A method comprising: receiving , by a software defined networking, SDN, controller, high-level configuration data that describes a desired state of a network managed by the SDN controller at a high level of abstraction; applying , by the SDN controller, a transformation function to the high-level configuration data to generate a low-level configuration data for network devices configured to implement the desired state of the network, wherein the low-level configuration data further comprises configuration data for the network devices to configure the SDN controller as a peer to obtain one or more routes exchanged between the network devices and to configure the network devices to maintain control plane operation without the SDN controller operating as a control plane for the network devices; sending , by the SDN controller, the low-level configuration data to the network devices to cause the network devices to implement the desired state of the network and to configure the SDN controller as the peer to obtain one or more routes exchanged between the network devices without operating as the control plane for the network devices; establishing , by the SDN controller, a peering session with the network devices; obtaining , by the SDN controller via the peering session, one or more routes exchanged between the network devices configured to implement the desired state of the network; and presenting , by the SDN controller, the one or more obtained routes to a user to determine whether the high-level configuration data that describes the desired state of the network is properly configured. receiving , by a software defined networking, SDN, controller, high-level configuration data that describes a desired state of a network managed by the SDN controller at a high level of abstraction; applying , by the SDN controller, a transformation function to the high-level configuration data to generate a low-level configuration data for network devices configured to implement the desired state of the network, wherein the low-level configuration data further comprises configuration data for the network devices to configure the SDN controller as a peer to obtain one or more routes exchanged between the network devices and to configure the network devices to maintain control plane operation without the SDN controller operating as a control plane for the network devices; sending , by the SDN controller, the low-level configuration data to the network devices to cause the network devices to implement the desired state of the network and to configure the SDN controller as the peer to obtain one or more routes exchanged between the network devices without operating as the control plane for the network devices; establishing , by the SDN controller, a peering session with the network devices; obtaining , by the SDN controller via the peering session, one or more routes exchanged between the network devices configured to implement the desired state of the network; and presenting , by the SDN controller, the one or more obtained routes to a user to determine whether the high-level configuration data that describes the desired state of the network is properly configured. <EOS>