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Configuring NorthStar Settings Using the NorthStar CLI

Beginning with NorthStar Release 6.1.0, component-specific and service-specific NorthStar settings previously maintained in the northstar.cfg file are maintained in an internal cache and are configurable using the NorthStar CLI. The NorthStar CLI is very similar to the Junos OS CLI.

Note:

Certain bootstrap and infrastructure configuration settings continue to be maintained in the northstar.cfg file.

If you are not already familiar with the Junos OS CLI, see Junos OS CLI User Guide which covers:

  • Accessing operational and configuration command modes, and switching between modes

  • The concept of command hierarchies

  • Navigation among hierarchy levels

  • Getting help on command syntax including how to display all possible completions for a partial command

  • Helpful keyboard sequences including command completion shortcuts

  • Committing or backing out of configuration changes

Accessing the NorthStar CLI

To access the NorthStar CLI:

  1. After you successfully install NorthStar, log in to the NorthStar application server.

  2. Launch the NorthStar CLI:

  3. The > prompt indicates you are in operational mode. In this mode, you can display the NorthStar configuration, but you cannot change it. For example:

  4. Use the edit command to enter configuration mode (prompt changes to #):

    [edit] indicates the top of the command hierarchy.

  5. All NorthStar configuration commands begin with set northstar. Enter set northstar with a question mark to display the NorthStar configuration command top level categories:

  6. Continue with any category and a question mark to see the next level breakdown. For example:

  7. Continue in this fashion to reach a configuration setting and, if the command requires it, specify the value you wish to change. For example:

  8. Once you are familiar with the command hierarchy, you can navigate directly to a different level once you are in configuration mode. For example:

NorthStar Configuration Settings

Table 1 lists the NorthStar configuration settings most likely to require modification. It is not a complete listing of all available settings.

Table 1: Frequently Used NorthStar Configuration Settings

Setting

Command

Description

port

(NETCONF)

set northstar netconfd device-connection-pool netconf port

Use this command to change the default port for NETCONFD from 830. In some installations, port 22 is preferred.

aggregate-by-prefix

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd aggregate-by-prefix

By default, Netflow aggregates traffic by PE, but for some applications (such IPE), you would want the traffic aggregated by prefix. If the parameter is enabled, Netflow aggregates all traffic from a specific ingress PE router to a specific destination (prefix) within the defined period of time.

enable-ssl

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd enable-ssl

Enables Secure Socket Layer (SSL).

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

level

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd log-destination destination-name level

Level of information that is captured in the log file.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

default-sampling-interval

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd default-sampling-interval

The default sampling interval, if the router does not provide the interval in the Template FlowSet.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

publish-interval

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd publish-interval

Publishing interval to both Elasticsearch and the PCS. Traffic is aggregated per publishing interval.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

workers

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd workers

Number of worker processes to start.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

See Secondary Collector Installation for Distributed Data Collection for more information about distributed data collection.

notify-final-bandwidth- on-inactive-flow

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd notify-final-bandwidth-on-inactive-flow

If enabled, netflowd sends one final update after a flow is no longer active, reporting the bandwidth as 0.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

stats-interval

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd stats-interval

Interval at which statistics are printed to the log file.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

generate-as-demands

(Netflow collector)

set northstar analytics netflowd generate-as-demands

Enable the generation of AS demands by netflowd.

See Netflow Collector in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

polling-interval

(Multilayer)

set northstar mladapter polling-interval

Controls the polling interval for interfaces without notification support.

See Configuring the Multilayer Feature in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

interval

(Collection-cleanup)

set northstar system scheduler tasks collection-cleanup interval

Controls how often the collection-cleanup system task is run, in number of days.

See NorthStar Analytics Raw and Aggregated Data Retention in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

raw-data-retention- duration

(Collection-cleanup)

set northstar system scheduler tasks collection-cleanup raw-data-retention-duration

Defines what is considered an “old” log of raw data in number of days.

See NorthStar Analytics Raw and Aggregated Data Retention in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

rollup-data-retention- duration

(Collection-cleanup)

set northstar system scheduler tasks collection-cleanup rollup-data-retention-duration

Defines what is considered “old” aggregated data in number of days.

See NorthStar Analytics Raw and Aggregated Data Retention in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

interval

(Rollup)

set northstar system scheduler tasks rollup interval

Sets how often the ESRollup system task is run in number of hours.

See NorthStar Analytics Raw and Aggregated Data Retention in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

lsp-latency-interval

(Analytics)

set northstar path-computation-server lsp-latency-interval

Enables PCViewer to calculate LSP delay and display the data in the web UI.

See Viewing Analytics Data in the Web UI in the NorthStar Controller User Guide for more information.

include-interface-type

(all tasks related to interfaces)

set northstar config-server include-interface-type

Interface types that can be discovered on devices and that are to be used by traffic collection.

The supported interface types are:

  • physical: Physical interfaces, expressed as the interface name without a dot (.) in it

  • loopback-mgmt: Loopback and management interfaces expressed as the interface name starting with lo, fxp, me, or em

  • vrf-if: Interfaces associated with a VRF

  • links-if: Interfaces on links

  • all: All interfaces

Note:

configServer publishes to all components only the interface types that you specify. The web UI and data collection only receive information about interfaces representing those interface types.

If you modify this setting, deselecting interface types that are already represented by interfaces in the NorthStar model, those existing interfaces remain in the model.