Chapter 11, Using the Sample User Interface

The Broadband Access Center for Cable (BACC) 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 BACC in lab testing scenarios. In full BACC deployments, SUI functionality is expected to be provided by billing, OSS, and/or workflow applications.

What is the Sample User Interface?

BACC 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 BACC.

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 together 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 BACC 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 BACC can be any external string used to group devices.

The SUI uses shortcuts to provide an interface that can support functions such 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.

BACC supports two distinct methods of managing devices: the Standard mode and the Promiscuous mode.

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In the Promiscuous mode, only the modems are tracked regardless of how many computers may exist on the other side of the modem. When Promiscuous mode is enabled, computers receive access only if they are behind a provisioned modem.

Starting and Stopping the Sample User Interface

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. After your changes are complete and saved, restart the SUI and all changes will take affect.

Note Both these commands are located in the <BACC_HOME>/rdu/sampleUI/bin directory.

Sample User Interface Configuration Options

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 BACC or are defined in the sampleui.properties file. See the "Sample sampleui.properties File" section for additional information.

Classes of Service

Classes of service are defined in the interfaces configuration file and also in the normal service definition within BACC. 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 BACC 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.

Promiscuous Mode

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 lets users register their computers. This includes the optional selection of an Internet service provider (ISP) for each computer. This is maintained within BACC and can be accessed from the RDU Defaults page in the administrator's user interface.

Selecting an Internet Service Provider

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.

Using the Technician Login

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 in which you 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, the demonstration will be of a self-provisioning nature.

Administrative Access Levels

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.

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full—This type has complete access to create and delete accounts and manage devices in the interface.

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createonly—This type only has access to create new accounts using the interface.

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readonly—This type only has access to view accounts that have been created in the system.

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tech—This type only has access to log in through the technician interface. This is for auto-provisioning devices from the customer premises.

Subscriber Provisioning Examples

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.

Standard Customer Premise Equipment Registration

This section describes provisioning activities when the system is in the standard, non-Promiscuous mode of operation. These provisioning activities are discussed in these sections:

Provisioning a New Cable Modem and a New Computer

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 1

The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if technician provisioning is enabled:

•

If it is disabled, an error page appears stating that the modem is not registered and the customer should contact the MSO to register their cable modem with the system.

Step 2

The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if technician authentication is required:

•

If this feature is not required, the modem registration screen appears, and you can enter account details to be registered with the system.

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If the feature is required, the modem registration page appears, and you can enter your technician username and password, and the account details to be registered with the system.

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 the sampleui.properties file to determine if the optional ISP selection is enabled.

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If it is enabled, a drop-down list with available ISPs appears for you to select the appropriate ISP option.

Step 5

Click Register This Computer and a message appears stating that the computer has been successfully registered with the network.

Provisioning a New Computer with an Existing Cable Modem

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 1

The SUI displays the computer registration page. From here, you can register the computer on the network.

Step 2

The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if the optional ISP selection is enabled.

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If it is enabled, a drop-down list with available ISPs appears for you to select the appropriate ISP option

Step 3

Click Register This Computer and a message appears stating that the computer has been successfully registered with the network.

Altering an Existing Computer ISP

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 1

The SUI determines whether or not the optional ISP selection feature is enabled.

•

If it is enabled, a drop-down list with available ISPs appears for you to select the appropriate ISP option.

•

If it is disabled, no ISP selection is displayed and a message appears stating this computer is already registered on the system.

Step 2

Click Register This Computer and a message appears stating that the computer has been successfully registered with the network.

Promiscuous Customer Premises Equipment Registration

This section describes equipment registration using the SUI. These provisioning activities are discussed in these sections:

Provisioning a New Cable Modem and a New Computer

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 1

The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if technician provisioning is enabled:

•

If it is disabled, an error page appears stating that the modem is not registered and that the customer should contact their MSO to register their cable modem with the system.

Step 2

The SUI checks the sampleui.properties file to determine if technician authentication is required:

•

If this feature is not required, the modem registration screen appears for you to enter account details to be registered with the system.

•

If the feature is needed, the modem registration page appears for you to enter your technician username and password, and the account details to be registered with the system.

Step 3

A message appears, stating that the modem and computer have been successfully registered with the network.

Provisioning an Existing Cable Modem and a New Computer

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.

Administrator Provisioning Examples

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.

