User Guide 18/1553-AXM 101 04/1 Uen K

VNF Life Cycle Management for VMware
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.

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 Open Virtualization Format (OVF) 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).

  • The vCD is used as Virtual Infrastructure Manager (VIM).

  • 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, see VNF-Lifecycle Manager System Administration Guide, Reference [1].

  • The following minimum version requirements are met:

    • vCD: 8.11

    • vIMS workflows: 1.16.0

    • VNF-LCM: 18.18 or higher (minimum SW media version: 4.10.14)

  • The workflow bundle RPM is installed as described in the relevant network management system documentation. For more information, see VNF-Lifecycle Manager System Administration Guide, Reference [1].

  • 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

    • Network topology creation

    • Subnet creation

    For detailed instructions, see 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

Steps

  1. Create a directory for the VNF-specific files in /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion>.
    Note: Follow the naming convention as above: VNF type and VNF version separated by "__".
  2. In /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion>, create a configurations subdirectory and a child directory for each VNF configuration. This allows for storing multiple VNF configurations.
    Note: Each directory in configurations must contain a VNF-specific env-vcd.yaml environment file. Each env-vcd.yaml file can be used for a different VNF instantiation, depending on, for example, network needs.

    In the current release, the env-vcd.yaml must be created by the user. Create the file based on Example 1, providing attribute and value pairs based on your network needs.

    Provide data containing multiple line breaks, for example, private key file contents, by replacing line breaks with \n, and providing the whole string in quotes.

  3. Create a vApp template in vCloud Director by uploading the release-specific OVF files provided in the software delivery package.
  4. Copy the lcmScripts, directory and its content into the directory created in /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/vnfd/<VNFType__VNFVersion>.
    Note: The lcmScripts is provided in the software delivery package.

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

    Example

    `-- vMRF__<version_number>
    |-- vnfLcmOperationsConfiguration.json
    |-- configurations
    |   |-- example_config_1
    |   |   `-- env-vcd.yaml
    |   `-- example_config_2
    |   |   `-- env-vcd.yaml
    `-- lcmScripts
  5. If missing, add the private SSH key to the /vnflcm-ext/backups/private_keys/workflows/default/.ssh folder, and the corresponding public SSH key in the admin_authorized_key parameter of the env.yaml file of each configuration stored.

    The public key can be obtained by using the following command:

    sudo -u jboss_user cat /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/private_keys/default/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

    If the SSH key or the .SSH folder is not available, create them using the following command, as jboss_user:

    sudo -u jboss_user bash -c 'cd /vnflcm-ext/backups/workflows/private_keys/default && mkdir .ssh && chmod 0700 .ssh && ssh-keygen -P "" -t rsa -f .ssh/id_rsa'
  6. Transfer ownership of the onboarded directory to the jboss_user using the following command:
    sudo chown -R jboss_user /vnflcm-ext/current/vnf_package_repo/<VNF_name>__<VNF_version_number>

Example 1   env-vcd.yaml File Example

4 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

4.1 Instantiate VNF

This section describes how to instantiate a VNF using VNF-LCM.
Note: When instantiating a VNF on a VIM running on BSP, make sure there are no active Capture Jobs on BSP, or the instantiation fails.

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 Get VNF name and VNFD screen, add VNF Name and VNF Instance Description, select VNF to instantiate, and click Submit.

    Make sure that the Add Network Element in ENM/OSS-RC check box is selected to add the new VNF in the network management application.

    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   Get VNF name and VNFD
  5. On the Select VIM screen, select the VIM to be used, and click Submit.
    Figure 4   Select VIM
  6. On the Select Tenant screen, select the tenant to be used, and click Submit.
    VNF_LAF_01-inst-4-tenant_edit.png Figure 5   Select Tenant
  7. On the Select VDC screen, select the virtual Data Center (vDC) in which the new VNF is instantiated, and click Submit.
    Figure 6   Select vDC
  8. 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/current/vnf_package_repo/<VNFType__VNFVersion>/configurations directory.
    Figure 7   Get Instance Configuration
  9. If the ENM network management application is used, provide VNF-related parameters for ENM, and click Submit.

    This step is optional. It is only required if the Add Network Element in ENM/OSS-RC check box was selected in Step 4.

    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>

    Figure 8   Get OSS/ENM Parameters

    The workflow can be canceled after providing all required input. For more information, see Cancel LCM Workflow.

Results

The VNF is instantiated, it starts handling traffic after configuration data is provided. For more information on providing configuration data, see Deployment Guide for VMware vSphere or Deployment Guide for VMware vCloud Director, and Initial Configuration Guide.

4.2 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 vApp template of the upgrade target version is uploaded to the vCloud Catalog where the upgrade base VNF is deployed.

  • The configuration file (env-vcd.yaml) of the new VNF contains a reference to the vApp template name seen in the vApp Templates tab of the vCloud Catalog.

    Use the following syntax for specifying the reference:

    "template":"<Reference_TemplateName>"

    VNF-LCM extrapolates the characteristics for the new VNF based on the content of the referenced vApp template (the upgrade target), and based on the source VNF settings (which are migrated).

