1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1034
1035
1036
1037
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1047
1048
1049
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1056
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
1072
1073
1074
1075
1076
1077
1078
1079
1080
1081
1082
1083
1084
1085
1086
1087
1088
1089
1090
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129
1130
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155
1156
1157
1158
1159
1160
1161
1162
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178
1179
1180
1181
1182
1183
1184
1185
1186
1187
1188
1189
1190
1191
1192
1193
1194
1195
1196
1197
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233
1234
1235
1236
1237
1238
1239
1240
1241
1242
1243
1244
1245
1246
1247
1248
1249
1250
1251
1252
1253
1254
1255
1256
1257
1258
1259
1260
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
1267
1268
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274
1275
1276
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290
1291
1292
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297
1298
1299
1300
1301
1302
1303
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1309
1310
1311
1312
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361
1362
1363
1364
1365
1366
1367
1368
1369
1370
1371
1372
1373
1374
1375
1376
1377
1378
1379
1380
1381
1382
1383
1384
|
.. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
.. Copyright 2017 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
VNF Development Requirements
============================
VNF Design
----------
Services are composed of VNFs and common components and are designed to
be agnostic of the location to leverage capacity where it exists in the
Network Cloud. VNFs can be instantiated in any location that meets the
performance and latency requirements of the service.
A key design principle for virtualizing services is decomposition of
network functions using NFV concepts into granular VNFs. This enables
instantiating and customizing only essential functions as needed for the
service, thereby making service delivery more nimble. It provides
flexibility of sizing and scaling and also provides flexibility with
packaging and deploying VNFs as needed for the service. It enables
grouping functions in a common cloud data center to minimize
inter-component latency. The VNFs should be designed with a goal of
being modular and reusable to enable using best-in-breed vendors.
Section 5.a VNF Design in *VNF Guidelines* describes
the overall guidelines for designing VNFs from VNF Components (VNFCs).
Below are more detailed requirements for composing VNFs.
VNF Design Requirements
* R-58421 The VNF **SHOULD** be decomposed into granular re-usable VNFCs.
* R-82223 The VNF **MUST** be decomposed if the functions have
significantly different scaling characteristics (e.g., signaling
versus media functions, control versus data plane functions).
* R-16496 The VNF **MUST** enable instantiating only the functionality that
is needed for the decomposed VNF (e.g., if transcoding is not needed it
should not be instantiated).
* R-02360 The VNFC **MUST** be designed as a standalone, executable process.
* R-34484 The VNF **SHOULD** create a single component VNF for VNFCs
that can be used by other VNFs.
* R-23035 The VNF **MUST** be designed to scale horizontally (more
instances of a VNF or VNFC) and not vertically (moving the existing
instances to larger VMs or increasing the resources within a VM)
to achieve effective utilization of cloud resources.
* R-30650 The VNF **MUST** utilize cloud provided infrastructure and
VNFs (e.g., virtualized Local Load Balancer) as part of the VNF so
that the cloud can manage and provide a consistent service resiliency
and methods across all VNF's.
* R-12709 The VNFC **SHOULD** be independently deployed, configured,
upgraded, scaled, monitored, and administered by ONAP.
* R-37692 The VNFC **MUST** provide API versioning to allow for
independent upgrades of VNFC.
* R-86585 The VNFC **SHOULD** minimize the use of state within
a VNFC to facilitate the movement of traffic from one instance
to another.
* R-65134 The VNF **SHOULD** maintain state in a geographically
redundant datastore that may, in fact, be its own VNFC.
* R-75850 The VNF **SHOULD** decouple persistent data from the VNFC
and keep it in its own datastore that can be reached by all instances
of the VNFC requiring the data.
* R-88199 The VNF **MUST** utilize a persistent datastore service that
can meet the data performance/latency requirements. (For example:
Datastore service could be a VNFC in VNF or a DBaaS in the Cloud
execution environment)
* R-99656 The VNF **MUST** NOT terminate stable sessions if a VNFC
instance fails.
* R-84473 The VNF **MUST** enable DPDK in the guest OS for VNF’s requiring
high packets/sec performance. High packet throughput is defined as greater
than 500K packets/sec.
* R-54430 The VNF **MUST** use the NCSP’s supported library and compute
flavor that supports DPDK to optimize network efficiency if using DPDK. [1]_
* R-18864 The VNF **MUST** NOT use technologies that bypass virtualization
layers (such as SR-IOV) unless approved by the NCSP (e.g., if necessary
to meet functional or performance requirements).
* R-64768 The VNF **MUST** limit the size of application data packets
to no larger than 9000 bytes for SDN network-based tunneling when
guest data packets are transported between tunnel endpoints that
support guest logical networks.
* R-74481 The VNF **MUST** NOT require the use of a dynamic routing
protocol unless necessary to meet functional requirements.
VNF Resiliency
-------------------------
The VNF is responsible for meeting its resiliency goals and must factor
in expected availability of the targeted virtualization environment.
This is likely to be much lower than found in a traditional data center.
Resiliency is defined as the ability of the VNF to respond to error
conditions and continue to provide the service intended. A number of
software resiliency dimensions have been identified as areas that should
be addressed to increase resiliency. As VNFs are deployed into the
Network Cloud, resiliency must be designed into the VNF software to
provide high availability versus relying on the Network Cloud to achieve
that end.
Section 5.a Resiliency in *VNF Guidelines* describes
the overall guidelines for designing VNFs to meet resiliency goals.
Below are more detailed resiliency requirements for VNFs.
All Layer Redundancy
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Design the VNF to be resilient to the failures of the underlying
virtualized infrastructure (Network Cloud). VNF design considerations
would include techniques such as multiple vLANs, multiple local and
geographic instances, multiple local and geographic data replication,
and virtualized services such as Load Balancers.
All Layer Redundancy Requirements
* R-52499 The VNF **MUST** meet their own resiliency goals and not rely
on the Network Cloud.
* R-42207 The VNF **MUST** design resiliency into a VNF such that the
resiliency deployment model (e.g., active-active) can be chosen at
run-time.
* R-03954 The VNF **MUST** survive any single points of failure within
the Network Cloud (e.g., virtual NIC, VM, disk failure).
* R-89010 The VNF **MUST** survive any single points of software failure
internal to the VNF (e.g., in memory structures, JMS message queues).
* R-67709 The VNF **MUST** be designed, built and packaged to enable
deployment across multiple fault zones (e.g., VNFCs deployed in
different servers, racks, OpenStack regions, geographies) so that
in the event of a planned/unplanned downtime of a fault zone, the
overall operation/throughput of the VNF is maintained.
* R-35291 The VNF **MUST** support the ability to failover a VNFC
automatically to other geographically redundant sites if not
deployed active-active to increase the overall resiliency of the VNF.
