1. A method for network management comprising: receiving, at a first node, a network control message from an originating node, wherein the network control message was sent from the originating node on a specified path; wherein the network control message comprises a system management request and system management request metadata, and is received in a packet of a path-oriented network control protocol; analyzing, at the first node, the system management request to determine a particular system management function to perform at the first node; performing, at the first node, the particular system management function; generating, at the first node, a response payload indicating a result generated by causing performing the particular system management function; concatenating, at the first node, the response payload to the network control message or an existing message containing response payload from another node along a network path, and transmitting the response payload to the originating node, using the path-oriented network control protocol; and relaying, at the first node, the network control message to a second node using the path-oriented network control protocol; wherein the method is performed by one or more computing devices.