    • If the affinity mode of the VNF to be upgraded needs to be changed, use one of the following values:

      • “none”

      • ”affinity”

      • “anti-affinity”

      If this value is not specified, the upgraded VNF inherits the affinity setting of the previous version.

    See the following example for the contents of an env-vcd.yaml prepared for upgrade.

    # The name of the referenced vApp template.
"template": "<vmrf-template-1>"

# Selects the affinity between the vApp’s VMs. Possible options: “none”: no affinity rule, ”affinity”: VCD tries to put VMs on the same host, “anti-affinity”: VCD tries to put VMs on different hosts.
# Affinity rule is a strong rule: in case the VCD cannot execute a life cycle management procedure abiding the affinity rule the procedure will fail.
# This field in not mandatory.
# "vapp_affinity": "none"
# Uncomment this line if the affinity policy does not need to be inherited from the source VNF. This example value disables affinity rules.

  • Parameters introduced in the new VNF version are set in the configuration file.

    Note: Other parameters in the target configuration file are overwritten by the exported ones.

Steps

To use the optional customer security layer between LM and NeLS in the new VNF, perform the following step before starting the upgrade VNF-LCM operation:

  1. Back up the following files from the /storage/system/config/lm-apr9010503/certs folder:

    • The Certificate Authority (CA) file

    • The Client Certificate file

    • The Client Private Key file

    • certificate_config.xml

  2. In the VNF-LCM Workflows screen, select NR-Upgrade VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 9   Select Workflow
  3. On the Start a Workflow screen, fill out the Instance Name field, and click Submit.
  4. Select the newly created workflow from the Instance Activity panel.
  5. On the Workflow Instance screen, select the VNF to upgrade, termination options, and set automatic rollback timer, and click Submit.
    VNF_LAF_select_VNF_to_upgrade.png 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.
  6. On the Set VNF and target VNF version screen, add new VNF name, description, and version descriptor ID.
    Figure 11   Set VNF and Target VNF Version
  7. On the Select Target Instance Configuration Data screen, select configuration data for the new VNF.

If the Add Network Element in ENM/OSS-RC check box was selected during VNF instantiation:

  1. 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>

    The workflow can be canceled after providing all required input. For more information, see Cancel LCM Workflow.

After this step, the old VNF is terminated according to the termination method chosen in Step 5, and the new version is instantiated with the configuration data selected in Step 7.

If the new VNF fails to instantiate, it is automatically terminated and the old VNF is recreated.

If the new VNF is instantiated successfully, the Confirm upgrade screen is displayed, and the automatic rollback timer set in Step 5 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.

    Figure 12   Confirm Upgrade or Rollback

    The workflow can be canceled after providing all required input. For more information, see Cancel LCM Workflow.

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

If the optional customer security layer between LM and NeLS is to be used in the new VNF, perform the following step:

  1. Copy the following certificate files to /storage/system/config/lm-apr9010503/certs in the new version:

    • The Certificate Authority (CA) file

    • The Client Certificate file

    • The Client Private Key file

    • certificate_config.xml

Results

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

4.3 Scale VNF

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

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

Steps

  1. In the VNF-LCM click Start a Workflow, select Scale VNF, and click the Start a New Instance button.
    Figure 13   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, specify the following details and click Submit:

    • VNF instance to be removed

    • Scaling type

    • Number of VMs to be added or removed

    Figure 14   VNF Scaling Details
  5. If Scale In was selected, specify the needed parameters, on the Collect extra parameters screen. Otherwise, the scaling procedure is completed.
    Note: This step is optional, leave the fields blank if none of these parameters are needed.
    Figure 15   Scale-in VNF Instance
    The following optional scale-in parameters are available:

    • UUIDs of specific VMs to be scaled-in

      Note: If the number of UUIDs specified is lower than the number of VMs given in the previous step, the workflow automatically scales-in the remaining VMs.

    • VM locking method, that is, graceful or forceful

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

    The workflow can be canceled after providing all required input. For more information, see Cancel LCM Workflow.

4.4 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 16   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 17   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 workflow can be canceled after providing all required input. For more information, see Cancel LCM Workflow.

Results

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

5 Cancel LCM Workflow

After providing all input to a workflow operation and clicking Submit, a Task is displayed to the right of the Workflow Diagram view that can be used to cancel the current workflow operation

Figure 18   Workflow Cancellation

Cancellation of the workflow can be requested in the following cases:

  • Incorrect input was provided during the workflow preparation.

  • The workflow is running for an unexpectedly long time without completion.
    Note: Repeatedly refresh the LCM GUI to track the workflow progress and to ensure that it is not stuck.

  • VNF-LCM keeps repeating replies.

    For more information on possible repeating replies signifying stuck workflows, see the following examples:

    • Waiting for cluster to be ready. and Waiting for VMs to be bound. can signify incorrectly functioning VMs in the cluster at the end of a workflow.

    • Waiting for LOCKED state. is repeated until all calls are released from the VM.

Steps

  1. Select the cancellation type.
    Note: Currently, there is no difference between graceful and forceful cancellation.

Results

The cancellation takes less than a minute to complete. The workflow instance is canceled, and the workflow fails.

Canceled Workflow Log

Reference List

[1]

System Administration Guide, 1543-CNH 160 9180

[2]

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