Cisco Service Control Management Suite Subscriber Manager User Guide, Release 5.0.x

Configuration Files

The Subscriber Manager has a set of configuration files, located in ~pcube/sm/server/root/config/ .

• p3sm.cfg—Main Subscriber Manager configuration file. For a detailed description of the configuration file parameters, see the Configuration File Options.
• p3qm.cfg—Main Quota Manager configuration file. For more information, see the “Configuring the Quota Manager” chapter in the Cisco Service Control Management Suite Quota Manager User Guide .
• vlink.cfg—Virtual Link Manager (VLM) configuration file. For more information, see the “Configuring the Solution” chapter in the Cisco Service Control for Managing Remote Cable MSO Links Solution Guide .
• dhcp_pkg.cfg—Policy configuration file for DHCP integration. This file is used by the Lease Query LEG and the DHCP Sniffer LEG. For more information, see the “Configuring the SCE-Sniffer DHCP LEG” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• dhcpsnif.cfg—The DHCP Sniffer LEG configuration file. For more information, see the “Configuring the SCE-Sniffer DHCP LEG” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• dhcpv6snif.cfg—The DHCPv6 Sniffer LEG configuration file. For more information, see the “Configuring the SCE-Sniffer DHCPv6 LEG” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• leaseq.cfg—DHCP Lease Query LEG configuration file. For more information, see the “Subscriber Manager Integration - Configuration” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• leaseqv6.cfg—DHCPv6 Lease Query LEG configuration file. For more information, see the “Subscriber Manager Integration - Configuration” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• rad_snif.cfg—RADUS Sniffer LEG configuration file. For more information, see the “Configuring the SCE-Sniffer RADIUS LEG” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• soap_leg.cfg and soap_pkg.cfg—SOAP LEG configuration files. For more information, see the “Configuring the SOAP LEG” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .
• ipdr.cfg—IPDR LEG configuration files. For more information, see the “Configuring the IPDR LEG” chapter in the Cisco SCMS SM LEGs User Guide .

The configuration files and command-line utilities enable you to configure all the parameters that define the behavior of the Subscriber Manager application. (See Appendix B, “Command-Line Utilities.” )

Each configuration file is comprised of sections. A unique name identifies each section. The name of the section appears in square brackets as in the following example:

Each section contains several parameters. Each parameter is defined as a key=value pair, as in the following example:

NoteThe equal sign ( The equal sign (=) is a key-value separator in the configuration file. To use the equal sign as part of the value, you must insert a backslash (\) before it, as in the following example:

[Sample Section]
key=value1\=value2

The p3sm.cfg configuration file contains the following types of parameters:

• General, systemwide parameters, such as subscriber state saving, persistency, subscriber introduction mode (Pull mode or Push mode), and topology
• Parameters for managing Subscriber Manager-LEG connection failure
• Parameters for managing Subscriber Manager-SCE connection failure
• Parameters for SCE platform configuration
• Parameters for domain configuration

– Associating domains and SCE platforms

– Specifying domain aliases

– Specifying domain properties

• Auto-logout parameters, for controlling automatic logout of subscribers after timeout
• Parameters for RADIUS Listener configuration

– Specifying NAS configuration

– Specifying properties configuration

• Parameters for FTP, HTTP, and PRPC server configuration
• Parameters for Cable Adapter configuration
• Parameters for configuring Subscriber Manager operation with the Subscriber Manager database

Usually, you specify the parameters in the configuration file once when setting up the system. The parameters are then valid throughout the lifetime of the system. To modify the configuration file parameters, edit the file using any text editor. Reload the configuration file by using the CLU (see the “Reloading the Subscriber Manager Configuration (p3sm)” section). You can load the configuration file when you start or restart the Subscriber Manager or by explicitly running the CLU command.

The configuration file is designed so that you can use the same configuration file in multiple Subscriber Manager applications of a high availability setup. This enables you to replicate the configuration by copying the file from one machine to another.

Command-Line Utilities

The Subscriber Manager provides a set of Command-Line Utilities (CLU), which you can use in addition to the configuration file to configure the parameters that might change during the operation of the Subscriber Manager.