* R-36843 The VNF **MUST** support the ability of the VNFC to be deployable
in multi-zoned cloud sites to allow for site support in the event of cloud
zone failure or upgrades.
* R-00098 The VNF **MUST NOT** impact the ability of the VNF to provide
service/function due to a single container restart.
* R-79952 The VNF **SHOULD** support container snapshots if not for rebuild
and evacuate for rollback or back out mechanism.
Minimize Cross Data-Center Traffic
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Avoid performance-sapping data center-to-data center replication delay
by applying techniques such as caching and persistent transaction paths
- Eliminate replication delay impact between data centers by using a
concept of stickiness (i.e., once a client is routed to data center "A",
the client will stay with Data center “A” until the entire session is
completed).
Minimize Cross Data-Center Traffic Requirements
* R-92935 The VNF **SHOULD** minimize the propagation of state information
across multiple data centers to avoid cross data center traffic.
Application Resilient Error Handling
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ensure an application communicating with a downstream peer is equipped
to intelligently handle all error conditions. Make sure code can handle
exceptions seamlessly - implement smart retry logic and implement
multi-point entry (multiple data centers) for back-end system
applications.
Application Resilient Error Handling Requirements
* R-26371 The VNF **MUST** detect communication failure for inter VNFC
instance and intra/inter VNF and re-establish communication
automatically to maintain the VNF without manual intervention to
provide service continuity.
* R-18725 The VNF **MUST** handle the restart of a single VNFC instance
without requiring all VNFC instances to be restarted.
* R-06668 The VNF **MUST** handle the start or restart of VNFC instances
in any order with each VNFC instance establishing or re-establishing
required connections or relationships with other VNFC instances and/or
VNFs required to perform the VNF function/role without requiring VNFC
instance(s) to be started/restarted in a particular order.
* R-80070 The VNF **MUST** handle errors and exceptions so that they do
not interrupt processing of incoming VNF requests to maintain service
continuity (where the error is not directly impacting the software
handling the incoming request).
* R-32695 The VNF **MUST** provide the ability to modify the number of
retries, the time between retries and the behavior/action taken after
the retries have been exhausted for exception handling to allow the
NCSP to control that behavior, where the interface and/or functional
specification allows for altering behaviour.
* R-48356 The VNF **MUST** fully exploit exception handling to the extent
that resources (e.g., threads and memory) are released when no longer
needed regardless of programming language.
* R-67918 The VNF **MUST** handle replication race conditions both locally
and geo-located in the event of a data base instance failure to maintain
service continuity.
* R-36792 The VNF **MUST** automatically retry/resubmit failed requests
made by the software to its downstream system to increase the success rate.
* R-70013 The VNF **MUST NOT** require any manual steps to get it ready for
service after a container rebuild.
* R-65515 The VNF **MUST** provide a mechanism and tool to start VNF
containers (VMs) without impacting service or service quality assuming
another VNF in same or other geographical location is processing service
requests.
* R-94978 The VNF **MUST** provide a mechanism and tool to perform a graceful
shutdown of all the containers (VMs) in the VNF without impacting service
or service quality assuming another VNF in same or other geographical
location can take over traffic and process service requests.
System Resource Optimization
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ensure an application is using appropriate system resources for the task
at hand; for example, do not use network or IO operations inside
critical sections, which could end up blocking other threads or
processes or eating memory if they are unable to complete. Critical
sections should only contain memory operation, and should not contain
any network or IO operation.
System Resource Optimization Requirements
* R-22059 The VNF **MUST NOT** execute long running tasks (e.g., IO,
database, network operations, service calls) in a critical section
of code, so as to minimize blocking of other operations and increase
concurrent throughput.
* R-63473 The VNF **MUST** automatically advertise newly scaled
components so there is no manual intervention required.
* R-74712 The VNF **MUST** utilize FQDNs (and not IP address) for
both Service Chaining and scaling.
* R-41159 The VNF **MUST** deliver any and all functionality from any
VNFC in the pool (where pooling is the most suitable solution). The
VNFC pool member should be transparent to the client. Upstream and
downstream clients should only recognize the function being performed,
not the member performing it.
* R-85959 The VNF **SHOULD** automatically enable/disable added/removed
sub-components or component so there is no manual intervention required.
* R-06885 The VNF **SHOULD** support the ability to scale down a VNFC pool
without jeopardizing active sessions. Ideally, an active session should
not be tied to any particular VNFC instance.
* R-12538 The VNF **SHOULD** support load balancing and discovery
mechanisms in resource pools containing VNFC instances.
* R-98989 The VNF **SHOULD** utilize resource pooling (threads,
connections, etc.) within the VNF application so that resources
are not being created and destroyed resulting in resource management
overhead.
* R-55345 The VNF **SHOULD** use techniques such as “lazy loading” when
initialization includes loading catalogues and/or lists which can grow
over time, so that the VNF startup time does not grow at a rate
proportional to that of the list.
* R-35532 The VNF **SHOULD** release and clear all shared assets (memory,
database operations, connections, locks, etc.) as soon as possible,
especially before long running sync and asynchronous operations, so as
to not prevent use of these assets by other entities.
Application Configuration Management
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Leverage configuration management audit capability to drive conformity
to develop gold configurations for technologies like Java, Python, etc.
Application Configuration Management Requirements
* R-77334 The VNF **MUST** allow configurations and configuration parameters
to be managed under version control to ensure consistent configuration
deployment, traceability and rollback.
* R-99766 The VNF **MUST** allow configurations and configuration parameters
to be managed under version control to ensure the ability to rollback to
a known valid configuration.
* R-73583 The VNF **MUST** allow changes of configuration parameters
to be consumed by the VNF without requiring the VNF or its sub-components
to be bounced so that the VNF availability is not effected.
Intelligent Transaction Distribution & Management
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Leverage Intelligent Load Balancing and redundant components (hardware
and modules) for all transactions, such that at any point in the
transaction: front end, middleware, back end -- a failure in any one
component does not result in a failure of the application or system;
i.e., transactions will continue to flow, albeit at a possibly reduced
capacity until the failed component restores itself. Create redundancy
in all layers (software and hardware) at local and remote data centers;
minimizing interdependencies of components (i.e. data replication,
deploying non-related elements in the same container).
Intelligent Transaction Distribution & Management Requirements
* R-21558 The VNF **SHOULD** use intelligent routing by having knowledge
of multiple downstream/upstream endpoints that are exposed to it, to
ensure there is no dependency on external services (such as load balancers)
to switch to alternate endpoints.
* R-08315 The VNF **SHOULD** use redundant connection pooling to connect
to any backend data source that can be switched between pools in an
automated/scripted fashion to ensure high availability of the connection
to the data source.
* R-27995 The VNF **SHOULD** include control loop mechanisms to notify
the consumer of the VNF of their exceeding SLA thresholds so the consumer
is able to control its load against the VNF.
