Methods and systems for onboarding network equipment

A system comprising:

• an onboarding controller circuit for onboarding network equipment to a managed network, wherein the onboarding controller circuit is configured to:
• generate a challenge for network equipment to be onboarded into the managed network, wherein the challenge comprises information relating to a configuration change to be made to the network equipment, wherein the configuration change comprises configuring one or more connections to or within the network equipment, and wherein the one or more connections comprise at least one local connection between two different ports of the network equipment;
• send the challenge to a communication device different from the network equipment, wherein the challenge is sent over a connection that is different than a connection used in communicating with the network equipment;
• and
• verify based on handling of the configuration change, an identity and/or a network location of the network equipment, wherein handling the configuration change comprises applying the configuration change.

A system comprising:

• an onboarding controller circuit for onboarding network equipment to a managed network, wherein the onboarding controller circuit is configured to:
• generate a challenge for network equipment to be onboarded into the managed network, wherein the challenge comprises information relating to a configuration change to be made to the network equipment, wherein the configuration change comprises configuring one or more connections to or within the network equipment, and
• wherein the one or more connections comprise at least one local connection between two different ports of the network equipment, or wherein the one or more connections comprise at least one local connection to a network device local to and different from the network equipment;
• send the challenge to a communication device different from the network equipment, wherein the challenge is sent over a connection that is different than a connection used in communicating with the network equipment;
• and
• verify based on handling of the configuration change, an identity or a network location of the network equipment, wherein handling the configuration change comprises applying the configuration change.