A method of facilitating the commissioning of a distributed system , comprising: obtaining a base configuration which defines an expected virtual topology for a distributed system comprising a control system; identifying , by a control device, a physical network topology of the distributed system, the identifying comprising: performing network discovery to identify a plurality of connected devices that are communicatively coupled to the control device in the distributed system and to collect device information for each of the plurality of connected devices relating to its identity and relative position in the distributed system, the distributed system including a plurality of subnetworks of connected devices from the plurality of connected devices, at least one of the plurality of subnetworks having a ring network topology or the plurality of subnetworks being connected in a ring network topology, and comparing the collected device information for the plurality of connected devices to the expected virtual topology from the base configuration to determine an identity and physical location of the plurality of connected devices and associated subnetworks in the physical network topology of the distributed system; and commissioning the distributed system according to the identified physical network topology. obtaining a base configuration which defines an expected virtual topology for a distributed system comprising a control system; identifying , by a control device, a physical network topology of the distributed system, the identifying comprising: performing network discovery to identify a plurality of connected devices that are communicatively coupled to the control device in the distributed system and to collect device information for each of the plurality of connected devices relating to its identity and relative position in the distributed system, the distributed system including a plurality of subnetworks of connected devices from the plurality of connected devices, at least one of the plurality of subnetworks having a ring network topology or the plurality of subnetworks being connected in a ring network topology, and comparing the collected device information for the plurality of connected devices to the expected virtual topology from the base configuration to determine an identity and physical location of the plurality of connected devices and associated subnetworks in the physical network topology of the distributed system; and performing network discovery to identify a plurality of connected devices that are communicatively coupled to the control device in the distributed system and to collect device information for each of the plurality of connected devices relating to its identity and relative position in the distributed system, the distributed system including a plurality of subnetworks of connected devices from the plurality of connected devices, at least one of the plurality of subnetworks having a ring network topology or the plurality of subnetworks being connected in a ring network topology, and comparing the collected device information for the plurality of connected devices to the expected virtual topology from the base configuration to determine an identity and physical location of the plurality of connected devices and associated subnetworks in the physical network topology of the distributed system; and commissioning the distributed system according to the identified physical network topology. <EOS>