Device Configuration State (and Revisioning)

A Device Configuration State (DCS) is defined by multiple configuration files or domains.
A Device will now have multiple Configuration States, each identified by a state number. Each Configuration State is comprised of one of more revisionable units.
Revisionable Units can be categorized into:
  • Config Files
  • Hardware
  • File System Information
  • Storage Information
  • Interface information
  • Extended Attribute Model information
With multiple configuration unit support, the system revisions every device configuration state. As part of the device configuration state, the following configuration units will be revisioned:
  • Configuration Files
  • Diagnostic Result
  • Interface Information
  • Physical Hardware
  • Memory Information
  • File system Information
  • Attributed Information – This may include items such as, ACLs, VLAN, and ARP.
Note that not all configuration units become part of the revisioned state. The device package is used to configure configuration units as "revisionable" or not. If not revisionable, the configuration unit is updated without any historical record. However, the device configuration state represents all the configuration units of the device that have been pulled.

Device Configuration State Information

Every
Device Configuration State
includes the following attributes, along with the configuration file it is included within.
Attribute
Description of Attribute
Device Configuration State number
Incremented for each revision of the device state. Starts with 1.
Comments
Comments associated with this particular DCS
Job Number
The job number of the push/pull job that may have caused this new DCS
Approver Name
The approver of the job, specified by Job Number
User Name
The user that submitted the job, specified by Job Number
Creation Time
Time the DCS was created
Pull Results
The results of the job, specified by Job Number
Baselines
Baselines that this configuration unit is a part of
Each of the
configuration units
revisioned, includes the following information.
Attribute
Description of Attribute
Revision number
Incremented for each revision of the configuration unit. Starts with 1.
Comments
Comments associated with this particular DCS
Job Number
The job number of the push/pull job that may have caused this new DCS
Approver Name
The approver of the job, specified by Job Number
User Name
The user that submitted the job, specified by Job Number
Creation Time
Time the DCS was created
Baselines
Baselines that this configuration unit is a part of

Device State

The device state is defined by a collection of configuration units "pulled" from the device at any point in time. The state can be either
Complete
or
Partial
.
In addition to the configuration units, the device state is made up of the following attributes:
  • Description
  • Host Name
  • Contact
  • Location
  • Management IP Address
  • Model
  • Device Type (Router, Switch, etc.)
  • Chassis Serial Number
  • OS Version
  • Memory (Non Volatile)
  • Name
  • Capacity
  • Current Usage
  • File System Information
  • Miscellaneous Key Value Pairs
A device state can be incomplete, depending on the most recent configuration units/files pulled from the device (specific files can be pulled on demand, which can create an incomplete device state).
Any change in any of the configuration units changes the
device state
, with respect to time.