path: root/docs/APPC Deployment Guidelines/APPC Deployment Guidelines.rst

==========================
APPC Deployment Guidelines
==========================

Introduction
============

The Application Controller (APPC) is one of the components in the ONAP
Platform. Its main function is to perform functions to control the
lifecycle of Virtual Functions (VNFs) as well as the components that
make up these functions. Therefore, this allows the cloud to be
abstracted from Virtual Functions in order to enable repeatable actions,
as well as enabling automation and a dynamic configuration approach.

ONAP APPC is delivered with **3 Docker Containers**, which are deployed
using Docker Images already containing the APPC Framework Suite. NOTE:
All three containers are hosted on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS OS.

Deployment Mode for APPC
========================

The docker containers described above are set up to be deployed on the
same Virtual Machine. **Docker Compose** is Docker's deployment tool
that allows to configure and deploy multiple containers at once.

Compiling and Building APPC
===========================

APPC (structured as a Maven project) uses the Maven tool to help
compile, build, and deploy APPC Artifacts (usually made up of Java
packages) into a Maven Repository. In order to compile and build APPC, a
``mvn clean install`` is executed, which checks for any errors and Java
exceptions during compilation process.

Deploying APPC
==============

In order to deploy APPC, a Docker-ready machine needs to be available in
order to deploy the APPC Docker Containers. The following will help
explain the requirements in order to run Docker to deploy these
containers.

APPC Docker Containers
----------------------

ONAP APPC docker images are currently stored on the Rackspace Nexus
Docker Registry (Maven Repository). The deployment code can be found in
the Maven Project that builds and deploys the Docker Images to be
deployed in the Nexus Repository (current approach is by using Jenkins).
These Docker Images are composed of the APPC Artifacts
(org.openecomp.appc.\*) compiled and packaged in the "appc" git
repository.

The following Docker images are the actual deployment images used for
running APPC:

-  **APPC Container**: This Docker container carries the APPC Core
   Framework (OpenDaylight, Karaf, OSGI Bundles, ODL Functions/APIs, and
   APPC specific features). This image is built on top of the SDN-C
   Docker Image, which contains core features (such as dblib as the
   Database Connector, SLI - the Service Logic Interpreter, and the
   Active & Available Inventory (A&AI) Listener). Some of these
   inherited SDN-C features/artifacts are necessary dependencies to
   build and compile APPC features/artifacts.
-  **MySQL DB Container (Version 5.6)**: This is the database for APPC.
   It is currently using MySQL Community Version (Open-Source version).
-  **Node Red / DGBuilder**: This container has the visual tool used to
   assemble DGs in order to put together flows or services used to serve
   Virtual Functions. NOTE: This container is deployed using a Docker
   Image that is managed and supported by the SDN-C component.

Starting APPC
=============

Ther following steps are needed to deploy and start ONAP APPC:

Requirement to Pre-Define properties before compiling APPC:
-----------------------------------------------------------

-  The following maven properties are not defined by default, since they
   change based on where the platform is being deployed:

   -  ${openecomp.nexus.url}: URL of the Nexus Repository where APPC
      Code is at.
   -  ${openecomp.nexus.port}: Port number of the Nexus Repository where
      APPC Code is at.
   -  ${openecomp.nexus.user}: Username ID of the Nexus Repository where
      APPC Code is at.
   -  ${openecomp.nexus.password}: Password of the Nexus Repository
      where APPC Code is at.

Using Jenkins Jobs to set up APPC Package
-----------------------------------------

-  A Jenkins instance for ONAP is required, in which Jenkins Jobs for
   both the APPC core code and deployment code are maintained.

-  Jenkins Job for APPC Core git project: The Jenkins Job for the APPC
   git repository (Core Component) is in charge of compiling and
   uploading/deploying successfully compiled maven APPC artifacts into a
   Nexus/Maven Repository.

-  Jenkins Job for APPC Deployment git project: The Jenkins Job is used
   to run the APPC Deployment code which ultimately builds and deploy
   the APPC Docker Image. Once the Jenkins job runs successfully, the
   newly compiled images are uploaded to the Nexus Repository. The APPC
   Docker image contains all the SDN-C and APPC artifacts needed to
   deploy a successful APPC Component.

