Mastering

In this tutorial, we will deploy and run the SD-Core 5G core network following Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) principles. The radio and cell phone simulator will also be deployed on an isolated cluster. This tutorial uses LXD with Terraform to deploy the required infrastructure.

1. Prepare the Host machine

A machine running Ubuntu 22.04 with the following resources:

  • At least one NIC with internet access

  • 8 cores

  • 32 GB RAM

  • 150 GiB disk

Networks

The following IP networks will be used to connect and isolate the network functions:

Name

Subnet

Gateway IP

management

10.201.0.0/24

10.201.0.1

access

10.202.0.0/24

10.202.0.1

core

10.203.0.0/24

10.203.0.1

ran

10.204.0.0/24

10.204.0.1

Install and Configure LXD

Install LXD:

sudo snap install lxd

Initialize LXD:

lxd init --auto

Install Terraform

Install Terraform:

sudo snap install terraform --classic

2. Create Virtual Machines

To complete this tutorial, you will need four virtual machines with access to the networks as follows:

Machine

CPUs

RAM

Disk

Networks

Control Plane Kubernetes Cluster

4

8g

40g

management

User Plane Kubernetes Cluster

4

12g

20g

management, access, core

Juju Controller + Kubernetes Cluster

4

6g

40g

management

gNB Simulator Kubernetes Cluster

2

3g

20g

management, ran

The complete infrastructure can be created with Terraform using the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/canonical/charmed-aether-sd-core.git
cd charmed-aether-sd-core/terraform
terraform init
terraform apply -auto-approve

Note

The current version of the Terraform module has some race conditions, if the deployment fail, a retry will usually fix the issue.

Checkpoint 1: Are the VM’s ready ?

You should be able to see all the VMs in a Running state with their default IP addresses by executing the following command:

lxc list

The output should be similar to the following:

+-----------------+---------+-----------------------+------+-----------------+-----------+
|      NAME       |  STATE  |         IPV4          | IPV6 |      TYPE       | SNAPSHOTS |
+-----------------+---------+-----------------------+------+-----------------+-----------+
| control-plane   | RUNNING | 10.201.0.101 (enp5s0) |      | VIRTUAL-MACHINE | 0         |
+-----------------+---------+-----------------------+------+-----------------+-----------+
| gnbsim          | RUNNING | 10.204.0.100 (enp6s0) |      | VIRTUAL-MACHINE | 0         |
|                 |         | 10.201.0.103 (enp5s0) |      |                 |           |
+-----------------+---------+-----------------------+------+-----------------+-----------+
| juju-controller | RUNNING | 10.201.0.104 (enp5s0) |      | VIRTUAL-MACHINE | 0         |
+-----------------+---------+-----------------------+------+-----------------+-----------+
| user-plane      | RUNNING | 10.203.0.100 (enp6s0) |      | VIRTUAL-MACHINE | 0         |
|                 |         | 10.202.0.100 (enp7s0) |      |                 |           |
|                 |         | 10.201.0.102 (enp5s0) |      |                 |           |
+-----------------+---------+-----------------------+------+-----------------+-----------+

3. Configure VMs for SD-Core Deployment

This section covers installation of necessary tools on the VMs which are going to build up the infrastructure for SD-Core.

Prepare SD-Core Control Plane VM

Login to the control-plane VM:

lxc exec control-plane --user 1000 -- bash -l

Install MicroK8s:

sudo snap install microk8s --channel=1.31-strict/stable
sudo microk8s enable hostpath-storage
sudo usermod -a -G snap_microk8s $(whoami)

The control plane needs to expose two services: the AMF and the NMS. In this step, we enable the MetalLB add on in MicroK8s, and give it a range of two IP addresses:

sudo microk8s enable metallb:10.201.0.52-10.201.0.53

Now update MicroK8s DNS to point to our DNS server:

sudo microk8s disable dns
sudo microk8s enable dns:10.201.0.1

Export the Kubernetes configuration and copy it to the juju-controller VM:

sudo microk8s.config > /tmp/control-plane-cluster.yaml
scp /tmp/control-plane-cluster.yaml juju-controller.mgmt:

Log out of the VM.

Prepare SD-Core User Plane VM

Log in to the user-plane VM:

lxc exec user-plane --user 1000 -- bash -l

Install MicroK8s, configure MetalLB to expose 1 IP address for the UPF (10.201.0.200) and enable the Multus plugin:

sudo snap install microk8s --channel=1.31-strict/stable
sudo microk8s enable hostpath-storage
sudo microk8s enable metallb:10.201.0.200/32
sudo microk8s addons repo add community \
    https://github.com/canonical/microk8s-community-addons \
    --reference feat/strict-fix-multus
sudo microk8s enable multus
sudo usermod -a -G snap_microk8s $(whoami)

Now update MicroK8s DNS to point to our DNS server:

sudo microk8s disable dns
sudo microk8s enable dns:10.201.0.1

Export the Kubernetes configuration and copy it to the juju-controller VM:

sudo microk8s.config > /tmp/user-plane-cluster.yaml
scp /tmp/user-plane-cluster.yaml juju-controller.mgmt:

In this guide, the following network interfaces are available on the SD-Core user-plane VM:

Interface Name

Purpose

enp5s0

internal Kubernetes management interface. This maps to the management subnet.

enp6s0

core interface. This maps to the core subnet.

enp7s0

access interface. This maps to the access subnet. Note that internet egress is required here and routing tables are already set to route gNB generated traffic.

Now we create the MACVLAN bridges for enp6s0 and enp7s0. These instructions are put into a file that is executed on reboot so the interfaces will come back:

cat << EOF | sudo tee /etc/rc.local
#!/bin/bash

sudo ip link add access link enp7s0 type macvlan mode bridge
sudo ip link set dev access up
sudo ip link add core link enp6s0 type macvlan mode bridge
sudo ip link set dev core up
EOF
sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local
sudo /etc/rc.local

Log out of the VM.

Prepare gNB Simulator VM

Log in to the gnbsim VM:

lxc exec gnbsim --user 1000 -- bash -l

Install MicroK8s and add the Multus plugin:

sudo snap install microk8s --channel=1.31-strict/stable
sudo microk8s enable hostpath-storage
sudo microk8s addons repo add community \
    https://github.com/canonical/microk8s-community-addons \
    --reference feat/strict-fix-multus
sudo microk8s enable multus
sudo usermod -a -G snap_microk8s $(whoami)

Now update MicroK8s DNS to point to our DNS server:

sudo microk8s disable dns
sudo microk8s enable dns:10.201.0.1

Export the Kubernetes configuration and copy it to the juju-controller VM:

sudo microk8s.config > /tmp/gnb-cluster.yaml
scp /tmp/gnb-cluster.yaml juju-controller.mgmt:

In this guide, the following network interfaces are available on the gnbsim VM:

Interface Name

Purpose

enp5s0

internal Kubernetes management interface. This maps to the management subnet.

enp6s0

ran interface. This maps to the ran subnet.

Now we create the MACVLAN bridges for enp6s0, and label them accordingly:

cat << EOF | sudo tee /etc/rc.local
#!/bin/bash

sudo ip link add ran link enp6s0 type macvlan mode bridge
sudo ip link set dev ran up
EOF
sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local
sudo /etc/rc.local

Log out of the VM.

Prepare the Juju Controller VM

Log in to the juju-controller VM:

lxc exec juju-controller --user 1000 -- bash -l

Begin by installing MicroK8s to hold the Juju controller. Configure MetalLB to expose one IP address for the controller (10.201.0.50) and one for the Canonical Observability Stack (10.201.0.51):

sudo snap install microk8s --channel=1.31-strict/stable
sudo microk8s enable hostpath-storage
sudo microk8s enable metallb:10.201.0.50-10.201.0.51
sudo usermod -a -G snap_microk8s $(whoami)
newgrp snap_microk8s

Now update MicroK8s DNS to point to our DNS server:

sudo microk8s disable dns
sudo microk8s enable dns:10.201.0.1

Note

The microk8s enable command confirms enabling the DNS before it actually happens. Before going forward, please make sure that the DNS is actually running. To do that run microk8s.kubectl -n kube-system get pods and make sure that the coredns pod is in Running status.

