TOSCA Network Service Template

This definition follows the TOSCA Simple Profile for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Version 1.0 In this documentation we will present how to create a TOSCA Network Service Template compliant with OpenBaton. This template can be added to a CSAR and onboarded on the NFVO.

Premise: some of the objects are defined by OpenBaton

Mapping between TOSCA and ETSI NFV

TOSCA Type	ETSI Entity
openbaton.type.VNF	Virtual Network Function Descriptor
tosca.nodes.nfv.VDU	Virtual Deployment Unit
tosca.nodes.nfv.VL	Virtual Link Descriptor
tosca.nodes.nfv.CP	Connection Point

Structure

We are going to create a Template that represents a dummy scenario, similiar to the one explained here, to illustrate how the Templates have to be structured and what can be specified.

The Template has the following structure:

tosca_definitions_version: tosca_1.0
description: Example of NS Template

metadata:
  ID: dummy-NS
  vendor: Fokus
  version: 0.1

topology_template: #Explained below
relationships_template: #Explained below

Name	Description
tosca_definitions_version	The version of TOSCA, that the template follows.
description	A short description of the template.
metadata	An Object containing metadata about the Network Service - name, version and creator.
relationships_template	Explained below
topology_template	Explained below

Topology Template

For now the Topology template includes only the Node Templates.

Node Templates

The Node Templates are the description of the objects which constitute the Network Service Descriptor. Each node is defined by its name and the parameters needed to create its descriptor.

Node Template: Virtual Network Function (VNF)

This is an example of VNF Template defined inside the NSD Template. The parameters available and needed to create a Virtual Network Function Descriptor are defined and explained below:

dummy-server:
  type: openbaton.type.VNF
  properties:
    vendor: Fokus
    version: 0.1
    endpoint: dummy
    type: server
    configurations:
      name: config_name
      configurationParameters:
        - key: value
        - key2: value2
    vnfPackageLocation: https://github.com/openbaton/vnf-scripts.git
    deploymentFlavour:
      - flavour_key: m1.small
  requirements:
    - vdu: VDU2
  interfaces:
    lifecycle: # lifecycle
      instantiate:
        - install.sh
        - start-srv.sh

This Virtual Network Function is called dummy-server

Name	Value	Description
type	openbaton.type.VNF	Type of the node. In the example it defines the node as a VNF node.
properties	See the Table below	Defines parameters needed for deploying a VNFD
requirements	See the Table below	Describes the component requirements for the VNF
interfaces	See the Table below	Defines the lifecycle events and the scripts needed for their execution.

The Properties for the VNF are:

Name	Value	Description
vendor	String	Name of the provider of the VNF
version	String	Version of the provider of the VNF
configurations	Object with two values name, configurationParameters	name: is a String with the name of the Configuration, configurationParameters: the list of Parameters defined by a list of < key, value > pairs
vnfPackageLocation	URL	It is URL where the Orchestrator will fetch the Scripts needed in the lifecycle events defined in the interfaces
deploymentFlavour	List of flavour_key	It is a list flavors each one refers to Virtual hardware templates called "flavors" in OpenStack
endpoint	String	The VNFManager that can be used to deploy the VNF

The Requirements for the VNF is an object containing a list of String key-value pairs and the keys are defined the following way:

Name	Value	Description
vdu	String	Defines a VDU which is a part of the VNF

The Interfaces for the VNF has only one option at the moment: lifecycle

For the lifecycle object are the following events defined in compliance with the ETSI Lifecycle Events.

Lifecycle event	Value	Description
INSTANTIATE	List of Script files	The Scripts will be called for this Lifecycle event
CONFIGURE	List of Script files	The Scripts will be called for this Lifecycle event
START	List of Script files	The Scripts will be called for this Lifecycle event
STOP	List of Script files	The Scripts will be called for this Lifecycle event
TERMINATE	List of Script files	The Scripts will be called for this Lifecycle event

Node Template: Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU)

This is an example of a VDU template and below it the components of the template are explained.

VDU2:
  type: tosca.nodes.nfv.VDU
  properties:
    scale_in_out: 2
    vim_instance_name:
         - test-vim-instance
  artifacts:
    type: tosca.artifacts.Deployment.Image.VM
    file: ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1

Name	Value	Description
type	tosca.nodes.nfv.VDU	Type of the node. In the example it defines the node as a VDU node.
properties	See the Table below	Defines parameters needed for deploying a VDU
requirements	List of requirement	Describes the component requirements for the VDU
artifacts	List of artifacts	Describes the list of images in OpenStack that will be used to instantiate a VNFC

The Properties Object of a VDU node has the following components:

Name	Value	Description
scale_in_out	Integer	Maximum value of VNFCs that can be instantiated in the process of scale-in/out
vim_instance_name	List < String >	Names of Points of Persistence (PoP) where this VNFC will be instantiated NOTE: This is not required.

