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The Policy Server object allows you to configure up to 10 policy servers (one local server and nine external policy servers). When an active server becomes congested, the SBC Core application will first distribute overflow traffic to one of the active servers with enough capacity, or to one of the standby servers that is not currently congested.

The SBC can obtain policy services from one or more active servers in load-sharing (or round-robin) mode, and one or more active servers can be configured in the standby mode.

Types of policy server configurations include:

  • Global Configuration is applicable to all policy servers.
  • Local Policy Server Configuration is applicable to local (embedded) policy server.
  • Remote Policy Server Configuration is applicable to remote policy servers.

The SBC administrator enables or disables the policy server. When a policy server is enabled, it receives database queries from the SBC. You can enable or disable the policy server only in the out-of-service mode.

Global Configuration

The Policy Server global configuration commands are described below. The SBC can be configured to communicate with an external PSX policy server using either a Management Interface Group or IP Interface Group.

Note

The SBC SWe Cloud  supports configuring an alternate IP address for communicating with the external PSX. Refer to Use Alternate IP Address to Communicate to the PSX for details.

Note

 The DNS query to an Interface Group outside the address context feature adds additional flexibility to query the PSX FQDN with a particular DNS Group. For more information, refer to DNS Support.

Command Syntax

% set system policyServer globalConfig 
	addressContext <address context name>
	congestionControl <disabled | enabled>
	dnsGroup <DNS group server name>
	ipInterfaceGroup <ipInterfaceGroup_name>
	ipVar <metavariable name> [SBC SWe Cloud only]
	mgmtInterfaceGroup <mgmtInterfaceGroup_name>
	reconnectTimeout <1-3600 seconds> 
    sbcGatewayName <SbcGateway Name>	
    switchOverMode <automatic | manual>
	type <ip | mgmt>

Command Parameters

Policy Server Parameters

Parameter

Length/Range

Description

addressContext1-23

<address context name> – The address context for the policy Server IP Interface Group.

NOTE: This parameter is only configurable (visible from command line) when attribute type is set to "ip".

congestionControl

N/A

When this parameter is enabled, the SBC throttles the sending or policy requests to either active or standby policy server. Options are:

  • enabled
  • disabled (default)
dnsGroupN/A<DNS group name> – The name of the DNS group to associate with the policy server global configuration to allow PSX FQDN resolution with a particular DNS group.
 ipInterfaceGroup 1-23

<IPIG name> – The IP Interface Group belonging to the configured address context. This IP Interface Group is used for communicating with the external PSX.

NOTE: This parameter is only configurable once addressContext is set.

ipVar1-255

Use this parameter to specify a metavarible name (from the PSX’s metavariable table) used to provide an IP address for the SBC SWe Cloud for connecting to the PSX. When the ipVar field is blank, the SBC SWe Cloud picks any random IP address from the configured interface to connect to the PSX.

NOTE: Use this parameter for SBC SWe Cloud configurations only.

mgmtInterfaceGroup

N/A

Specifies the Management Interface Group to be used for communication with an external PSX.

NOTE: If attribute type is set to "ip", this parameter is no longer configurable.

reconnectTimeout

1-3600

Specifies the timeout period in seconds to re-attempt the connection to a policy server that is in the enabled state. Default is 10 seconds.

sbcGatewayNameN/AThe SBC Gateway name given to the softswitch.

switchOverMode

N/A

Specifies the mode to switch over the policy server to active state. Mode can be:

  • automatic (default) – in this state the policy server automatically retries to the previously ACTIVE policy server after a switch-over.
  • manual – In this state you have to manually set the policy server to ACTIVE state after a switch-over.
typeN/A

Interface type supported by the policy server.

  • ip – IP Interface
  • mgmt – Management Interface

 

Command Examples

To set the policy server global configuration using management interface group called "mgmtGroup":

% set system policyServer globalConfig type mgmt mgmtInterfaceGroup mgmtGroup congestionControl enabled reconnectTimeout 5 switchOverMode automatic

 

To view the policy server global configuration settings:

% show system policyServer globalConfig
reconnectTimeout   5;
switchOverMode     automatic;
congestionControl  enabled;
type               mgmt;
mgmtInterfaceGroup mgmtGroup;

 

To view the status of policy server global configuration from system-level mode:

> show table system policyServer globalConfig
reconnectTimeout   5;
switchOverMode     automatic;
congestionControl  enabled;
type               mgmt;
mgmtInterfaceGroup mgmtGroup;

Local Policy Server Configuration

The Local Policy Server configuration commands are described below.

Command Syntax

% set system policyServer localServer <softswitch_name>
	action <dryUp | force>
	keepAliveTimer <1-60 seconds>
	mode <active | alternate | outOfService | standby>
	retries <0-32>
	retryTimer <# milliseconds>
	state <disabled | enabled>
	transactionTimer <50-60000 milliseconds>

Command Parameters

Command parameters

 

Parameter

Length/Range

Description

localServer

N/A

Specifies the name of the local policy server.

action

N/A

Specifies the method on which queued transactions are processed, when operational state is either standby or out-of-service:
• dryup (default) — all queue entries are processed to completion unless retries expires.
• force — all queue transactions are dropped immediately.

keepAliveTimer

1-60

Specifies the time interval (in seconds) to wait before issuing a "keepalive" poll to the policy server. This poll is issued only if there is no other policy server activity during this interval. The receipt of any message from the policy server resets the elapsed time to 0.
Must be 1-60, default is 5.

mode

N/A

Specifies the operational state of the local policy server:

  • outofservice – The local policy server is out-of-service and will not provide any services.
  • active – The local policy server provides normal query services.
  • standby – The local policy server serves as a backup when another server in the active mode becomes unavailable.