Install Juju and bootstrap the controller to the local MicroK8s install as a LoadBalancer service. This will expose the Juju controller on the first allocated MetalLB address:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/juju
sudo snap install juju --channel=3.6/stable
juju bootstrap microk8s --config controller-service-type=loadbalancer sdcore

At this point, the Juju controller is ready to start managing external clouds. Add the Kubernetes clusters representing the user plane, control plane, and gNB simulator to Juju. This is done by using the Kubernetes configuration file generated when setting up the clusters above.

cd /home/ubuntu
export KUBECONFIG=control-plane-cluster.yaml
juju add-k8s control-plane-cluster --controller sdcore
export KUBECONFIG=user-plane-cluster.yaml
juju add-k8s user-plane-cluster --controller sdcore
export KUBECONFIG=gnb-cluster.yaml
juju add-k8s gnb-cluster --controller sdcore

Install Terraform:

sudo snap install terraform --classic

4. Deploy SD-Core Control Plane

The following steps build on the Juju controller which was bootstrapped and knows how to manage the SD-Core Control Plane Kubernetes cluster.

First, we will create a new Terraform module which we will use to deploy SD-Core Control Plane. After the successful deployment, we will configure the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) IP address for sharing with the radios and the Traefik external hostname for exposing the SD-Core Network Management System (NMS). This host name must be resolvable by the gNB and the IP address must be reachable and resolve to the AMF unit. In the bootstrap step, we set the Control Plane MetalLB IP range, and that is what we use in the configuration. Lastly, the module will expose the Software as a Service offer for the AMF.

Create Juju model for the SD-Core Control Plane:

juju add-model control-plane control-plane-cluster

Create new folder called terraform:

mkdir terraform

Inside newly created terraform folder create a terraform.tf file:

cd terraform
cat << EOF > versions.tf
terraform {
  required_providers {
    juju = {
      source  = "juju/juju"
      version = ">= 0.12.0"
    }
  }
}
EOF

Create Terraform module:

cat << EOF > main.tf
data "juju_model" "control-plane" {
  name = "control-plane"
}

module "sdcore-control-plane" {
  source = "git::https://github.com/canonical/terraform-juju-sdcore//modules/sdcore-control-plane-k8s"

  model = data.juju_model.control-plane.name

  amf_config = {
    external-amf-hostname = "amf.mgmt"
  }
  traefik_config = {
    routing_mode = "subdomain"
  }
}

EOF

Initialize Juju Terraform provider:

terraform init

Deploy SD-Core Control Plane:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Monitor the status of the deployment:

juju status --watch 1s --relations

The deployment is ready when all the charms are in the Active/Idle state.
It is normal for grafana-agent to remain in waiting state.
It is also expected that traefik goes to the error state (related Traefik bug).

Once the deployment is ready, we will proceed to the configuration part.

Get the IP addresses of the AMF and Traefik LoadBalancer services:

Log in to the control-plane VM:

ssh control-plane

Get LoadBalancer services:

microk8s.kubectl get services -A | grep LoadBalancer

This will show output similar to the following:

control-plane    amf-external  LoadBalancer  10.152.183.179  10.201.0.52   38412:30408/SCTP
control-plane    traefik-lb    LoadBalancer  10.152.183.28   10.201.0.53   80:32349/TCP,443:31925/TCP

Note both IPs - in this case 10.201.0.52 for the AMF and 10.201.0.53 for Traefik. We will need them shortly.

