Patent ID: 8136151

Claim:
A method for remotely maintaining a VPN configured using VPN data input by a user at a portal comprising the steps of: transmitting maintenance data to at least one management device from a first network device in the VPN through a management portal; creating (i) a VPN configuration file or (ii) a VPN configuration file and a device configuration file, each at the at least one management device; automatically establishing a communication between the at least one management device and at least one network device, which may be the same or different than the first network device, via at least one connection of at least one network; and transmitting at least one of the VPN configuration file or the VPN configuration file and the device configuration file from the at least one management device to the at least one network device via the network connection; wherein at least one parameter of the at least one network device, the VPN, and combinations thereof is automatically configured upon local processing of the VPN configuration file or the VPN configuration file and the device configuration file.