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The Ribbon Virtual Network Function Manager (VNFM) is an ETSI standards-aligned virtualized application you can use to orchestrate and manage the lifecycle of distributed SBC SWe deployments in an OpenStack cloud environment.  Beyond the initial orchestration of a If you use VNFM to orchestrate a VNF, you can subsequently use VNFM 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 the VNFM User Guide. The following sections provide details on VNFM lifecycle management of specifically for SBC VNFs deployed using VNFM. 

Heartbeat Monitoring

As the SBC VNF completes orchestration and initializes for the first time, it 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. Migrating 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 Only a standby 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 assignedRolecurrentRole:  

show status system rgStatus

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

1. Click on VNF Status in the VNFM left pane. The VNF Status window opens.

2. Click on the cluster containing the VM node you want to migrate. The Deployed VNF Summary window opens showing a Generic VM Details section that contains detailed information on the VM nodes within the VNF. 

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   0 Figure 1 Generic VM Details Window - Migration
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3. In the Select Action list, click Migrate VM. The Migrate VM window appears.
4. Select a flavor from the Select Flavor drop-down menu.
5. When prompted, confirm that you want to migrate the VM. VNFM begins the migration process. During this process the status shown for the VM changes as the migration progresses. When the process completes, the VM status changes to "Available." 

SBC Healing

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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 VNFM shows the current status for any deployed SBC VNFs in its VNF Status window. The status of the VNF changes to "Degraded" when there is an issue with an SBC node. When this occurs VNFM can rebuild the impacted VM node in a process referred to as healing. The VNFM healing process re-instantiates and restarts offers multiple options you can use to repair the SBC VM node in an effort to restore it to service.

To heal an SBC VM when the VNF status appears as degradeddetermine the current, overall status for any deployed SBC VNF:

1. Click on the degraded cluster in the VNF Status window. The Deployed VNF Summary window opens showing a Generic VM Details section that contains detailed information on the VM nodes within the VNF. In the following figure the status of the "ribbon-sbc-2" node appears as "Failed."  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.