System and method for transforming configuration commands
View Patent ↗A system and method for generating network device-specific configuration commands from device-neutral configuration commands is described. To generate a device-specific configuration command from a device-neutral configuration command, the described device, in one embodiment, determines a target network device's characteristics. Using that characteristic data, a lookup key is generated for the code that is being converted from a device-neutral format to a device-specific format. That lookup key can be used to access a configuration schema and to locate the information necessary for converting the command to a device-specific format. Using the configuration schema, the device-specific configuration command can be generated.
1. A method for configuring a network device associated with a device-neutral configuration code, the method comprising:
determining a characteristic for the network device;
generating a lookup key corresponding to the device-neutral configuration code;
identifying configuration schema material corresponding to the lookup key;
locating a device-specific command boundary in the device-neutral configuration code using the identified configuration schema material, the device-specific command boundary indicating the boundary between a first portion of the device-neutral configuration code and a second portion of the device-neutral configuration code, wherein the first portion corresponds to a first device-specific command and the second portion corresponds to a second device-specific command;
assembling the first device-specific command from the first portion of the device-neutral configuration code;
assembling the second device-specific command from the second portion of the device-neutral configuration code; and
providing the assembled device-specific command for delivery to the network device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the characteristic for the network device comprises:
determining one of a device type, a device manufacturer, a device model, and an operating system version.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying configuration schema material comprises:
indexing a schema hash table with the lookup key, the schema hash table corresponding to the determined characteristic for the network device.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
retrieving a schema object corresponding to the lookup key.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the schema object comprises:
hierarchical data about the device-neutral configuration code.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified configuration schema material comprises:
an identifier for a sibling command to at least a portion of the device-neutral configuration code, wherein the sibling command is a command type available to the network device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified configuration schema material comprises:
an identifier for a parent command.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified configuration schema material comprises:
an identifier for a root command.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein locating device-specific command boundaries comprises:
performing a forward lookup in the identified configuration schema material.
10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
marking the first portion of the device-neutral configuration code as completed responsive to assembling the first device-specific command and prior to assembling the second device-specific command;
wherein the marked portion corresponds to the first portion of the device-neutral code.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein assembling the first device-specific command comprises:
applying a device-specific rule to the device-neutral configuration code prior to assembling the first device-specific command.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device-neutral configuration code is an original device-neutral configuration code, the method comprising:
generating a marked-up device-neutral configuration code from the original device-neutral configuration code; and
identifying the difference between the original device-neutral configuration code and the marked-up device-neutral configuration code;
wherein the assembled first device-specific command corresponds to at least a portion of the identified difference.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the marked-up device-neutral configuration code comprises:
a Delta XML document.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
identifying a change made to the device-neutral configuration code; wherein the assembled first device-specific command corresponds to the identified change.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
arranging the first device-specific command and the second device specific command as expected by the network device.
16. A system for configuring a network device associated with a device-neutral configuration code, the system comprising:
at least a first processor;
at least a first memory device connected to the processor; and
a plurality of instructions stored on the at least a first memory device, the plurality of instructions configured to cause the at least a first processor to:
identify configuration schema material corresponding to the network device;
locate a device-specific command boundary in the device-neutral configuration code using the identified configuration schema material, the device-specific command boundary indicating the boundary between a first portion of the device-neutral configuration code and a second portion of the device-neutral configuration code, wherein the first portion corresponds to a first device-specific command and the second portion corresponds to a second device-specific command;
assemble the first device-specific command from the first portion of the device-neutral configuration code;
assemble the second device-specific command from the second portion of the device-neutral configuration code; and
provide the assembled device-specific command for delivery to the network device.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the device-neutral configuration code is an original device-neutral configuration code and wherein the plurality of instructions are configured to cause the at least a first processor to:
generate a marked-up device-neutral configuration code from the original device-neutral configuration code; and
identify the difference between the original device-neutral configuration code and the marked-up device-neutral configuration code;
wherein the assembled first device-specific command corresponds to at least a portion of the identified difference.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of in instructions are further configured to cause the at least a first processor to:
identify a change made to the device-neutral configuration code;
wherein the assembled first device-specific command corresponds to the identified change.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of instructions are further configured to cause the at least a first processor to:
arrange the first device-specific command and the second device-specific command in an order expected by the network device.
20. A system for configuring a network device associated with a device-neutral configuration code, the system comprising:
means for identifying configuration schema material corresponding to the network device;
means for locating a device-specific command boundary in the device-neutral configuration code using the identified configuration schema material, the device-specific command boundary indicating the boundary between a first portion of the device-neutral configuration code and a second portion of the device-neutral configuration code, wherein the first portion corresponds to a first device-specific command and the second portion corresponds to a second device-specific command;
means for assembling the first device-specific command from the first portion of the device-neutral configuration code;
means for assembling the second device-specific command from the second portion of the device-neutral configuration code; and
means for providing the assembled device-specific command for delivery to the network device.
21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the device-neutral configuration code is an original device-neutral configuration code, the system further comprising:
means for generating a marked-up device-neutral configuration code from the original device-neutral configuration code; and
means for identifying the difference between the original device-neutral configuration code and the marked-up device-neutral configuration code;
wherein the assembled first device-specific command corresponds to at least a portion of the identified difference.