Provisioning Process Overview
Provisioning is a multistep process that makes services available to customers. Dividing the provisioning process into distinct activities allows you to use role-based access control to configure which type of user is allowed to perform each step. Complete the following tasks to provision a service:
Discover Devices
Discover Roles
Assign NPE Role
Review Predefined Service Definitions or Create Service Definition
Create Customer
Create Service Order
Deploy Service Order
Perform Configuration Audit
Perform Functional Audit
(Optional) View Provisioned Services
(Optional) Decommission Provisioned Services
Steps in the sequence are often performed by users with different levels of privilege. The Junos Space software provides predefined administrator roles that provide the necessary privilege for each step in the sequence:
The Device Manager role allows an administrator to discover devices (step 1).
The Service Manager role allows an administrator to perform device prestaging actions including discovering and assigning device roles (steps 2 and 3).
The Service Designer roles allows an administrator to create and publish a service definition (step 4).
The Service Activator (less privileged) role allows an administrator to perform provisioning tasks including creating and managing customers, service orders, and services (steps 5 through 9).
For details about predefined administrator roles, see Predefined Roles Overview in the Junos Space Network Application Platform User Guide.
Network Operator Tasks—Provisioning Prerequisites
Network operators are usually responsible for performing the prerequisite tasks before the following service designer or service provisioner can perform their tasks:
Discovering devices
Launching role discovery
Assigning N-PE roles
Discovering devices is the process for bringing your network devices under Junos Space management. Network operators who are assigned the Device Manager role can perform this task. See Device Discovery Overview in the Junos Space Network Application Platform User Guide for more information about discovering devices.
Launching role discovery and assigning N-PE roles are collectively known as prestaging tasks. Prestaging finds the N-PE devices among those already under Junos Space management and assigns appropriate MPLS N-PE roles to these devices and user-to-network interface (UNI) roles to their interfaces. Once these roles are established, the devices are ready for provisioning. Users who are assigned the Service Manager role can perform device role discovery and role assignment. See Prestaging Devices Overview for more information about prestaging devices.
Service Designer Tasks
The service designer is responsible for the creation and management of the service definitions that the service provisioner uses as the basis for creating a service order.
A service definition specifies the attributes that are common among a group of service orders that have similar service requirements. For example, a service definition might specify a port-to-port service, whether the associated VCID should be assigned automatically from a predefined pool or specified by the user, and what range of bandwidths can be assigned in the service order. The service definition also defines which attributes of the service can be edited in the service order.
The Junos Space Connectivity Services Director product provides several standard service definitions which support most needs. If the standard service definitions do not support your needs, then the service designer needs to create new, customized service definitions.
Users who are assigned the Service Designer role can create and manage service definitions.
Service Provisioner Tasks
Service provisioner tasks include the following:
Creating the customer.
Creating the service order.
Deploying the service.
Performing a configuration audit.
Performing a functional audit.
A service order is an instance of the service definition that completes the definition for a specific customer’s use. The service order always specifies the customer and the endpoints that link the customer sites through the MPLS network. For each endpoint, the service provisioner specifies the N-PE device and the UNI on that device that connects the customer site to the N-PE device. The service order can also specify any additional attributes that are configured in the service definition as editable in the service order. These attributes might include the VCID, MTU for the UNI, MTU for the connection across the network, VLAN-ID, and bandwidth.
Deployment of a service order pushes a service to the network devices. Before deployment completes, a series of pre-validation checks takes place. If the pre-validation checks indicate that the service is valid, the deployment proceeds. If the pre-validation checks indicate an invalid service, the service provisioner must re-create the service order correctly before trying again to deploy it.
After the service is deployed, a functional audit establishes whether the service is up or down. If the functional audit reports that the service is up, the customer can begin using the service.
Once the service is active, the service provisioner can monitor the health of the service by running a functional audit or a configuration audit.
Users assigned the Service Activator role can perform these service provisioning tasks.