Rehoming the Provider Connectivity Assurance Sensor Control

This article explains how to move a Provider Connectivity Assurance Sensor Module from one Provider Connectivity Assurance Sensor Control to another, referred to as rehoming.

About Rehoming

This Assurance Sensor Control rehoming process ensures the following moves along with the module:

• Port and interface configurations
• VCE configurations
• Flowmeter sessions
• Sessions going through the VCEs of the module
• Flow broker Capture and Data configurations
• Policies, regulators and classification profiles
• Encryption keys (if activated)
• Licenses if acquired need to be released.

When rehoming an older Assurance Sensor Control release to a newer Assurance Sensor Control release, a module upgrade is performed if the automatic upgrade parameter is enabled. The module upgrade must be factored into the link timeout wait period, which is up to one hour.

Requirements and Procedure

Before rehoming the Assurance Sensor Control, ensure that you meet the following requirements:

A. Software version of the module can be supported on the destination Assurance Sensor Control.

B. The module can be reached or pinged on the destination Assurance Sensor Control when online (offline is left unchecked).

C. The module can be discovered by the Discovery setting on the destination Assurance Sensor Control.

D. The devices are backed up before rehoming.

E. Moving the module over to the destination Assurance Sensor Control will not exceed the target Assurance Sensor Control engineering limits (for any of the objects being moved above).

To rehome an Assurance Sensor Control

1. Log in to Legacy orchestrator.

2. Access Devices ► Managed Elements page to view the Assurance Sensor Controls required for rehoming.
   

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   Note: They are referred to as the source sensor: control and the destination sensor: control.

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3. Log in to the source Assurance Sensor Control.

4. Access Remote Devices ▶ Configuration to view Assurance Sensor Module(s).

5. Log in to destination Assurance Sensor Control.

6. Access Remote Devices ▶ Configuration.
   The Assurance Sensor Module(s) in step 4 will not be displayed yet.

7. Return to Legacy orchestrator.

8. Access Devices ▶ Device Configuration to view the state of the PM streaming. There are two scenarios:
   a. State of source PM streaming is disabled; therefore, no changes are applied on the destination Assurance Sensor Control. Skip to PM collect global settings migration below.
   b. State of the source PM streaming is enabled. In this instance, Legacy orchestrator will check the PM type one by one and update the active state on the destination Assurance Sensor Control.

9. Access Commission ▶ Jobs from Legacy orchestrator.
   The Job configuration dialog is displayed.
   a. Click the Add button to add a new configuration job.
   b. Set all common configuration job settings, as described in Creating Configuration Jobs in GUI Mode and in Creating Configuration Jobs Using Data Sets.
   c. Select Rehoming in the left pane. The Rehoming tab is displayed.
   d. Choose Migrate unlinked option.
   e. Click the Name field, then click to display the Select Name dialog.
   f. Select an Assurance Sensor Control destination and click OK.
   g. Click Apply, then click Close.

10. Access Commission ▶ Jobs Executors.
    a. Click the Add button to add a new executor. The Job execution configuration window is displayed.
    b. Set all common job executor settings, as described in "Executing Configuration Jobs" (Adding a Job Executor).
    c. Drag the jobs that you want to execute from the left pane to the right pane in the Jobs tab.
    d. Click the Device Selection ▶ Modules & SFPs subtab, drag and drop to the right pane, titled Target devices, the module that you are rehoming.
    e. Click Apply.
    f. Select the Status tab and click the Start Job Executor ▶ button. Job executor is now being started. Wait a few minutes for the information to update.
    g. Click the Refresh button to refresh the user interface.

11. After the executor is completed, access the Devices ▶ Managed Elements page in Legacy orchestrator.

12. Select the source Assurance Sensor Control and the destination Assurance Sensor Control, then click the Resynch button.
    A pop-up confirmation window will appear, confirming the resynchronization of all selected devices.

13. Click OK.
    After the resynchronization of both Assurance Sensor Controls is complete, access Device Selection ▶ Modules & SFPs page and click the Refresh button.
    The modules are now being managed by not only the source Assurance Sensor Control but also the destination Assurance Sensor Control.
    

