Configuring the Multilayer Feature

Adding or Deleting a Profile Group

The buttons across the top of the Profile Groups pane perform the functions described in Table 1.

To create a profile group, perform the following steps:

1. In the Profile Groups pane (lower left pane), click the Add (+) button to display the Create New Group window. Figure 2 shows the Create New Group window that is displayed.

   Figure 2: Create New Group Window

2. Enter a name for the new group and click OK.

To delete a selected group, click the Delete button, and respond to the request for confirmation.

Adding Devices

The buttons across the top of the Device List pane perform the functions described in Table 2.

To create the devices that are part of the new profile group, perform the following steps:

1. In the Device List pane (lower right pane), click the Add (+) button to display the Add New Device window as shown in Figure 3.

   Figure 3: Add New Device Window

2. Enter the requested information. Some fields are populated with default values, but you can change them. Table 3 describes the fields in the Add New Device window.

   Table 3: Add New Device Window Field Descriptions

   Field	Description
   Device Name	Name of the device for display and reporting purposes.
   Device IP (required)	The IP address used to connect to the HTTP server on the device. This address is typically provided by the vendor.
   Login (required unless the authentication method is NOAUTH)	Username for authentication. The username must match the username configured on the server running the device being configured.
   Password (required unless the authentication method is NOAUTH)	Password for authentication. The password must match the password configured on the server running the device being configured.
   Access Method	Use the drop-down menu to select either HTTP or HTTPS. The default is HTTP.
   HTTP Port	The HTTP port on the device. The default is 5000.
   Connection Timeout	Number of seconds before a connection request to the device times out. The default is 300. Use the up and down arrows to increment or decrement this value or type a different value in the field.
   Heartbeat Failure Limit	Number of connection retries before the device is considered down. The default is 3.
   Authentication Method	Use the drop-down menu to select BASIC, NOAUTH, or BEARER. The default is BASIC.
   Authorization URL	Used when the Authentication Method is BEARER. The server URL used to generate the bearer token based on the user name and password.
   Token Expiration Time	Used when the Authentication Method is BEARER. Number of seconds the bearer token is valid. The default is 3600.

   Table 4 shows the fields that require specific values for particular transport controller vendors. Fields not listed are not typically vendor-specific. Confirm all values with the vendor before using them.

   Table 4: Vendor-Specific Device Field Values

   Field	ProNX Optical Director	ADVA	Coriant	Ciena	Virtuora
   Access Method	HTTP	HTTPS	HTTP	HTTPS	HTTPS
   HTTP Port	8082	8080	8081	443	8443
   Authentication Method	BEARER	BASIC	BASIC	BEARER	BASIC
   Authorization URL	http://ip-addr:8084/ auth/authenticate	NA	NA	https://ip-addr/tron/ api/v1/tokens	NA
   Token Expiration Time	3600s (the default)	NA	NA	3600s (the default)	NA

3. Click Submit.

4. Repeat the procedure to add all the devices for the profile group.

You can drag and drop device rows to change the order in the Device list. Changing the order in the list changes the order in which connection to the devices is attempted.

Configuring the Transport Controller Profile

The buttons across the top of the Transport Controllers pane perform the functions described in Table 5.

To configure a transport controller profile, perform the following steps:

1. In the Transport Controllers pane (upper left pane), click the Add (+) button. The default name “newController” is added to the Transport Controllers pane in red text (red, because it has not yet been saved), and is selected so you can populate the properties in the Configuration pane (upper right pane).

2. In the Configuration pane, enter the requested information. Table 6 describes the transport controller configuration fields and identifies the ones that are required.