The CLU enables you to configure the Subscriber Manager by using shells that are installed on the machine. You can execute CLU commands are executable only when you are logged in to the machine. You must access the pcube user account, which is always installed (see Chapter4, “Installation and Upgrading”) Use the CLU mainly for viewing and for subscriber management.

In high availability setups, you cannot use the CLU to perform subscriber management operations on the standby Subscriber Manager. The standby Subscriber Manager refreshes the database before performing subscriber display operations, so the operation takes longer (than for the active Subscriber Manager). Therefore, you should perform all subscriber operations on the active Subscriber Manager.

This chapter explains how to perform various tasks using the appropriate CLU, but it does not describe the CLU in detail. For a complete, detailed description of the CLU, see the “Command-Line Utilities” section.

Configuring the Subscriber Management Solution

This configuration procedure applies to a single group, consisting of the following components:

• A Subscriber Manager application
• A set of LEG applications or components that connect to this Subscriber Manager
• The SCE platforms that this Subscriber Manager serves

You can divide every subscriber management solution into such groups. You can apply this procedure to each of these groups.

Prerequisites

Before configuring any of the components in your subscriber management solution, verify that all the items on the following checklist have been successfully completed:

• The SCE platforms in your network are installed and configured as explained in the SCE User Guides.
• The Subscriber Manager applications in your network are installed as explained in Chapter4, “Installation and Upgrading”
• The Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband (SCA BB) is installed on all SCE platforms in your network. See the Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband User Guide for instructions on installing the Service Control Application on the SCE platforms.

Note Login Event Generators and the SCA BB application are installed by default on the Subscriber Manager.

• The subscriber integration concept has been determined and an appropriate solution was designed for driving subscriber mappings and policy information into the Subscriber Manager. This can be implemented automatically using a LEG or manually using the CLU.
• The subscriber introduction mode (Push or Pull) has been determined for each Subscriber Manager system, based on the number of subscribers that the relevant SCE platforms should be serving.
• The association between SCE platforms and the relevant Subscriber Manager systems has been determined.
• For each Subscriber Manager system, the association between the SCE platforms that it serves and the subscriber domains has been designed.

Step 1 Edit the Subscriber Manager configuration file p3sm.cfg according to your system definition, and reload it using the p3sm --load-config command.

Step 2 Configure the SCE platform repository.

Use the p3net CLU command to verify the connection state of each SCE Platform that should be provisioned by the Subscriber Manager.

After the physical installation of an SCE platform (connection to the management network), you must explicitly add it to the Subscriber Manager list, or repository, of existing SCE platforms before the Subscriber Manager will recognize it. Conversely, if you remove an SCE platform from that list, the Subscriber Manager will no longer recognize it, even though it is still physically connected.

Each SCE.XXX section defines the following configuration parameters that represent a single SCE platform, where XXX represents the SCE logical name:

• ip

Defines the IP address of a standalone SCE device or the two IP addresses of a cascade SCE pair.

• port

Defines the port through which the SCE platform connects. The default is 14374.

To view the SCE platforms, use the p3net CLU. See “The p3net Utility” section.

For more information, see the “SCE.XXX Section” section.

a. Configure the SCE.XXX sections to add the SCE Platform to the repository.

b. Load the SCE configuration to the Subscriber Manager using the p3sm CLU.

c. Verify that the SCE platform was successfully connected.

d. Verify your configuration when you are finished.

Step 3 Configure the domains.

Use the p3domains command to verify the domain configuration and that the SCE platforms are set to these domains.

When a system has more than one SCE platform, you can configure the platforms into groups, or domains. A subscriber domain is one or more SCE platforms that share a specified group of subscribers. Before adding an SCE platform to a domain, you must add the SCE platform to the SCE platform repository.

NoteThe Subscriber Manager is preconfigured with a single subscriber domain called The Subscriber Manager is preconfigured with a single subscriber domain called subscribers.

Each Domain.XXX section specifies the elements (SCE platforms), aliases, and properties for one domain. It contains the following parameters:

• subscriber_ipv6_prefixes=IPv6 Prefix 1, [IPv6 Prefix 2,...]