Note

If the IP for the AMF is not 10.201.0.52, you will need to update the DNS entry. In the host, edit the main.tf file. Find the following line and set it to the right IP address, like so:

host-record=amf.mgmt,10.201.0.53

Then, run the following command on the host:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Log out of the control-plane VM.

Configure AMF external IP, using the address obtained in the previous step. To do that, edit amf_config in the main.tf file in the terraform directory.

Updated amf_config should look like similar to the below:

(...)
module "sdcore-control-plane" {
  (...)
  amf_config = {
    external-amf-ip       = "10.201.0.52"
    external-amf-hostname = "amf.mgmt"
  }
  (...)
}
(...)

Configure Traefik’s external hostname, using the address obtained in the previous step. To do that, edit traefik_config in the main.tf file.

Updated traefik_config should look like similar to the below:

(...)
module "sdcore-control-plane" {
  (...)
  traefik_config = {
    routing_mode      = "subdomain"
    external_hostname = "10.201.0.53.nip.io"
  }
  (...)
}
(...)

Apply the changes:

terraform apply -auto-approve

5. Deploy SD-Core User Plane

The following steps build on the Juju controller which was bootstrapped and knows how to manage the SD-Core User Plane Kubernetes cluster.

First, we will add SD-Core User Plane to the Terraform module created in the previous step. We will provide necessary configuration (please see the list of the config options with the description in the table below) for the User Plane Function (UPF). Lastly, we will expose the Software as a Service offer for the UPF.

Config Option

Descriptions

access-gateway-ip

The IP address of the gateway that knows how to route traffic from the UPF towards the gNB subnet

access-interface

The name of the MACVLAN interface on the Kubernetes host cluster to bridge to the access subnet

access-ip

The IP address for the UPF to use on the access subnet

core-gateway-ip

The IP address of the gateway that knows how to route traffic from the UPF towards the internet

core-interface

The name of the MACVLAN interface on the Kubernetes host cluster to bridge to the core subnet

core-ip

The IP address for the UPF to use on the core subnet

external-upf-hostname

The DNS name of the UPF

gnb-subnet

The subnet CIDR where the gNB radios are reachable.

In the juju-controller VM, create a Juju model for the SD-Core Control Plane:

juju add-model user-plane user-plane-cluster

Update the main.tf file:

cat << EOF >> main.tf
data "juju_model" "user-plane" {
  name = "user-plane"
}

module "sdcore-user-plane" {
  source = "git::https://github.com/canonical/terraform-juju-sdcore//modules/sdcore-user-plane-k8s"

  model = data.juju_model.user-plane.name

  upf_config = {
    cni-type              = "macvlan" 
    access-gateway-ip     = "10.202.0.1"
    access-interface      = "access"
    access-ip             = "10.202.0.10/24"
    core-gateway-ip       = "10.203.0.1"
    core-interface        = "core"
    core-ip               = "10.203.0.10/24"
    external-upf-hostname = "upf.mgmt"
    gnb-subnet            = "10.204.0.0/24"
  }
}

EOF

Update Juju Terraform provider:

terraform init

Deploy SD-Core User Plane:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Monitor the status of the deployment:

juju status --watch 1s --relations

The deployment is ready when the UPF application is in the Active/Idle state. It is normal for grafana-agent to remain in waiting state.

Checkpoint 3: Does the UPF external LoadBalancer service exist?

You should be able to see the UPF external LoadBalancer service in Kubernetes.

Log in to the user-plane VM:

ssh user-plane

Get the LoadBalancer service:

microk8s.kubectl get services -A | grep LoadBalancer

This should produce output similar to the following indicating that the PFCP agent of the UPF is exposed on 10.201.0.200 UDP port 8805:

user-plane  upf-external  LoadBalancer  10.152.183.126  10.201.0.200  8805:31101/UDP

Log out of the user-plane VM.

6. Deploy the gNB Simulator

The following steps build on the Juju controller which was bootstrapped and knows how to manage the gNB Simulator Kubernetes cluster.

