DC Lifecycle

Device Profiles

A Device profile is a collection of settings, configurations, and specifications associated with a particular/individual type of device in a data center.

This is where users can access device profiles through the UI:

Allowed operations for device profiles are:

import
export
delete

User can import a profile by respective button:

Import Device profile is the first step in introducing devices into the data center.

Users can export/delete a device profile via icons next to the profile.

A typical device profile is a JSON file with the following properties:

name
model
vendor
device type
ports properties
port groups properties
port breakouts properties

Staging

This section displays a list of devices in a pod that are in the staging process. It allows administrators to oversee and manage the deployment of devices before they are fully integrated into the data center. To This view provides insights into the current status and readiness of devices for production use.

Each device stage has a separate tab with a button, that allows the promotion of devices to the next stage, or demotion of devices to the previous stage, applying a set of validations, and/or configurations. There is also a button to decommission the device from the system.

This is where users can access the device staging page through the UI:

Note that the devices shown are scoped by pod and so user needs to select appropriate pod to select its devices.

The Staging page allows users to perform the following operations:

import Data Center plan file
export Data Center plan file
import Inventory file
export Inventory file

Initially, the data center has no devices. The next step in introducing devices into the data center (after the device profile import) is to import the correct data center plan file.

After this, devices will appear in the Blueprint stage:

Typical Data Center plan file is a JSON file with the next properties:

pod count

pod objects, with pod number and racks section, describing devices:
name
role
blueprint name,
labels
device profile that should be used
and other configurations needed for device communications (like device neighbors etc.)

To enable further configuration and usage of the devices, the Inventory file must be imported:

A typical Inventory file is a JSON file with the following properties:

devices objects , these describe the device properties
dhcp server config
namespace of the devices

After this, users will have a list of devices ready to be integrated into the data center, with the stage set to Connected.

Staging process

Each device stage has a separate tab with a button, that allows the promotion of devices to the next stage, or demotion of devices to the previous stage, applying a set of validations, and/or configurations. There is also a button to decommission the device from the system.

This is how user can initiate a device promotion:

Users can initiate a decommission of a device by clicking on the Decommission button.

Another feature of Staging is called ‘Forced Stage Transition’. It allows users to change a device's stage while bypassing other stages, validations, and configurations.

Here is a diagram of individual steps through stage transition including what happens in individual stages:

Users can also view this diagram inside the staging view by clicking on the question mark:

Greenfield

Greenfield is a set of basic configurations that are being initiated before the data center becomes operational. It consists of global data center configuration parameters and will be used to generate configuration intents for each device in the data center.

This is where users can access Greenfield page through the UI:

This is how users can configure Greenfield (basic setup):

First we initialize via resource allocations file

By clicking on Advanced configuration, you can set-up more detailed parameters.

After this user is able to view created configurations and trigger Replace Greenfield configuration operation:

OS Upgrade

The OS Upgrade section allows users to upgrade the device's operating system.

This is where users can access OS upgrade page through the UI:

Users can initiate device OS upgrade by selecting devices and clicking on Start OS Upgrade button.

In the following screen, user needs to select OS version to upgrade to, with options to traffic drain before upgrade and other actions. User can also modify OS image installation values.

In case the process of upgrade has failed, the user can do the following:

view which steps of the device OS upgrade process were executed successfully and which failed;
download the device configuration snapshot to see backed-up configuration from before the upgrade;
manually troubleshoot the device through means outside the SandWork system and possibly fix the upgrade;
within the SandWork system, rerun the device OS upgrade process or move the device to the certain device stages

To select which remedy option to apply, the user needs to click on the wrench icon next to the device.

When the upgrade process encounters network issues, users can click the Rerun button to resume the upgrade from the point where it failed. If a device begins to malfunction, the user can initiate the RMA process to replace the device.

RMA

The RMA process replaces a faulty switch, so that the replacement hardware takes over the identity, intended configuration and topology position of the device it replaces.

Users begin with Start RMA on the device, which drains traffic away from it where possible and moves it to the RMA stage. Once the hardware has been swapped, Finish RMA records the replacement's MAC address and moves the device to CONNECTED, from where the configuration snapshot is pushed and the device is advanced back to MANAGED.

Because SONiC ties the TACACS, RADIUS and SNMP secrets to the switch's own hardware MAC address, those credentials cannot be restored from the snapshot and have to be re-pushed from SandWork after a replacement. For the full procedure, including that step, see RMA.

Label Management

The Label Management section provides users with an interface for creating, organizing, and managing labels associated with devices, or device interfaces of the Data Center.

This is where users can access Label Management through the UI:

Allowed Network segment operations are:

add labels
remove labels
replace labels

Users can add a device label by selecting devices and clicking on Add labels button

This is how users can add an interface label. Note that interfaces can be filtered by hostname and name.