NOF - Network Operator Framework

NOF is a framework for building network operator systems. It provides a set of tools and models to help you build your own network operator system.

Architecture

NOF consists of four main components:

• Controller: Central system for coordination of tasks and holding all data
• Executor: Acquires tasks from the controller, executes them and reports back
• Dashboard: Web interface for managing the controller
• Remote Dashboard: Remote web interface for managing multiple controllers

The general architecture looks like this:

graph TD;
  Ctrl["Controller"];
  Exec["Executor"];
  Dash["Dashboard"];
  Rash["Remote Dashboard"];

  Exec -->|results| Ctrl;
  Ctrl -->|tasks| Exec;
  Dash -->|manage| Ctrl;
  Rash -->|manage| Ctrl;
  Ctrl -->|results| Dash;
  Ctrl -->|results| Rash;

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Yet due to the restricted nature of common network systems, the NOF is designed to initiated communication unidirectional from the Executor to the Controller, from the Controller to the Dashboard and from the Dashboard to the Remote Dashboard. Hence the communication architecture looks like this:

graph TD;
  Ctrl["Controller"];
  Exec["Executor"];
  Dash["Dashboard"];
  Rash["Remote Dashboard"];

  Exec -->|acquire tasks| Ctrl;
  Exec -->|report results| Ctrl;

  Ctrl -->|report results| Dash;
  Ctrl -->|acquire config changes| Dash;

  Dash -->|report results| Rash;
  Dash -->|acquire config changes| Rash;

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System Components

Controller

The central system component to coordinate the system.

Jobs

The Controller is responsible for managing the jobs that are assigned to the Executors. These jobs are derived from the Tasks, which create a relation between TaskTemplates and elements (e.g. Hosts).

Executor

The Executor is responsible for executing the jobs that are assigned to it.

Shell Task

A Shell Task is a pure command line educated task.

Property	Type	Description
cmd	String	Command to execute
template	String	Template to use for the command
pattern	String	Pattern to use for the command
interval	Integer	Interval to use for the command

Example

The following example executes the command echo "Hello, World!" every 10 seconds and captures the Hello from the output. Afterwards it formats the output into a JSON object with the key greeting and the value Hello.

{
  "cmd": "echo 'Hello, World!'",
  "template": "(?<greeting>Hello)",
  "pattern": "{ 'greeting': '#{greeting}' }",
  "interval": 10
}

Dashboard

The Dashboard is a web interface for managing a single Controller.

Remote Dashboard

The Remote Dashboard is a web interface for managing multiple Controllers. It behaves as a superset of the Dashboard and allows you to manage multiple Controllers from a single interface.

Data Structures

Host

A Host is a physical or virtual device in the system.

Property	Type	Description
uuid	UUID	Unique identifier for the host
hostname	String	Human-readable name of the host
ip	String	IP address of the host

TaskTemplate

A TaskTemplate describes a task that can be executed.

Property	Type	Description
uuid	UUID	Unique identifier for the task template
type	String	Type of the task template (e.g. "shell")
opts	JSON	Options for the task template (e.g. command, interval, etc. for shell tasks)

Task / Job

A Task is an assignment of a TaskTemplate to a Host. A job is a task that is assigned to an executor.

Property	Type	Description
uuid	UUID	Unique identifier for the task
host_uuid	UUID	UUID of the host this task belongs to
tasktempalte_uuid	UUID	UUID of the task template this task is based on

Activities

Activities are a special kind of meta data model. It is used to track the history of the system. The system can be changed at different places and via activities we track and sync the changes.

Property	Type	Description
uuid	UUID	Unique identifier for the activity
created_at	Timestamp	When the activity was created
action	String	Action to be performed
opts	JSON	Options for the activity
source_name	String	Name of the source of the activity