Release date: July 2018

Shell version: 1.0.0

Document version: 1.0

• Overview
• Downloading the Shell
• Importing and Configuring the Shell
• Updating Python Dependencies for Shells
• Typical Workflows
• References

A shell integrates a device model, application or other technology with CloudShell. A shell consists of a data model that defines how the device and its properties are modeled in CloudShell, along with automation that enables interaction with the device via CloudShell.

CloudShell's traffic generator shells enable you to conduct traffic test activities on Devices Under Test (DUT) or Systems Under Test (SUT) from a sandbox. In CloudShell, a traffic generator is typically modeled using a chassis resource, which represents the traffic generator device and ports, and a controller service that runs the chassis commands, such as Load Configuration File, Start Traffic and Get Statistics. Chassis and controllers are modeled by different shells, allowing you to accurately model your real-life architecture. For example, scenarios where the chassis and controller are located on different machines.

For additional information on traffic generator shell architecture, and setting up and using a traffic generator in CloudShell, see the Traffic Generators Overiew online help topic.

The BreakingPoint Static VChassis shell provides you with connectivity and management capabilities such as device structure discovery and power management for the BreakingPoint Static VChassis.

For more information on the BreakingPoint Static VChassis, see the BreakingPoint official product documentation.

To model a BreakingPoint Static Virtual Chassis device in CloudShell, use the following:

▪ BreakingPoint VE Static VBlade, which provides data model and autoload functionality to model and load the BreakingPoint Virtual Blade to resource management.

▪ BreakingPoint Controller 1G Shell (service), which provides automation commands to run the VChassis such as Load Configuration, Start Traffic, and Get Statistics.

The BreakingPoint Static VChassis 2G Shell is based on the Deployed App Standard version 1.0.3.

For detailed information about the shell’s structure and attributes, see the Shell Standard: Deployed App Standard in GitHub.

Release: BreakingPoint Static VChassis 2G Shell 1.0.0

▪ CloudShell version 8.3 and above

▪ BreakingPoint VE version 8.20 and above

▪ BreakingPoint Controller Shell 1.2.3 and above

Note: If your CloudShell version does not support this shell, you should consider upgrading to a later version of CloudShell or contact customer support.

The shell's data model includes all shell metadata, families, and attributes.

BreakingPoint Static VChassis Families and Models

The VChassis families and models are listed in the following table:

BreakingPoint Static VChassis Attributes

The VChassis attribute names and types are listed in the following table:

This section describes the automation (drivers) associated with the data model. The shell’s driver is associated with the model and provided as part of the shell package. There are two types of automation processes, Autoload and Resource. Autoload is executed when creating the resource in the Inventory dashboard, while resource commands are run in the Sandbox, providing that the resource has been discovered and is online.

For Traffic Generator Shells, commands are configured and executed from the controller service in the sandbox, with the exception of the Autoload command, which is executed when creating the resource.

BreakingPoint Static VChassis 2G Shell

The BreakingPoint Static VChassis 2G shell is available from the Quali Community Integrations page.

Download the files into a temporary location on your local machine.

The shell comprises:

This section describes how to import the BreakingPoint Static VChassis 2G shell and configure and modify the shell’s devices.

To import the shell into CloudShell:

1. Make sure you have the shell’s zip package. If not, download the shell from the Quali Community's Integrations page.
2. In CloudShell Portal, as Global administrator, open the Manage – Shells page.
3. Click Import.
4. In the dialog box, navigate to the shell’s zip package, select it and click Open.

The shell is displayed in the Shells page and can be used by domain administrators in all CloudShell domains to create new inventory resources, as explained in Adding Inventory Resources.

Note: Offline installation instructions are relevant only if CloudShell Execution Server has no access to PyPi. You can skip this section if your execution server has access to PyPi. For additional information, see the online help topic on offline dependencies.

In offline mode, import the shell into CloudShell and place any dependencies in the appropriate dependencies folder.

If your Quali Server and/or execution servers work offline, you will need to copy all required Python packages, including the out-of-the-box ones, to the PyPi Server's repository on the Quali Server computer (by default C:\Program Files (x86)\QualiSystems\CloudShell\Server\Config\Pypi Server Repository).

For more information, see Configuring CloudShell to Execute Python Commands in Offline Mode.

To add Python packages to the local PyPi Server repository:

1. If you haven't created and configured the local PyPi Server repository to work with the execution server, perform the steps in Add Python packages to the local PyPi Server repository (offline mode).

2. For each shell or script you add into CloudShell, do one of the following (from an online computer):

   • Connect to the Internet and download each dependency specified in the shell's requirements.txt file with the following command: pip download -r requirements.txt. The sell or script's requirements are downloaded as zip files.

   • In the Quali Community's Integrations page, locate the sell and click the sell's Download link. In the page that is displayed, from the Downloads area, extract the dependencies package zip package

3. Place these zip files in the local PyPi Server repository.

This section explains how to create a new resource from the shell.

In CloudShell, the component that models the device is called a resource. It is based on the shell that models the device and allows the CloudShell user and API to remotely control the device from CloudShell.