Defines the list of prefixes to be used in the pull lookup operation when an IPv6 pull request notification is received by the Cisco Service Control Subscriber Manager. For more than one prefix, separate the values using a coma (,). Possible value range is from 32 to 64. The default value is 64. Lookup order is always from the higher prefixes to lower prefixes. The changes takes effect only after a Cisco Service Control Subscriber Manager restart.

• elements=<logical_name1[,logical_name2,...]>

Specifies the names of the Cisco SCE platforms that are part of the domain.

• aliases=alias_name1[,alias_name2,...]

Defines domain aliases. When the subscriber manager receives information from the LEG with one of the aliases (for example, alias1 ), the information is distributed to the domain that matches this alias (for example, domain_name1 ). A typical alias could be a network device IP address, where, for example, each string in the values can be the IP address of a NAS or a CMTS.

NoteEach alias (for example, alias_name1) can only appear in Each alias (for example, alias_name1) can only appear in one [Domain.XXX] section.

• The specification aliases=* means that every subscriber that does not have a domain is put in this domain.

NoteOnly one domain may specify this option ( Only one domain may specify this option (aliases=*).

• property.<name1>=<value1>[,property.<name2>=<value2>,...]

Defines the default policy property values for a domain. Unless the LEG/API overrides these defaults when it introduces the subscriber to the Subscriber Manager, the subscriber policy is set according to the default policy property values of its domain. Property values must be integers.

To view the domains, use the p3domains CLU. See “The p3domains Utility” section.

For more information, see the “Domain.XXX Section” section.

Step 4 Configure the Subscriber Manager General section.

This section of the configuration file is relevant to any deployment topology. It addresses the following systemwide parameters:

• introduction_mode

Defines whether the Subscriber Manager introduces the subscribers to the SCE platforms immediately after a login operation (Push mode), or only when the SCE requests the subscriber specifically (Pull mode).

• application_subscriber_lock

Defines whether to lock subscriber-related operations (login, logout, etc.) at the application level. Set this parameter to true for cases in which several LEG components can update subscribers simultaneously.

• force_subscriber_on_one_sce

Defines whether the Subscriber Manager supports the solution in which a Cisco 7600/6500 is used for load-balancing among several SCE platforms. In this solution, when one SCE platform fails, subscriber traffic is redistributed to a different SCE platform. The Subscriber Manager must remove these subscribers from the failed SCE platform and send the relevant subscriber information to the new SCE platform. This parameter is relevant only in the Pull mode.

Note When support_ip_ranges is set to ‘true,’ set the force_subscriber_on_one_sce parameter to ‘false’ or use a different load-balancing scheme on the Cisco 7600/6500.

• logon_logging_enabled

Defines whether to enable the logging of subscriber log in events.

To view the Subscriber Manager settings, use the p3sm CLU. See “The p3sm Utility” section.

NoteSetting Setting logon_logging_enabled to true causes performance degradation. For additional information, see the “Subscriber Manager General Section” section.

Step 5 Configure the Data Repository section.

The Data Repository section defines the Subscriber Manager operation with the Subscriber Manager database In-Memory Database, via the following parameters:

• support_ip_ranges

Defines whether the Subscriber Manager supports IP-Ranges.

NoteDisabling this support provides better performance. Disabling this support provides better performance.

• max_range_size

Determines the maximum IP range size used in the system. This parameter is used for improving performance of the Subscriber Manager in Pull mode when the [Data Repository] section is configured with support_ip_ranges=yes .

NoteDefining this parameter with too large a value may cause performance degradation in processing pull requests. Defining this parameter with too large a value may cause performance degradation in processing pull requests.

For more information, see the “Data Repository Section” section.

Step 6 Configure the High Availability section.

The High Availability section defines the type of topology in which the Subscriber Manager should work, via the parameter:

• topology

Defines the topology type in which the Subscriber Manager will work (cluster or standalone).

For more information, see the “Subscriber Manager High Availability Setup Section” section.

Step 7 Import subscribers to the Subscriber Manager from a CSV file.

Perform this step only when you are integrating manually, or when you perform a setup prior to the beginning of the automatic integration.

A csv file is a simple text file in which each line consists of comma-separated values. Because each line might contain subscriber properties, which are application dependant, see the documentation of the application that you installed on your system for the format of a csv import file.