First, we will add gNB Simulator to the Terraform module used in the previous steps. We will provide necessary configuration (please see the list of the config options with the description in the table below) for the application and integrate the simulator with previously exposed AMF offering. Lastly, we will expose the Software as a Service offer for the simulator.

Config Option

Descriptions

gnb-interface

The name of the MACVLAN interface to use on the host

gnb-ip-address

The IP address to use on the gnb interface

icmp-packet-destination

The target IP address to ping. If there is no egress to the internet on your core network, any IP that is reachable from the UPF should work.

upf-gateway

The IP address of the gateway between the RAN and Access networks

upf-subnet

Subnet where the UPFs are located (also called Access network)

In the juju-controller VM, create Juju model for the SD-Core Control Plane:

juju add-model gnbsim gnb-cluster

Update the main.tf file:

cat << EOF >> main.tf
data "juju_model" "gnbsim" {
  name = "gnbsim"
}

module "gnbsim" {
  source = "git::https://github.com/canonical/sdcore-gnbsim-k8s-operator//terraform?ref=v1.5"

  model = data.juju_model.gnbsim.name
  
  config = {
    gnb-interface           = "ran"
    gnb-ip-address          = "10.204.0.10/24"
    icmp-packet-destination = "8.8.8.8"
    upf-gateway             = "10.204.0.1"
    upf-subnet              = "10.202.0.0/24"
  }
}

resource "juju_integration" "gnbsim-amf" {
  model = data.juju_model.gnbsim.name

  application {
    name     = module.gnbsim.app_name
    endpoint = module.gnbsim.requires.fiveg_n2
  }

  application {
    offer_url = module.sdcore-control-plane.amf_fiveg_n2_offer_url
  }
}

resource "juju_offer" "gnbsim-fiveg-gnb-identity" {
  model            = data.juju_model.gnbsim.name
  application_name = module.gnbsim.app_name
  endpoint         = module.gnbsim.provides.fiveg_gnb_identity
}

EOF

Update Juju Terraform provider:

terraform init

Deploy the gNB simulator:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Monitor the status of the deployment:

juju status --watch 1s --relations

The deployment is ready when the gnbsim application is in the Active/Idle state.

7. Configure SD-Core

The following steps show how to configure the SD-Core 5G core network.

We will start by creating integrations between the Network Management System (NMS) and the UPF and the gNB Simulator. Once the integrations are ready, we will create the core network configuration: a network slice, a device group and a subscriber.

Add required integrations to the main.tf file used in the previous steps:

cat << EOF >> main.tf
resource "juju_integration" "nms-gnbsim" {
  model = data.juju_model.control-plane.name

  application {
    name     = module.sdcore-control-plane.nms_app_name
    endpoint = module.sdcore-control-plane.fiveg_gnb_identity_endpoint
  }

  application {
    offer_url = juju_offer.gnbsim-fiveg-gnb-identity.url
  }
}

resource "juju_integration" "nms-upf" {
  model = data.juju_model.control-plane.name

  application {
    name     = module.sdcore-control-plane.nms_app_name
    endpoint = module.sdcore-control-plane.fiveg_n4_endpoint
  }

  application {
    offer_url = module.sdcore-user-plane.upf_fiveg_n4_offer_url
  }
}

EOF

Apply the changes:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Retrieve the NMS credentials (username and password):

juju switch control-plane
juju show-secret NMS_LOGIN --reveal

The output looks like this:

csurgu7mp25c761k2oe0:
  revision: 1
  owner: nms
  label: NMS_LOGIN
  created: 2024-11-20T10:22:49Z
  updated: 2024-11-20T10:22:49Z
  content:
    password: ',u7=VEE3XK%t'
    token: ""
    username: charm-admin-SOOO

Retrieve the NMS address:

juju run traefik/0 show-proxied-endpoints

The output should be https://control-plane-nms.10.201.0.53.nip.io/. Navigate to this address in your browser and use the username and password to login.

