Remote validation of network device configuration using a device management protocol for remote packet injection
First Claim
1. A network device comprising:
- a control unit;
a network interface configured to receive and send network packets;
a device management software interface executing on the control unit of the network device to receive configuration data in accordance with a device management protocol and to update configuration data of the network device,wherein the device management software interface is configured to expose a device configuration function of the device management protocol that receives a test packet encapsulated as a first parameter of the device configuration function, wherein the test packet simulates one or more of the network packets;
a packet processing module that extracts the test packet from the device configuration function and processes the test packet to produce a test packet processing result in accordance with the configuration data of the network device as if the test packet had been directly received from a network,wherein the device management software interface is configured to send the test packet processing result as a first parameter of a reply message in accordance with the device management protocol.
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Abstract
In general, this disclosure describes techniques for testing and verifying the functionality of networks and network devices without requiring the deployment of specialized testing components. For example, as described herein, a device management protocol (e.g., SNMP or NETCONF) typically used for remote configuration of devices has been extended to allow traffic patterns to be seamlessly injected into the existing network devices that form the enterprise network. For instance, a network management device sends configuration data to a managed network device in accordance with a device management protocol and calls, using a test packet parameter, a device configuration function exposed by a managed device. When the device configuration function is called, the managed device processes the test packet to produce a result in accordance with the configuration data as if the test packet had been received from the network, and the managed device returns a test packet processing result.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A network device comprising:
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a control unit; a network interface configured to receive and send network packets; a device management software interface executing on the control unit of the network device to receive configuration data in accordance with a device management protocol and to update configuration data of the network device, wherein the device management software interface is configured to expose a device configuration function of the device management protocol that receives a test packet encapsulated as a first parameter of the device configuration function, wherein the test packet simulates one or more of the network packets; a packet processing module that extracts the test packet from the device configuration function and processes the test packet to produce a test packet processing result in accordance with the configuration data of the network device as if the test packet had been directly received from a network, wherein the device management software interface is configured to send the test packet processing result as a first parameter of a reply message in accordance with the device management protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A network management device comprising:
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a network interface configured to receive and send network packets; an element manager configured to send configuration data to a managed network device in accordance with a device management protocol; a device management software interface client configured to implement the device management protocol and to call a device configuration function exposed by the managed network device that receives a test packet encapsulated as a first parameter of the device configuration function, wherein the test packet simulates one or more of the network packets, wherein the element manager includes a validation module that invokes the device configuration function using a test packet as a first parameter. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system comprising:
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a network management device comprising; a first network interface configured to receive and send network packets; an element manager configured to send configuration data to a managed network device in accordance with a device management protocol; a device management software interface client configured to implement the device management protocol and to call a device configuration function of the device management protocol exposed by the managed network device that receives a test packet encapsulated as a first parameter of the device configuration function, wherein the test packet simulates one or more of the network packets, wherein the element manager includes a validation module that generates a test packet and invokes the device configuration function using the test packet as a first parameter; and a network device managed by the network management device, comprising; a control unit; a second network interface configured to receive and send network packets; a device management software interface executing on the control unit of the network device to receive configuration data in accordance with the device management protocol and to update configuration data of the network device, wherein the device management software interface is configured to implement the device management protocol and to expose the device configuration function of the device management protocol called by the network management device; a packet processing module that extracts the test packet from the device configuration function and processes the test packet to produce a test packet processing result in accordance with the configuration data of the network device as if the test packet had been directly received from the network, and wherein the device management software interface is configured to send the test packet processing result as a first parameter of a reply message in accordance with the device management protocol, wherein the validation module of the network management device is further configured to determine whether the test packet processing result indicates that the network device is properly configured.
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18. A method comprising:
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invoking a first device configuration function, exposed by a first network device, that receives a first test packet as a parameter, wherein the first test packet simulates a network packet that may be received at a network interface of the first network device; receiving a first reply message comprising a first result packet in response to invoking the first device configuration function; and determining whether the first network device is properly configured based on the first result packet. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification