In this section:
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 deployments in an OpenStack cloud environment. VNFM provides an alternative to the use of Heat templates to deploy media SBC (M-SBC) and signaling SBC (S-SBC) clusters in 1:1 HA configurations.
VNFM processes a VNF Descriptor (VNFD) file to define the main properties and resources required to deploy a VNF. The SBC VNFD file is provided in a Cloud Service Archive (CSAR) package file for the type of SBC cluster you are deploying. VNFD files cannot be edited; during orchestration, VNFM will prompt for allowed customizations such as the system name and associated EMS system details.
Orchestration using VNFM does not support implementing a second management port for the SBC or the packet port redundancy feature.
Prior to using VNFM to instantiate SBC VNFs, make sure you have:
The CSAR file required for your deployment must be onboarded on VNFM before you can orchestrate a new SBC cluster. Make sure the CSAR file is in a location accessible to VNFM.
Click Settings > VNF Onboarding. The VNF Onboarding window opens.
After the CSAR file is onboarded the SBC VNF can be deployed. Note that you must have previously created an OpenStack Glance image using the SBC application software .qcow2 file. Refer to Creating a Glance Image within the pre-instantiation requirements for OpenStack.
Click Deploy adjacent to the VNF you want to deploy. The VNF Deployment Wizard window opens with the VNF Config tab in view.
Select a tenant for the instance in the Tenant Name drop-down list.
This tab also includes a Reuse Pre-allocated IPs check box which enables using the VNFM pre-allocated floating IP feature. Refer to Using the Preallocated IP VNFM feature for more information and procedures.
Click the Network tab.
Click the Environment tab. The fields on this tab show user data required to instantiate the SBC as it is provided in the VNFD file. Editing values on this tab override the default values in the VNFD file allowing you to specify the values appropriate for your deployment.
Use the following table to edit the values in the VM Type section, as necessary. Some values cannot be changed while other fields can be edited during orchestration, as noted in the table. Interface values (IF0 to IF3) can be edited, for example, if you need to specify VLAN IDs for your deployment. Take care to use the correct parameter names and maintain the syntax as shown. Refer to the Interface Definition Parameters Table for more information on the parameters that can be used to define the properties of an interface.
Field | Editable? | Description |
---|---|---|
System Name | yes | User-assigned name for the instance. You must enter a name. |
SBC Personality | no | Specifies either a signaling (S-SBC) or media (M-SBC) deployment. |
Number of Interfaces | no | Specifies that there are 4 interfaces for the instance. |
The HA model selected in the VNFD file | no | Specifies an active-standby HA deployment. |
Properties of IF0 | yes | Parameters associated with IF0. By default IF0 is configured as the management interface. |
Properties of IF1 | yes | Parameters associated with IF1. By default IF1 is configured as the HA interface. |
Properties of IF2 | yes | Parameters associated with IF2. By default IF2 is configured as the Pkt0 interface. |
Properties of IF3 | yes | Parameters associated with IF3. By default IF3 is configured as the Pkt1 interface. |
EMS Username | yes | Enter the username credentials to use when registering with the EMS. |
EMS Password | yes | Enter the password to use when registering with the EMS. |
EMS IP[0] | yes | Enter the IP address of the EMS-0 (primary) instance. |
EMS IP[1] | yes | Enter the IP address of the EMS-1 instance. |
EmsDownloadConfig | yes | Specifies whether the cluster downloads configuration from the EMS. By default this value is set to True. |
EmsPrivateNodeParameters | yes | Optionally specifies an EMS cluster ID. |
In the Cloud Config Init Data section, replace the public key with the public key of a self-generated ssh key pair (use the ssh-keygen
command) to be used for logging into SBC. The following figure shows an SSH key for the "admin" user account. Take care to maintain the formatting of this section when you provide your specific key information. The data must be provided in a proper JSON format.
During orchestration VNFM creates basic security rules and a security group. These basic rules do not restrict access to and from the SBC nodes. If you have not already created the specific security rules required for your deployment, refer to the following page for the list of rules you should create: Creating Security Group Rules.
After orchestration the SBC nodes are created but have no associated configuration. Refer to Configuring SBC SWe on OpenStack using SBC Configuration Manager for procedures to configure the SBC.