User Guide 17/1553-AXM10104/1 Uen E

VNF Life Cycle Management
Virtual Multimedia Resource Function

Contents


1 Introduction

This document contains information for system administration tasks performed in the VNF Lifecycle Manager (VNF-LCM). VNF-LCM provides a workflow execution environment and a web-based application for managing VNF life cycle procedures.

VNF life cycle procedures are realized by executing ordered sequences of steps, called workflows. Each workflow must be provided with VNF-specific input parameters during execution.

This document covers the following life cycle management procedures:

2 Prerequisites

This section provides information on the tools and conditions that apply to the procedures in this document.

Before performing any VNF-LCM procedure, ensure that the following conditions are met:

  • The software delivery package including vIMS workflows, VNF-specific Heat Orchestration Template (HOT) files, example environment files, and the VNF-LCM scripts is available.

  • VNF-LCM is available using either Operations Support System, Radio and Core (OSS-RC) or Ericsson Network Manager (ENM).

  • One of the following Virtual Infrastructure Managers (VIMs) is used:

    • OpenStack Mitaka or newer

    • CEE R6 or newer

  • The VIM is configured in VNF-LCM.

    Note:

    The VIM configuration in VNF-LCM can be checked with the vnflcm vim list command.

    For more information on configuration and the command, refer to VNF-Lifecycle Manager System Administration Guide, Reference [1].

  • The version of the LAF image used is 3.6.8 or higher.

  • The cloud environment is prepared for the deployment of the VNF, that is, the following activities are performed:

    • Cloud hardware and software preparation and configuration

    • Flavor creation

    • Network topology creation

    • Subnet creation

    For detailed instructions, refer to the relevant deployment instructions.

3 Onboarding

This section describes how to prepare for workflow-based VNF operations using VNF-LCM. Performing this procedure is a prerequisite for life cycle operations.

Prerequisites

The VNF image is uploaded to the cloud environment. For more information, refer to the relevant deployment instructions.

Steps

  1. Install the RPM workflow bundle as described in the relevant network management system documentation.

    For more information, refer to VNF-Lifecycle Manager System Administration Guide, Reference [1].

  2. Create a directory for the VNF-specific files in /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion> and copy the release-specific HOT files provided in the software delivery package into it.
    Note:

    Follow the naming convention as above: VNF type and VNF version separated by "__".

  3. In /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion>, create a configurations subdirectory with write permission for the jboss_user, and a child directory for each VNF configuration. This allows for storing multiple VNF configurations.
    Note:

    Each directory in configurations shall contain a VNF-specific env.yaml environment file. Each env.yaml file can be used for a different VNF instantiation, depending on, for example, network needs.

  4. Copy the lcmScripts directory and its content into the directory created in Step 2.
    Note:

    The lcmScripts is provided in the software delivery package.

    The example below shows a directory structure with two configurations stored.

    Example

    `-- vMRF__1.3
    |-- vnfLcmOperationsConfiguration.json    
    |-- configurations
    |   |-- example_config_1
    |   |   `-- env.yaml
    |   `-- example_config_2
    |       `-- env.yaml
    |-- main.yaml
    |-- scaling_group.yaml
    `-- lcmScripts
  5. Add the private SSH key to the /home/jboss_user/.ssh/ folder, and the public SSH key in the admin_authorized_key parameter of the env.yaml file.
    Note:

    If the SSH key is not available yet, create it using the ssh-keygen -t rsa command.

4 Prepare VNF Deployment Parameters

The VNF-LCM uses the parameters of the env.yaml file as input for VNF instantiation, therefore they must be defined to match your network environment.

Note:

The .yaml files included in the examples folder of the software delivery package serve as examples for a possible network configuration. They can be modified to match your network environment.

Steps

  1. Ensure that all deployment HOT file parameters specified in the /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion>/configurations/<example_configuration_1>/env.yaml files are assigned a correct value.
  2. Add any missing deployment parameters and their default values to the env.yaml file.

5 Procedures

The following sections describe how to perform LCM operations.

VNF-LCM procedures utilize workflow instances. Figure 1 shows an example of a workflow instance, where workflow progress can be tracked in the Workflow Diagram view. The Workflow Diagram only represents stages of the various procedures, operations are performed in the Task view.

