You can retrieve configuration data using either the <get-config> or <get> RPC. RFC 4741, NETCONF Configuration Protocol specifies that the <get-config> RPC returns only configuration data while the <get> RPC returns configuration data and operational state data.
In the Extreme implementation, the <get> RPC does not return operational state data; Extreme instead provides a set of Custom RPCs and actions for returning operational state data. In the Extreme implementation, the <get-config> and <get> operations are essentially the same. This document will typically refer to the <get-config> operation, though <get> can be used equally.
The following example shows a client message that issues the <get-config> operation in its most basic form. It retrieves the entire running configuration.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <rpc message-id="200" xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0"> <get-config> <source> <running/> </source> </get-config> </rpc>
Such a request, however, typically results in an unwanted or unmanageable amount of output. To restrict the output to the portion of the configuration you want, Extreme supports two types of filtering: subtree filtering and xpath filtering.
For complete details about subtree filtering and xpath filtering, refer to the RFC 4741, The NETCONF Protocol. The following sections provide some examples.