Quickstart: Publish Ubuntu Virtual Machine (VM) as Virtual Network Function (VNF)

This quickstart describes how to use the az aosm Azure CLI extension to create and publish a basic Network Function Definition. Its purpose is to demonstrate the workflow of the Publisher Azure Operator Service Manager (AOSM) resources. The basic concepts presented here are meant to prepare users to build more exciting services.

Prerequisites

• An Azure account with an active subscription is required. If you don't have an Azure subscription, follow the instructions here Start free to create an account before you begin.

• Complete the Quickstart: Complete the prerequisites to deploy a Virtualized Network Function in Azure Operator Service Manager

• An existing Resource Group where you have the Contributor role, or the Contributor role over this subscription so that the AOSM CLI extension can create the resource group.

Create input file

Execute the following command to generate the input configuration file for the Network Function Definition (NFD).

az aosm nfd generate-config --definition-type vnf

Once you execute this command, a vnf-input.jsonc file is generated.

Here is a sample input-vnf-nfd.jsonc file:

{
  // Azure location to use when creating resources e.g uksouth
  "location": "uksouth",
  // Name of the Publisher resource you want your definition published to.
  // Will be created if it does not exist.
  "publisher_name": "ubuntu-publisher",
  // Resource group for the Publisher resource.
  // Will be created if it does not exist
  "publisher_resource_group_name": "ubuntu-publisher-rg",
  // Name of the ACR Artifact Store resource.
  // Will be created if it does not exist.
  "acr_artifact_store_name": "ubuntu-acr",
  // Name of the network function.
  "nf_name": "ubuntu-vm",
  // Version of the network function definition in 1.1.1 format (three integers separated by dots).
  "version": "1.0.0",
  // If set to true, all NFD configuration parameters are made available to the designer, including optional parameters and those with defaults.
  // If not set or set to false, only required parameters without defaults will be exposed.
  "expose_all_parameters": false,
  // Optional. Name of the storage account Artifact Store resource.
  // Will be created if it does not exist (with a default name if none is supplied).
  "blob_artifact_store_name": "ubuntu-blob-store",
  // ARM template configuration. The ARM templates given here would deploy a VM if run. They will be used to generate the VNF.
  "arm_templates": [
    {
      // Name of the artifact. Used as internal reference only.
      "artifact_name": "ubuntu-template",
      // Version of the artifact in 1.1.1 format (three integers separated by dots).
      "version": "1.0.0",
      // File path (absolute or relative to this configuration file) of the artifact you wish to upload from your local disk.
      // Use Linux slash (/) file separator even if running on Windows.
      "file_path": "ubuntu-template.json"
    }
  ],
  // VHD image configuration.
  "vhd": {
    // Optional. Name of the artifact. Name will be generated if not supplied.
    "artifact_name": "",
    // Version of the artifact in A-B-C format. Note the '-' (dash) not '.' (dot).
    "version": "1-0-0",
    // Supply either file_path or blob_sas_url, not both.
    // File path (absolute or relative to this configuration file) of the artifact you wish to upload from your local disk.
    // Leave as empty string if not required. Use Linux slash (/) file separator even if running on Windows.
    "file_path": "livecd.ubuntu-cpc.azure.vhd",
    // Optional. Specifies the size of empty data disks in gigabytes.
    // This value cannot be larger than 1023 GB. Delete if not required.
    "image_disk_size_GB": "30",
    // Optional. Specifies the HyperVGenerationType of the VirtualMachine created from the image.
    // Valid values are V1 and V2. V1 is the default if not specified. Delete if not required.
    "image_hyper_v_generation": "V1",
    // Optional. The ARM API version used to create the Microsoft.Compute/images resource.
    // Delete if not required.
    "image_api_version": "2023-03-01"
  }
}

Build the Network Function Definition (NFD)

To construct the Network Function Definition (NFD), initiate the build process.

az aosm nfd build --config-file input-vnf-nfd.jsonc --definition-type vnf

Once the build is complete, examine the generated files to better understand the Network Function Definition (NFD) structure.

These files are created in a subdirectory called vnf-cli-output:

Publish the Network Function Definition and upload artifacts

Execute the following command to publish the Network Function Definition (NFD) and upload the associated artifacts:

az aosm nfd publish --build-output-folder vnf-cli-output --definition-type vnf

When the command completes, inspect the resources within your Publisher Resource Group to observe the created components and artifacts.

These resources are created:

Next steps

• Quickstart: Design a Virtualized Network Function (VNF) Network Service Design