Zero touch configuration and synchronization of a service appliance in a network environment

• US 10,270,658 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2015
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sharma, Samar, Parthasarathy, Mitali, Baveja, Avni
• Primary Examiner(s): Bates, Kevin T
• Assistant Examiner(s): McCray, Clarence D
• Application Number:
  US14/710,389
• Publication Number:
  US 20160094394A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,442 Days
• Field of Search: 709223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration

Abstract

An example method for zero touch configuration and synchronization of a service appliance in a network environment includes receiving, at an appliance port on a service appliance, an indication that a switch port on a switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the appliance port being connected over a network to the switch port, starting a bootstrap protocol, including by receiving at the service appliance from the switch, a bootstrap message from a service executing in the switch, creating, by the service appliance, an empty port channel at the service appliance, adding, by the service appliance, the appliance port to the port channel, and associating, by the service appliance, the service to the port channel in a cache.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at an appliance port on a service appliance, an indication that a switch port on a switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the appliance port being connected over a network to the switch port;

starting a bootstrap protocol by a client process executing in the service appliance, wherein the client process starts the bootstrap protocol after receiving a first bootstrap message from a service executing in the switch;

creating, by a port channel module executing in the service appliance, an empty port channel at the service appliance;

adding, by the port channel module, the appliance port to the port channel;

identifying, by a service module executing in the service appliance, the service in the switch that sent the first bootstrap message;

associating, by the service module, the service to the port channel in a cache in the service appliance;

receiving at a second appliance port on the service appliance, a second bootstrap message from the service; and

adding the second appliance port to the port channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bootstrap message includes a payload with a plurality of service attributes indicative of configuration settings of the service appliance.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the service attributes in the payload are communicated to platform components in the service appliance, wherein the platform components apply configuration settings to the service appliance based on the service attributes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the service attributes are communicated to the platform components in a Remote Integrated Service Engine (RISE) entry data structure.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the service attributes are communicated to the platform component using Inter-Process Communication (IPC) in an application control plane of the service appliance.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the second appliance port on the service appliance, an indication that a second switch port on the switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the second appliance port being connected over the network to the second switch port;

restarting the bootstrap protocol to add the second appliance port to the port channel.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein restarting the bootstrap protocol comprises:

associating the service with the port channel in a second cache, the second cache comprising the second appliance port, wherein the method further comprises comparing the second cache with the previously stored cache.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first bootstrap message is encoded according to Remote Integrated Service Engine (RISE) protocol.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the client process comprises an intelligent service card client process (iSCC) on the service appliance, wherein the iSCC communicates the first bootstrap message with a corresponding intelligent service card manager process (iSCM) at the switch over the port channel.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating the service with the port channel in a second cache, the second cache comprising the second appliance port; and

comparing the second cache with the previously stored cache.

10. Non-transitory media that includes instructions for execution, which when executed by a processor is operable to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at an appliance port on a service appliance, an indication that a switch port on a switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the appliance port being connected over a network to the switch port;

starting a bootstrap protocol by a client process executing in the service appliance, wherein the client process starts the bootstrap protocol after receiving a first bootstrap message from a service executing in the switch;

creating, by a port channel module executing in the service appliance, an empty port channel at the service appliance;

adding, by the port channel module, the appliance port to the port channel;

identifying, by a service module executing in the service appliance, the service in the switch that sent the first bootstrap message;

associating, by the service module, the service to the port channel in a cache in the service appliance;

receiving at a second appliance port on the service appliance, a second bootstrap message from the service; and

adding the second appliance port to the port channel.

11. The media of claim 10, wherein the first bootstrap message includes a payload with a plurality of service attributes indicative of configuration settings of the service appliance.

12. The media of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second appliance port on the service appliance, an indication that a second switch port on the switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the second appliance port being connected over the network to the second switch port;

restarting the bootstrap protocol to add the second appliance port to the port channel.

13. The media of claim 12, wherein restarting the bootstrap protocol comprises:

associating the service with the port channel in a second cache, the second cache comprising the second appliance port, wherein the processor is operable for comparing the second cache with the previously stored cache.

19. The media of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

associating the service with the port channel in a second cache, the second cache comprising the second appliance port; and

comparing the second cache with the previously stored cache.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory for storing data; and

a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory cooperate, such that the apparatus is configured for;

receiving, at an appliance port on a service appliance, an indication that a switch port on a switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the appliance port being connected over a network to the switch port;

starting a bootstrap protocol by a client process executing in the service appliance, wherein the client process starts the bootstrap protocol after receiving a first bootstrap message from a service executing in the switch;

creating, by a port channel module executing in the service appliance, an empty port channel at the service appliance;

adding, by the port channel module, the appliance port to the port channel;

identifying, by a service module executing in the service appliance, the service in the switch that sent the first bootstrap message;

associating, by the service module, the service to the port channel in a cache in the service appliance;

receiving at a second appliance port on the service appliance, a second bootstrap message from the service; and

adding the second appliance port to the port channel.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first bootstrap message includes a payload with a plurality of service attributes indicative of configuration settings of the service appliance.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, at the second appliance port on the service appliance, an indication that a second switch port on the switch changed from an inactive status to an active status, the second appliance port being connected over the network to the second switch port;

restarting the bootstrap protocol to add the second appliance port to the port channel.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein restarting the bootstrap protocol comprises:

associating the service with the port channel in a second cache, the second cache comprising the second appliance port, wherein the apparatus is further configured for comparing the second cache with the previously stored cache.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, further configured for:

associating the service with the port channel in a second cache, the second cache comprising the second appliance port; and

comparing the second cache with the previously stored cache.