In the Network Management System (NMS), create a network slice with the following attributes:

  • Name: Tutorial

  • MCC: 001

  • MNC: 01

  • UPF: upf.mgmt:8805

  • gNodeB: gnbsim-gnbsim-gnbsim (tac:1)

You should see the following network slice created. Note the device group has been expanded to show the default group that is created in the slice for you.

NMS Network Slice

We will now add a subscriber with the IMSI that was provided to the gNB simulator. Navigate to Subscribers and click on Create. Fill in the following:

  • IMSI: 001010100007487

  • OPC: 981d464c7c52eb6e5036234984ad0bcf

  • Key: 5122250214c33e723a5dd523fc145fc0

  • Sequence Number: 16f3b3f70fc2

  • Network Slice: Tutorial

  • Device Group: Tutorial-default

8. Integrate SD-Core with the Canonical Observability Stack (COS)

The following steps show how to integrate the SD-Core 5G core network with the Canonical Observability Stack (COS).

First, we will add COS to the Terraform module used in the previous steps. Next, we will expose the Software as a Service offers for the COS and create integrations with SD-Core 5G core network components.

Deploy COS Lite

Add cos-lite Terraform module to the main.tf file used in the previous steps:

cat << EOF >> main.tf
module "cos-lite" {
  source = "git::https://github.com/canonical/terraform-juju-sdcore//modules/external/cos-lite"

  model_name               = "cos-lite"
  deploy_cos_configuration = true
  cos_configuration_config = {
    git_repo                 = "https://github.com/canonical/sdcore-cos-configuration"
    git_branch               = "main"
    grafana_dashboards_path  = "grafana_dashboards/sdcore/"
  }
}

EOF

Update Juju Terraform provider:

terraform init

Deploy COS:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Monitor the status of the deployment:

juju switch cos-lite
juju status --watch 1s --relations

The deployment is ready when all the charms are in the Active/Idle state.

Integrate SD-Core with COS Lite

Once the COS deployment is ready, add integrations between SD-Core and COS applications to the main.tf file:

cat << EOF >> main.tf
resource "juju_integration" "control-plane-prometheus" {
  model = data.juju_model.control-plane.name

  application {
    name     = module.sdcore-control-plane.grafana_agent_app_name
    endpoint = module.sdcore-control-plane.send_remote_write_endpoint
  }

  application {
    offer_url = module.cos-lite.prometheus_remote_write_offer_url
  }
}

resource "juju_integration" "control-plane-loki" {
  model = data.juju_model.control-plane.name

  application {
    name     = module.sdcore-control-plane.grafana_agent_app_name
    endpoint = module.sdcore-control-plane.logging_consumer_endpoint
  }

  application {
    offer_url = module.cos-lite.loki_logging_offer_url
  }
}

resource "juju_integration" "user-plane-prometheus" {
  model = data.juju_model.user-plane.name

  application {
    name     = module.sdcore-user-plane.grafana_agent_app_name
    endpoint = module.sdcore-user-plane.send_remote_write_endpoint
  }

  application {
    offer_url = module.cos-lite.prometheus_remote_write_offer_url
  }
}

resource "juju_integration" "user-plane-loki" {
  model = data.juju_model.user-plane.name

  application {
    name     = module.sdcore-user-plane.grafana_agent_app_name
    endpoint = module.sdcore-user-plane.logging_consumer_endpoint
  }

  application {
    offer_url = module.cos-lite.loki_logging_offer_url
  }
}

EOF

Apply the changes:

terraform apply -auto-approve

Checkpoint 4: Is Grafana dashboard available?

From the juju-controller VM, retrieve the Grafana URL and admin password:

juju switch cos-lite
juju run grafana/leader get-admin-password

This produces output similar to the following:

Running operation 1 with 1 task
  - task 2 on unit-grafana-0

Waiting for task 2...
admin-password: c72uEq8FyGRo
url: http://10.201.0.51/cos-lite-grafana

Note

Grafana can be accessed using both http (as returned by the command above) or https.

