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Use this procedure to remove the High-Availability Front-End (HFE) node from an AWS HA setup with HFE. As the Switchover time of the Public IP addresses has reduced to less than 5 seconds, an HFE node is no longer required in AWS Deployment Models. When the HFE node is removed, the setup cost is reduced as the additional HFE node and the resources associated with the HFE node are no longer required for the AWS HA setup to work correctly.

When the HFE node is removed, the traffic no longer passes through HFE. Instead, the traffic passes from the Endpoint through the AWS Internet Gateway to the Active SBC and returns through the same route.

To perform this procedure, you must stop the Active and Standby SBCs for some time, which impacts the SBC traffic. It can take up to two hours to remove the HFE node depending on the number of Elastic IPs assigned to the HFE and the experience of the operator.

The traffic is only impacted when the SBCs are stopped (see Stop Active/Standby SBCs). The traffic resumes after the SBCs have been restarted and reconfigured (see Update SBC configuration to use Non HFE Metadata Variables). The downtime is approximately 30 minutes.

Copy the Active SBC Meta Variable Table

To reassign the Elastic IPs from the HFE, stop the Active and Standby SBCs. Before stopping these SBCs, take a copy of the Meta Variable table from the Active SBC.

Note

The Meta Variable table displays the full list of the Elastic IPs assigned to the HFE and their associated Private IPs. It also displays the order in which to copy the HFE's Elastic IPs to the Active SBC.

The following steps describe the procedure to obtain a copy of the Meta Variable table from the Active SBC.

  1. Log in to the Active SBC as Admin using the following command:

    Log in to the Active SBC
    ssh -i <key.pem> admin@<activeSBC>

  2. Use the following command to view the Meta Variable table:

    Show metaVariable Table
    show table system metaVariable

    The active Meta Variable table is shown in the figure below:



  3. Take a copy of the table.

Remove the HFE XML File

To bring-up the SBC in a non-HFE mode, you must remove the XML file that indicates the setup is running in HFE mode. Log in to the Active SBC to remove the XML file, then repeat the procedure on the Standby SBC. 

  1. Ensure a license is installed on the SBC.
  2. Log in to the Active SBC as linuxadmin user.
  3. Remove the HFE XML file: sudo rm/opt/sonus/conf/describeHfeInterface.xml.
  4. Repeat the procedure on the Standby SBC.

Stop the Active/Standby SBCs

At this point when the SBCs are stopped, traffic will no longer run until you complete the steps in the section Update SBC configuration to use Non HFE Metadata Variables.

Before reassigning the HFEs Elastic IPs, stop the Standby SBC and then stop the Active SBC to prevent an unnecessary switchover:

  1. Log in to the Standby SBC as root user and stop the SBC.
    1. ssh -i <key.pem> linuxadmin@<standbySBC>
    2. sudo su
    3. sbxstop
  2. Log in to the Active SBC as root user and stop the SBC.
    1. ssh -i <key.pem> linuxadmin@<activeSBC>
    2. sudo su
    3. sbxstop
  3. Select the Active and the Standby SBCs in the AWS Console and stop the instances.
  4. Go to the AWS Console.
    1. Select Instances.
    2. Select the check box for the Standby SBC.
    3. Select the tab Instance state.
    4. Click Stop instance.
  5. Repeat the above procedure to on the Active SBC to stop it.

Reassign the Elastic IPs from the HFE to the Active SBC

Before removing the HFE, reassign all the Elastic IPs associated with the HFE to the installed Active SBCs PKT0 ports.

Find the Elastic IPs associated with the HFE

Find all the Elastic IPs associated with the HFE's eth0 interface and assign each IP to the SBC's network Interface assigned for the Active SBC's PKT0 in the same order they appear in the Meta Variable table. 

Update the Private IP address field to include the Private IP address associated with the HFEs Elastic IP. To determine the Private IP address associated with the HFE's Elastic IP, check the Meta Variable table that was collected from the Active SBC as described in the section Copy the Active SBC Meta Variable Table when the system was originally running. 

  1. To get the first HFE's Elastic IP that is front-ending the first Private IP for IF2:
    1. Find the first Elastic IP in the field HFE_IF2.FIPV4.
    2. Find the associated Private IP address for "IF2" in the field IF2.IPV4.
  2. To get the second HFE's Elastic IPs and the Private IP it is front-ending:
    1. Find the second Elastic IP in the field HFE_Pkt0_01.FIPV4.
    2. Find the associated Private IP address in the field ALT_Pkt0_01.IP.
  3. To get the remaining Elastic IPs and the associated Private IP in order, the value 01 increments as follows: 02, 03, and so on.

