Re: text format of configurations

[john heasley <heas@shrubbery.net>]

Tue, Jun 26, 2001 at 12:04:45AM -0700, Bill Woodcock:
>     > - the tools to _automate_ interaction with the box.  eg: SNMP or XML over
>     >   telnet/ssh with standardized DTDs, ala snmp MIBs.  any thing that can
>     >   be done in CLI, MUST be possible via XML.
> 
> Is XML, per se, a hard requirement for you?  Or would a syntax which was
> the same on the CLI, and had the same advantages that you see in XML be
> preferable?

no, the language does not matter, but i dont want 4 diff langs for 4
diff vendors.  PD XML perl and c libs already exist and at least 1
vendor already offers such an interface.

>     > - it MUST be possible to determine the FULL configuration of a box.  ie: NO
>     >   hidden "defaults".  if 'ip directed-broadcast' is the default, a 'show
>     >   config' option MUST exist that will display that in the o/p (ascii or XML).
> 
> Hmmm.  In principle I like this, but it could get awfully bulky awfully
> fast.  There are a _lot_ of defaults in some configs.  Perhaps required
> support for a "super verbose" version of "show config"?  Something like
> "show config full" or "show config all"?

large is fine with me (i have ocNs and disk/cpu is cheap).  this is the only
way i can completely automate config generation WRT subtle vendor changes
between versions, like POS C2 flag changes.  in fact, in this manner, i
could collect info from lab boxes to establish a set of known defaults per
platform per o/s version.

it also allows meta changes to be applied to configs in a much more
automated fashion.  eg:  is knob X the default (which does not appear
in show config)?