Console mapping tool for automated deployment and management of network devices

The present invention is directed to the deployment and management of devices that control the transmission of data over a network, such as switches, routers, firewalls, load balancers, and the like, and more particularly to a system and method that provides for automated deployment and management of a variety of different types of such network devices. An automated provisioning and management system for network devices includes a library of commands that are generic to all devices of interest, and device-specific plug-ins for implementing those commands in each of the different devices. A user can select any one of the standard commands and have it applied to a particular device of interest in a manner which is capable of being handled by that device. An interface between the library and a source of configuration information, such as a database, enables the various tasks associated with the provisioning and management of network devices to be automatically carried out on multiple devices, thereby minimizing, or even eliminating, the need to manually configure each such device. Various tools are provided to facilitate the ability of support personnel to identify and monitor functions performed by various devices, as well as detect and correct errors in the operation of those devices.