Searching for Accounts

This section explains how to perform account searches using the SUI. These search activities are discussed:

Searching by Account Number

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.

Searching by IP Address

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 BACC 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.

Searching by MAC Address

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 BACC 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.

Account Maintenance

This section explains how to perform account maintenance using the SUI. These maintenance activities are discussed in these sections:

Registering a New Account

You can use this workflow to register a new account, and modem, with the SUI. You must log into the system and then:

Step 1

The SUI displays a page that shows the search options (if applicable) to choose from. This page also contains the Create a new Account button.

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

After the account is created, a new account creation page appears. This lets you rapidly enter multiple accounts into the system.

Managing Classes of Service

You can use this workflow to change the class of service on an account and disable the cable modem. You must log into the system and then:

Step 1

The SUI displays a page that shows the search options (if applicable) to choose from. You can search for the account by using the account number, IP address, or MAC address as the search criteria.

Step 2

The SUI displays a page that contains all 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 5

The SUI redisplays the same page containing all the account information. However, on this page the class of service will have been changed.

Managing Cable Modems

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 log into the system and then:

Step 1

The SUI displays a page that shows the search options (if applicable) to choose from. You can search for the account by using the account number, IP address, or MAC address as the search criteria.

Step 2

Step 5

The SUI redisplays the same page containing all the account information. However, on this page the MAC address will have been changed.

Managing Computers

You can use this workflow to unregister computers that were previously registered using the Subscriber portion of the SUI. This workflow applies only when Standard mode PC registration is used. You must log into the system and then:

Step 1

The SUI displays a page that shows the search options (if applicable) to choose from. You can search for the account by using the account number, IP address, or MAC address as the search criteria.

Step 2

Step 3

Determine which computer you want to unregister and click the appropriate Delete button.

Step 4

The SUI redisplays the same page containing all the account information, however, the computer has been removed from the list.

Deleting an Account

You can use this workflow to delete an account that was registered using the SUI. You must log into the system and then:

Step 1

The SUI displays a page that shows the search options (if applicable) to choose from. You can search for the account by using the account number, IP address, or MAC address as the search criteria.

Step 2

Step 4

The SUI displays the same page containing all 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.

Sample sampleui.properties File

This section identifies the contents of a sample sampleui.properties file. This properties file is located in the <BACC_HOME>/rdu/conf directory.


