Introduction
The Juniper Networks NorthStar Controller is an SDN controller that enables granular visibility and control of IP/MPLS flows in large service provider and enterprise networks. Network operators can use the NorthStar Controller to optimize their network infrastructure through proactive monitoring, planning, and explicit routing of large traffic loads dynamically based on user-defined constraints.
The NorthStar Controller 3.1.0 release is fully supported with Junos OS Release 17.2R1 only.
NorthStar Controller 3.1.0 can be deployed with Junos OS Releases 15.1F6, 16.1R1, and 17.1R1, but the segment routing (SPRING) feature would not be available.
The NorthStar Controller 3.1.0 Analytics features require specific Junos OS Releases to be able to obtain LSP and interface statistics. This is a Junos Telemetry Interface (JTI) dependency. See Overview of the Junos Telemetry Interface for information on JTI.
NorthStar Controller 3.1.0 can be deployed with Junos OS Releases 14.2R6, 15.1F4, and 15.1R4, but the following features would not be available:
- MD5 authentication for PCEP
- P2MP support
- Administrative group support
By default, the NorthStar Controller Release 3.0 and later requires that the external Junos VM be Release 17.2 or later. If you are using an older version of Junos OS, you can change the NorthStar configuration to support it, but segment routing support will not be available. See the Known Behavior section for the configuration steps.
Other Junos OS releases are not supported.
 | Note: The Path Computation Element Protocol (PCEP) configuration on the PCC routers does not persist across upgrades when the SDN package is not part of the installation binary. Before upgrading the Junos OS image to this release, save the existing configuration to a file by using the save command. After you upgrade the Junos OS image on each PCC router, use the load override command to restore the PCEP configuration. |
The NorthStar Controller is supported on the following Juniper platforms: T Series, MX Series, PTX Series, QFX10008, and ACX5000.
Junos OS supports Internet draft draft-crabbe-pce-pce-initiated-lsp-03 for the stateful PCE-initiated LSP implementation (M Series, MX Series, PTX Series, T Series, QFX Series, and ACX Series).
If PCEP is deployed in the network and Netconf is used to provision P2MP-TE LSPs, you must configure the routers with set protocols pcep pce pce-id p2mp-lsp-report-capability in order to see P2MP LSPs in the web UI without first running a device collection task.
