[Infrastructures] using IA methodologies to build network element configuration

[Brent Chapman]

At 11:46 AM -0400 4/3/05, David Magda wrote:
>On Sun, Apr 03, 2005 at 02:56:01PM +0100, Matt S Trout wrote:
>>  This is why I'm attempting to build an XML-driven transformation
>>  engine that can be used to build up a common library of transforms
>>  for various types of devices. It's called BAST, and is still at a
>
>Matt,
>
>You may want to check out the Netconf WG of the IETF:
>
>...
>
>   http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/netconf-charter.html
>
>The current document describing the protocol (which expires August
>19, 2005) can be found at:
>
>http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-netconf-prot-05.txt

My impression of NETCONF is that it's a common protocol for getting 
configuration info to and from devices, but that the configuration 
info itself remains in its vendor-specific form.

In other words, NETCONF will give you a standardized way of saying to 
a Cisco or a Juniper "show me your current config, as a blob of text" 
or "install this blob of text as your current config"; I don't think 
it says anything about the contents or format of the blogs of text, 
though.

In particular, on the bottom of Page 5 of the draft protocol document 
referenced above, it says:

    The NETCONF protocol is a building block in a system of automated
    configuration.  XML is the lingua franca of interchange, providing a
    flexible but fully specified encoding mechanism for hierarchical
    content.  NETCONF can be used in concert with XML-based
    transformation technologies such as XSLT [9] to provide a system for
    automated generation of full and partial configurations.  The system
    can query one or more databases for data about networking topologies,
    links, policies, customers, and services.  This data can be
    transformed using one or more XSLT scripts from a task-oriented,
    vendor-independent data schema into a form that is specific to the
    vendor, product, operating system, and software release.  The
    resulting data can be passed to the device using the NETCONF
    protocol.

and at the end of Section 1.1 (at the top of Page 7), it says:

    4.  The content layer is outside the scope of this document.  Given
        the current proprietary nature of the configuration data being
        manipulated, the specification of this content depends on the
        NETCONF implementation.  It is expected that a separate effort to
        specify a standard data definition language and standard content
        will be undertaken.

So, Matt's tool addresses one part of the problem (how to generate 
the config files), and NETCONF addresses another part of the problem 
(how to get the config files loaded onto the devices).


-Brent
-- 
Brent Chapman <brent@greatcircle.com> -- Great Circle Associates, Inc.
Specializing in network infrastructure for Silicon Valley since 1989
For info about us and our services, please see http://www.greatcircle.com/
Network Automation blog: http://www.greatcircle.com/blog/network_automation