Installation and Configuration of Subscriber Intelligence Solution using Ansible

The Gigamon Ansible Module consists of various playbooks that converts high level user intent in YAML format into JSON format.

The GigaVUE-FM uses the JSON format and translates the inputs into various individual components like GigaSMART GSgroups, GSOPs, FlowMaps, etc that are configured on the Physical or Virtual devices.

The Gigamon Ansible Module exposes playbooks that allows the configuration and maintenance of the Subscriber Intelligence solutions and the GigaVUE-FM GUI allows you to visualise, monitor and troubleshoot Subscriber Intelligence Solutions.

Refer to the following sections for configuring the Subscriber Intelligence solution:

■   System Requirements
■   Installation and Configuration of Gigamon Ansible Module
■   Rules and Notes

The Gigamon Ansible Module allows you to configure the following:

S.No Steps Refer to..
1. CUPS Solution Configuration of CUPS using Ansible
2. Non-CUPS Solution Configuration of Non-CUPS using Ansible
3. Enabling Subscriber Aware Metadata

Configuration of Subscriber-Aware Metadata using Ansible

System Requirements

Ensure that the following environment is available before installing 'gigamon-ansible:

  • Python version: 2.7.15 or greater
  • Operating System: Linux
  • Ansible version: 2.9.4 or greater
  • Python Packages 
    • requests - Install this using pip install requests
    • ruamel.yaml -Install this using ruamel.yaml
    • jsonschema - Install this using pip install jsonschema
    • netaddr - Install this using pip install netaddr

Installation and Configuration of Gigamon Ansible Module

Gigamon-Ansible module can be installed as follows:

Package Operating System Commands to install the Package
RPM package CentOS sudo yum install <packageName>.rpm
Deb package Ubuntu sudo apt install <packageName>.deb

The package is extracted under the path /usr/local/share/gigamon.

For setting the Pythonpath, add the following to ~/.baschrc and source it:

 

export INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/share/gigamon
export PYTHONPATH=$PYTHONPATH:$INSTALL_DIR
 

Everytime a Subscriber Intelligence solution is deployed/updated/deleted, a deployment report is generated in the path declared in the ansible_inputs.json file.

The checkmode feature allows you to find the difference between the configuration that is already present in the GigaVUE-FM against the payload that you are trying to apply without applying the new payload in GigaVUE-FM. This allows you to quickly find the components that gets affected if the new configuration is applied.

The check mode can be enabled by adding --check to the command that triggers the playbook.

/usr/bin/ansible-playbook --check -e ‘@~/cupsSolution/ansible_inputs.json’ -i ~/cupsSolution/cups_inventory /usr/local/share/gigamon-ansible/playbooks/cups/deploy_cups.yml

The output of --check is a Deployment Report that contains the difference in configuration as shown:

Copy

Deployment Report Checkmode

Deployment_Report_Checkmode
deploymentPayloadDiff:
  updated:
  - path: //trafficPolicies/LTE/whitelisting/flowMaps/wlMapInternetToEEA/rules/rule_1/interface
    old_value: S11
    new_value: s11
  - path: //trafficPolicies/LTE/whitelisting/flowMaps/wlMapGeoProbe/rules/rule_1/apn
    old_value: apn.airtel.com
    new_value: apn.vodafone.com
  removed: []
  created: []
deploymentRequest: EDIT
deploymentResponse: CHECK MODE
timeStamp: 09-Mar-2020::12:12:1583781162

It is also possible to restore the configuration from the generated Golden Payload file using one of the following two commands:

  • /usr/bin/ansible-playbook -e ‘@~/mobilitySolution/ansible_inputs.json’ -e 'applyGP=True' -i ~/mobilitySolution/mobility_inventory /usr/local/share/gigamon-ansible/playbooks/mobility_solution/deploy_mobility_solution.yml
  • /usr/bin/ansible-playbook -e ‘@~/mobilitySolution/ansible_inputs.json’ -e 'applyGP=True' --ask-vault-pass -i ~/mobilitySolution/mobility_inventory /usr/local/share/gigamon-ansible/playbooks/mobility_solution/deploy_mobility_solution.yml

It is also possible to enable checkmode to find the difference between the configuration on GigaVUE-FM and the configuration of the Golden Payload. The command to do is:

  • /usr/bin/ansible-playbook --check -e ‘@~/mobilitySolution/ansible_inputs.json’ -e 'applyGP=True' -i ~/mobilitySolution/mobility_inventory /usr/local/share/gigamon-ansible/playbooks/mobility_solution/deploy_mobility_solution.yml

  • /usr/bin/ansible-playbook --check -e ‘@~/mobilitySolution/ansible_inputs.json’ -e 'applyGP=True' --ask-vault-pass -i ~/mobilitySolution/mobility_inventory /usr/local/share/gigamon-ansible/playbooks/mobility_solution/deploy_mobility_solution.ymlS

Note:  It searches the golden payload file to reapply the configuration in the default location if the file path is not defined in the ansible_inputs.json file.

Rules and Notes

You must ensure the following rules and notes while deploying Subscriber Intelligence Solution:

  • GigaVUE-FM is reachable from the server on which Ansible is executed.
  • All the required licenses are installed on the Gigamon devices.
  • The required permission for RBAC is available.
  • Configurations that are not handled by the Mobility playbook are prec-configured.
  • Migration of Subscriber Intelligence Solution from GigaVUE‑FM 5.9 to any other version is impossible.