Seamless automation of network device migration to and from cloud managed systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10944630-B2
Application number	US-201916399304-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2019
Priority date	Nov 20, 2018
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

The present technology is directed to an automated end to end network migration process from on-premise to cloud-based management platforms and visa-versa. The disclosed technology describes an enhanced plug and play (PnP) software agent operationally coupled to a device and capable of interacting with a PnP service hosted on a target management platform to thereby initiate the migration process. The PnP service on the target management platform upon receiving a migration request from the device PnP agent, maps the requesting device onto a client profile existing on the target management platform and identifies therefrom the associated default controller for the device. Subsequently, the device is directed to acquire and boot up on a new software image compatible with the target management platform and following a conversion of its existing configuration into a version compatible with the new software image, the device is migrated to the associated default controller.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, by a first server on a first management platform, a migration request associated with an identifier for a device on a second management platform;
mapping the identifier to a client account on the first management platform;
directing the device to boot up using a different software image than a previously-installed software image on the device, wherein the different software image is provided by a second server on the first management platform, and wherein the different software image is identified for the device based on the client account, the client account specifying the different software image as a recommended software image to be deployed on the device for the first management platform;
updating, by the first server, an existing configuration of the device to a configuration having a compatibility with the different software image provided by the second server; and
migrating the device to a host controller on the first management platform identified from the client account, wherein the client account specifies the host controller as a recommended host controller for the device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first server corresponds to a cloud-based onboarding server, wherein the cloud-based onboarding server hosts a Plug and Play (PnP) service for communicating with a PnP software agent.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein migrating the device to the host controller comprises redirecting the device to the host controller.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier for the device corresponds to at least one of a serial number and an IP address.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the different software image replaces the previously-installed software image associated with the device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the second server corresponds to a cloud-based central management server, and wherein the cloud-based central management server is implemented in a Digital Network Architecture Center (DNA-C).

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the host controller on the first management platform corresponds to a default cloud-based controller associated with the client account.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein in addition to the migration request, a copy of the existing configuration of the device is also received by the first server.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the migration request for the device on the second management platform is initiated by a PnP software agent on the device receiving an input from a user.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the input from the user comprises a Command Line Interface (CLI) command.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein a CLI wrapper on the device enables the receiving of the CLI command by the PnP software agent.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the CLI wrapper is implemented as a graphical user interface.

13. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
at least one computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
map, to a client account on a first management platform, an identifier received in association with a migration request from a device on a second management platform;
direct the device on the second management platform to boot up with a software image compatible with the first management platform, wherein the software image is identified for the device based on the client account, the client account specifying the software image as a recommended software image to be deployed on the device for the first management platform;
convert an input configuration for the device on the second management platform into an output configuration compatible with the first management platform; and
migrate the device to a host controller on the first management platform, the host controller being associated with the client account, wherein the client account specifies the host controller as a recommended host controller for the device.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first management platform or the second management platform corresponds to at least one of an on-premise and a cloud-based management platform.

15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first management platform corresponds to a cloud-based management platform, and wherein the cloud-based management platform is implemented as a part of an intent-based network.

16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the identifier comprises at least one of a serial number associated with the device or an IP address associated with the device.

17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the migration request from the device on the second management platform is initiated by a Plug and Play (PnP) software agent on the device responsive to a user input.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the user input corresponds to a Command Line Interface (CLI) command provided to the PnP software agent through a CLI wrapper.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the CLI wrapper is implemented as a graphical user interface.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, by a first server on a first management platform, a migration request associated with an identifier for a device on a second management platform;
map the identifier to a client account on the first management platform;
direct the device to boot up using a different software image than a previously-installed software image on the device, wherein the different software image is provided by a second server on the first management platform, and wherein the different software image is identified for the device based on the client account, the client account specifying the different software image as a recommended software image to be deployed on the device for the first management platform;
update, by the first server, an existing configuration of the device to a configuration having a compatibility with the different software image provided by the second server; and
migrate the device to a host controller on the first management platform identified from the client account, wherein the client account specifies the host controller as a recommended host controller for the device.

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Patil Santosh Ramrao
• Podduturi Anvesh Reddy
• Thekkanath Sanalkumar
• Prabhu Vinay

Classifications

• H04L41/0809

  Plug-and-play configuration · CPC title

• H04L41/0886

  Fully automatic configuration · CPC title

• H04L41/046

  comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor · CPC title

• H04L41/0843

  based on generic templates · CPC title

• H04L41/082 Primary

  the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality · CPC title