You can also modify existing resources, see Managing Resources in the Inventory.

To create a resource for the device:

1. In CloudShell Portal, in the Inventory dashboard, click Add New.
2. From the list, select BP vChassis shell.
3. Enter the Name and IP address of the chassis.
4. Click Create.
5. In the Resource dialog box, edit the resource details as follows to discover the resource:

6. Click Continue.

CloudShell validates the device’s settings and updates the new resource with the device’s structure (if the device has a structure).

This section explains how to update your Python dependencies folder. This is required when you upgrade a shell that uses new/updated dependencies. It applies to both online and offline dependencies.

To update offline Python dependencies:

1. Download the latest Python dependencies package zip file locally.
2. Extract the zip file to the suitable offline package folder(s).
3. Restart any execution server that has a live instance of the relevant driver or script. This requires running the Execution Server's configuration wizard, as explained in the Configure the Execution Server topic of the CloudShell Suite Installation guide.

In online mode, the execution server automatically downloads and extracts the appropriate dependencies file from the public PyPi repository every time a new instance of the driver or script is created.

To update online Python dependencies:

• If there is a live instance of the shell's driver or script, restart the execution server, as explained above. If an instance does not exist, the execution server will download the Python dependencies the next time a command of the driver or script runs.

Workflow 1 - Creating a new blueprint

1. Creating a new blueprint.
   • Log in to CloudShell Portal and create a new blueprint (Blueprint Catalog>Create Blueprint).
   • Give the blueprint a name.
2. Add resources and services to the blueprint.
   • Click the Resource button and add the BreakingPoint VChassis resource and all needed ports into the diagram.
   • Associate the port sub resources with the BreakingPoint Network Neighborhood Interfaces, by specifying the port attribute Logical Name with the BP interface ID.
   • Click the App/Services tab and add the BreakingPointController service.
   • Specify the attribute Test Files Location, where test files will be downloaded.
3. Add a teardown script, which runs the cleanup_reservation driver command when the reservation ends. This command releases ports which were used by the reservation.
   • Go to the Scripts management page Manage>Scripts>Blueprint, click Add New Script and choose the Cleanup Reservation.zip file. Click Edit for the new added script and change Script Type to Teardown.
   • Go back to the created blueprint and open properties, Blueprint>Properties. In the Driver section select Python Setup & Teardown, add Estimated teardown duration 1 min., then click Add Script and choose Cleanup Reservation from the list.
   • To save changes, click Update.

Workflow 2 - Getting a test file with network configuration

You cannot change predefined Tests and Network Neighborhoods. Predefined Network Neighborhoods will not be included in Test files.

This scenario helps you use predefined Tests and Network Neighborhoods.

1. Duplicate the BreakingPoint Network Neighborhood configuration.
   • Open the BreakingPoint UI.
   • Go to Control Center>Open Neighborhood.
   • Find and select Network Neighborhood from the list.
   • Click Save As and enter New Network Neighborhood Name, click Ok.
2. Duplicate the BreakingPoint Test.
   • Go to Test>Open Test.
   • Find and select the Test from the list.
   • Press Save As and save it with a new name.
3. Change the Network Neighborhood in the duplicated test.
   • Find and select the duplicated test from the list and open it.
   • In the section Network Neighborhood click ‘…’, find and select the duplicated Network Neighborhood.
   • Click Save.
4. Run the GetTestFile BreakingPointController command.
   • Enter CloudShell Portal, and reserve the newly created blueprint.
   • Run the BreakingComandController service command GetTestFile with the duplicated test name.
   • Open the folder specified in the attribute Test Files Location+<reservation_id> to view the file with the name of your duplicated test (extension “bpt”).

Workflow 3 - Running a test

1. Enter your blueprint.
2. From the BreakingPointController service, run the Load Configuration command.
   • Hover over the BreakingPointController service and click Commands.
   • In the Resource Commands pane, click the Load Configuration command.
   • Specify the BreakingPoint config file with the path of your test configuration file.
     It can be a full path, or relative path under the location specified in the attribute Test Files Location, such as <reservation_id>/test_name.bpt, or only test_name.bpt, if it is a current sandbox. Make sure the path is accessible to the execution server running the command.
   • Click Run, to load the test and network configuration from this file and reserve necessary ports.
3. Run the Start Traffic command.
   • Click BreakingPointController Commands and enter the service commands.
   • Find the Start Traffic command and click Enter to run the menu.
   • Set Blocking to True, if you want subsequent commands to wait until the test finishes, or False to allow additional commands to run during the command's execution.
   • Click Run.
4. Run the Stop Traffic command.
   If the Start Traffic test was run with Blocking disabled, you can immediately stop the test.
   • Run the Stop Traffic command.
5. Get the test's result file.
   • Run the Get Result command.
   • The result file is attached to the sandbox.

To download and share integrations, see Quali Community's Integrations.

For instructional training and documentation resources, see the Quali University.

To suggest an idea for the product, see Quali's Idea box.

To connect with Quali users and experts from around the world, ask questions and discuss issues, see Quali's Community forums.

To use traffic generator ports as abstract resources, see CloudShell's Online Help.