US Patent 10142183 Snapshotting and instantiating a virtual topology

Snapshotting and instantiating a virtual topology are described. A virtual topology includes a set of virtual topology entities (VTEs), each associated with VTE characteristics. A snapshot engine traverses each VTE in a virtual topology instantiated on a physical topology. The snapshot engine stores the VTE characteristics of each traversed VTE in a virtual topology template. The virtual topology template may be used to deploy the same virtual topology onto another physical topology. Additionally or alternatively, a deployment engine receives a virtual topology template and/or user commands for instantiating a virtual topology. The deployment engine generates deployment commands based on the virtual topology template and/or user commands. The deployment engine identifies VTE characteristics of each VTE based on the deployment commands. The deployment engine instantiates each VTE onto a physical topology. A single virtual topology template may be used to deploy the same virtual topology onto one or more physical topologies.