Remotely passing configuration !

[illusion_rox]

Hi all. I am starting development so looking for a project. I decided to build up an application that will pass configuration to routers like interface specific, protocol etc configuration. After working a bit with TCL and EEM, (my heartly thanks for jclarke for helping me ) can someone tell me which is the most efficient and fastest way to access and pass configuration to routers. I am quite sure snmp couldnt be the choice, then what else shall i look for. Also if possible, can you also suggest me which language will suit better for this application, i dont mind at all learning a new language but i want to kinda focus on network management based application in my startup. Hoping for a very positive feedback.

Kindly guide me

[Joe Clarke]

So are you looking for something to run on a host, and push configuration changes to devices, or are you looking for a solution to run directly on the devices? What types of devices are you managing? What version of code? Recent IOS supports the NETCONF protocol which is certainly a good choice for deploying configurations. But SNMP or CLI are probably the best choices for a wide variety of devices. SNMP is probably the best as you don't have to rely on screen-scraping. But, if you're already familiar with Tcl and CLI, then expect might be the way to go.

[illusion_rox]

Dear Jclarke, its so good to hear from you. I will be managing cisco devices, including

1841, 1801, sr520, 3845, 2811,2801. Code will be 12.4(20)T advsecurity. Now i want to pass configuration from my host to router. I thought snmp would be a bit slow but again you are an expert and i think i am asking too much, but pls dont be bothered and kindly guide me which path to take and if possible also if cisco provides and documentation to help developers start. i have a CCO login so kindly tell me of any such resource, i will really be grateful

Thanks again Sir

[Joe Clarke · Accepted solution]

Given that code, I recommend NETCONF. NETCONF is an XML API for getting and changing configuration. It can run over BEEP or SSHv2. The SSHv2 transport is probably easiest to use.

Of course, SNMP is still an option as well. If you're not familiar with XML, perhaps SNMP is the way to go. Here is a document explaining how to use NETCONF:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/ios/netmgmt/configuration/guide/nm_cns_netconf_ps6441_TSD_Products_Configuration_Guide_Chapter.html

And here is the guide on how to do config operations using SNMP:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk648/tk362/technologies_configuration_example09186a0080094aa6.shtml

The advantage of both is that they aren't limited to a specific programming language. You can use any language with which you are comfortable to interact with these protocols.