Deployment Optimization
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Reduce opportunity for failure, by human or by machine, through smarter
deployment practices and automation. This can include rolling code
deployments, additional testing strategies, and smarter deployment
automation (remove the human from the mix).
Deployment Optimization Requirements
* R-73364 The VNF **MUST** support at least two major versions of the
VNF software and/or sub-components to co-exist within production
environments at any time so that upgrades can be applied across
multiple systems in a staggered manner.
* R-02454 The VNF **MUST** support the existence of multiple major/minor
versions of the VNF software and/or sub-components and interfaces that
support both forward and backward compatibility to be transparent to
the Service Provider usage.
* R-57855 The VNF **MUST** support hitless staggered/rolling deployments
between its redundant instances to allow "soak-time/burn in/slow roll"
which can enable the support of low traffic loads to validate the
deployment prior to supporting full traffic loads.
* R-64445 The VNF **MUST** support the ability of a requestor of the
service to determine the version (and therefore capabilities) of the
service so that Network Cloud Service Provider can understand the
capabilities of the service.
* R-56793 The VNF **MUST** test for adherence to the defined performance
budgets at each layer, during each delivery cycle with delivered
results, so that the performance budget is measured and the code
is adjusted to meet performance budget.
* R-77667 The VNF **MUST** test for adherence to the defined performance
budget at each layer, during each delivery cycle so that the performance
budget is measured and feedback is provided where the performance budget
is not met.
* R-49308 The VNF **SHOULD** test for adherence to the defined resiliency
rating recommendation at each layer, during each delivery cycle with
delivered results, so that the resiliency rating is measured and the
code is adjusted to meet software resiliency requirements.
* R-16039 The VNF **SHOULD** test for adherence to the defined
resiliency rating recommendation at each layer, during each
delivery cycle so that the resiliency rating is measured and
feedback is provided where software resiliency requirements are
not met.
Monitoring & Dashboard
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Promote dashboarding as a tool to monitor and support the general
operational health of a system. It is critical to the support of the
implementation of many resiliency patterns essential to the maintenance
of the system. It can help identify unusual conditions that might
indicate failure or the potential for failure. This would contribute to
improve Mean Time to Identify (MTTI), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and
post-incident diagnostics.
Monitoring & Dashboard Requirements
* R-34957 The VNF **MUST** provide a method of metrics gathering for each
layer's performance to identify/document variances in the allocations so
they can be addressed.
* R-49224 The VNF **MUST** provide unique traceability of a transaction
through its life cycle to ensure quick and efficient troubleshooting.
* R-52870 The VNF **MUST** provide a method of metrics gathering
and analysis to evaluate the resiliency of the software from both
a granular as well as a holistic standpoint. This includes, but is
not limited to thread utilization, errors, timeouts, and retries.
* R-92571 The VNF **MUST** provide operational instrumentation such as
logging, so as to facilitate quick resolution of issues with the VNF to
provide service continuity.
* R-48917 The VNF **MUST** monitor for and alert on (both sender and
receiver) errant, running longer than expected and missing file transfers,
so as to minimize the impact due to file transfer errors.
* R-28168 The VNF **SHOULD** use an appropriately configured logging
level that can be changed dynamically, so as to not cause performance
degradation of the VNF due to excessive logging.
* R-87352 The VNF **SHOULD** utilize Cloud health checks, when available
from the Network Cloud, from inside the application through APIs to check
the network connectivity, dropped packets rate, injection, and auto failover
to alternate sites if needed.
* R-16560 The VNF **SHOULD** conduct a resiliency impact assessment for all
inter/intra-connectivity points in the VNF to provide an overall resiliency
rating for the VNF to be incorporated into the software design and
development of the VNF.
VNF Security
----------------------
The objective of this section is to provide the key security
requirements that need to be met by VNFs. The security requirements are
grouped into five areas as listed below. Other security areas will be
addressed in future updates. These security requirements are applicable
to all VNFs. Additional security requirements for specific types of VNFs
will be applicable and are outside the scope of these general
requirements.
Section 5.a Security in *VNF Guidelines* outlines
the five broad security areas for VNFs that are detailed in the
following sections:
- **VNF General Security**: This section addresses general security
requirements for the VNFs that the VNF provider will need to address.
- **VNF Identity and Access Management**: This section addresses
security requirements with respect to Identity and Access Management
as these pertain to generic VNFs.
- **VNF API Security**: This section addresses the generic security
requirements associated with APIs. These requirements are applicable
to those VNFs that use standard APIs for communication and data
exchange.
- **VNF Security Analytics**: This section addresses the security
requirements associated with analytics for VNFs that deal with
monitoring, data collection and analysis.
- **VNF Data Protection**: This section addresses the security
requirements associated with data protection.
VNF General Security Requirements
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This section provides details on the VNF general security requirements
on various security areas such as user access control, network security,
ACLs, infrastructure security, and vulnerability management. These
requirements cover topics associated with compliance, security patching,
logging/accounting, authentication, encryption, role-based access
control, least privilege access/authorization. The following security
requirements need to be met by the solution in a virtual environment:
General Security Requirements
Integration and operation within a robust security environment is necessary
and expected. The security architecture will include one or more of the
following: IDAM (Identity and Access Management) for all system and
applications access, Code scanning, network vulnerability scans, OS,
Database and application patching, malware detection and cleaning,
DDOS prevention, network security gateways (internal and external)
operating at various layers, host and application based tools for
security compliance validation, aggressive security patch application,
tightly controlled software distribution and change control processes
and other state of the art security solutions. The VNF is expected to
function reliably within such an environment and the developer is
expected to understand and accommodate such controls and can expected
to supply responsive interoperability support and testing throughout
the product’s lifecycle.
* R-23740 The VNF **MUST** accommodate the security principle of
“least privilege” during development, implementation and operation.
The importance of “least privilege” cannot be overstated and must be
observed in all aspects of VNF development and not limited to security.
This is applicable to all sections of this document.
* R-61354 The VNF **MUST** implement access control list for OA&M
services (e.g., restricting access to certain ports or applications).
* R-85633 The VNF **MUST** implement Data Storage Encryption
(database/disk encryption) for Sensitive Personal Information (SPI)
and other subscriber identifiable data. Note: subscriber’s SPI/data
must be encrypted at rest, and other subscriber identifiable data
should be encrypted at rest. Other data protection requirements exist
and should be well understood by the developer.
* R-92207 The VNF **SHOULD** implement a mechanism for automated and
frequent "system configuration (automated provisioning / closed loop)"
auditing.
* R-23882 The VNF **SHOULD** be scanned using both network scanning
and application scanning security tools on all code, including underlying
OS and related configuration. Scan reports shall be provided. Remediation
roadmaps shall be made available for any findings.
