A network management system program and graphical user interface for large-scale optical networks is described. The network management system includes a connection management system that allows a user to manually configure connections among network elements within the network. The user defines general connection attributes within the network and adds network elements to the route or routes. The user provisions crossconnects within each network element to establish the route connections. The connection management system includes a validation function to verify the validity of the user defined connections. A graphical user interface comprises a portion of a network management system that controls a network comprising a plurality of coupled computers. The graphical user interface includes a first user input area within a first display window allowing a user to specify a network address for a source node, a second user input area within the first display window allowing the user to specify a network address for a destination node, and a third user input area within a second display window allowing the user to graphically select a connection between the source node and one or more destination nodes in the network. The network management system program includes a first database storing the selected connection as a pending connection, a second database storing the selected connection as an active connection upon activation by the user, and a program module establishing a physical connection between the source and destination nodes upon activation by the user.