Propagating network configuration policies using a publish-subscribe messaging system

1. A method, comprising:

subscribing a node in a network to one or more topics associated with a configuration policy in a publish-subscribe messaging system, wherein said subscribing comprises selecting the one or more topics in the publish-subscribe messaging system based on a state of the node;

receiving, by the node in the network through the publish-subscribe messaging system, one or more messages comprising a first representation of the configuration policy from a policy server;

using a data model to convert, by the node, the first representation into a second representation of the configuration policy; and

using the second representation to apply the configuration policy during processing of network traffic at the node.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the state of the node is associated with at least one of:

a position of the node in a topology of the network; and

network telemetry data captured by the node.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more topics are associated with a type of the configuration policy.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the type of the configuration policy is at least one of:

an access control list;

a routing policy;

a hardware configuration;

a prefix list;

a network telemetry configuration; and

a message to be transmitted over the network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first representation is included in the one or more messages using a serialization format.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second representation comprises a format that can be used by a processing layer associated with the configuration policy in the node.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuration policy comprises:

a policy name; and

an instruction.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the instruction comprises at least one of:

a rule;

a condition;

a parameter; and

a value.

9. A method, comprising:

obtaining, at a policy server:

a first configuration policy for a first subset of nodes in a network; and

a second configuration policy for a second subset of nodes in the network;

generating, by the policy server:

a first message comprising the first configuration policy for receipt by the first subset of nodes through a publish-subscribe messaging system; and

a second message comprising the second configuration policy for receipt by the second subset of nodes through the publish-subscribe messaging system; and

transmitting, by the policy server, the first message and the second message to the publish-subscribe messaging system.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein generating the first message for receipt by the first subset of nodes through the publish-subscribe messaging system comprises:

assigning the first message to a topic associated with the first subset of nodes in the publish-subscribe messaging system.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the topic represents at least one of:

a state of a node in the network; and

a type of the configuration policy.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein generating the first message comprising the first configuration policy for receipt by the first subset of nodes through the publish-subscribe messaging system comprises:

using a serialization format to include a representation of the first configuration policy in the first message.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the configuration policy comprises at least one of:

an access control list;

a routing policy;

a hardware configuration;

a prefix list;

a network telemetry configuration; and

a message to be transmitted over the network.

14. A system, comprising:

a policy server comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to:

obtain a first configuration policy for a first subset of nodes in a network and a second configuration policy for a second subset of nodes in the network;

generate a first message comprising the first configuration policy for receipt by the first subset of nodes through a publish-subscribe messaging system;

generate a second message comprising the second configuration policy for receipt by the second subset of nodes through the publish-subscribe messaging system; and

transmit the first and second messages to the publish-subscribe messaging system; and

the first and second subsets of nodes, wherein each node in the first and second subsets comprises a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to:

receive, through the publish-subscribe messaging system, one or more messages comprising a first representation of a configuration policy from the policy server, wherein the configuration policy is at least one of the first and second configuration policies;

use a data model to convert the first representation into a second representation of the configuration policy; and

using the second representation to apply the configuration policy during processing of network traffic.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein:

the first message is assigned to a first topic associated with the first subset of nodes in the publish-subscribe messaging system, and

the second message is assigned to a second topic associated with the second subset of nodes in the publish-subscribe messaging system.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first and second topics represent at least one of:

a state of the node in the network; and

a type of the configuration policy.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein:

the first representation is included in the one or more messages using a serialization format; and

the second representation comprises a format that can be used by a processing layer associated with the configuration policy in the node.