[c-nsp] Tracking config changes

[Clayton Zekelman]

We use RANCID on our network.  All changes are made through the CLI on the routers/switches, and RANCID just tracks them.

If we have an outage where we have to re-build the router's config, we have the versions and changes all stored nicely in the CVS.

All changes are e-mailed to our NOC list to make sure everyone knows what is going on.

----- Original Message ---------------

Subject: [c-nsp] Tracking config changes
   From: Mike <mike-cisconsplist at tiedyenetworks.com>
   Date: Mon, 24 May 2010 09:34:04 -0700
     To: "'Cisco-nsp'" <cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net>

>Hi Gang,
>
>    In my smallish network I am guilty sometimes of using cli to make 
>cisco switch and router config changes, and sometimes I have been known 
>to forget to 'wr mem' when I'm sure it's what I want. The reasons for 
>this vary, but I want to be better than this disaster waiting for a 
>power outage or other event to force a reset, losing something that 
>could potentially be important that I may forget about later. I know 
>there are approaches to this in larger envionments using config version 
>control systems and such, but I think I want something simpler to at 
>least notify me when/if I have a 'running config' that has been modified 
>from the 'startup config' and not committed to nvram.
>
>    One approach I might think of would be to poll the devices on my 
>normal snmp schedule and include a check for the last date of 
>configuration change. I could easilly throw an alert if it's been more 
>than an hour since the last config change/write to memory, but I don't 
>know which variables I would poll for that. A secondary idea might also 
>be to download the configs and commit them to cvs anytime a change is 
>detected, but some here might think this is backwards and that configs 
>should only be uploaded? What do you other service provider folks do?
>
>Mike-
>_______________________________________________
>cisco-nsp mailing list  cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
>https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-nsp
>archive at http://puck.nether.net/pipermail/cisco-nsp/