The figure shows the HFEs Elastic IPs and associated Private IPs in order:

To access the Elastic IP addresses, use the following steps:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select EC2.
  3. Select Instances.
  4. Select the HFE instance currently running.
  5. Select Networking.
  6. Expand the tab Elastic IP addresses. The HFE Elastic IPs are displayed.

Assign the HFE Elastic IPs to the Active SBC PKT0

To assign the HFE Elastic IPs to the Active SBC PKT0, use the following steps:

  1. Select an Elastic IP from the Allocated IPv4 address list.



  2. Click Associate Elastic IP address to associate the selected Elastic IP.



    The 'Associate Elastic IP address' screen appears.


  3. On the Associate Elastic IP address screen, complete the following steps to associate the Elastic IP.
    1. In the Resource type section, select Network interface.
    2. Update the Network interface field to include the Active SBCs Network Interface ID for PKT0. To determine the SBCs PKT0 Network Interface ID, complete the following steps:

      1. Go to the AWS Console.

      2. Select EC2.

      3. Select Instances.

      4. Select the Installed Active SBC instance.

      5. Select Networking.

      6. Expand the tab Network Interfaces.

      7. Note the Interface ID for the Network Interface of PKT0.
      8. Enter the PKT0 Interface ID in the Network interface field.
    3. In the Reassociation section, select the check box Allow this Elastic IP address to be reassociated.
    4. For each Elastic IP assigned on the HFE, repeat the steps above in the order of the IPs defined in the Meta Variable table.
      For the remaining Elastic IP addresses, the IPs are listed in order in the fields HFE_Pkt0_0*.FIPV4. The associated Private IP is listed in the field ALT_Pkt0_0*.IP.

Update Route Table to Reroute via Internet Gateway

When you remove the HFE, reroute the traffic from the Endpoint sending the traffic to the Active SBCs PKT0 via the AWS Internet Gateway.

Note

If the Internet Gateway is not created, refer to Create an Internet Gateway for SBC SWe.

To route the SBCs PKT0 traffic via the Internet Gateway, update the Route table of the Active SBC for PKT0 as described in the sections below.

Find the Route Table associated with Active SBC for PKT0

To find the Route Table associated with the Active SBC for PKT0, use the following steps:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select EC2.

  3. Select Instances.

  4. Select the installed Active instance by selecting the Instance ID.

  5. Select Networking.

  6. Expand the tab Network Interfaces and select the Interface ID associated with PKT0.

  7. On the Network Interface screen, select Subnet ID.  
  8. Select Route Table in the Subnets screen.

Update the Route Table to route via AWS Internet Gateway

Update the Route Table to re-route the traffic from the Active SBC of PKT0 through the AWS Internet Gateway back to the Endpoint.

Note

If the Internet Gateway is not created, refer to Create an Internet Gateway for SBC SWe.

Using the Route Table found on the Active SBC for PKT0, select the AWS Internet Gateway to route the traffic, using the following steps:

  1. In Route Table, select Routes > Edit Routes.
  2. Select Destination with CIDR set as "0.0.0.0/0".
  3. In Target, select Internet Gateway and select the AWS Internet Gateway - igw-***.
  4. Click Save changes.

The following screenshot depicts the Edit Routes screen of the Routes table.

After this stage is complete, traffic is routed from the Endpoint →  AWS Internet Gateway → Active SBC for Pkt0 → AWS Internet Gateway → Endpoint.

Remove HFE from the Active and Standby SBC Userdata

Update the Userdata to remove the HFE on the Active and the Standby SBCs. To update the Userdata, ensure the Active and the Standby SBCs are stopped.

Use the following steps to remove the HFE from the SBC Userdata:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select EC2.
  3. Select Instances.
  4. Select the check box for the Active SBC.
  5. Select Actions > Instance settings > Edit user data.
  6. In the New user data section, remove the field "HFE" : "<HFE_IP_address>".
  7. Click Save.

Repeat the procedure for the Standby SBC.

Start SBCs to use new Metadata Variables

After updating the Userdata, restart the Active and Standby SBCs in turn to pick up the new Metadata Variables.

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select Instances.
  3. Select the check box for the Active SBC.
  4. Select the tab Instance state.
  5. Select Start instance.

Wait for the Active SBC to start and become active and then repeat the above procedure to start the Standby SBC.

Note

When the Active SBC starts to run again, the Meta Variables table is updated. For example:

An Elastic IP originally assigned on the HFE in the field HFE_IF2.FIPV, is now configured in the field IF2.FIPV4.