* R-46986 The VNF **SHOULD** have source code scanned using scanning
tools (e.g., Fortify) and provide reports.
* R-55830 The VNF **MUST** distribute all production code from NCSP
internal sources only. No production code, libraries, OS images, etc.
shall be distributed from publically accessible depots.
* R-99771 The VNF **MUST** provide all code/configuration files in a
"Locked down" or hardened state or with documented recommendations for
such hardening. All unnecessary services will be disabled. VNF provider
default credentials, community strings and other such artifacts will be
removed or disclosed so that they can be modified or removed during
provisioning.
* R-19768 The VNF **SHOULD** support L3 VPNs that enable segregation of
traffic by application (dropping packets not belonging to the VPN) (i.e.,
AVPN, IPSec VPN for Internet routes).
* R-33981 The VNF **SHOULD** interoperate with various access control
mechanisms for the Network Cloud execution environment (e.g.,
Hypervisors, containers).
* R-40813 The VNF **SHOULD** support the use of virtual trusted platform
module, hypervisor security testing and standards scanning tools.
* R-56904 The VNF **MUST** interoperate with the ONAP (SDN) Controller so that
it can dynamically modify the firewall rules, ACL rules, QoS rules, virtual
routing and forwarding rules.
* R-26586 The VNF **SHOULD** support the ability to work with aliases
(e.g., gateways, proxies) to protect and encapsulate resources.
* R-49956 The VNF **MUST** pass all access to applications (Bearer,
signaling and OA&M) through various security tools and platforms from
ACLs, stateful firewalls and application layer gateways depending on
manner of deployment. The application is expected to function (and in
some cases, interwork) with these security tools.
* R-69649 The VNF **MUST** have all vulnerabilities patched as soon
as possible. Patching shall be controlled via change control process
with vulnerabilities disclosed along with mitigation recommendations.
* R-78010 The VNF **MUST** use the NCSP’s IDAM API for Identification,
authentication and access control of customer or VNF application users.
* R-42681 The VNF **MUST** use the NCSP’s IDAM API or comply with
the requirements if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, for identification,
authentication and access control of OA&M and other system level
functions.
* R-68589 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, support
User-IDs and passwords to uniquely identify the user/application. VNF
needs to have appropriate connectors to the Identity, Authentication
and Authorization systems that enables access at OS, Database and
Application levels as appropriate.
* R-52085 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, provide
the ability to support Multi-Factor Authentication (e.g., 1st factor =
Software token on device (RSA SecureID); 2nd factor = User Name+Password,
etc.) for the users.
* R-98391 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, support
Role-Based Access Control to permit/limit the user/application to
performing specific activities.
* R-63217 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, support
logging via ONAP for a historical view of “who did what and when”.
* R-62498 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, encrypt
OA&M access (e.g., SSH, SFTP).
* R-79107 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, enforce
a configurable maximum number of Login attempts policy for the users.
VNF provider must comply with "terminate idle sessions" policy.
Interactive sessions must be terminated, or a secure, locking screensaver
must be activated requiring authentication, after a configurable period
of inactivity. The system-based inactivity timeout for the enterprise
identity and access management system must also be configurable.
* R-35144 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, comply
with the NCSP’s credential management policy.
* R-75041 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, expire
passwords at regular configurable intervals.
* R-46908 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, comply
with "password complexity" policy. When passwords are used, they shall
be complex and shall at least meet the following password construction
requirements: (1) be a minimum configurable number of characters in
length, (2) include 3 of the 4 following types of characters:
upper-case alphabetic, lower-case alphabetic, numeric, and special,
(3) not be the same as the UserID with which they are associated or
other common strings as specified by the environment, (4) not contain
repeating or sequential characters or numbers, (5) not to use special
characters that may have command functions, and (6) new passwords must
not contain sequences of three or more characters from the previous
password.
* R-39342 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, comply
with "password changes (includes default passwords)" policy. Products
will support password aging, syntax and other credential management
practices on a configurable basis.
* R-40521 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, support
use of common third party authentication and authorization tools such
as TACACS+, RADIUS.
* R-41994 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API, comply
with "No Self-Signed Certificates" policy. Self-signed certificates
must be used for encryption only, using specified and approved
encryption protocols such as TLS 1.2 or higher or equivalent security
protocols such as IPSec, AES.
* R-23135 The VNF **MUST**, if not using the NCSP’s IDAM API,
authenticate system to system communications where one system
accesses the resources of another system, and must never conceal
individual accountability.
VNF Identity and Access Management Requirements
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The following security requirements for logging, identity, and access
management need to be met by the solution in a virtual environment:
Identity and Access Management Requirements
* R-95105 The VNF **MUST** host connectors for access to the application
layer.
* R-45496 The VNF **MUST** host connectors for access to the OS
(Operating System) layer.
* R-05470 The VNF **MUST** host connectors for access to the database layer.
* R-99174 The VNF **MUST** comply with Individual Accountability
(each person must be assigned a unique ID) when persons or non-person
entities access VNFs.
* R-42874 The VNF **MUST** comply with Least Privilege (no more
privilege than required to perform job functions) when persons
or non-person entities access VNFs.
* R-71787 The VNF **MUST** comply with Segregation of Duties (access to a
single layer and no developer may access production without special
oversight) when persons or non-person entities access VNFs.
* R-86261 The VNF **MUST NOT** allow VNF provider access to VNFs remotely.
* R-49945 The VNF **MUST** authorize VNF provider access through a
client application API by the client application owner and the resource
owner of the VNF before provisioning authorization through Role Based
Access Control (RBAC), Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC), or other
policy based mechanism.
* R-31751 The VNF **MUST** subject VNF provider access to privilege
reconciliation tools to prevent access creep and ensure correct
enforcement of access policies.
* R-34552 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for OWASP Top 10.
* R-29301 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Password Attacks.
* R-72243 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Phishing / SMishing.
* R-58998 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Malware (Key Logger).
* R-14025 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Session Hijacking.
* R-31412 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for XSS / CSRF.
* R-51883 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Replay.
* R-44032 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Man in the Middle (MITM).
* R-58977 The VNF **MUST** provide or support the Identity and Access
Management (IDAM) based threat detection data for Eavesdropping.
* R-24825 The VNF **MUST** provide Context awareness data (device,
location, time, etc.) and be able to integrate with threat detection system.
* R-59391 The VNF provider **MUST**, where a VNF provider requires
the assumption of permissions, such as root or administrator, first
log in under their individual user login ID then switch to the other
higher level account; or where the individual user login is infeasible,
must login with an account with admin privileges in a way that
uniquely identifies the individual performing the function.
* R-85028 The VNF **MUST** authenticate system to system access and
do not conceal a VNF provider user’s individual accountability for
transactions.
