Patent ID: 8019838
Filing Date: 2011-09-13
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for managing a configuration of a network device, the method comprising: determining a current state associated with at least one network device; retrieving a set of commands available for the current state of the network device; determining, for each command in the set of commands, a next state associated with a current command; creating, in response to determining a next state associated with a current command, a transition from the current state to the next state; determining that a transition has been created for each command in the set of commands; creating an extended finite state machine comprising at least the current state, the next state, and the transition for each of the commands in the set of commands; determining, from the extended finite state machine, at least one set of transitions required to reach a target state from the current state of the network device; selecting one of the at least one set of transitions based on one or more metrics; and directing the network element to execute commands corresponding to the selected set of transitions.