[Nsi-wg] ietf NETCONF group

[Eduard Grasa]

Hi all,

The netconf specification is quite simple, and does not define what is 
the device being configured. You can look at the RFC or at this nice 
wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netconf), but basically 
NETCONF defines an XML-RPC protocol with 7 messages: <get>, 
<get-config>, <edit-config>, <copy-config>, <delete-config>, <lock>, 
<unlock>, <close-session>, <kill-session>.

The contens of each message (the configuration data in the wikipedia 
picture) are not part of the standard, they are left to every 
implementor, who defines the XML data that goes inside each message 
(taht's why JunOS netconf looks juniper centric, Cisco one looks Cisco 
centric, and so on). Therefore you can configure whatever you want as 
long as you use the 7 messages above (which are pretty generic anyway).

Hope this helps,

Best regards,

Eduard


Jerry Sobieski escribió:
> Hi all-
>
> I'd like to make a couple comments about this...I am not by any means an 
> expert, but I see some issues that I wonder if anyone has considered or 
> knows about?...
>
>  From what I know of the JUNOS implementation, the NETCONF API seems 
> completely Juniper centric.  And therefore JUNOS centric.   I.e. it 
> really is focused on configuring IP routers and Juniper routers at that...
>
> I think the issue of configuring devices using automated network agents 
> will be more useful if it can cover devices other than just routers.   
> Certainly ethernet switches fall into this catagory (perhaps JUNOS is 
> implemented on some of these as well), but also other network devices 
> including SONET/SDH or DWDM devices (ala GMPLS "LSR" architecture).
>
> I also believe a generic NETCONF architecture could be useful for 
> configuring and monitoring other devices as well such as firewalls and 
> end-systems or even non-network devices such as instuments or 
> sensors...  And it could be used to reconfigure larger service functions 
> such as a DHCP elements or routing domains, or policy domains if it were 
> designed to do so as part of the architectural background.
>
> So two questions: 
>     a) Does anyone know of any NETCONF type of package that portends to 
> doing this type of of architectural domain autoconfiguration?,
>     and b) Should this effort to develop an automated configuration 
> process for IP devices consider how to define a *generic* device 
> configuration protocol that could be used to cover a broader set of 
> cyber-devices?
>
> Thanks
> Jerry
>
> Bartek Belter wrote:
>   
>> Hi Guy, all,
>>
>> The GN2 AMPS (Advance Multi-domain Provisioning System, a federated resource reservation system for Premium IP) also uses this API to configure Juniper routers. And indeed, as Joan Antoni pointed out, this API is used to configure a single network device, not the whole network.
>>
>> If you have valid GN2 credentials you may take a look at the page: http://wiki.geant2.net/bin/view/SA3/AmpsConfigurationService
>> This gives a brief overview to the part of AMPS responsible for the configuration of network elements. I can try to dig a bit more, if some of you are interested to get more detailed description.
>>
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Bartek
>>
>>   
>>     
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-- 


Eduard Grasa Gras

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