OSM release SEVEN: Container network functions and more

February 2020

By Tytus Kurek, Product Manager, Canonical Ltd. 

 

The OSM community was proud to announce OSM release SEVEN last December. This release introduces a range of exciting features, such as the ability to deploy container network functions on Kubernetes with k8s charms, and several improvements which enhance Open Source MANO (OSM) across various areas.

 

Container network functions support

In the 5G era, TSPs have started investigating the possibility of migrating from traditional virtual network functions (VNFs) to container network functions (CNFs). The migration is driven by the requirement for microservices architecture, better performance results and density provided by containers, edge deployments possibilities, more complex network services (NS) and better orchestration capabilities provided by container management platforms, such as Kubernetes.

Starting from release SEVEN, OSM now supports the possibility of deploying CNFs on Kubernetes with Helm charts and Juju k8s charms. While the Helm charts method supports the initial deployment only, the Juju k8s charms method extends it with support for performing day-1 and day-2 configuration. It achieves that by providing a native framework for implementing Kubernetes operators which are software extensions to Kubernetes, designed to manage applications and their components.

In order to add an existing Kubernetes cluster to your OSM installation, execute the following command:

$ osm k8scluster-add \

    --creds <path to k8s config file> \

    --vim <VIM name> \

    --k8s-nets "{(k8s_net1: <VIM network name>)}" \

    --version <Kubernetes version> \

    --namespace <namespace name> \

    --description "<description>" \

    <name>

For example, to add MicroK8s cluster while using MicroStack as a virtual infrastructure manager (VIM), run:

$ microk8s.config > ~/kubeconfig

$ osm k8scluster-add \

    --creds ~/kubeconfig \

    --vim microstack \

    --k8s-nets "{(k8s_net1: test)}" \

    --version 1.17 \

    --namespace test \

  --description "MicroK8s cluster" \

    microk8s

Then you can reference a Juju bundle inside of the VNF descriptor:

vnfd-catalog:

    vnfd:

    -   id: myvnf

        name: myvnf

        connection-point:

        -   name: mgmtnet

        mgmt-interface:

            cp: mgmt

        kdu:

        -   name: mykdu

            juju-bundle: <Juju bundle>

        k8s-cluster:

            nets:

            -   id: mgmtnet

                external-connection-point-ref: mgmt

For example:

vnfd-catalog:

    vnfd:

    -   id: myvnf

        name: myvnf

        connection-point:

        -   name: mgmtnet

        mgmt-interface:

            cp: mgmt

        kdu:

        -   name: mykdu

            juju-bundle: cs:~aisrael/bundle/mediawiki-k8s-0

        k8s-cluster:

            nets:

            -   id: mgmtnet

                external-connection-point-ref: mgmt

Finally, create the NS:

$ osm ns-create \

    --ns_name <NS name> \

    --nsd_name <NS package name> \

    --vim_account <VIM> \

    --config '{vld: [ {name: <name>, vim-network-name: <VIM network name>} ] }'

For example:

$ osm ns-create \

    --ns_name CNF \

    --nsd_name ubuntu-cnf-ns \

    --vim_account microstack \

    --config '{vld: [ {name: mgmtnet, vim-network-name: test} ] }'

 

This will create a new Juju model under the LCM module and deploy the desired Juju bundle on Kubernetes. The osm ns-action command can be further used to perform day-1 / day-2 configuration.