   Table 6: Transport Controller Configuration Fields

   Field	Description
   Name (required)	Name of the transport controller profile. The default name for a new profile is newController. We recommend you use the name of the vendor (ADVA, for example) as the name of the transport controller profile, so NorthStar Controller can use corresponding icons in the UI. Otherwise, it uses generic icons.
   Group Name (required)	Use the drop-down menu to select a group name from those configured in the Profile Groups pane.
   Model	Use the drop-down menu to select either ietf-te-topology-01, OpenROADM-2.0, or TAPI-2.1.
   Interface Type (required)	Use the drop-down menu to select REST, RESTCONF, CIENA-REST, or VIRTUORA-REST. The default is REST. Note: CIENA-REST is specifically for Ciena Transport Controller T-API. VIRTUORA-REST is specifically for Virtuora T-API.
   Notify URL (required)	REST or RESTCONF URL on the transport controller that publishes topology change notifications. Note: Topology change notifications are currently unsupported in T-API.
   Poll URL	The server URL used to poll server liveness. If the interface type is RESTCONF and no value is entered, NorthStar Controller uses /.well-known/host-meta by default. If the interface type is REST, you must enter a value which you obtain from the vendor.
   Root URL	Default root URL for RESTCONF datastores.
   SRLG Prefix	Enables separation of shared risk link group (SRLG) spaces when multiple controllers are configured. If a prefix is entered, the SRLG takes the form TSRLG_<prefix>_<SRLG>. If no prefix is entered, the SRLG takes the form TSRLG_<SRLG>.
   Topology to use	Specifies the topology to use in the event that a controller returns multiple topologies. This is your choice from the topologies provided, but there are typical topologies for each vendor. The field can be left empty, in which case all topologies are imported. If the value does not match a topology exported by the transport controller, no topology is shown. Note: Topology filtering is currently unsupported in T-API.
   Topology URL (required)	URL on the transport controller that provides the abstract topology.
   Service URL	Used when the Model is OpenROADM-2.0. IP layer link that fetches services information.
   Reconnect Interval	Number of seconds between reconnection attempts to the devices included in the profile group. The default is 300.

   Table 7, Table 8, Table 9, Table 10, and Table 11 show the fields that require specific values for particular vendors. Confirm all values with the vendor before using them.

   Table 7: proNX Optical Director: Typical Transport Controller Field Values

   ProNX Optical Director
   Name	JuniperPOD
   Model	OpenROADM-2.0
   Interface Type	RESTCONF
   Notify URL	/websockets/NETCONF-JSON
   Poll URL	(None)
   Topology to Use	optical
   Topology URL	/restconf/data/ietf-network:network
   Service URL	/restconf/data/org-openroadm-service:service-list

   Table 8: ADVA: Typical Transport Controller Field Values

   ADVA
   Name	ADVA
   Model	ietf-te-topology-01
   Interface Type	REST
   Notify URL	/rest/NETCONF
   Poll URL	/rest/data/ietf-te-topology:te-topologies-state
   Topology to Use	ADVA_TOPOLOGY_1
   Topology URL	/rest/data/ietf-te-topology:te-topologies-state
   Service URL	NA

   Table 9: Coriant: Typical Transport Controller Field Values

   Coriant
   Name	Coriant
   Model	ietf-te-topology-01
   Interface Type	RESTCONF
   Notify URL	/streams/NETCONF-JSON
   Poll URL	(None)
   Topology to Use	Customized_Topology_for_NorthStar_1_Demands
   Topology URL	/rest/data/ietf-te-topology:te-topologies-state
   Service URL	NA

   Table 10: Ciena T-API: Typical Transport Controller Field Values

   T-API
   Name	TAPI
   Model	TAPI-2.1
   Interface Type	CIENA-REST
   Notify URL	(None)
   Poll URL	/tron/api/v1/login-info
   Root URL	(None)
   Topology to Use	(None)
   Topology URL	/mcpview/api/v1/tapi/core
   Service URL	(None)

   Table 11: Fujitsu Virtuora NC: Typical Transport Controller Field Values

   T-API
   Name	Virtuora
   Model	TAPI-2.1
   Interface Type	VIRTUORA-REST
   Notify URL	(None)
   Poll URL	(None)
   Root URL	(None)
   Topology to Use	(None)
   Topology URL	/cxf/tapi/v2
   Service URL	(None)

3. Click the Save button in the Transport Controllers pane to save the transport controller profile. The profile name turns from red to black if saved successfully. If it does not become black when you attempt to save it, double check the data in the Configuration pane.

Updating Transport Topologies Acquired Via T-API

Currently, notifications are not supported for updating transport topologies acquired via T-API, but you can configure NorthStar to reload the transport topology at a specified interval. The polling-interval option controls this interval for interfaces without notification support.

To configure the interval, access the NorthStar CLI as described in Configuring NorthStar Settings Using the NorthStar CLI in the NorthStar Controller/Planner Getting Started Guide. Use the set northstar mladapter polling-interval command to configure your preferred number of seconds. Setting a value of 0 disables polling.