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The Ribbon Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) is an ETSI standards-aligned virtualized application you can use to orchestrate SBC SWe deployments in an OpenStack cloud environment. If you use VNFM to orchestrate a VNF, you can subsequently use it to manage the remainder of the VNF's lifecycle. VNFM regularly monitors the health of VNFs through a heartbeat mechanism and regularly reports VNF status on its VNF Status page. VNFM can also be used to migrate, manually heal, and upgrade VNFs.

For general information on VNFM and its VNF lifecycle management capabilities, refer to the VNFM User Guide. The following sections provide details on lifecycle management specifically for SBC VNFs deployed using VNFM. 

Heartbeat Monitoring

As the SBC VNF completes orchestration and initializes for the first time, the SBC registers with VNFM and they begin to exchange heartbeat messages. This heartbeat mechanism regularly monitors the connection between the SBC nodes and VNFM. If the SBC fails to receive a heartbeat message for greater than 30 seconds, it triggers an SNMP trap and alarm. The trap is cleared when the SBC resumes receiving the heartbeat messages. Refer to VNFM Alarms for more information on the alarms.  

SBC VNF Migration

VNFM provides an option to move an SBC node from one cloud location to another in a process referred to as migration. Migration might be needed when a host system is undergoing maintenance.  Migration is done on an individual node (VNFC) basis. During the migration procedure you must select a new flavor size for the migrated VM. The flavor you select can be the same size or a larger size than the current flavor for the VM, but it must be different.

An SBC node should only be migrated when it is in standby mode. Use the EMS to determine whether the node you want to migrate is active or standby, or log into the SBC CLI and issue the following command to check the output for the parameter currentRole:  

show status system rgStatus

If the node is active, then switch over the node so it becomes the standby node before initiating the migration. Refer to Migrating a VNFC for instructions on how to migrate an SBC VM.

SBC Healing

When the SBC application goes out of service on a VM, the status of that VM initially changes to "Maintenance." If the VM status remains as "Maintenance" for longer than 20 minutes, its status transitions to "Failed." The overall status of the VNF changes to "Degraded" if any of the VMs within it have a status of "Maintenance or "Failed." Thus, when the overall status of a VNF changes to "Degraded," it is an indication that there is an issue with one of its VMs. 

If needed, VNFM can attempt to repair an impacted VM node in a process referred to as healing. The VNFM healing process offers multiple options you can use to repair the SBC VM node in an effort to restore it to service.

To determine the current, overall status for any deployed SBC VNF:

1. Click VNF Lifecycle to open the VNF Lifecycle window. 
2. Click on a VNF to show only the VMs for the selected VNF in the VNFC Lifecycle panel below. The entries include the status of the individual VMs within the VNF.

When the VNF status appears as degraded, refer to Healing a VNFC for instructions on how to heal an SBC VM.

SBC Upgrades using VNFM

You can use VNFM to perform software upgrades on the SBC VNFs you orchestrate through VNFM. Refer to: Upgrading SBC SWe Cloud Instances using VNFM.