* R-80335 The VNF **MUST** make visible a Warning Notice: A formal
statement of resource intent, i.e., a warning notice, upon initial
access to a VNF provider user who accesses private internal networks
or Company computer resources, e.g., upon initial logon to an internal
web site, system or application which requires authentication.
* R-73541 The VNF **MUST** use access controls for VNFs and their
supporting computing systems at all times to restrict access to
authorized personnel only, e.g., least privilege. These controls
could include the use of system configuration or access control
software.
* R-64503 The VNF **MUST** provide minimum privileges for initial
and default settings for new user accounts.
* R-86835 The VNF **MUST** set the default settings for user access
to sensitive commands and data to deny authorization.
* R-77157 The VNF **MUST** conform to approved request, workflow
authorization, and authorization provisioning requirements when
creating privileged users.
* R-81147 The VNF **MUST** have greater restrictions for access and
execution, such as up to 3 factors of authentication and restricted
authorization, for commands affecting network services, such as
commands relating to VNFs.
* R-49109 The VNF **MUST** encrypt TCP/IP--HTTPS (e.g., TLS v1.2)
transmission of data on internal and external networks.
* R-39562 The VNF **MUST** disable unnecessary or vulnerable cgi-bin programs.
* R-15671 The VNF **MUST NOT** provide public or unrestricted access
to any data without the permission of the data owner. All data
classification and access controls must be followed.
* R-89753 The VNF **MUST NOT** install or use systems, tools or
utilities capable of capturing or logging data that was not created
by them or sent specifically to them in production, without
authorization of the VNF system owner.
* R-19082 The VNF **MUST NOT** run security testing tools and
programs, e.g., password cracker, port scanners, hacking tools
in production, without authorization of the VNF system owner.
* R-19790 The VNF **MUST NOT** include authentication credentials
in security audit logs, even if encrypted.
* R-85419 The VNF **SHOULD** use REST APIs exposed to Client
Applications for the implementation of OAuth 2.0 Authorization
Code Grant and Client Credentials Grant, as the standard interface
for a VNF.
* R-48080 The VNF **SHOULD** support SCEP (Simple Certificate
Enrollment Protocol).
VNF API Security Requirements
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This section covers API security requirements when these are used by the
VNFs. Key security areas covered in API security are Access Control,
Authentication, Passwords, PKI Authentication Alarming, Anomaly
Detection, Lawful Intercept, Monitoring and Logging, Input Validation,
Cryptography, Business continuity, Biometric Authentication,
Identification, Confidentiality and Integrity, and Denial of Service.
The solution in a virtual environment needs to meet the following API
security requirements:
API Requirements
* R-37608 The VNF **MUST** provide a mechanism to restrict access based
on the attributes of the VNF and the attributes of the subject.
* R-43884 The VNF **MUST** integrate with external authentication
and authorization services (e.g., IDAM).
* R-25878 The VNF **MUST** use certificates issued from publicly
recognized Certificate Authorities (CA) for the authentication process
where PKI-based authentication is used.
* R-19804 The VNF **MUST** validate the CA signature on the certificate,
ensure that the date is within the validity period of the certificate,
check the Certificate Revocation List (CRL), and recognize the identity
represented by the certificate where PKI-based authentication is used.
* R-47204 The VNF **MUST** protect the confidentiality and integrity of
data at rest and in transit from unauthorized access and modification.
* R-33488 The VNF **MUST** protect against all denial of service
attacks, both volumetric and non-volumetric, or integrate with external
denial of service protection tools.
* R-21652 The VNF **MUST** implement the following input validation
control: Check the size (length) of all input. Do not permit an amount
of input so great that it would cause the VNF to fail. Where the input
may be a file, the VNF API must enforce a size limit.
* R-54930 The VNF **MUST** implement the following input validation
control: Do not permit input that contains content or characters
inappropriate to the input expected by the design. Inappropriate input,
such as SQL insertions, may cause the system to execute undesirable
and unauthorized transactions against the database or allow other
inappropriate access to the internal network.
* R-21210 The VNF **MUST** implement the following input validation
control: Validate that any input file has a correct and valid
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) type. Input files
should be tested for spoofed MIME types.
* R-23772 The VNF **MUST** validate input at all layers implementing VNF APIs.
* R-87135 The VNF **MUST** comply with NIST standards and industry
best practices for all implementations of cryptography.
* R-02137 The VNF **MUST** implement all monitoring and logging as
described in the Security Analytics section.
* R-15659 The VNF **MUST** restrict changing the criticality level of
a system security alarm to administrator(s).
* R-19367 The VNF **MUST** monitor API invocation patterns to detect
anomalous access patterns that may represent fraudulent access or
other types of attacks, or integrate with tools that implement anomaly
and abuse detection.
* R-78066 The VNF **MUST** support requests for information from law
enforcement and government agencies.
VNF Security Analytics Requirements
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This section covers VNF security analytics requirements that are mostly
applicable to security monitoring. The VNF Security Analytics cover the
collection and analysis of data following key areas of security
monitoring:
- Anti-virus software
- Logging
- Data capture
- Tasking
- DPI
- API based monitoring
- Detection and notification
- Resource exhaustion detection
- Proactive and scalable monitoring
- Mobility and guest VNF monitoring
- Closed loop monitoring
- Interfaces to management and orchestration
- Malformed packet detections
- Service chaining
- Dynamic security control
- Dynamic load balancing
- Connection attempts to inactive ports (malicious port scanning)
The following requirements of security monitoring need to be met by the
solution in a virtual environment.
Security Analytics Requirements
* R-48470 The VNF **MUST** support Real-time detection and
notification of security events.
* R-22286 The VNF **MUST** support Integration functionality via
API/Syslog/SNMP to other functional modules in the network (e.g.,
PCRF, PCEF) that enable dynamic security control by blocking the
malicious traffic or malicious end users
* R-32636 The VNF **MUST** support API-based monitoring to take care of
the scenarios where the control interfaces are not exposed, or are
optimized and proprietary in nature.
* R-61648 The VNF **MUST** support event logging, formats, and delivery
tools to provide the required degree of event data to ONAP
* R-22367 The VNF **MUST** support detection of malformed packets due to
software misconfiguration or software vulnerability.
* R-31961 The VNF **MUST** support integrated DPI/monitoring functionality
as part of VNFs (e.g., PGW, MME).
* R-20912 The VNF **MUST** support alternative monitoring capabilities
when VNFs do not expose data or control traffic or use proprietary and
optimized protocols for inter VNF communication.
* R-73223 The VNF **MUST** support proactive monitoring to detect and
report the attacks on resources so that the VNFs and associated VMs can
be isolated, such as detection techniques for resource exhaustion, namely
OS resource attacks, CPU attacks, consumption of kernel memory, local
storage attacks.
* R-58370 The VNF **MUST** coexist and operate normally with commercial
anti-virus software which shall produce alarms every time when there is a
security incident.
