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The Broadband Access Center for Cable (BAC) Sample User Interface (SUI) provides you with a sample user interface for both self- and pre-provisioning. The SUI can demonstrate the basic functionality of BAC in lab testing scenarios. In full BAC deployments, SUI functionality is expected to be provided by billing, OSS, and/or workflow applications.
BAC provides a sample workflow application that manages the automated provisioning of devices on the network, and an administrator interface that gives basic functions to those who manage the accounts that are maintained in BAC.
In the SUI, data is managed in two distinct ways: registration of devices on the network and the accounting of results from those registrations. For example, pages that permit the complete self-provisioning of new cable modems, using credit card information, must be capable of handling the automated billing for services along with device tracking. While the SUI does not track accounting information, it allows each device to be associated with an owner identifier (Owner ID). For example, the association with an Owner ID allows objects stored in BAC, to be related to external objects such as billing account systems. In this sample workflow, the Owner ID is used as the account number, but is not actually related to any external data. The Owner ID associated on device objects in BAC can be any external string used to group devices.
The SUI uses shortcuts to provide an interface that can support such functions as accounting, without actually needing an external accounting entity. Accounting information is stored on the modem object as custom properties. When viewing an account, the modem is found using the Owner ID and then the account data is retrieved from the modem.
BAC supports two distinct methods of managing devices: the Standard mode and the Promiscuous mode.
The Sample User Interface includes subscriber and administrator interfaces. You can change the subscriber interface flow to support: pre- or self- provisioning, tracking of customers, and tracking of devices being given access. Before you use the SUI, you should examine the sampleui.properties file. This file contains a variety of controls that specify the behavior of the interface. Refer to the "Sample sampleui.properties File" section to see the default sampleui.properties file.
You can open this file, and change its content to perform the functions you desire, using any text editor. Once your changes are complete and saved, simply restart the SUI and all changes will take affect.
Run this command to start the SUI:
Run this command to stop the SUI:
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Note Both of these commands are located in the <BPR_HOME>/rdu/sampleUI/bin directory. |
You can configure the SUI using the options described in this section. Modifying these options forces the SUI to behave in different flows. The intention of this is to represent the majority of your requirements. These options are either controlled by settings existing in BAC or are defined in the sampleui.properties file. See the "Sample sampleui.properties File" section for additional information.
Classes of service are defined in the interfaces configuration file and also in the normal service definition within BAC. The classes of service within the SUI also reference the intended DHCP criteria to be used for the devices and have a description for presentation in the interface. For example, if you chose a class of service called Blue, the SUI could translate that into a BAC class of service called Gold and a DHCP criteria called residential-provisioned. When the SUI is started, it would attempt to verify that the referenced classes of service are already defined.
The Promiscuous mode is defined as the behavior involving how computers are tracked. When the Promiscuous mode is enabled, a computer automatically receives a provisioned configuration when it is plugged in behind a provisioned cable modem.
When the Promiscuous mode is enabled, computers are not asked for registration information. However, when this mode is disabled, a situation known as the Standard mode, the SUI let users register their computers. This includes the optionally selection of an Internet service provider (ISP) for each computer. This is maintained within BAC and can be accessed from the RDU Defaults page in the administrator's user interface.
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Note You must restart the SUI after you change the Promiscuous mode. |
You can select an internet service provider (ISP) individually, for each computer registered with an account, whenever the Standard mode PC registration (non-Promiscuous) mode is used. Selecting an ISP has the same affect as choosing the DHCP criteria assigned to the computer. This setting is configured within the interface's configuration file. If there is a single ISP, the ISP-selection controls are bypassed when moving through the subscription interface.
You can use the technician login to demonstrate a provisioning flow whereby a technician brings a cable modem to a customer's home and plugs it in. The Technician Login page appears to authenticate the technician in the system before proceeding with the provisioning of the cable modem on the network.
If authentication is disabled, but technician provisioning is enabled, then the demonstration will be one of a self-provisioning nature.
The administrators that can access the SUI administration interface are configured in the interface configuration file. You can use four types of administrators within the SUI.
This section describes various work flows that are presented while using the SUI. Having the Promiscuous mode enabled or disabled has a significant effect on the behavior of the SUI. Consequently, the flows in this section are identified separately.
This section describes provisioning activities while the system is in the standard, non-Promiscuous, mode of operation. These provisioning activities are discussed in these sections:
When a new modem and new computer are connected to a network, and the user brings a web browser online, the user is redirected to the provisioning interface.
Step 2 The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if technician authentication is required:
Step 3 A computer registration page appears. You can use this page to register the computer at the same time the modem is registered. This page also identifies that the modem registration has been successful.
Step 4 The SUI checks to the sampleui.properties file to determine if the optional ISP selection is enabled.
Step 5 Click Register This Computer and a message appears stating that the computer has been successfully registered with the network.
When an existing modem and new computer are connected to the network and then the user brings a web browser online, the user is redirected to the provisioning interface.
Step 2 The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if the optional ISP selection is enabled.
Step 3 Click Register This Computer and a message appears stating that the computer has been successfully registered with the network.
When an existing modem and existing computer are connected to the network and then the user brings a web browser online, the user can browse the network. They then direct their browser to the provisioning interface.
Step 2 Click Register This Computer and a message appears stating that the computer has been successfully registered with the network.
This section describes equipment registration using the SUI. These provisioning activities are discussed in these sections:
When a new modem and new computer are connected to the network and then the user brings a web browser online, the user is redirected to the provisioning interface.
Step 2 The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if technician authentication is required:
Step 3 A message appears, stating that the modem and computer have been successfully registered with the network.