  • alternate – The local policy server is not expected to receive any query messages, but can send messages to SBC. 

NOTE: If two external active policy servers fail and local policy server is in standby mode, the standby local policy server is used as active server until the external policy server becomes active.

retries

0-32

Specifies the number of retries for any policy server transaction. Must be 0-32, default is 1.

retryTimer

N/A

Specifies the time (in milliseconds) for the SBC to wait for the response from the local policy server. (default = 2500).

state

N/A

The administrative state of the local policy server.

  • disabled – The local policy server is not used for call routing decisions.
  • enabled – The local policy server is used for call routing decisions.

NOTE: If changing the state, ensure mode is first set to "outofservice".

transactionTimer

50-60000

Time to wait (in milliseconds) for a reply from the initial transaction request. When this timer expires, a transaction retry will be issued. Subsequent retries of this transaction are controlled by retries. (Default = 2500)

Command Example

To set the local policy server configuration:

% set system policyServer localServer PSX_LOCAL_SERVER action dryUp keepAliveTimer 3 mode standby retries 1 retryTimer 2500 state enabled transactionTimer 2500

 

To view the local policy server configuration settings:

% show system policyServer localServer  
localServer PSX_LOCAL_SERVER {  
	state enabled;  
	mode standby;  
	action dryUp;  
	transactionTimer 2500;  
	keepAliveTimer 3;  
	retryTimer 2500;  
	retries 1;  
}

 

To view the status of local policy servers:

 % show table system policyServer localServer
								KEEP 
						TRANSACTION 	ALIVE 	RETRY 
NAME 			STATE 	MODE 	ACTION 	TIMER 		TIMER 	TIMER RETRIES 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
PSX_LOCAL_SERVER 	enabled active  dryUp 	2500 		5 	2500 	1

Remote Policy Server Configuration

The Remote Policy Server configuration commands are described below.

Command Syntax

% set system policyServer remoteServer <softswitch_name>
	action <dryUp | force>
	ipAddress 169.254.77.2
	keepAliveTimer <1-60 seconds>
	mode <active | alternate | outOfService | standby>
	portNumber <softswitch port number>
	retries <0-32>
	retryTimer <# milliseconds>
	state <disabled | enabled>
	subPortNumber <port number for subscriber data>
	transactionTimer <50-60000 milliseconds>
 
% request system policyServer remoteServer <softswitch_name> switchBack

Command Parameters

Command parameters

 

Parameter

Length/Range

Description

remoteServer

N/A

The name of the remote policy server.

action

N/A

Use this object to specify the action to take against the policy server.

  • dryup (default) – All queued transactions are processed to completion unless retries expire.
  • force – All queued transactions are dropped immediately.

ipAddress

N/A

the IP address.

keepAliveTimer

1-60

The time interval (in seconds) to wait before issuing a "keepalive" poll to the policy server. This poll is issued only if there is no other policy server activity during this interval. The receipt of any message from the policy server resets the elapsed time to 0 (default = 5).

mode

N/A

The operational state of the remote policy server:

  • outofservice – The remote policy server is out-of-service and will not provide any services to the SBC.
  • active – The remote policy server provides normal query services.
  • standby – The remote policy server serves as a backup when another server in the active mode becomes unavailable.
  • alternate – The remote policy server is not expected to receive any query messages from the SBC, but can send messages to SBC.

portNumber

1-65535

The logical port number used for IP communication with the remote policy server. (default = 3055).

retries

0-32

The number of times to retry any remote policy server transaction. (default = 1).

retryTimer

N/A

The time (in milliseconds) for the SBC to wait for the response from the remote policy server. (default = 2500).

state

N/A

Administrative state of the remote policy server. Options are:

  • disabled (defautl) – The remote policy server is not used for call routing decisions.

  • enabled – The remote policy server is used for call routing decisions. 

NOTE: The mode must be set to 'outOfService' before changing the state.

subPortNumber

1-65535

The port number assigned for the IP address of the policy server for the specific purpose of communicating subscriber data. (default = 3053).

switchback

N/A

Use this parameter with the request command to force a previously active (now standby) PSX to revert back to an active state.  Note that the switchOverMode parameter in globalConfig must be set to manual.

transactionTimer

50-60000

The time for SBC to wait (in milliseconds) for a reply from the policy server after sending a transaction request. When this timer expires, a transaction retry is issued based on retries setting. (default = 2500).

Command Examples

To set the remote policy server configuration:

% set system policyServer remoteServer RS-1 mode outOfService  
% set system policyServer remoteServer RS-1 ipAddress 169.254.77.2 state enabled

 

To view the remote policy server configuration settings:

% show system policyServer remoteServer  
remoteServer RS-1 {  
	ipAddress 169.254.77.2;  
	state enabled;  
	mode outOfService;  
}

 

To view the status of remote policy server from top-level CLI mode:

> show table system policyServer remoteServer  
                                                                KEEP                   SUB
      IP            PORT                           TRANSACTION  ALIVE  RETRY           PORT
NAME  ADDRESS       NUMBER  STATE   MODE   ACTION  TIMER        TIMER  TIMER  RETRIES  NUMBER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RS-1  169.254.77.2  3055    enabled active dryUp   2500 	       5 	  2500 	 1 
3053


 To reset the SIP registration count of the remote policy server:

% request system policyServerremoteServer RS-1 switchBack  
result PASSED
Note

In order to use the 'switchBack' command, the remote policy server must first be configured to allow a manual switchback.

 

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