* R-56920 The VNF **MUST** protect all security audit logs (including
API, OS and application-generated logs), security audit software, data,
and associated documentation from modification, or unauthorized viewing,
by standard OS access control mechanisms, by sending to a remote system,
or by encryption.
* R-54520 The VNF **MUST** log successful and unsuccessful login attempts.
* R-55478 The VNF **MUST** log logoffs.
* R-08598 The VNF **MUST** log successful and unsuccessful changes to
a privilege level.
* R-13344 The VNF **MUST** log starting and stopping of security
logging.
* R-07617 The VNF **MUST** log creating, removing, or changing the
inherent privilege level of users.
* R-94525 The VNF **MUST** log connections to a network listener of the
resource.
* R-31614 The VNF **MUST** log the field “event type” in the security
audit logs.
* R-97445 The VNF **MUST** log the field “date/time” in the security
audit logs.
* R-25547 The VNF **MUST** log the field “protocol” in the security audit logs.
* R-06413 The VNF **MUST** log the field “service or program used for
access” in the security audit logs.
* R-15325 The VNF **MUST** log the field “success/failure” in the
security audit logs.
* R-89474 The VNF **MUST** log the field “Login ID” in the security audit logs.
* R-04982 The VNF **MUST NOT** include an authentication credential,
e.g., password, in the security audit logs, even if encrypted.
* R-63330 The VNF **MUST** detect when the security audit log storage
medium is approaching capacity (configurable) and issue an alarm via
SMS or equivalent as to allow time for proper actions to be taken to
pre-empt loss of audit data.
* R-41252 The VNF **MUST** support the capability of online storage of
security audit logs.
* R-41825 The VNF **MUST** activate security alarms automatically when
the following event is detected: configurable number of consecutive
unsuccessful login attempts
* R-43332 The VNF **MUST** activate security alarms automatically when
the following event is detected: successful modification of critical
system or application files
* R-74958 The VNF **MUST** activate security alarms automatically when
the following event is detected: unsuccessful attempts to gain permissions
or assume the identity of another user
* R-15884 The VNF **MUST** include the field “date” in the Security alarms
(where applicable and technically feasible).
* R-23957 The VNF **MUST** include the field “time” in the Security alarms
(where applicable and technically feasible).
* R-71842 The VNF **MUST** include the field “service or program used for
access” in the Security alarms (where applicable and technically feasible).
* R-57617 The VNF **MUST** include the field “success/failure” in the
Security alarms (where applicable and technically feasible).
* R-99730 The VNF **MUST** include the field “Login ID” in the Security
alarms (where applicable and technically feasible).
* R-29705 The VNF **MUST** restrict changing the criticality level of a
system security alarm to administrator(s).
* R-13627 The VNF **MUST** monitor API invocation patterns to detect
anomalous access patterns that may represent fraudulent access or other
types of attacks, or integrate with tools that implement anomaly and
abuse detection.
* R-21819 The VNF **MUST** support requests for information from law
enforcement and government agencies.
* R-56786 The VNF **MUST** implement “Closed Loop” automatic implementation
(without human intervention) for Known Threats with detection rate in low
false positives.
* R-25094 The VNF **MUST** perform data capture for security functions.
* R-04492 The VNF **MUST** generate security audit logs that must be sent
to Security Analytics Tools for analysis.
* R-19219 The VNF **MUST** provide audit logs that include user ID, dates,
times for log-on and log-off, and terminal location at minimum.
* R-30932 The VNF **MUST** provide security audit logs including records
of successful and rejected system access data and other resource access
attempts.
* R-54816 The VNF **MUST** support the storage of security audit logs
for agreed period of time for forensic analysis.
* R-57271 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of generating security
audit logs by interacting with the operating system (OS) as appropriate.
* R-84160 The VNF **MUST** have security logging for VNFs and their
OSs be active from initialization. Audit logging includes automatic
routines to maintain activity records and cleanup programs to ensure
the integrity of the audit/logging systems.
VNF Data Protection Requirements
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This section covers VNF data protection requirements that are mostly
applicable to security monitoring.
Data Protection Requirements
* R-58964 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability to restrict read
and write access to data.
* R-99112 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability to restrict access
to data to specific users.
* R-83227 The VNF **MUST** Provide the capability to encrypt data in
transit on a physical or virtual network.
* R-32641 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability to encrypt data on
non-volatile memory.
* R-13151 The VNF **SHOULD** disable the paging of the data requiring
encryption, if possible, where the encryption of non-transient data is
required on a device for which the operating system performs paging to
virtual memory. If not possible to disable the paging of the data
requiring encryption, the virtual memory should be encrypted.
* R-93860 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability to integrate with an
external encryption service.
* R-73067 The VNF **MUST** use industry standard cryptographic algorithms
and standard modes of operations when implementing cryptography.
* R-22645 The VNF **SHOULD** use commercial algorithms only when there
are no applicable governmental standards for specific cryptographic
functions, e.g., public key cryptography, message digests.
* R-12467 The VNF **MUST NOT** use the SHA, DSS, MD5, SHA-1 and
Skipjack algorithms or other compromised encryption.
* R-02170 The VNF **MUST** use, whenever possible, standard implementations
of security applications, protocols, and format, e.g., S/MIME, TLS, SSH,
IPSec, X.509 digital certificates for cryptographic implementations.
These implementations must be purchased from reputable vendors and must
not be developed in-house.
* R-70933 The VNF **MUST** provide the ability to migrate to newer
versions of cryptographic algorithms and protocols with no impact.
* R-44723 The VNF **MUST** use symmetric keys of at least 112 bits in length.
* R-25401 The VNF **MUST** use asymmetric keys of at least 2048 bits in length.
* R-95864 The VNF **MUST** use commercial tools that comply with X.509
standards and produce x.509 compliant keys for public/private key generation.
* R-12110 The VNF **MUST NOT** use keys generated or derived from
predictable functions or values, e.g., values considered predictable
include user identity information, time of day, stored/transmitted data.
* R-52060 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability to configure encryption
algorithms or devices so that they comply with the laws of the jurisdiction
in which there are plans to use data encryption.
* R-69610 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of using certificates
issued from a Certificate Authority not provided by the VNF provider.
* R-83500 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of allowing certificate
renewal and revocation.
* R-29977 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of testing the validity
of a digital certificate by validating the CA signature on the certificate.
* R-24359 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of testing the validity
of a digital certificate by validating the date the certificate is being
used is within the validity period for the certificate.
* R-39604 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of testing the
validity of a digital certificate by checking the Certificate Revocation
List (CRL) for the certificates of that type to ensure that the
certificate has not been revoked.
* R-75343 The VNF **MUST** provide the capability of testing the
validity of a digital certificate by recognizing the identity represented
by the certificate — the "distinguished name".
