To replace a faulty optical network unit (ONU) Huawei MA5671 for example on a live network, you need to reload the configurations after the replacement or back up the data before loading the configurations. The operations are complicated and prone to errors. Using the network management system (NMS) to replace the ONU improves the efficiencies in device replacement and configuration loading, and at the same time reduces the error probabilities. There are five steps for replacing an ONU rapidly.

1, Configure automatic backup policies and automatic upgrade policies. (This is the prerequisite of the replacement.)
After the automatic backup policy is configured, the device backs up data at the configured time. The latest backup database will be used during the replacement.
After the automatic upgrade policy is configured, the NMS will create an automatic ONU upgrade task to upgrade the ONU if the ONU version is different from the target version set in the automatic upgrade policy.

2, Replace the ONU and power on the Huawi ONU to ensure that the optical link on the device is normal.
3, Start the ONU replacement operation on the NMS.
4, Bind the MAC address of the new ONU on the NMS.
5, Check the configurations and verify the services after the replacement.