A method for controlling the establishment of a connection within an optical network comprising the steps consisting in: transmitting a control message node-to-node along a path of said connection from an input node (A) to an output node (D) of the connection, said control message comprising a step indication field to indicate a current step (60) of the connection establishment, performing a local operation (62, 63) corresponding to said step indication field within at least one node, transmitting a step acknowledgment to the connection's input node after having completed said local operation, in response to receiving the step acknowledgment, transmitting another control message node-to-node from the input node, wherein said step indication field indicates a following step (70) within a sequence of steps.