It is not recommended to execute a workflow instance on a VNF while another one is in progress, as it can lead to unexpected behavior. If a new workflow procedure is needed, the ongoing one must be terminated before starting a new one.

Figure 1   Workflow Instance Overview

5.1 Instantiate VNF

This section describes how to instantiate a VNF using VNF-LCM.

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM Workflows screen, select Instantiate VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 2   Select Workflow
  2. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  3. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  4. On the Workflow Instance screen, add VNF Name and VNF Instance Description, select VNF to instantiate, and click Submit.
    Note:

    The VNF Name is also used as the Heat stack name. It is not recommended to add version information in this field, as the name is unchanged after VNF upgrades.

    The Select VNF descriptor Id field displays VNF releases available for instantiation in the /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/ directory.

    Figure 3   Instantiate VNF
  5. On the Get Instance Configuration screen, select a VNF configuration to instantiate, and click Submit.
    Note:

    The Select Configuration for the VNF instance field displays VNF configurations available for instantiation in the /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion>/configurations directory.

    Figure 4   Get Instance Configuration
  6. On the Select VIM screen, select the VIM to be used, and click Submit.
    VNF_LAF_01-inst-3-vim2_edit.png Figure 5   Select VIM
  7. On the Select Tenant screen, select the tenant to be used, and click Submit.
    VNF_LAF_01-inst-4-tenant_edit.png Figure 6   Select Tenant
  8. On the Zone and Region Details screen, provide zone and region details, and click Submit.
    Note:

    This step is optional.

    VNF_LAF_01-inst-5-zone-region-bs_edit.png Figure 7   Zone and Region Details
  9. If the ENM network management application is used, provide VNF-related parameters for ENM, and click Submit.
    Note:

    To fill out the Network element version supported by OSS/ENM field, check the supported VNF version with the following command:

    cmedit describe --netype <VNF_type>

    VNF_LAF_01-inst-6-enm-topo_edit.png Figure 8  

The VNF is instantiated, it starts handling traffic after configuration data is provided. For more information on providing configuration data, refer to Deployment Guide for OpenStack or Deployment Guide for Cloud Execution Environment (CEE), and Initial Configuration Guide.

5.2 Upgrade VNF

This section describes how to upgrade a VNF using VNF-LCM.

To perform this procedure without traffic stoppage, it is required that two VNFs are available in parallel during normal operation. During the upgrade process, configuration data is exported from the VNF selected to be upgraded. The VNF then is locked and removed. A new version of the VNF is deployed with configuration data of the previously removed VNF.

Prerequisites

  • The new VNF version is onboarded, that is, the following parameters are exported from the old VNF:

    • mrf_image

    • shared_storage_ssh_private_key

    • admin_password_hash

    • payload_instance_count

    • announcement_storage_ssh_private_key

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM Workflows screen, select NR-Upgrade VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 9   Select Workflow
  2. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  3. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  4. On the Workflow Instance screen, select the VNF to upgrade, termination options, and set automatic rollback timer, and click Submit.
    Figure 10   Select VNF to Upgrade
    The following termination options are available:
    Graceful  

    The VMs in the cluster are gracefully locked, the VNF instance gradually stops processing traffic. The VNF is terminated after the expiration of the graceful termination period.
    Forceful  

    The VNF is terminated immediately, all ongoing traffic is lost. This option must be confirmed on the next screen, as it stops all traffic.
    Graceful termination timeout (sec)  

    The graceful termination timeout value defines after how many seconds the VNF is terminated when graceful termination has been applied but there is still ongoing traffic. Default value: -1, meaning that there is no graceful termination period, that is, the VNF is terminated only after all VMs stopped processing traffic.
  5. On the Select target VNF version screen, select the new VNF version.
  6. On the Select Target Instance Configuration Data screen, select configuration data for the new VNF.

After this step, the old VNF is terminated according to the termination method chosen in Step 4, and the new version is instantiated with the configuration data selected in Step 6.

If the new VNF fails to instantiate, it is automatically terminated and the old VNF is recreated with the _r suffix in its stack name.

If the new VNF is instantiated successfully, the Confirm upgrade screen is displayed, and the automatic rollback timer set in Step 4 is started.

  1. Check that traffic processing in the new VNF version is working properly.

    • If the operation of the new version is considered acceptable, select Confirm and click Submit.

