Network Slicing Engine

This external component provides a Network Slicing Engine (NSE). In the following fundamentals are described such as installing the NSE, configuring it and how to configure Network Slicing requirements.

In a nutshell this component ensures QoS configuration defined in the Descriptors provided by the NFVO.

The network-slicing-engine is implemented in java using the spring.io framework. It runs as an external component and communicates with the NFVO via Open Baton's SDK.

Additionally, the NSE uses the a plugin mechanism to allow whatever driver is needed to setup QoS. Currently, it supports only the neutron driver which allows to configure QoS in OpenStack directly. Hence, the NSE requires at least version Mitaka of OpenStack since it was recently introduced.

Before starting this component you have to do the configuration of the NSE that is described in the next chapter followed by the guide of how to start and how to use it.

Technical Requirements

This section covers the requirements that must be met by the environment in order to satisfy the demands of the NSE:

Installed and configured Open Baton NFVO/gVNFM (>=5.0.0)
OpenStack installation including Neutron QoS APIs (https://docs.openstack.org/mitaka/networking-guide/config-qos.html)

How to install Network Slicing Engine

Different options are available for the installation of the NSE. Either you use the fully automated bootstrap where all configurations are done automatically where you can choose between the installation based on the debian package or on the source code which is suggested for development. Apart from the bootstrap you can also use the debian or the source code installation where you need to configure the NSE manually.

Installation via bootstrap

Using the bootstrap gives a fully automated standalone installation of the NS including installation and configuration.

The only thing to do is to execute the following command and follow the configuration process:

bash <(curl -fsSkl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/openbaton/network-slicing-engine/master/bootstrap)

Once you started the bootstrap you can choose between different options, such as installing this component via debian packages or from the source code (mainly for development)

Installation via debian package

When using the debian package you need to add the apt-repository of Open Baton to your local environment with the following command if not yet done:

wget -O - http://get.openbaton.org/keys/public.gpg.key | apt-key add -
echo "deb http://get.openbaton.org/repos/apt/debian/ stable main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list

Once you added the repo to your environment you should update the list of repos by executing:

apt-get update

Now you can install the NSE by executing:

apt-get install openbaton-nse

Installation from the source code

The latest stable version NSE can be cloned from this repository by executing the following command:

git clone https://github.com/openbaton/network-slicing-engine.git

Once this is done, go inside the cloned folder and make use of the provided script to compile the project as done below:

./network-slicing-engine.sh compile

Manual configuration of the Network Slicing Engine

This chapter describes what needs to be done before starting the Network Slicing Engine. This includes the configuration file and properties, and also how to define QoS requirements in the descriptor.

Configuration file

The configuration file must be copied to /etc/openbaton/openbaton-nse.properties by executing the following command from inside the repository folder:

cp src/main/resources/application.properties /etc/openbaton/openbaton-nse.properties

If done, check out the following chapter in order to understand the configuration parameters.

Configuration properties

This chapter describes the parameters that must be considered for configuring the Network Slicing Engine.

Params	Meaning
logging.file	location of the logging file
logging.level.*	logging levels of the defined modules
rabbitmq.host	host of RabbitMQ
rabbitmq.username	username for authorizing towards RabbitMQ
rabbitmq.password	password for authorizing towards RabbitMQ
nfvo.ip	IP of the NFVO
nfvo.port	Port of the NFVO
nfvo.username	username for authorizing towards NFVO
nfvo.password	password for authorizing towards NFVO
nfvo.project.name	project used for registering for the events
nse.service.key	Service Key obtained when registering the `network-slicing-engine` service via the NFVO

Starting the Network Slicing Engine

How to start the NSE depends of the way you installed this component.

Debian packages

If you installed the NSE with the debian packages you can start it with the following command:

openbaton-nse start

For stopping it you can just type:

openbaton-nse stop

Source code

If you are using the source code you can start the NSE easily by using the provided script with the following command:

./network-slicing-engine.sh start

Once the NSE is started, you can access the screen session by executing:

screen -r openbaton

For stopping you can use:

./network-slicing-engine.sh kill

Note Since the NSE subscribes to specific events towards the NFVO, you should take care about that the NFVO is already running when starting the NSE.

How to use Network Slicing Engine

The currently only supported NFVI is OpenStack Neutron, which will use the native QoS capabilities of Openstack Mitaka. To set QoS policies in your NSD specify the following QoS parameter in the virtual_link of your vnfd configuration.

  "virtual_link":[
    {
      "name":"NAME_OF_THE_NETWORK",
      "qos":[
        "maximum_bandwidth:BRONZE"
      ]
    }
  ]

Issue tracker

Issues and bug reports should be posted to the GitHub Issue Tracker of this project

What is Open Baton?

Open Baton is an open source project providing a comprehensive implementation of the ETSI Management and Orchestration (MANO) specification and the TOSCA Standard.

Open Baton provides multiple mechanisms for interoperating with different VNFM vendor solutions. It has a modular architecture which can be easily extended for supporting additional use cases.

It integrates with OpenStack as standard de-facto VIM implementation, and provides a driver mechanism for supporting additional VIM types. It supports Network Service management either using the provided Generic VNFM and Juju VNFM, or integrating additional specific VNFMs. It provides several mechanisms (REST or PUB/SUB) for interoperating with external VNFMs.

It can be combined with additional components (Monitoring, Fault Management, Autoscaling, and Network Slicing Engine) for building a unique MANO comprehensive solution.

Source Code and documentation

The Source Code of the other Open Baton projects can be found here and the documentation can be found here

News and Website

Check the Open Baton Website

Licensing and distribution

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");

you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at

http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.

Support

The Open Baton project provides community support through the Open Baton Public Mailing List and through StackOverflow using the tags openbaton.

gc4rella/network-slicing-engine