Patent ID: 8000264

Claim:
A method of managing configuration changes to a configuration of routers connected in a ring network architecture, the configuration changes including provisioning changes to information provisioned on at least one of the routers and connectivity changes to connections between at least two of the routers, the method comprising: executing automatically, instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the instructions when executed causing a sequence of steps to be performed, the sequence comprising: determining that the configuration changes include inserting a router; generating a configuration file for the router to be inserted; indicating the configuration file is ready to be loaded into the router to be inserted; determining the router to be inserted is ready for insertion into the ring network architecture; locking the routers to prevent any alteration to information provisioned thereon that is not related to the configuration changes; determining ports to be affected by the connectivity changes; taking the ports out of service; indicating that the connectivity changes should be initiated; determining the connectivity changes are complete; bringing the ports into service; and unlocking the routers.