Some organizations have a deployed and functional “controllerless” EVPN VxLAN Fabric in their data centers. Eventually, however, the organization may deploy a controller within the network. in one example, this disclosure describes a method that includes configuring a controller to communicate with each of a plurality of elements in a network; determining, by the controller, an initial operational state of the network; translating, by the controller, the initial operational state of the network to an intent-based configuration; pushing, by the controller, the intent-based configuration to the network to reconfigure each of the plurality of elements in the network in a manner consistent with the intent-based configuration; determining, by the controller and after pushing the intent-based configuration, an updated operational state of the network; and comparing, by the controller, the initial operational state of the network with the updated operational state of the network.