In your browser, navigate to the URL from the output (https://10.201.0.51/cos-lite-grafana). Login using the “admin” username and the admin password provided in the last command. Click on “Dashboards” -> “Browse” and select “5G Network Overview”.

This dashboard presents an overview of your 5G Network status. Keep this page open, we will revisit it shortly.

Initial Grafana dashboard showing UPF status

Note

It may take up to 5 minutes for the relevant metrics to be available in Prometheus.

9. Run the 5G simulation

On the juju-controller VM, switch to the gnbsim model.

juju switch gnbsim

Start the simulation.

juju run gnbsim/leader start-simulation

The simulation executed successfully if you see success: "true" as one of the output messages:

Running operation 1 with 1 task
  - task 2 on unit-gnbsim-0

Waiting for task 2...
info: 5/5 profiles passed
success: "true"

Checkpoint 5: Check the simulation logs to see the communication between elements and the data exchange

gNB Simulation Logs

Let’s take a look at the juju debug-log now by running the following command:

juju debug-log --no-tail

This will emit the full log of the simulation starting with the following message:

unit-gnbsim-0: 16:43:50 INFO unit.gnbsim/0.juju-log gnbsim simulation output:

As there is a lot of output, we can better understand if we filter by specific elements. For example, let’s take a look at the control plane transport of the log. To do that, we search for ControlPlaneTransport in the Juju debug-log. This shows the simulator locating the AMF and exchanging data with it.

$ juju debug-log | grep ControlPlaneTransport
2023-11-30T16:43:40Z [TRAC][GNBSIM][GNodeB][ControlPlaneTransport] Connecting to AMF
2023-11-30T16:43:40Z [INFO][GNBSIM][GNodeB][ControlPlaneTransport] Connected to AMF, AMF IP: 10.201.0.52 AMF Port: 38412
...

We can do the same for the user plane transport to see it starts on the RAN network with IP address 10.204.0.10 as we requested, and it is communicating with our UPF at 10.202.0.10 as expected.

To follow the UE itself, we can filter by the IMSI.

juju debug-log | grep imsi-001010100007487

Control Plane Logs

You may view the control plane logs by logging into the control plane cluster and using Kubernetes commands as follows:

microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c amf amf-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c ausf ausf-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c nrf nrf-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c nssf nssf-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c pcf pcf-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c smf smf-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c udm udm-0 --tail 70
microk8s.kubectl logs -n control-plane -c udr udr-0 --tail 70

Checkpoint 6: View the metrics

Grafana Metrics

You can also revisit the Grafana dashboard to view the metrics for the test run. You can see the IMSI is connected and has received an IP address. There is now one active PDU session, and the ping test throughput can be seen in the graphs.

Grafana dashboard showing throughput metrics

10. Review

We have deployed 4 Kubernetes clusters, bootstrapped a Juju controller to manage them all, and deployed portions of the Charmed Aether SD-Core software according to CUPS principles. You now have 5 Juju models as follows:

  • control-plane where all the control functions are deployed

  • controller where Juju manages state of the models

  • cos-lite where the Canonical Observability Stack is deployed

  • gnbsim where the gNB simulator is deployed

  • user-plane where all the user plane function is deployed

You have learned how to:

  • view the logs for the various functions

  • manage the integrations between deployed functions

  • run a simulation testing data flow through the 5G core

  • view the metrics produced by the 5G core

Note

For your convenience, a complete Terraform module covering the deployments and integrations from this tutorial, is available in this Git repository. All necessary files are in the examples/terraform/mastering directory.

11. Cleaning up

On the host machine, destroy the Terraform deployment to get rid of the whole infrastructure:

terraform destroy -auto-approve

Note

Terraform does not remove anything from the working directory. If needed, please clean up the terraform directory manually by removing everything except for the main.tf and terraform.tf files.