Abstract

Often network components work correctly, yet end-to-end services don't. This can happen when configuration parameters of components are set to incorrect values. Configuration is a fundamental operation for logically integrating components to set up end-to-end services.

Configuration errors frequently arise because transforming end-to- end service requirements into component configurations is inherently difficult. Such transformations are largely performed in a manual and localized fashion, resulting in high cost of network operations.

The Service Grammar technique has been developed to solve the configuration error diagnosis problem and, more generally, to formalize the process of building complex systems via configuration.

At its core is a Requirements Language that contains global, high-level constraints upon configuration parameters. These are derived from identifying the notion of "correct configuration" associated with different protocols. These notions are composed to create system-wide requirements on architecture and policies. A Diagnosis Engine checks if constraints in the Requirements Language are true given definite component configurations and recursively checks composite requirements.

This paper describes an application of Service Grammar to diagnosing BGP configuration errors. As BGP architecture and policies differ widely from one network to another, it is not possible using previous techniques to check if router configurations implement the intended requirements. Our tools enable administrators to specify system-wide, network-specific requirements and check if they are correctly implemented by component configurations.

• View the full text of this paper in HTML or PDF.
  Until October 2004, you will need your USENIX membership identification in order to access the full papers. The Proceedings are published as a collective work, © 2003 by the USENIX Association. All Rights Reserved. Rights to individual papers remain with the author or the author's employer. Permission is granted for the noncommercial reproduction of the complete work for educational or research purposes. USENIX acknowledges all trademarks within this paper.

• If you need the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it from Adobe's site.

To become a USENIX Member, please see our Membership Information.