However, the field HFE_IF2.FIPV is still configured and set as a duplicate variable in the Meta Variable table. This duplicate variable does not affect the working of the SBCs.

Update SBC configuration to use Non HFE Metadata Variables

After you complete the steps in this section, that is, when you restart and reconfigure the SBCs, the traffic will restart. The section HFE Node Cleanup is intended for clean-up of the HFE node and its associated resources.


Update the SBC configuration in all places where the old HFE Meta Variables were configured. Update the following commands for each HFE Elastic IP configured in the Meta Variable table.

  1. Create a new dynamic Meta Variable for each old HFE_IF2.X SIP Sig Port variable.

    Create new Dynamic Meta Variable
    set system metaVariableDynamic vsbc1-172.xx.xx.x64 HFE_Pkt0_01.FIPV4 value 3.xxx.xxx.210

  2. Run the set command to update each SIP Sig Port to use the new name using the Dynamic Meta Variable that is configured.

    Update SIP Sig Port
    set addressContext default ipInterfaceGroup LIG1 ipInterface LIF1 mode outOfService state disabled

set addressContext default ipInterfaceGroup LIG1 ipInterface LIF1 ipVarV4 IF2.IPV4 ipPublicVarV4 IF2.FIPV4

set addressContext default zone ZONE1 sipSigPort 4 mode outOfService state disabled

set addressContext default zone ZONE1 sipSigPort 4 ipVarV4 ALT_Pkt0_01.IP ipPublicVarV4 ALT_Pkt0_01.FIPV4

set addressContext default ipInterfaceGroup LIG1 ipInterface LIF1 mode inService state enabled
 
set addressContext default zone ZONE1 sipSigPort 4 state enabled mode inService

  3. Delete each Dynamic Meta Variable (created in step 1) referencing the old HFE SIP Sig Port names.

    Delete Dynamic Meta Variable
    delete system metaVariableDynamic vsbc1-172.xx.xx.x64 HFE_IF2.FIPV4

HFE Node Cleanup

At this point, the AWS HA setup is running without the HFE Node. As the HFE Node is now redundant, you can remove it completely. Follow the steps below to remove the HFE Node and its associated resources.

Remove the HFE script  – Delete S3 Bucket

Remove the script that is running on the HFE Node from the S3 Bucket. If the S3 Bucket is no longer required by the setup, also remove the S3 Bucket.

Use the following steps to delete the HFE script:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Click Amazon S3.
  3. Select Buckets.
  4. Under Buckets > Container Name, select the Container name.
  5. Select the Container holding the HFE script.
  6. In the Objects section, check the box that contains the HFE script.
  7. Click Delete.

If the S3 Bucket is no longer required after deleting the HFE script, remove the Container by following the steps below:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Click Amazon S3.
  3. Select Buckets.
  4. Under Buckets > Container Name, select the Container name.
  5. Select all objects inside the container and click Delete.
  6. Return to the Buckets section and check the box next to the Container name.
  7. Click Delete.

Remove the Management Elastic IP of the HFE Node

Before removing the HFE Node, remove the Management Elastic IP associated with the HFE Node using the following steps:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select EC2.

  3. Select Instances.

  4. Select the HFE Nodes Instance ID.

  5. Select Networking.

  6. Expand the tab Network Interfaces and select the Network Interface ID associated with Management Interface.
  7. Select the box for the management Elastic IP of the HFE Node.
  8. Click Actions > Disassociate address.
  9. Click Actions > Detach.
  10. Select Elastic IPs in the navigation pane.
  11. Reselect the Elastic IP that is disassociated.
  12. Click Actions > Release Elastic IP addresses.
  13. Return to the Network interfaces tab and select the Network Interface ID.
  14. Click Actions > Delete.

Delete the Volume associated with the HFE Node

Before removing the HFE Node, remove the Volume ID associated with the HFE Node using the following steps:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select EC2.

  3. Select Instances.

  4. Select the box for the HFE Node.

  5. Select Instance state > Stop instance.
  6. When the instance stops, select the HFE Nodes Instance ID.

  7. Select Storage.

  8. Expand the tab Block devices and select Volume ID.
  9. Select the box for the Volume ID.
  10. Click Actions > Detach volume.
  11. Click Actions > Delete volume.

Remove the HFE Node

When all resources associated with the HFE Node have been removed, delete the HFE Node using the following steps:

  1. Go to the AWS Console.
  2. Select EC2.

  3. Select Instances.

  4. Select the box for the HFE Node.

  5. Select Instance state > Terminate instance.

The procedure to remove the HFE Node from the AWS HA setup with HFE is now complete.