In most cases, when importing csv files, you should use the p3subsdb --import CLU command. When integrating with a cable AAA system and working in the CPE as Subscriber mode, importing cable modems requires the p3cable --import-cm CLU command. (see Appendix C, “CPE as a Subscriber in a Cable Environment.” )

Step 8 Configure the SCE platforms

Perform this step only when you use the Pull mode to introduce subscribers, or when you perform a special operation on Subscriber Manager-SCE connection failure. Use the SCE platform Command-Line Interface (CLI) to configure several configuration parameters, according to the following explanation.

Configuring these parameters ensures that the SCE platform correctly applies appropriate defaults to subscribers in the period between subscriber detection and pull response (for unmapped subscribers). For additional details, see the SCE User Guides.

• Anonymous groups and subscriber templates

When the SCE platform encounters network traffic that is not assigned to any introduced subscriber, it checks whether the mapping of the unfamiliar subscriber belongs to one of the anonymous groups. If the subscriber belongs to an anonymous group, a new anonymous subscriber is created, and a request for an updated subscriber record is sent to the Subscriber Manager. The properties of the anonymous subscriber are taken from the subscriber template that is assigned to the newly created subscriber anonymous group.

• Anonymous subscriber groups

An anonymous group is a specified IP range, possibly assigned a subscriber template (defined in the next section). If a subscriber template has been assigned to the group, the anonymous subscribers generated have subscriber properties as defined by that template. If no subscriber template has been assigned, the default template is used.

Use the appropriate CLI commands to import anonymous group information from a csv file, or to create or edit these groups explicitly.

• Subscriber templates

Values for various subscriber properties for unmapped or anonymous subscriber groups are assigned in the system based on subscriber templates. A number from 0 to 199 identifies subscriber templates. CSV formatted subscriber template files define the subscriber templates 1 to 199. However, template 0 cannot change; it always contains the default values. If a template is not explicitly assigned to an anonymous group, the group uses template 0.

Use the appropriate CLI commands to import subscriber templates from a csv file, or edit these templates from the command line. Additionally, use the appropriate CLI commands to assign subscriber templates to the anonymous groups.

• Subscriber aging parameters

To prevent SCE capacity problems in Pull mode, configure the aging of introduced subscribers. The aging parameter defines a timeout. Any subscriber that does not generate traffic during this timeout interval is automatically logged out from the SCE.

• Subscriber Manager-SCE connection failure

To prevent incorrect classification of a subscriber’s traffic during a lengthy connection failure between the Subscriber Manager and the SCE, configure the Subscriber Manager connection failure parameters.

The SCE has several alternatives for managing connection failures:

– The SCE can clear the mappings of all of the subscribers

– The SCE can put the line in cut-off mode

– The SCE does nothing

• The timeout between the connection detection and actually performing the operation is also configurable.

System Configuration Examples

This section presents common subscriber management scenarios, including the correct configuration parameters for these scenarios. The following scenarios are described:

• Automatic introduction of subscribers, with Push mode and fail-over of SCE platforms
• Manual introduction of subscribers with Pull mode
• Subscriber Manager fail-over scenario

Automatic Introduction of Subscribers, with Push Mode and Fail-Over of SCE Platforms

The example in this section assumes that the following conditions of the system are established:

• Automatic introduction of subscribers, that is, a provisioning system of an AAA system introduces the subscribers. This example assumes that integration with a DHCP server allows automatic introduction of subscribers to the Subscriber Manager.
• The Subscriber Manager is operating in Push mode.
• The application that is used includes states that should be preserved such as volume quota states in the Cisco Service Control Application for Broadband (Cisco SCA BB).

Figure 5-1 Cable Topology with Automatic Integration with a DHCP Server, Push Mode, and Fail-Over of SCE Platforms

NoteEnsure that everything is properly installed before you configure the Subscriber Manager. Ensure that everything is properly installed before you configure the Subscriber Manager.

The following general steps describe how to configure the Subscriber Manager for this scenario:

1. Edit the Subscriber Manager configuration file to add the SCE devices to the SCE device repository and group the SCE devices to domains as depicted in Figure 5-1.

2. Edit the Subscriber Manager configuration file as shown in Table 5-1 html#46499">.