Instantiate Container Network Functions

This section provides instructions to instantiate the Helm charts as CNFs.

Instantiate the tcsa-init CNF

Before instantiating the Helm charts as CNFs, ensure that you create a VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid workload cluster. For more information, see Deploying VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Workload Cluster.

Navigate to the Network Function catalog and instantiate tcsa init CNF.
- Enter Name. For example, tcsa-init, and select the VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid workload cluster on which you want to deploy it.
- Enable Auto Rollback in Advanced Settings and click Next.
- In the Inventory Detail section, set the Namespace to default and select the default library chart repository, that is, the https://<harbor-registry-fqdn>/chartrepo/library endpoint of the associated registry and click Next.
- The Network Function Properties page appears. Click Next.
- In the Inputs section, retain the default value and click Next.
Click Instantiate.
Verify the instantiation is successful.

Instantiate the admin-operator CNF

Navigate to the Network Function catalog and instantiate admin operator CNF.
- Enter Name. For example, admin-operator, and select the VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid workload cluster on which you want to deploy it.
- Enable Auto Rollback in Advanced Settings and click Next.
- In the Inventory Detail section, set the Namespace to default and select the default library chart repository, that is, the https://<harbor-registry-fqdn>/chartrepo/library endpoint of the associated registry and click Next.
- The Network Function Properties page appears. Click Next.
- In the Inputs section, retain the default value and click Next.
Click Instantiate.
Verify the instantiation is successful.

Instantiate tcsa (VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance) CNF

Navigate to the Network Function catalog and instantiate VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance CNF.
1. Enter Name. For example, tcsa, and select the VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid workload cluster on which you want to deploy it.
2. Enable Auto Rollback in Advanced Settings and click Next.
3. In the IInventory Detail section, set the Namespace to default and select the default library chart repository, that is, the https://<harbor-registry-fqdn>/chartrepo/library endpoint of the associated registry and click Next.
4. In the Inputs section, update the following parameters:
  - Set registryRootUrl to the same value as the --registry-url parameter in the installer script of the Push Artifacts to Registry topic.
  - Set dashboardStaticAccessIp to the virtual IP of VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance workload cluster.
  - Set footprint to the VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance footprint that you are deploying. For example, demo, 25k, 50k, 75k, 100k, and so on.
  - Set edgeServicesStaticAccessIp to the virtual IP of the VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance workload cluster.
  - Set statusChecker.enabled to disabled state if it is enabled. The default value is disabled.
  - Note: The statusChecker.enabled parameter is disabled in VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance because VMware Telco Cloud Automation does not support CNF timeouts.
  - Set elasticsearch.retentionInterval to the desired retention period of metrics in Elasticsearch.
    Note: By default, the retention interval is 1w. The retention interval values can be 1w, 2w, 3w, 4w, 5w, 4w, or 7w.
  - Set appSpecs.elasticsearch.additionalValuesFile to one of the values like values-retention-1w, values-retention-2w, values-retention-3w, values-retention-4w, values-retention-5w, values-retention-6w, or values-retention-7w.
    Select the same retention period as elasticsearch.retentioninterval. For example, values-retention-1w for 1 week. This is an additional configuration required to properly configure the retention of metrics in Elasticsearch.
    Note: Setting the Elasticsearch retention parameters is optional. By default, the retention interval is 1w for elasticsearch.retentioninterval and values-retention-1w for appSpecs.elasticsearch.additionalValuesFile.
  Backup and Restore parameters are optional and must be configured only in-case if you are using external AWS or vSAN file services for Backup and Restore operations.
  If AWS is used for backup, then update the following parameters:
```
minioDatastoreType=s3
bucketName : Userdefined name, where the backup will be stored in AWS environment.
accesskey : accesskey and secretkey are specific to the individual AWS account. 
secretkey : accesskey and secretkey are specific to the individual AWS account. 
```
  If VMware vSAN file service is used for backup, then update the following parameters:
```
minioDatastoreType=nas 
nfsProvisionerEnabled: true 
nfsPath : nfspath where the backup will be stored. 
nfsServer : nfs-server on which backup will be stored. 
bucketName :Userdefined name, where the backup will be stored in VSAN file services. 
```
  For more information on configuring VMware vSAN file services, see Enabling VMware vSAN File Services topic.
Click Next.
Click Instantiate.
Verify the instantiation is successful.

Verify the deployment status by logging on to the deployment VM and running the following kubectl command:

root [ ~/base/tcx-deployer/clis ]# kubectl get tcxproduct OR root [ ~/base/tcx-deployer/clis ]# kubectl get apps

For all the apps, the reconcilation status must be successful.

Note: After the deployment is complete, you can view the version in the About page of VMware Telco Cloud Service Assurance UI.