Patent ID: 8040902

Claim:
A method of configuring a multi-chassis router having a plurality of chassis, wherein each of the plurality of chassis includes a different set of hardware elements, the method comprising: receiving, from a user via a user interface of the multi-chassis router, a command to configure one or more of the hardware elements of the different sets of hardware elements in the plurality of chassis, wherein the command conforms to a syntax of a standalone router, and wherein the syntax allows the user to specify each hardware element in the different sets of hardware elements in the plurality of chassis as one of a single set of hardware elements of the standalone router; sending, with a management module executing on a processor of the multi-chassis router, the command to two or more of the chassis within the multi-chassis router; receiving, with the management module, responses to the command, wherein the responses include a response from two or more chassis within the multi-chassis router; and outputting, with the management module, a combined response to the user interface in accordance with the syntax of the standalone router.