NETCONF is a standardized IETF configuration management and XML encoded protocol that can be used as an alternative to CLI or SNFMP to manage the SR OS routers. NETCONF is defined in RFC 6241, NETCONF Configuration Protocol (NETCONF). It is secure and connection-oriented, and can run over the SSHv2 transport protocol, in accordance with RFC 6242, Using the NETCONF Configuration Protocol over Secure Shell (SSH).
NETCONF uses Remote Procedure Call (RPC) messaging to facilitate communication between a NETCONF client and the NETCONF server that is running on the SR OS node. The RPC message and configuration data is encoded in an XML document. These XML documents are exchanged between the NETCONF client and a NETCONF server in a series of request and response type of messaging interactions. The SR OS NETCONF interface supports both configuration support and retrieval of operational information.
The following figure shows a NETCONF RPC messaging request.
As defined in RFC 6241, NETCONF can be conceptually partitioned into four layers; these are shown in the following figure.
