The usage guidelines and summaries in this reference follow the same documentation conventions as are used in the JUNOS software configuration guides. These documentation conventions can be found in the preface of any JUNOS guide or reference. If you need more information about using the JUNOS CLI, see the JUNOS Software CLI User Guide.
The JUNOS Software Development Kit (SDK) allows members of the JUNOS SDK Program to build custom applications that run on the JUNOS operating system and extend the functionality of JUNOS systems. Such an application may run on the Routing Engine or, to perform a specific service, on the MultiServices PIC. In JUNOS and JUNOS SDK user documentation, these third-party applications are called SDK applications.
In the configuration itself, the SDK application is called an extension, and the third-party creator of that application is called a provider. Sometimes providers may create new statements and commands that add new functionality to the JUNOS software for their applications' use. Some of the examples given in this material may be based on sample SDK applications that change the configuration schema in this way. If this is the case, a note will alert you to that fact.
Also specific to SDK applications is the SDK service daemon, or ssd. This daemon, which runs on the Routing Engine, is responsible for communications between the SDK application and the native JUNOS software. Although ssd is present on the router, it is turned off by default.
For security, an SDK application comes with a certificate that authenticates it as a product of a specific provider. Parts of this certificate—the provider ID, the license type, the scope of SDK application deployment—must be activated on the router to allow the SDK application to be deployed on the router and run. Activating the certificate also enables ssd.
The Services SDK is the JUNOS SDK module that supports the development and running of SDK applications on the MultiServices PIC.
The MultiServices PIC is based on a multicore chip. For SDK applications that are installed to run on the MultiServices PIC, you can designate the number of cores used for control versus data handling. Your application provider may recommend values for this core allocation, or you may choose these values yourself.
For more information about the Juniper OSDP and the JUNOS SDK, please contact your account team or visit the JUNOS SDK website.