parser subsystem.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the means for translating of the output message from the CLI format into the XML format having the CLI syntax comprises:

means for parsing the output message to identify at least one CLI token;

means for accessing a stored mapping of CLI tokens-to-XML values;

means for translating each CLI token of the output message into a corresponding XML value, in accordance with said stored mapping; and

means for generating the output message in the XML format having the CLI syntax with the XML values.