When an existing modem and new computer are connected to the network and then the user brings a web browser online, the user can browse the network. Once they can browse the network, they must direct their browser to the provisioning interface. After being directed, a message appears to indicate that the cable modem and computer are registered on the system.
This section identifies some examples that illustrate the use of the SUI in performing account maintenance and account searches. The components of each SUI page that appear only when certain permissions have been assigned, are identified with an if applicable note appended to the end of the component name.
This section explains how to perform account searches using the SUI. These search activities are discussed:
You can search for an account, using an account number, after logging in. You specify the account number to search for and if found, the account details are displayed. If the account is not found, an error message appears stating that the account number does not exist in the system.
You can search for an account, using an IP address, after logging in. You specify the IP address of a computer or modem currently provisioned by BAC and, if found, the owner is checked for the device to determine what account should be displayed.
If a valid account is found, full account details for the device are displayed. If a valid device is found, but not a valid account, the current device's MAC address and IP address appear at the bottom of the search page.
If the device cannot be found, an error is displayed indicating the search did not find a matching device.
You can search for an account, using a MAC address, after logging in. You specify the MAC address of a computer or modem currently provisioned by BAC and, if found, the owner is checked for the device to see what account should be displayed.
If a valid account is found, full account details for the device are displayed. If a valid device is found, but not a valid account, the current MAC address and IP address for the device are shown at the bottom of the search page.
If the device cannot be found, an error is displayed indicating the search did not find a matching device.
This section explains how to perform account maintenance using the SUI. These maintenance activities are discussed in these sections:
You can use this workflow to register a new account, and modem, with the SUI. You must login to the system and then:
Step 2 Click Create a new Account.
Step 3 The SUI displays a page that lets you enter the account number, MAC address of the cable modem, and the class of service applicable to the account.
Step 4 After entering and submitting the desired information, the account is created.
Step 5 Once the account is created, a new account creation page appears. This lets you rapidly enter multiple accounts into the system.
You can use this workflow to change the class of service on an account and disable the cable modem. You must login to the system and then:
Step 2 The SUI display a page that contains all of the information on the account, including: the currently selected class of service, whether the cable modem is enabled, the account owner information, and the list of registered computers.
Step 3 Select the appropriate class of service from the drop-down menu.
Step 4 Click Update.
Step 5 The SUI redisplays the same page containing all of the account information. However, on this page the class of service will have been changed.
You can use this workflow to change the modem that is currently associated with an account. The account details such as user name can also be updated following this workflow. You must login to the system and then:
Step 2 The SUI display a page that contains all of the information on the account, including: the currently selected class of service, whether the cable modem is enabled, the account owner information, and the list of registered computers.
Step 3 Enter the new MAC address for the account's cable modem.
Step 4 Click Update.
Step 5 The SUI redisplays the same page containing all of the account information. However, on this page the MAC address will have been changed.
You can use this workflow to unregister computers that were previously registered using the Subscriber portion of the SUI. This workflow only applies when Standard mode PC registration is used. You must login to the system and then:
Step 2 The SUI display a page that contains all of the information on the account, including: the currently selected class of service, whether the cable modem is enabled, the account owner information, and the list of registered computers.
Step 3 Determine which computer you want to unregister and click the appropriate Delete button.
Step 4 The SUI re-displays the same page containing all of the account information, however, the computer has been removed from the list.
You can use this workflow to delete an account that was registered using the SUI. You must login to the system and then:
Step 2 The SUI display a page that contains all of the information on the account, including: the currently selected class of service, whether the cable modem is enabled, the account owner information, and the list of registered computers.
Step 3 Click X, at the Delete account field from the system prompt.
Step 4 The SUI displays the same page containing all of the account information. A prompt appears, next to the Delete button, asking for confirmation before proceeding.
Step 5 Click X, at the Delete account field from the system prompt, again to confirm deletion of the account.
Step 6 The SUI displays the original search page showing that the account has been deleted.
The information necessary for connecting to the RDU is specified in the sampleui.properties file. The SUI uses two HTML files to customize the displayed text and presentation. These files contain header and footer content that is prepended and appended, respectively, to the generated web pages.
The sampleui.properties file controls the messages displayed, the list of classes of service that are displayed, and the corresponding DHCP criteria. If the computers are using multiple ISPs, this file also controls which ISPs are displayed as options when registering the computer.
The .gif and supporting files are located in the <BPR_HOME>/rdu/sampleUI directory. To change the layout of the pages beyond basic titles, headers, and footers, you must change the SUI Java source code. You should not attempt to use the SUI web server to do development as it has been configured for simple demonstration use only. To develop or expand the capabilities of this demo, you should copy the files and perform development against a separate web server. See the "Modifying the Supplied Source Code" section for additional information.
The sampleui.properties file contains descriptions of how the flow can be modified. For example, if the Promiscuous mode is enabled in BAC, the flow will not show those pages for registration of computers.
Only experienced software developers should attempt to modify the SUI source code.
Before modifying the SUI source code, copy the code from the current directory to a different computer, then begin making your changes.
Step 2 Install the BAC API on the computer referenced in the previous step.
Step 3 Copy the demo source code on to the web server.
Step 4 Copy the configuration files into the web server's class path.
Step 5 Open the source code in a text editor.
Step 6 Make the desired changes.
Step 7 Save those changes back into the sampleui.properties file.
The checklist shown in Table 6-1 identifies the sampleui.properties parameters that can be changed.
Table 6-1 Parameters Requiring Change
This section identifies the contents of a sample sampleui.properties file. This properties file is located in the <BPR_HOME>/rdu/conf directory.
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Posted: Tue Nov 25 06:45:58 PST 2003
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