Launching a sample program on a VNF

Hi Basavaraj:

The easy way to do this is to use the "user_data" section of the template to run a shell command:

vdus:
  vdu1:
    id: vdu1
    vm_image: cirros-0.3.4-x86_64-uec
    instance_type: m1.tiny
    user_data_format: RAW
    user_data: |
       #!/bin/sh
       echo "Hello World!" | tee /dev/console

    network_interfaces:
      management:
        network: net_mgmt
        management: true

Hi, I have a follow-up question.

I tried to implement this but got no output on the console. I am using PuTTY to ssh the server. I am also using the command line to create vnfd and vnf. After I executed"tacker vnf-create ...", not "hello world" showing in the console. I changed the code line

echo "Hello World!" | tee /dev/console --> echo "Hello World!" | tee /root/output.txt

no output.txt file generated.

My question is: when is this user_data command executed? right after the vnf is created?

Thanks,
Yubo

Hi Yubo,

I feel there is an understanding gap.
Once VNF created, neutron-metadata-agent executes the scripts/commands of user_data section inside the instance of VNF, not on the terminal from where you are executing commands(like. tacker vnf-create...).

If you are on the same track, Please verify if neutron-metadata-agent running, and check its logs.

Hi Dharmendra,

After I saw your message, I think there is an understanding gap. I am new to Tacker and OpenStack. I just followed the OpenStack tacker installation guide to successfully install Tacker and then read some articles under "Tacker User Guide".

 My goal is simple: I just want to test if my VNF works. Those articles under "Tacker User Guide" do not tell us how to verify if the VNF works and I can not see anything output once the VNF is on. The only thing I can see is that the VNF is active after I executed "tacker vnf-create ...". So, I googled how to test vnf and came to this post.

I thought once the VNF is created and active, it will execute the commands in the user_data, which seems wrong. Based on your reply, I now know the user_data is processed by neutron-metadata-agent. But how about other stuff? e.g. scaling, placement? I mean if I use VNF to implement a scalling or placement strategy and the vnf is active, does this mean the strategy is on?

Let's get back to the original issue. I checked neutron-metadata-agent by "service neutron-metadata-agent status" and it is active. Also, I checked the log under "/var/log/neutron/", there are two log files "neutron-metadata-agent.log" and "neutron-metadata-agent.log1". They are all empty. I checked this after the vnf became active.