WiscConf: A Configuration Complexity Analysis Package

Project Description

The goal of our project is to analyze the configuration files of routers in a network and develop abstract models for the Layer- 3 design and configuration of the network. The models reflect the roles routers play in the network (e.g. core vs edge), and the dependency between the functionalities of different routers. These models are help us understand how difficult it is to setup the Layer-3 functionality for a particular network. More importantly, these models can be used to make informed changes to network configuration in a consistent, accurate and speedy fashion. The models are also useful to unearth subtle configuration bugs. We have applied these tools on 7 different network so far -- UW-Madison, CMU, NWU, UMich and three large commercial enterprise networks -- with some very interesting results. Below we list a few of the interesting results discovered as well as a full list of our collaborators.

Results:

  • obsolete peering links: over time installation and decomission of certain routers created an abundant number of peering links to non existant devices
  • misconfigured control plane: routing on the active devices isn't set up to router certain subnets, the subnets are only routed due to a temporary devices added as a fix. Most likely, when this devices is decommisioned, a black hole would appear.

    Here is a full list of our current collaborators:

    1. BBN
    2. Carnegie Mellon University
    3. Microsoft Research
    4. Northwestern University
    5. Princeton University
    6. Purdue University
    7. University of Michigan, Ann Habor
    8. University of Minnesota
    9. University of Wisconsin, Madison
    10. Wiscnet
    11. 2 Anonymous Enterprise

    WiscConf Package

    Description:

    Our configuration analysis package consists of two toolsets – DAT, which is written in PHP, and RAT, which is written in Perl. The result of this package is a set of .stats files which contain a variety of counts that we post-process, as well as configuration file names and hostnames in the network (these could be anonymized; see below for more details). The tools don’t need to be run on the routers themselves. They can be run on a generic Windows host where the configuration files from a collection of routers have been aggregated and stored.

    System Requirements:

    1. Perl 5 or greater
    2. Windows XP or higher
    3. CPU: 500Mhz
    4. Memory: 512 Mb