VNF Modularity
---------------------------
ONAP Heat Orchestration Templates: Overview
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ONAP supports a modular Heat Orchestration Template design pattern,
referred to as *VNF Modularity.*
ONAP VNF Modularity Overview
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With VNF Modularity, a single VNF may be composed from one or more Heat
Orchestration Templates, each of which represents a subset of the
overall VNF. These component parts are referred to as “\ *VNF
Modules*\ ”. During orchestration, these modules are deployed
incrementally to create the complete VNF.
A modular Heat Orchestration Template can be either one of the following
types:
1. Base Module
2. Incremental Module
3. Cinder Volume Module
* R-37028 The VNF **MUST** be composed of one “base” module.
* R-41215 The VNF **MAY** have zero to many “incremental” modules.
* R-20974 The VNF **MUST** deploy the base module first, prior to
the incremental modules.
ONAP also supports the concept of an optional, independently deployed
Cinder volume via a separate Heat Orchestration Templates, referred to
as a Cinder Volume Module. This allows the volume to persist after a
Virtual Machine (VM) (i.e., OS::Nova::Server) is deleted, allowing the
volume to be reused on another instance (e.g., during a failover
activity).
* R-11200 The VNF **MUST** keep the scope of a Cinder volume module,
when it exists, to be 1:1 with the VNF Base Module or Incremental Module.
* R-38474 The VNF **MUST** have a corresponding environment file for
a Base Module.
* R-81725 The VNF **MUST** have a corresponding environment file for
an Incremental Module.
* R-53433 The VNF **MUST** have a corresponding environment file for
a Cinder Volume Module.
These concepts will be described in more detail throughout the document.
This overview is provided to set the stage and help clarify the concepts
that will be introduced.
ONAP VNF Modularity
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ONAP supports a modular Heat Orchestration Template design pattern,
referred to as *VNF Modularity.* With this approach, a single VNF may be
composed from one or more Heat Orchestration Templates, each of which
represents a subset of the overall VNF. These component parts are
referred to as “\ *VNF Modules*\ ”. During orchestration, these modules
are deployed incrementally to create the complete VNF.
A modular Heat Orchestration Template can be either one of the following
types:
1. Base Module
2. Incremental Module
3. Cinder Volume Module
A VNF must be composed of one “base” module and may be composed of zero
to many “incremental” modules. The base module must be deployed first,
prior to the incremental modules.
ONAP also supports the concept of an optional, independently deployed
Cinder volume via a separate Heat Orchestration Templates, referred to
as a Cinder Volume Module. This allows the volume to persist after a VM
(i.e., OS::Nova::Server) is deleted, allowing the volume to be reused on
another instance (e.g., during a failover activity).
The scope of a Cinder volume module, when it exists, must be 1:1 with a
Base module or Incremental Module.
A Base Module must have a corresponding environment file.
An Incremental Module must have a corresponding environment file.
A Cinder Volume Module must have a corresponding environment file.
A VNF module (base, incremental, cinder) may support nested templates.
A shared Heat Orchestration Template resource must be defined in the
base module. A shared resource is a resource that that will be
referenced by another resource that is defined in the Base Module and/or
one or more incremental modules.
When the shared resource needs to be referenced by a resource in an
incremental module, the UUID of the shared resource must be exposed by
declaring an ONAP Base Module Output Parameter.
Note that a Cinder volume is *not* a shared resource. A volume template
must correspond 1:1 with a base module or incremental module.
An example of a shared resource is the resource
OS::Neutron::SecurityGroup. Security groups are sets of IP filter rules
that are applied to a VNF’s networking. The resource OS::Neutron::Port
has a property security\_groups which provides the security groups
associated with port. The value of parameter(s) associated with this
property must be the UUIDs of the resource(s)
OS::Neutron::SecurityGroup.
*Note:* A Cinder volume is *not* considered a shared resource. A volume
template must correspond 1:1 with a base template or add-on module
template.
Suggested Patterns for Modular VNFs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are numerous variations of VNF modularity. Below are two suggested
usage patterns.
**Option 1: Modules per VNFC type**
a. Base module contains only the shared resources.
b. Group all VMs (e.g., VNFCs) of a given type (i.e. {vm-type}) into its
own incremental module. That is, the VNF has an incremental module
for each {vm-type}.
c. For a given {vm-type} incremental module, the VNF may have
i. One incremental module used for both initial turn up and re-used
for scaling. This approach is used when the number of VMs
instantiated will be the same for initial deployment and scaling.
ii. Two incremental modules, where one is used for initial turn up
and one is used for scaling. This approach is used when the
number of VMs instantiated will be different for initial
deployment and scaling.
**Option 2: Base VNF with Incremental Growth Modules**
a. Base module contains a complete initial VNF instance
b. Incremental modules for incremental scaling units
i. May contain VMs of multiple types in logical scaling combinations
ii. May be separated by VM type for multi-dimensional scaling
With no growth units, Option 2 is equivalent to the “One Heat Template
per VNF” model.
Note that modularization of VNFs is not required. A single Heat
Orchestration Template (a base module) may still define a complete VNF,
which might be appropriate for smaller VNFs that do not have any scaling
options.
Modularity Rules
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are some rules to follow when building modular VNF templates:
1. All VNFs must have one Base VNF Module (template) that must be the
first one deployed. The base template:
a. Must include all shared resources (e.g., private networks, server
groups, security groups)
b. Must expose all shared resources (by UUID) as “outputs” in its
associated Heat template (i.e., ONAP Base Module Output
Parameters)
c. May include initial set of VMs
d. May be operational as a stand-alone “minimum” configuration of the
VNF
2. VNFs may have one or more incremental modules which:
a. Defines additional resources that can be added to an existing VNF
b. Must be complete Heat templates
i. i.e. not snippets to be incorporated into some larger template
c. Should define logical growth-units or sub-components of an overall
VNF
d. On creation, receives appropriate Base Module outputs as
parameters
i. Provides access to all shared resources (by UUID)
ii. must not be dependent on other Add-On VNF Modules
e. Multiple instances of an incremental Module may be added to the
same VNF (e.g., incrementally grow a VNF by a fixed “add-on”
growth units)
3. Each VNF Module (base or incremental) may have (optional) an
associated Cinder Volume Module (see Cinder Volume Templates)
a. Volume modules must correspond 1:1 with a base module or
incremental module
b. A Cinder volume may be embedded within the base module or
incremental module if persistence is not required
4. Shared resource UUIDs are passed between the base module and
incremental modules via Heat Outputs Parameters (i.e., Base Module
Output Parameters)
a. The output parameter name in the base must match the parameter
name in the add-on module
VNF Modularity Examples
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Example: Base Module creates SecurityGroup*
A VNF has a base module, named base.yaml, that defines a
OS::Neutron::SecurityGroup. The security group will be referenced by an
OS::Neutron::Port resource in an incremental module, named
INCREMENTAL\_MODULE.yaml. The base module defines a parameter in the out
section named dns\_sec\_grp\_id. dns\_sec\_grp\_id is defined as a
parameter in the incremental module. ONAP captures the UUID value of
dns\_sec\_grp\_id from the base module output statement and provides the
value to the incremental module.