The Artifacts Object of a VDU node has the following components:

Name	Value	Description
type	tosca.artifacts.Deployment.Image.VM	Only one type supported at the moment
file	String	Name of the file located on OpenStack

The Requirements Object of a VDU node defines a list of virtual links to Connection Points. Exactly like the VNF Node the Requirements define a list of key-value pair, but in this case the only key is defined as follows:

Name	Value	Description
virtualLink	String	Shows where the VDU is connected

Node Template: Connection Point (CP)

This is an example of a CP template and similar to above after that we explain briefly the components of the template.

CP1:
  type: tosca.nodes.nfv.CP
  properties:
    floatingIP: random
  requirements:
    - virtualBinding: VDU1
    - virtualLink: private

Name	Value	Description
type	tosca.nodes.nfv.CP	Type of the node. In the example it defines the node as a CP node.
properties: floatingIP	String	Only property defined at the moment is floatingIP. In this case floatingIp means that has a public IP chosen random by OpenStack
requirements: virtualBinding	String	It describes the requirements for the CP in the example above the CP needs a virtualBinding to the VDU in this case VDU1. The bindings can be multiple hence the requirements is a node.
requirements: virtualLink	String	It refers to Node Template which describes the Virtual Link in this case the Virtual Link is called private. Same applies here regarding requirements being a list.

Node Template: Virtual Link (VL)

OpenBaton uses Virtual Link names as subnets from OpenStack.

This is the definition of a Virtual Link called private:

private:
  type: tosca.nodes.nfv.VL
  properties:
    vendor: Fokus

Name	Value	Description
type	tosca.nodes.nfv.VL	It is the type of the node. In this example Virtual Link.
properties:vendor	String	Information about the vendor of this Virtual Link.

Relationships Template

The Relationships Template creates the dependency between two VNFs. This is the definition of Relationships Template called connection_server_client:

relationships_template:
  connection_server_client:
    type: tosca.nodes.relationships.ConnectsTo
    source: dummy-server
    target: dummy-client
    parameters:
        - private

Name	Value	Description
type	tosca.nodes.relationships.ConnectsTo	It is the type of the Relationships Template
source	String	It is a String which refers to the Node Template that describes the source VNF that provides some parameters in order to realize the dependency with the target VNF
target	String	It is a String which refers to the Node Template that describes the target VNF that requires some parameters in order to realize the dependency with the source VNF
parameters	List < String >	List of parameters for this dependency

NOTE: Whenever a value of a given parameter is a string, it is best to put it in quotation marks. Example :

configurations:
    name: server-configurations
    configurationParameters:
      - key: "value"

Complete Example

tosca_definitions_version: tosca_simple_profile_for_nfv_1_0
description: Example of NSD

metadata:
  ID: dummy-NS
  vendor: Fokus
  version: 0.1

topology_template:

  node_templates:

    dummy-server:
        type: openbaton.type.VNF
        properties:
          vendor: Fokus
          version: 0.1
          endpoint: dummy
          type: server
          configurations:
            name: server-configurations
            configurationParameters:
              - key: value
              - key2: value2
          vnfPackageLocation: https://github.com/openbaton/vnf-scripts.git
          deploymentFlavour:
            - flavour_key: m1.small
        requirements:
          - vdu: VDU1
        interfaces:
          lifecycle:
            INSTANTIATE:
              - install.sh
              - install-srv.sh

    dummy-client:
      type: openbaton.type.VNF
      properties:
        ID: x
        vendor: Fokus
        version: 0.1
        type: client
        vnfPackageLocation: https://github.com/openbaton/vnf-scripts.git
        deploymentFlavour:
          - flavour_key: m1.small
        endpoint: dummy
      requirements:
         - vdu: VDU2
      interfaces:
          lifecycle: # lifecycle
            INSTANTIATE:
              - install.sh
            CONFIGURE:
              - server_start-clt.sh

    VDU1:
      type: tosca.nodes.nfv.VDU
      properties:
        scale_in_out: 1
        vim_instance_name:
          - test-vim-instance
      artifacts:
        VDU1Image:
          type: tosca.artifacts.Deployment.Image.VM
          file: ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1

    VDU2:
      type: tosca.nodes.nfv.VDU
      properties:
        scale_in_out: 2
        vim_instance_name:
          - test-vim-instance
      requirements:
        - virtual_link: CP2
      artifacts:
        VDU1Image:
          type: tosca.artifacts.Deployment.Image.VM
          file: ubuntu-14.04-server-cloudimg-amd64-disk1

    CP1:
      type: tosca.nodes.nfv.CP
      properties:
        floatingIP: random
      requirements:
        - virtualBinding: VDU1
        - virtualLink: private

    CP2: #endpoints of VNF2
      type: tosca.nodes.nfv.CP
      requirements:
        - virtualBinding: VDU2
        - virtualLink: private

    private:
      type: tosca.nodes.nfv.VL
      properties:
        vendor: Fokus

relationships_template:
  connection_server_client: 
    type: tosca.nodes.relationships.ConnectsTo
    source: dummy-server
    target: dummy-client
    parameters:
        - private

NOTE: Save the definition in a file called testNSDIperf.yaml.

You can create a CSAR and upload it to the NFVO using the Dashboard.