US Patent 10931523 Configuration change monitoring in software-defined networking environments

Example methods and systems for a network management entity to perform configuration change monitoring. One example method may comprise receiving a request to monitor a datapath to which a configuration change is applicable. The datapath may include multiple network elements. The method may also comprise instructing the first host to inject, at a first network element, one or more trace packets for transmission along the datapath to a second network element. The method may further comprise: obtaining state information associated with the configuration change, and detecting that an operating condition associated with the datapath is affected by the configuration change based on the state information.