Patent ID: 7523185

Claim:
A method of provisioning a first device operable with internet protocol (IP) in a virtual circuit network, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of: the first device requesting a list of identifiers corresponding to virtual circuits from a configuration interface for the virtual circuit network; receiving the list of identifiers corresponding to virtual circuits from the configuration interface for the virtual circuit network; and iteratively applying each identifier to individual instances of interface configuration commands until connectivity with a remote device is established, comprising the steps of: requesting, from a second device terminating the virtual circuit corresponding to an identifier selected from the list, an IP address of the second device; wherein the second device terminating the virtual circuit is operable to provide connectivity to the remote device; wherein the second device terminating the virtual circuit is operable to route messages that are destined to the remote device, and wherein the remote device is operable to provide configuration information to configure the first device; receiving the IP address of the second device terminating the virtual circuit corresponding to the identifier selected from the list; determining an IP address for the first device; testing the virtual circuit corresponding to the identifier selected from the list for connectivity with the remote device; and if the virtual circuit corresponding to the selected identifier provides connectivity to the remote device, then choosing the virtual circuit corresponding to the selected identifier for connecting to the remote device, otherwise, iteratively applying the above steps for a next identifier in the list until the list is exhausted.