NETCONF XML Management Protocol and Junos XML API Overview

The NETCONF XML management protocol is an XML-based management protocol that client applications use to request and change configuration information on routing, switching, and security platforms running Junos OS. The NETCONF XML management protocol uses an Extensible Markup Language (XML) based data encoding for the configuration data and remote procedure calls. The NETCONF XML management protocol defines basic operations that are equivalent to configuration mode commands in the Junos OS command-line interface (CLI). Applications use the protocol operations to display, edit, and commit configuration statements (among other operations), just as administrators use CLI configuration mode commands such as show, set, and commit to perform those operations.

The Junos XML API is an XML representation of Junos configuration statements and operational mode commands. Junos XML configuration tag elements are the content to which the NETCONF XML protocol operations apply. Junos XML operational tag elements are equivalent in function to operational mode commands in the CLI, which administrators use to retrieve status information for a routing platform.

The NETCONF XML management protocol is described in RFC 4741, NETCONF Configuration Protocol, available at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4741.txt .

Client applications request or change information on a switch, router, or security device by encoding the request with tag elements from the NETCONF XML management protocol and Junos XML API and sending it to the NETCONF server on the device. The NETCONF server is integrated into the Junos OS and does not appear as a separate entry in process listings. The NETCONF server directs the request to the appropriate software modules within the device, encodes the response in NETCONF and Junos XML API tag elements, and returns the result to the client application. For example, to request information about the status of a device’s interfaces, a client application sends the <get-interface-information> tag element from the Junos XML API. The NETCONF server gathers the information from the interface process and returns it in the <interface-information> tag element.

You can use the NETCONF XML management protocol and Junos XML API to configure devices running Junos OS or request information about the device configuration or operation. You can write client applications to interact with the NETCONF server, but you can also use the NETCONF XML management protocol to build custom end-user interfaces for configuration and information retrieval and display, such as a Web browser-based interface.