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    Note: If the forced resynch is not done, it will take up to 15 minutes for the system to sync automatically.

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14. Verify in the destination Assurance Sensor Control that all modules have been imported.

If there is an issue, the user can unlock the module on the source Assurance Sensor Control and delete the constructs on the destination Assurance Sensor Control, to return the module to operation on the original Assurance Sensor Control.

IMPORTANT: After the rehoming, the module will still remain on the source Assurance Sensor Control.

• If the rehoming fails for any reason, the module will be reconnected on the source Assurance Sensor Control.
• If the rehoming is successful, the module will be in disconnected state on the source Assurance Sensor Control.

PM collect global settings migration

If the PM streaming is enabled on the source Assurance Sensor Control, the Legacy orchestrator will automatically activate PM streaming on the destination Assurance Sensor Control and check the PM types one by one:

• If the PM mode is not enabled on the source Assurance Sensor Control, then no changes are applied for this PM mode on the destination Assurance Sensor Control.
• If the PM mode is enabled on the source and destination Assurance Sensor Controls, then no changes are applied on the destination Assurance Sensor Control.
• If the PM mode is enabled on the source Assurance Sensor Control but the PM mode is not enabled on the destination Assurance Sensor Control, the Legacy orchestrator will activate this PM mode on the destination Assurance Sensor Control and give the period of the source Assurance Sensor Control.

In the case of multiple source Assurance Sensor Controls, the same rules apply. It is a merge where all activated modes amongst different source Assurance Sensor Controls will be activated in the final destination Assurance Sensor Control.

Restoring the Assurance Sensor Control

Note that if rehoming was unsuccessful, the Assurance Sensor Control will need to be restored to previous settings. However, if rehoming was successful, the Assurance Sensor Control must not be restored to previous settings. Otherwise, certain configurations will be lost.

To restore the Assurance Sensor Control to previous settings, refer to "Restoring the Configuration of a Device from Backup".

Known Limitations

This section explains known limitations related to the module rehoming feature.

Resyncing the Managed Elements

Before the user performs a rehoming procedure on any device, a resynch of the managed elements to be rehomed should be performed. If the forced resynch is disabled, then a manual resynch is recommended after rehoming the device; otherwise the user can expect to wait up to 15 minutes for the scheduled resynch.

Before the user attempts rehoming a module to another Assurance Sensor Control, ensure there is a discoverer configured and enabled on the endpoint where the discovery inventory contains the module.

Job Executor and Multiple Steps

The rehoming step cannot be executed at the same time as other steps, otherwise the job executor fails and the module cannot move to the destination Assurance Sensor Control.

Flow Executors

The rehoming process cannot be performed alongside other steps; flow executors cannot be used with a rehoming step.

Session Relocation

If several commission configuration jobs are executed in parallel, i.e by selecting more than one module at a time in the job executor, there is no validation on the aggregate of these jobs' resulting number of sessions on the target endpoint. This will leave sessions exceeding the limit not moved to the target endpoint, and they will not be restarted. The "Last update status“ will be “ERROR“ for such sessions. The module rehoming is not rolled back.

Rehoming the module successfully and moving up to 2,000 sessions per module requires several minutes. Therefore, it is good practice to check that the rehoming process is complete prior to performing the next. This can be accomplished with a search in the Sessions view or by simply searching for Last update status; the status will be INPROGRESS during rehoming and then COMPLETED.

Assurance Sensor Control with SLA Portal

SLA Portal cannot continue to graph for the session after rehoming, in cases of Assurance Sensor Control. The workaround for this scenario is shown below:

1. Ensure rehoming procedure is completed.

2. Wait 15 minutes for the polling time of SLA Portal to discover the new device.

3. Log in to the SLA Portal.

4. Edit the system name of the session which graphed before rehoming on the Circuit Editor from the hostname of the source Assurance Sensor Control to the hostname of the destination Assurance Sensor Control.

The SLA Portal can continue to graph for the session under test.