    • If there are problems with the new version that cannot be solved and that are considered unacceptable, select Rollback and click Submit. The rollback procedure terminates the VNF and recreates the old VNF with the _r suffix in its stack name.

    Figure 11   Confirm Upgrade or Rollback
    Note:

    If neither option is chosen before the automatic rollback timer expires, the new VNF is removed and the old one is instantiated automatically.

After the upgrade procedure is confirmed, the new version VNF continues accepting new incoming traffic.

5.3 Scale-out VNF

This section describes how to scale-out a VNF using VNF-LCM.

Continue with this procedure only if the VNF to be scaled-out was instantiated using the VNF-LCM.

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM click Start a Workflow, and select Scale-Out VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 12   Select Workflow
  2. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  3. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  4. On the Workflow Instance screen, select the VNF to be scaled out, specify the number of VMs to be added to the VNF, and click Submit.
    Figure 13   Scale-out VNF Instance

The VNF instance is scaled-out, new VMs are added to the cluster.

5.4 Scale-in VNF

This section describes how to scale-in a VNF using VNF-LCM.

Continue with this procedure only if the VNF to be scaled-in was instantiated using the VNF-LCM.

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM click Start a Workflow, and select Scale-In VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 14   Select Workflow
  2. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  3. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  4. On the Workflow Instance screen, select the VNF to be scaled in, specify the number of VMs to be removed from the VNF, and click Submit.
    Figure 15   Scale-in VNF Instance
  5. On the Collect extra parameters screen, specify the needed parameters, and click Submit.
    Note:

    This step is optional, leave the fields blank if none of these parameters is needed.

    Figure 16   Scale-in VNF Instance
    The following optional scale-in parameters are available:

    • Specific VMs to be scaled-in

    • VM locking method, that is, graceful or forceful

    • If VMs are locked gracefully, a timer for graceful lock

The VNF instance is scaled-in, the specified number of is removed from the cluster.
Note:

If any UUID was specified in Step 5, the VMs with the specified UUID are removed, otherwise VMs with the highest index.

5.5 Heal VNF

This section describes how to heal a VNF using VNF-LCM.

Continue with this procedure only if the VNF to be healed was instantiated using the VNF-LCM.

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM Workflows screen, select Heal VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 17   Select Workflow
  2. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  3. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  4. On the Workflow Instance screen, select the VNF to be healed, and click Submit.
    VNF_LAF_Heal_collect_mandatory.JPG Figure 18   Heal VNF
  5. On the Input additional parameters for workflow screen, specify VMs to be removed from the cluster, and click Submit.
    VNF_LAF_Heal_collect_uuid.JPG Figure 19  

The VNF instance is scaled-in, the specified VMs are forcefully removed from the cluster. After this, the VNF instance is scaled-out, the same number of VMs is added to the cluster.

5.6 Terminate VNF

This section describes how to terminate a VNF using VNF-LCM.

Continue with this procedure only if the VNF to be terminated was instantiated using the VNF-LCM.

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM Workflows screen select Terminate VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 20   Select Workflow
  2. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  3. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  4. On the Workflow Instance screen, select the VNF to terminate, termination options, and click Submit.
    Figure 21   Terminate VNF
    The following termination options are available:
    Graceful  

    The VMs in the cluster are gracefully locked, the VNF instance gradually stops processing traffic. The VNF is terminated after the expiration of the graceful termination period.
    Forceful  

    The VNF is terminated immediately, all ongoing traffic is lost. This option must be confirmed on the next screen, as it stops all traffic.
    Graceful termination timeout (sec)  

    The graceful termination timeout value defines after how many seconds the VNF is terminated when graceful termination has been applied but there is still ongoing traffic. Default value: -1, meaning that there is no graceful termination period, that is, the VNF is terminated only after all VMs stopped processing traffic.

The VMs in the cluster are terminated with the method selected in Step 4, the VNF instance stops processing traffic, and is terminated.

Reference List

[1]

VNF-Lifecycle Manager System Administration Guide, 1543-APR 901 0578

Copyright

© Ericsson AB 2017, 2018. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Disclaimer

The contents of this document are subject to revision without notice due to continued progress in methodology, design and manufacturing. Ericsson shall have no liability for any error or damage of any kind resulting from the use of this document.