   -  With this job, all required and newly compiled and uploaded (to
      Nexus Repository) APPC features from the Jenkins job are pulled
      into the images and installed in an automated fashion.

-  As explained in the "APPC Docker Containers" section, the
   configuration and set up of the other two docker containers are not
   maintained by APPC. MySQL Docker Image is maintained by the Open
   Source MySQL Community and the Node Red / DGBuilder Docker Image is
   maintained by SDN-C.

Using Docker to start APPC Package
----------------------------------

-  The VM where APPC will be started needs to have Docker Engine and
   Docker-Compose installed (instructions on how to set Docker Engine
   can be found
   `here <https://docs.docker.com/engine/installation/>`__). The stable
   version of Docker Engine where APPC has been tested to work is v1.12.
   An important requirement in order to access the Docker Image
   Repository on Nexus Repository (where docker images are currently
   stored) need to include the Nexus repository certificate imported in
   the host VM. This is needed for Docker to be able to access the
   Docker Images required (NOTE: MySQL Docker Image is obtained from the
   public Docker Hub).

-  NOTE ON "docker-compose" COMMANDS: The only work if there is a
   provided docker-compose YAML script in the cmd path

-  In order to deploy containers, the following steps need to be taken
   in your host VM (Assuming instructions on how to set up Docker Engine
   have already been done):

.. code:: bash

    # Install Docker-Compose
    apt-get install python-pip
    pip install docker-compose

    # Login to Nexus Repo to pull Docker Images (this assumes that Nexus Certificate is already imported in the Host VM on /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/ path):
    docker login <DOCKER_REGISTRY_REPO> # prompts for user credentials as a way to authenticate

    # Pull latest version of Docker Images (separately)
    docker pull <APPC_DOCKER_IMAGE_URL>
    docker pull mysql/mysql-server:5.6 # Default Open-Source MySQL Docker Image
    docker pull <SDNC_DOCKER_IMAGE_URL>

    # Pull latest version of Docker Images
    docker-compose pull

    # Deploy Containers
    docker-compose up  # add -d argument to start process as a daemon (background process)

Using Docker to stop APPC Package
---------------------------------

-  The following steps are required to stop the APPC package:

.. code:: bash

    # Stop and Destroy Docker Containers (with docker-compose YAML script)
    docker-compose down

    # Stop Docker Containers (without docker-compose YAML script)
    docker stop <APPC_DOCKER_CONTAINER>
    docker stop <MYSQL_DOCKER_CONTAINER>
    docker stop <DGBUILDER_DOCKER_CONTAINER>

    # Destroy Docker Containers (without docker-compose YAML script)
    docker rm <APPC_DOCKER_CONTAINER>
    docker rm <MYSQL_DOCKER_CONTAINER>
    docker rm <DGBUILDER_DOCKER_CONTAINER>

-  NOTE: To get a feel of how the deployment is actually performed, it
   is best to review the Docker Strategy of APPC and look at the actual
   Jenkins Jobs.

Other Useful Docker Commands
----------------------------

-  The commands below are useful to test or troubleshoot in case a
   change in the gitlab code breaks a clean APPC deployment:

.. code:: bash

    # Check current docker-compose logs generated during 'docker-compose up' process:
    docker-compose logs # add -f to display logs in real time

    # Check out docker container's current details
    docker inspect <DOCKER_CONTAINER>

    # Verbose output during docker-compose commands
    docker-compose --verbose <DOCKER_COMPOSE_CMD_ARG>

    # Check previous docker volumes
    docker volume ls

    # Delete previous docker volume(s)
    docker volume rm <DOCKER_VOL_ID_1> <DOCKER_VOL_ID_2> ... <DOCKER_VOL_ID_N>

ONAP Heat Template
------------------

A Heat template that can be used on RackSpace to spin up the APPC Host
VM as well as the other ONAP Components is available in gitlab. This
template would orchestrate the deployment of all ONAP components, which
will trigger docker instantiation techniques to start up the containers
(either standard docker or docker-compose - depending on how the
component's containers get spun up).

Validating APPC Installation
============================

First of all, APPC Features come in the form of Karaf Features (an
ODL-OpenDaylight package) which can be composed of one or more OSGI
bundles. These features get installed in the ODL framework in order to
be used and installed in the APPC Docker Container (NOTE: SDN-C Core
Features also get installed since APPC docker image uses the SDN-C Core
docker image as a base image).

