System and method for modeling a network device's configuration
View Patent ↗A system and method for modeling the configuration of a network device is described. Such a system could include, for example, a CLI-to-XML converter connected to a schema storage device or a CLI-to-XML converter in combination with document object model (DOM) generator. Other embodiments could include a CLI-to-XML converter, a schema hash system, and a DOM generator.
1. A method for modeling a configuration corresponding to a network device, wherein the configuration includes a plurality of configuration commands, the method comprising:
determining a characteristic of the network device, wherein determining the characteristic of the network device comprises determining one of a network device manufacturer, network device model, and network device operating system version;
retrieving a representation of a configuration schema, the representation of a configuration schema corresponding to the determined characteristic of the network device, wherein the representation of the configuration schema comprises a plurality of schema portions and wherein retrieving the representation of the configuration schema comprises:
retrieving an intermediate representation of the configuration schema, wherein the intermediate representation comprises a plurality of keys; wherein each of the plurality of keys is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of schema portions; and
retrieving a first of the plurality of configuration commands from the network device configuration corresponding to the network device; and
generating an XML object corresponding to the retrieved configuration command;
wherein the XML object is generated according to at least a portion of the retrieved representation of the configuration schema.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving the intermediate representation of the configuration schema comprises:
retrieving a hash table.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a look-up key for the retrieved configuration command.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
identifying a first of the plurality of keys in the intermediate representation, the first of the plurality of keys corresponding to the generated look-up key; and
retrieving a first of the plurality of schema portions, the first of the plurality of schema portions corresponding to the first of the plurality of keys;
wherein the XML object is generated according to the first of the plurality of schema portions.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
converting the XML object to an XML document.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
converting the XML document into a document object model (DOM).
7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
verifying the DOM against the at least the representation of the configuration schema.
8. A method for modeling a configuration corresponding to a network device, wherein the configuration includes a plurality of configuration commands, the method comprising:
determining a characteristic of the network device, wherein determining the characteristic of the network device comprises determining one of a network device manufacturer, network device model, and network device operating system version;
retrieving a representation of a configuration schema, the representation of a configuration schema corresponding to the determined characteristic of the network device, wherein the representation of the configuration schema comprises a plurality of schema portions and wherein retrieving the representation of the configuration schema comprises:
retrieving an intermediate representation of the configuration schema, wherein the intermediate representation comprises a plurality of keys; wherein each of the plurality of keys is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of schema portions; and
retrieving a first of the plurality of configuration commands from the network device configuration corresponding to the network device; and
generating a standard-format representation of the retrieved configuration command; wherein the standard-format representation is generated according to at least a portion of the retrieved representation of the configuration schema.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
generating a look-up key for the retrieved configuration command.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
identifying a first of the plurality of keys in the intermediate representation, the first of the plurality of keys corresponding to the generated look-up key; and
retrieving a first of the plurality of schema portions, the first of the plurality of schema portions corresponding to the first of the plurality of keys; wherein the standard-format representation is generated according to the first of the plurality of schema portions.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the standard-format representation comprises an XML object.
12. A system for modeling a configuration corresponding to a network device, wherein the configuration includes a plurality of configuration commands, the system comprising:
a processor;
a storage device connected to the processor; and
a plurality of instructions stored on the storage device, the plurality of instructions configured to cause the processor to:
determine a characteristic of the network device, wherein the instructions configured to determine the characteristic of the network device comprise instructions configured to determine one of a network device manufacturer, network device model, and network device operating system version;
retrieve representation of a configuration schema, the representation of a configuration schema corresponding to the determined characteristic of the network device, wherein the representation of the configuration schema comprises a plurality of schema portions and wherein the plurality of instructions to retrieve the representation of the configuration schema include instructions to:
retrieve an intermediate representation of the configuration schema, wherein the intermediate representation comprises a plurality of keys; wherein each of the plurality of keys is associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of schema portions; and
retrieve a first of the plurality of configuration commands from the network device configuration corresponding to the network device; and generate a standard-format representation of the retrieved configuration command; wherein the standard-format representation is generated according to at least a portion of the retrieved representation of the configuration schema.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:
generate a look-up key for the retrieved configuration command.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:
identify a first of the plurality of keys in the intermediate representation, the first of the plurality of keys corresponding to the generated look-up key;
and retrieve a first of the plurality of schema portions, the first of the plurality of schema portions corresponding to the first of the plurality of keys; wherein the standard-format representation is generated according to the first of the plurality of schema portions.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:
convert the XML object to an XML document.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:
convert the XML document into a document object model (DOM).
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:
verify the DOM against the at least the representation of the configuration schema.
18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the standard-format representation comprises an XML object.