IOS XE and XR via gNMI Dial-Out - UI method (Recommended)

This article explains the easiest UI-based method for configuring and deploying the out-of-the-box default IOS XR and IOS XE telemetry ingestion pipeline.

Follow the steps in this article to configure and deploy the default "out of the box" IOS XR and IOS XE Telemetry Collector and Sensor Collector, as well as to set up the gNMI dial-out on the IOS device(s) so that they are streaming telemetry to the Telemetry Collector.

Setting up a data ingestion pipeline

The Telemetry Collector receives and ingests a default set of sensor path telemetry metrics that are being streamed out of the IOS XR and IOS XE devices on a user-defined cadence.

The Telemetry Collector transforms the data to OpenMetrics format and transmits the data to the Sensor Collector, the data collector component for Provider Connectivity Assurance. The Sensor Collector securely transmits the data to Provider Connectivity Assurance.

To set up a data ingestion pipeline, you must deploy the Sensor Collector in a location accessible to both the Telemetry Collector and Provider Connectivity Assurance.

Both the Sensor Collector and Telemetry Collector are deployed as Docker containers but have slightly different installation methods:

Sensor Collector: Downloaded from Provider Connectivity Assurance through the user interface, transferred to the target machine, extracted, and run via a shell script.

Telemetry Collector: Installed using Docker Compose, which automatically pulls the required binaries.

It is recommended to deploy the Sensor Collector before the Telemetry Collector. Deploying them in reverse order may trigger warning messages if the Telemetry Collector cannot locate a Sensor Collector to which it can connect. Therefore, the instructions below deploy the Sensor Collector first, followed by the Telemetry Collector.*

Step 1 - Configure and deploy Sensor Collector

1. Use the Provider Connectivity User Interface to create a New Sensor Collector by choosing Sensors-> Collectors->Sensor Collector. Choose the + button on the right side to create a new sensor collector. Select Gateway in the Type field, and choose "configure Sensor Collector" to proceed.
   

2. Give the Sensor Collector a meaningful name (needs to be a unique name on the tenant. Avoid spaces in the name)

3. In the Metric configuration field, select telemetry-collector as per the screenshot below.

4. Populate the zone value, using a unique value (suggestion is to use the same value used as the name)
   

5. Click the checkmark to save.

6. Click the ellipsis (three dots) in the upper right corner and choose "Download (docker)". This triggers the download to your local machine, and you must transfer the .tar file to your target machine. Be patient, the package is built dynamically and it takes a few minutes to complete.

The banner at the top shows "preparing file for download... (this may take a minute)" as a reminder that patience is required:

7. On the target machine, after you have transferred the .tar file, execute these commands:

mkdir sensorCollectorDir
mv sensorCollectorArchive.tar.gz sensorCollectorDir
cd sensorCollectorDir/
gunzip sensorCollectorArchive.tar.gz 
tar xvf sensorCollectorArchive.tar 
./run.sh

8. Once you have executed the run.sh shell script above, you should check that Sensor Collector is running correctly. The instructions for checking are here.

If you are having issues with running the Sensor Collector, information on troubleshooting Sensor Collector can be found here

At this point if things are running correctly, you can proceed to the next section on Telemetry Collector installation.

Step 2 - Configure and deploy Telemetry Collector

Every Telemetry Collector must have its' run time configuration defined in Provider Connectivity Assurance. This will be pushed down to the Telemetry Collector when it first connects and "phones home". To deploy a Telemetry Collector instance, you can use the User Interface to create a Telemetry Collector instance with Transform configuration set to either Cisco-Telemetry-IOS-XR or Cisco-Telemetry-IOS-XE depending on your data source.

Follow the instructions here to create the Telemetry Collector run time configuration.

Deploying Telemetry Collector

Refer to Deploying Telemetry Collector for the detailed steps to deploy the Telemetry Collector.

Set up the router to stream telemetry to Provider Connectivity Assurance

Refer to IOS XR - Stream Telemetry via gNMI Dial Out to set up the router to stream telemetry to the Telemetry Collector

WIth these steps, you have completed building teh telemetry ingestion pipeline and your telemetry should be reaching Provider Connectivity Assurance. Move on to Step 3: Enabling Data in Provider Connectivity Assurance