Disruption minimization for guests when applying changes to a data plane of a packet handler in a host

A system for applying changes to a data plane of a packet handler within a host without disrupting operation of a guest executing on the host, wherein the packet handler comprises a control plane and a data plane, the system comprising:

• one or more computer readable storage media;
• a processing system operatively coupled with the one or more computer readable storage media;
• and
• program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processing system to:
• extract, from the data plane to the control plane, state information about states of the data plane;
• pause network traffic to the data plane;
• after pausing the network traffic to the data plane, apply changes to components of the data plane;
• and
• after applying changes to the components of the data plane, restore the states to the data plane using the state information and resuming the network traffic to the data plane.