A method for deployment and upgrade of network devices in a network environment includes comparing configuration settings executing on a switch with settings in a configuration file downloaded to the switch from a central configuration server in the network, identifying a difference between the configuration settings executing on the switch and the settings in the configuration file, synchronizing the difference by updating the configuration file at the configuration server if a sync up operation is selected, and synchronizing the difference by updating the configuration settings executing on the switch if a sync down operation is selected. The sync up operation can comprise updating the configuration file in its entirety; updating a template derived output appended to the configuration file; updating template instance variables feeding into the configuration file; and updating a template used to generate the configuration file.