Onboarding a VNF which includes a VDU with multiple VNFCs
View Patent ↗The instant solution includes at least one element or action described or depicted herein.
1. A method for on-boarding a Virtual Network Function (VNF) comprising a Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU) containing a plurality of Virtual Network Function Components (VNFCs), the method comprising:
receiving, by a hardware-implemented server executing a Service Design and Creation (SDC) module, an archive, created by a VNF provider, the archive containing contents of a VNF package including a VNF Descriptor (VNFD) file containing the Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU), where the VDU further includes a plurality of VNFC descriptor files each corresponding to one of the plurality of VNFCs; and
enabling, by the SDC module, the VNF in a catalog of the SDC module in response to on-boarding the VNFD file and the VDU by the SDC module.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the archive contains VNFC artifacts comprising:
a VNF specific lifecycle management (LCM) script file;
a VNFC specific lifecycle script file;
a Virtualized Container (VC) upgrade scrip file;
a VC image binary file; and
a VNFC software load.
3. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
identifying, by the SDC module, a manifest file in the archive, the manifest file listing an entire contents of the archive; and
processing, by the SDC module, a signing certificate located in the archive based on the identifying the manifest file.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, by the SDC module, the VNFD file in the catalog of the SDC module.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, by the SDC module, the VNFD file in a remote database specified in a VC image descriptor file of the VNFD.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the enabling the VNF in a catalog of the SDC module further comprises:
automatically enabling the VNF in the catalog of the SDC module based on a completion of the on-boarding process.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the archive further includes:
a VNFC directory that contains a separate directory for each VNFC of the plurality of VNFCs.
8. An apparatus for on-boarding a Virtual Network Function (VNF) comprising a Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU) containing a plurality of Virtual Network Function Components (VNFCs), the apparatus comprising:
a hardware-implemented server executing a Service Design and Creation (SDC) module configured to:
receive an archive, created by a VNF provider, containing contents of a VNF package including a VNF Descriptor (VNFD) file containing the Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU), where the VDU further includes a plurality of VNFC descriptor files each corresponding to one of the plurality of VNFCs; and
enable the VNF in a catalog of the SDC module in response to on-boarding the VNFD file and the VDU by the SDC module.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the archive contains VNFC artifacts comprising:
a VNF specific lifecycle management (LCM) script file;
a VNFC specific lifecycle script file;
a Virtualized Container (VC) scrip file;
a VC image binary file; and
upgrade
a VNFC software load.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the SDC module is further configured to:
identify a manifest file in the archive, the manifest file listing an entire contents of the archive; and
process a signing certificate located in the archive based on the identification of the manifest file.
11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the SDC module is further configured to:
store the VNFD file in the catalog of the SDC module.
12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the VNFD file and the VDU are on-boarded.
13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein, when the SDC module enables the VNF, the SDC module is further configured to:
automatically enable the VNF in the catalog of the SDC module based on a completion of the on-boarding process.
14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the archive further includes:
a VNFC directory that contains a separate directory for each VNFC of the plurality of VNFCs.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for on-boarding a Virtual Network Function (VNF) comprising a Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU) containing a plurality of Virtual Network Function Components (VNFCs) that when read by a processor of a hardware-implemented server executing a Service Design and Creation (SDC) module cause the processor to:
receive an archive, created by a VNF provider, containing contents of a VNF package including a VNF Descriptor (VNFD) file containing the Virtual Deployment Unit (VDU), where the VDU further includes a plurality of VNFC descriptor files each corresponding to one of the plurality of VNFCs; and
enable the VNF in a catalog of the SDC module in response to on-boarding the VNFD file and the VDU by the SDC module.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the archive contains VNFC artifacts comprising:
a VNF specific lifecycle management (LCM) script file;
a VNFC specific lifecycle script file;
a Virtualized Container (VC) upgrade scrip file;
a VC image binary file; and
a VNFC software load.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instruction further cause to processor to:
identify a manifest file in the archive, the manifest file listing an entire contents of the archive; and
process a signing certificate located in the archive based on the identifying the manifest file.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instruction further cause to processor to:
store the VNFD file in the catalog of the SDC module.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instruction further cause to processor to:
store the VNFD file in a remote database specified in a VC image descriptor file of the VNFD.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instruction further cause to processor to:
on-board the VNFD file; and
on-board the VDU.