Note that the example below is not a complete Heat Orchestration
Template. The {network-role} has been defined as oam to represent an oam
network and the {vm-type} has been defined as dns.
base\_MODULE.yaml
.. code-block:: yaml
parameters:
. . .
resources:
DNS_SECURITY_GROUP:
type: OS::Neutron::SecurityGroup
properties:
description: vDNS security group
name:
str_replace:
template: VNF_NAME_sec_grp_DNS
params:
VMF_NAME: {get_param: vnf_name}
rules: [. . . . .
. . .
outputs:
dns_sec_grp_id:
description: UUID of DNS Resource SecurityGroup
value: { get_resource: DNS_SECURITY_GROUP }
INCREMENTAL\_MODULE.yaml
.. code-block:: yaml
parameters:
dns_sec_grp_id:
type: string
description: security group UUID
. . .
resources:
dns_oam_0_port:
type: OS::Neutron::Port
properties:
name:
str_replace:
template: VNF_NAME_dns_oam_port
params:
VNF_NAME: {get_param: vnf_name}
network: { get_param: oam_net_name }
fixed_ips: [{ "ip_address": { get_param: dns_oam_ip_0 }}]
security_groups: [{ get_param: dns_sec_grp_id }]
*Examples: Base Module creates an internal network*
A VNF has a base module, named base\_module.yaml, that creates an
internal network. An incremental module, named incremental\_module.yaml,
will create a VM that will connect to the internal network. The base
module defines a parameter in the out section named int\_oam\_net\_id.
int\_oam\_net\_id is defined as a parameter in the incremental module.
ONAP captures the UUID value of int\_oam\_net\_id from the base module
output statement and provides the value to the incremental module.
Note that the example below is not a complete Heat Orchestration
Template. The {network-role} has been defined as oam to represent an oam
network and the {vm-type} has been defined as lb for load balancer.
base.yaml
.. code-block:: yaml
heat_template_version: 2013-05-23
resources:
int_oam_network:
type: OS::Neutron::Network
properties:
name: {… }
. . .
outputs:
int_oam_net_id:
value: {get_resource: int_oam_network }
incremental.yaml
.. code-block:: yaml
heat_template_version: 2013-05-23
parameters:
int_oam_net_id:
type: string
description: ID of shared private network from Base template
lb_name_0:
type: string
description: name for the add-on VM instance
Resources:
lb_server:
type: OS::Nova::Server
properties:
name: {get_param: lb_name_0}
networks:
- port: { get_resource: lb_port }
. . .
lb_port:
type: OS::Neutron::Port
properties:
network_id: { get_param: int_oam_net_id }
...
VNF Devops
---------------------
This section includes guidelines for VNF providers to ensure that a Network
Cloud Service Provider’s operations personnel have a common and
consistent way to support VNFs and VNFCs.
NCSPs may elect to support standard images to enable compliance with
security, audit, regulatory and other needs. As part of the overall VNF
software bundle, VNF suppliers using standard images would typically
provide the NCSP with an install package consistent with the default OS
package manager (e.g. aptitude for Ubuntu, yum for Redhat/CentOS).
Section 5.a DevOps in *VNF Guidelines* describes
the DevOps guidelines for VNFs.
DevOps Requirements
* R-46960 NCSPs **MAY** operate a limited set of Guest OS and CPU
architectures and families, virtual machines, etc.
* R-23475 VNFCs **SHOULD** be agnostic to the details of the Network Cloud
(such as hardware, host OS, Hypervisor or container technology) and must run
on the Network Cloud with acknowledgement to the paradigm that the Network
Cloud will continue to rapidly evolve and the underlying components of
the platform will change regularly.
* R-33846 The VNF **MUST** install the NCSP required software on Guest OS
images when not using the NCSP provided Guest OS images. [1]_
* R-09467 The VNF **MUST** utilize only NCSP standard compute flavors. [1]_
* R-02997 The VNF **MUST** preserve their persistent data. Running VMs
will not be backed up in the Network Cloud infrastructure.
* R-29760 The VNFC **MUST** be installed on non-root file systems,
unless software is specifically included with the operating system
distribution of the guest image.
* R-20860 The VNF **MUST** be agnostic to the underlying infrastructure
(such as hardware, host OS, Hypervisor), any requirements should be
provided as specification to be fulfilled by any hardware.
* R-89800 The VNF **MUST NOT** require Hypervisor-level customization
from the cloud provider.
* R-86758 The VNF **SHOULD** provide an automated test suite to validate
every new version of the software on the target environment(s). The tests
should be of sufficient granularity to independently test various
representative VNF use cases throughout its lifecycle. Operations might
choose to invoke these tests either on a scheduled basis or on demand to
support various operations functions including test, turn-up and
troubleshooting.
* R-39650 The VNF **SHOULD** provide the ability to test incremental
growth of the VNF.
* R-14853 The VNF **MUST** respond to a "move traffic" [2]_ command
against a specific VNFC, moving all existing session elsewhere with
minimal disruption if a VNF provides a load balancing function across
multiple instances of its VNFCs. Note: Individual VNF performance
aspects (e.g., move duration or disruption scope) may require further
constraints.
* R-06327 The VNF **MUST** respond to a "drain VNFC" [2]_ command against
a specific VNFC, preventing new session from reaching the targeted VNFC,
with no disruption to active sessions on the impacted VNFC, if a VNF
provides a load balancing function across multiple instances of its VNFCs.
This is used to support scenarios such as proactive maintenance with no
user impact.
* R-64713 The VNF **SHOULD** support a software promotion methodology
from dev/test -> pre-prod -> production in software, development &
testing and operations.
VNF Develop Steps
--------------------------------
Aid to help the VNF provider to fasten the integration with the GVNFM, the
ONAP provides the VNF SDK tools, and the documents. In this charter,
the develop steps for VNF providers will be introduced.
First, using the VNF SDK tools to design the VNF with TOSCA model and
output the VNF TOSCA package. The VNF package can be validated, and
tested.
Second, the VNF provider should provide the VNF Rest API to integrate with
the GVNFM if needed. The VNF Rest API is aligned to the ETSI IFA
document.
Third, the TOSCA model supports the HPA feature.
Note:
1. The scripts to extend capacity to satisfy some special requirements.
In the R2, the scripts is not implemented fully, and will be provided
in the next release.
2. The monitoring and scale policy also be provide the next release.
.. [1]
Refer to NCSP’s Network Cloud specification
.. [2]
Not currently supported in ONAP release 1
|