Patent ID: 7747711

Claim:
A network configuration method in which a management server and a local network are connected to a network, and compliant and noncompliant equipment which are arranged on the local network and compliant with and noncompliant with an auto-configuration protocol are automatically configured via the network from the management server, comprising the steps of: the compliant equipment transmitting a configuration request via the network to the management server; the management server replying with configuration information of compliant equipment and configuration information of noncompliant equipment in response to the configuration request; the compliant equipment receiving the configuration information of compliant equipment and the configuration information of noncompliant equipment from the management server; the compliant equipment configuring the received configuration information of compliant equipment into the compliant equipment; the compliant equipment establishing a communication channel between the compliant equipment and the noncompliant equipment; the compliant equipment configuring the received configuration information of the noncompliant equipment into the noncompliant equipment via the communication channel; the compliant equipment determining whether the noncompliant equipment supports a file transfer protocol or not; the compliant equipment making the noncompliant equipment execute the file transfer protocol so that the configuration file is transferred to the noncompliant equipment when the noncompliant equipment supports the file transfer protocol; and the compliant equipment executing contents of the configuration information of the noncompliant equipment line by line as configuration commands when the noncompliant equipment does not support the file transfer protocol.