Rehoming the Skylight sensor: control
  • 22 Jun 2023
  • 7 Minutes to read
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Rehoming the Skylight sensor: control

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Article Summary

This article explains how to move a Skylight sensor: module from one Skylight sensor: control to another, referred to as rehoming.

About Rehoming

This Skylight 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 Skylight sensor: control release to a newer Skylight 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 Skylight sensor: control, ensure that you meet the following requirements:

A. Software version of the module can be supported on the destination Skylight sensor: control.

B. The module can be reached or pinged on the destination Skylight sensor: control when online (offline is left unchecked).

C. The module can be discovered by the Discovery setting on the destination Skylight sensor: control.

D. The devices are backed up before rehoming.

E. Moving the module over to the destination Skylight sensor: control will not exceed the target Skylight sensor: control engineering limits (for any of the objects being moved above).

To rehome a Skylight sensor: control

  1. Log in to Skylight orchestrator.

  2. Access Devices ► Managed Elements page to view the Skylight sensor: controls required for rehoming.


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

  3. Log in to the source Skylight sensor: control.

  4. Access Remote Devices ▶ Configuration to view Skylight sensor: module(s).

  5. Log in to destination Skylight sensor: control.

  6. Access Remote Devices ▶ Configuration.
    The Skylight sensor: module(s) in step 4 will not be displayed yet.

  7. Return to Skylight 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 Skylight sensor: control. Skip to PM collect global settings migration below.
    b. State of the source PM streaming is enabled. In this instance, Skylight orchestrator will check the PM type one by one and update the active state on the destination Skylight sensor: control.

  9. Access Commission ▶ Jobs from Skylight orchestrator.
    The Job configuration dialog is displayed.
    a. Click the Add Plus sign.PNG 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 New_3 dots button.PNG to display the Select Name dialog.
    f. Select a Skylight sensor: control destination and click OK.
    g. Click Apply, then click Close.

  10. Access Commission ▶ Jobs Executors.
    a. Click the Add Plus sign.PNG 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_Refresh_Generic.png button to refresh the user interface.

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

  12. Select the source Skylight sensor: control and the destination Skylight 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 Skylight sensor: controls is complete, access Device Selection ▶ Modules & SFPs page and click the Refresh Button_Refresh_Generic.png button.
    The modules are now being managed by not only the source Skylight sensor: control but also the destination Skylight sensor: control.


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

  14. Verify in the destination Skylight sensor: control that all modules have been imported.

If there is an issue, the user can unlock the module on the source Skylight sensor: control and delete the constructs on the destination Skylight sensor: control, to return the module to operation on the original Skylight sensor: control.

IMPORTANT: After the rehoming, the module will still remain on the source Skylight sensor: control.

  • If the rehoming fails for any reason, the module will be reconnected on the source Skylight sensor: control.
  • If the rehoming is successful, the module will be in disconnected state on the source Skylight sensor: control

PM collect global settings migration

If the PM streaming is enabled on the source Skylight sensor: control, the Skylight orchestrator will automatically activate PM streaming on the destination Skylight sensor: control and check the PM types one by one:

  • If the PM mode is not enabled on the source Skylight sensor: control, then no changes are applied for this PM mode on the destination Skylight sensor: control.
  • If the PM mode is enabled on the source and destination Skylight sensor: controls, then no changes are applied on the destination Skylight sensor: control.
  • If the PM mode is enabled on the source Skylight sensor: control but the PM mode is not enabled on the destination Skylight sensor: control, the Skylight orchestrator will activate this PM mode on the destination Skylight sensor: control and give the period of the source Skylight sensor: control.

In the case of multiple source Skylight sensor: controls, the same rules apply. It is a merge where all activated modes amongst different source Skylight sensor: controls will be activated in the final destination Skylight sensor: control.

Restoring the Skylight sensor: control

Note that if rehoming was unsuccessful, the Skylight sensor: control will need to be restored to previous settings. However, if rehoming was successful, the Skylight sensor: control must not be restored to previous settings. Otherwise, certain configurations will be lost.

To restore the Skylight 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 Skylight 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 Skylight 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.


Note: Another useful search is Last status change from.

Skylight sensor: control with SLA Portal

SLA Portal cannot continue to graph for the session after rehoming, in cases of Skylight 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 Skylight sensor: control to the hostname of the destination Skylight sensor: control.

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

© 2024 Accedian Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Accedian®, Accedian Networks®,  the Accedian logo™, Skylight™, Skylight Interceptor™ and per-packet intel™, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Accedian Networks Inc. To view a list of Accedian trademarks visit: http://accedian.com/legal/trademarks/. 


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