`#`	`(C) Copyright 2001-2003 by Cisco Systems, Inc.`
`#`	`This program contains proprietary and confidential information.`
`#`	`All rights reserved. This software shall not be used by an party`
`#`	`except by prior written consent of Cisco Systems.`
`#`
`#`	`DO NOT CHANGE. This is the version of the properties file which`
`#`	`is used during execution and for system updates.`
`#`
`version=1.2`
`####################################################################`
`#`	`System connection information.`
`####################################################################`
`#`
`#`	`BPR RDU connection information`
`#`
`adminuser=admin`
`adminpass=admin`
`host=localhost`
`port=49187`
`####################################################################`
`#`	`Provisioning configuration parameters`
`####################################################################`
`#`
`#`	`Administrator access credentials`
`#`
`#`	`3 levels of access: full, createonly, and readonly`
`#`	`full -- can create and read accounts`
`#`	`createonly -- can only create new accounts`
`#`	`readonly -- can only read accounts`
`#`	`tech -- technician access for auto-provisioning modems`
`#`	`(The default access level is 'full')`
`#`
`#`	`The user.number must equal the number of user accounts`
`#`	`being tracked. If the number is 4, there must exist`
`#`	`entries for users 1-4.`
`#`
`user.number=4`
`user.1.name=admin`
`user.1.password=changeme`
`user.1.access=full`
`user.2.name=config`
`user.2.password=changeme`
`user.2.access=createonly`
`user.3.name=monitor`
`user.3.password=changeme`
`user.3.access=readonly`
`user.4.name=tech`
`user.4.password=changeme`
`user.4.access=tech`
`#`
`#`	`Indicates if promiscuous-mode is enabled`
`#`
`#`	`promiscuous-mode is a special mode of BPR in which computers are not`
`#`	`tracked by the provisioning system. (true/false)`
`#`
`#`	`This is controled by setting the RDU Defaults option:`
`#`	`ModemKeys.PROMISCUOUS_MODE_ENABLED`
`#`
`#`	`Indicates if technician auto-provisioning is enabled`
`#`
`#`	`This mode allows a technician to provision a new account in the field`
`#`	`without requiring the MAC address to be pre-registered.`
`#`
`techprovisioning.enabled=true`
`#`
`#`	`Indicates if technician username/password is required for modem`
`#`	`registration`
`#`
`#`	`If technician username/password is not required, then this`
`#`	`demo can be used to simulate modem self-registration`
`#`
`techprovisioning.authentication=false`
`#`
`#`	`Unprovisioned configuration (for disabled modems)`
`#`
`#`	`The client class should match the unprovisioned client class configured`
`#`	`in CNR. The service must be unique (i.e. NOT have the same name of`
`#`	`any of the services specified below).`
`#`
`#`	`These values are controlled by setting the DOCSIS Defaults options, use:`
`#`	`TechnologyDefaultsKeys.DOCSIS_DEFAULT_CLASS_OF_SERVICE`
`#`	`TechnologyDefaultsKeys.DOCSIS_DEFAULT_DHCP_CRITERIA`
`#`	`TechnologyDefaultsKeys.COMPUTER_DEFAULT_DHCP_CRITERIA`
`#`
`#`	`Classes of Service for Modems`
`#`
`#`	`The DHCP criterias specified here must match valid`
`#`	`DHCP criterias specified in the RDU. If promiscuous`
`#`	`mode is enabled, you must specify CPE DHCP criterias.`
`#`
`#`	`The service.number must equal the number of services`
`#`	`being tracked. If the number is 3, there must exist`
`#`	`entries for services 1-3.`
`#`
`service.number=3`
`service.1.name=gold`
`service.1.title=1.5Mb/s Lightning Fast!`
`service.1.dhcpcriteria=ccProvisionedDOCSISModem`
`service.1.cpedhcpcriteria=provcpetagProvisionedPromiscuousCpe`
`service.2.name=silver`
`service.2.title=512Kb/s Power User`
`service.2.dhcpcriteria=ccProvisionedDOCSISModem`
`service.2.cpedhcpcriteria=provcpetagProvisionedPromiscuousCpe`
`service.3.name=bronze`
`service.3.title=64kb/s Economy Service`
`service.3.dhcpcriteria=ccProvisionedDOCSISModem`
`service.3.cpedhcpcriteria=provcpetagProvisionedPromiscuousCpe`
`#`
`#`	`ISPs for Computers`
`#`
`#`	`The computerisp.number must equal the number of ISPs`
`#`	`available. If the number is 1, there must exist`
`#`	`entries for ISPs 1-1.`
`#`
`computerisp.number=1`
`computerisp.1.name=msonet`
`computerisp.1.title=MSO.net Services`
`computerisp.1.dhcpcriteria=ccProvisionedComputer`
`#`
`#`	`Default COS, DHCPCriteria and CPE DHCPCriteria`
`#`	`that modem and computers are placed in when modem's`
`#`	`access is disabled through administrator UI`
`#`
`#`	`Appropriate DOCSISClassOfService and DHCPCriteria objects have`
`#`	`to be pre-created in the RDU`
`#`
`#`	`disabled.modem.cpedhcpcriteria=disabled-computer -- defined a`
`#`	`DHCPCriteria which computer's behind the modem get when modem's`
`#`	`access is disabled`
`#`
`disabled.modem.cos=disabled`
`disabled.modem.dhcpcriteria=disabled-modem`
`disabled.modem.cpedhcpcriteria=disabled-computer`

Table Of Contents

Configuring and Using the Sample User Interface

What is the Sample User Interface?

Starting and Stopping the Sample User Interface

Sample User Interface Configuration Options

Classes of Service

Promiscuous Mode

Selecting an Internet Service Provider

Using the Technician Login

Administrative Access Levels

Subscriber Provisioning Examples

Standard Customer Premise Equipment Registration

Provisioning a New Cable Modem and a New Computer

Provisioning a New Computer with an Existing Cable Modem

Altering an Existing Computer ISP

Promiscuous Customer Premises Equipment Registration

Provisioning a New Cable Modem and a New Computer

Provisioning an Existing Cable Modem and a New Computer

Administrator Provisioning Examples

Searching for Accounts

Searching by Account Number

Searching by IP Address

Searching by MAC Address

Account Maintenance

Registering a New Account

Managing Classes of Service

Managing Cable Modems

Managing Computers

Deleting an Account

Sample sampleui.properties File