The present invention relates to networks and networking systems, and more particularly, this invention relates to making changes to networking devices in a network, such as a cloud computing network. 
Network devices and complex computer systems, such as cloud computing networks, data centers, managed service providers, traditional internet protocol (IP) networks, etc.,  typically include a diverse mix of operating systems and device types, both physical and virtual, which may be acquired from various different vendors.  This diverse mix of devices and operating systems presents a problem for an operator attempting to effect a change across a large portion of one of these complex systems as it requires a high degree of domain knowledge in order to determine the applicability of any potential change.  In some instances, it may even require an amount of trial and error to determine the applicability of the potential change.  One conventional approach to address this problem involves creating a single set of changes (a template) for every combination of hardware and software.  However, this approach leads to a large degree of duplication and requires almost constant maintenance as new hardware and software revisions are deployed. 
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have an approach to effecting a change across a large portion of one of these complex systems that avoids the issues associated with conventional approaches, such as creating a single set of changes for every combination of hardware and software.