Accessing docker containers
---------------------------

The following command is used to log in / access the docker containers:

.. code:: bash

    docker exec -it <DOCKER_CONTAINER> bash

Checking if APPC Features are installed successfully
----------------------------------------------------

The following commands are used to check if the APPC (and SDN-C) Bundles
and Features have been installed correctly in ODL (make sure to enter
the APPC Docker Container shell session):

.. code:: bash

    # All commands are done inside the appc docker container

    # Enter the ODL Karaf Console
    cd /opt/opendaylight/current/bin
    ./client -u karaf

    # Check if features have been installed or not (the ones with an 'X' in the "Installed" column have been successfully installed)
    feature:list | grep appc # filter appc features only
    feature:list | grep sdnc # filter sdn-c features only

    # Check if bundles have been loaded successfully (the ones with 'Active' in the "State" column have been successfully loaded)
    bundle:list | grep appc # filter appc bundles only
    bundle:list | grep sdnc # grep sdn-c bundles only

    # Check reason why bundle failed to load
    bundle:diag | grep <BUNDLE_NAME>

Accessing the API Explorer
--------------------------

The API Explorer is a GUI provided by OpenDaylight Open Source
Framework. This GUI is very useful to send API calls from APIs that are
either developed by APPC or SDN-C frameworks. In order to make these
REST calls, some APIs use the
`RESTCONF <http://sdntutorials.com/what-is-restconf/>`__ protocol to
make such calls.

Currently, the APIs that have a Directed Graph (DG) mapped to it are the
ones that can be tested which are the SDN-C APIs and APPC
"appc-provider" APIs (LCM APIs will be available to test in later
releases).

In order to access this GUI, you need to go to the following website
which will prompt for ODL user credentials in order to authenticate
(more details on generic API Explorer
`here <https://wiki.opendaylight.org/view/OpenDaylight_Controller:MD-SAL:Restconf_API_Explorer>`__):

-  http://localhost:8282/apidoc/explorer/index.html (change localhost to
   your VM's public IP).

APPC Configuration Model
========================

APPC Configuration model involves using "default.properties" files
(which are usually located in each of the APPC Features -
..//src//resources/org/openecomp/appc/default.properties) for APPC
Feature that have default (or null) property values inside the core APPC
code. These default (or null) properties should be overwritten in the
properties file called "appc.properties" located in the APPC Deployment
code (../installation/src/main/appc-properties/appc.properties).

Each APPC component depends on the property values that are defined for
them in order to function properly. For example, the APPC Feature
"appc-rest-adapter" located in the APPC Core repo is used to listen to
events that are being sent and received in the form of DMaaP Messages
through a DMaaP Server Instance (which is usually defined as a RESTful
API Layer over the Apache Kafka Framework). The properties for this
feature need to be defined to point to the right DMaaP set of events to
make sure that we are sending and receiving the proper messages on
DMaaP.

Currently, there are two ways to change properties for APPC Features:

-  **Permanent Change**: In appc.properties, change property values as
   needed and commit changes in your current git repo where your APPC
   Deployment code repo is at. Then, run your Jenkins job that deploys
   the APPC Docker Image (make sure the Jenkins Job configuration points
   to the branch where you just commited the properties change) to make
   sure that APPC Docker Image contains latest changes of
   appc.properties from the beginning (of course, the Host VM where the
   docker containers will be deployed at needs to update images with
   "docker-compose pull" to pick up the changes you just committed and
   compiled).
-  **Temporary Change (for quick testing/debugging)**: In the APPC
   Docker Container, find the appc.properties file in
   /opt/openecomp/appc/properties/appc.properties and make changes as
   needed. Then, restart the APPC Docker Container by running "docker
   stop " then "docker start ") (NOTE: This approach will lose all
   changes done in appc.properties if the docker container is destroyed
   instead of stopped).

Additional Notes
================

-  For more information on a current list of available properties for
   APPC Features, please go to README.md located in the installation
   directory path of the APPC Deployment Code.
-  More documentation can be found on the ONAP Wiki's `APPC
   Documentation Page <https://wiki.onap.org/display/DW/Controllers>`__
   and in ONAP's `Read the
   docs <http://onap.readthedocs.io/en/latest/release/index.html#projects>`__
   documentation site.