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2 OpenDaylight concepts and tools
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5 In this section we discuss some of the concepts and tools you encounter with
6 basic use of OpenDaylight. The guide walks you through the installation process
7 in a subsequent section, but for now familiarize yourself with the information
10 * To date, OpenDaylight developers have formed more than 50 projects to address
11 ways to extend network functionality. The projects are a formal structure for
12 developers from the community to meet, document release plans, code, and
13 release the functionality they create in an OpenDaylight release.
15 *The typical OpenDaylight user will not join a project team*, but you should
16 know what projects are as we refer to their activities and the functionality
17 they create. The Karaf features to install that functionality often share the
20 * **Apache Karaf** provides a lightweight runtime to install the Karaf features
21 you want to implement and is included in the OpenDaylight platform software.
22 By default, OpenDaylight has no pre-installed features.
23 * After installing OpenDaylight, you install your selected features using the
24 Karaf console to expand networking capabilities. In the Karaf feature list
25 below are the ones you’re most likely to use when creating your network
28 As a short example of installing a Karaf feature, OpenDaylight
29 offers Application Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO). The Karaf feature to
30 install ALTO is odl-alto-all. On the Karaf console, the command to install it
33 feature:install odl-alto-all
35 * **DLUX** is a web-based interface that OpenDaylight provides for you to manage
36 your network. Its Karaf feature installation name is “odl-dlux-core”.
38 a. DLUX draws information from OpenDaylight’s topology and host databases to
39 display the following information:
45 #. To enable the DLUX UI after installing OpenDaylight, run:
47 feature:install odl-dlux-core
51 * **Network embedded Experience (NeXt)** is a developer toolkit that provides
52 tools to draw network-centric topology UI elements that offer visualizations
55 a. Large complex network topologies
56 #. Aggregated network nodes
57 #. Traffic/path/tunnel/group visualizations
58 #. Different layout algorithms
60 #. Preset user-friendly interactions
62 NeXt can work with DLUX to build OpenDaylight applications. Check out the
63 NeXt_demo_ for more information on the interface.
65 * Model-Driven Service Abstraction Layer (MD-SAL) is the OpenDaylight framework
66 that allows developers to create new Karaf features in the form of services
67 and protocol drivers and connects them to one another. You can think of the
68 MD-SAL as having the following two components:
70 a. A shared datastore that maintains the following tree-based structures:
72 i. The Config Datastore, which maintains a representation of the desired
74 #. The Operational Datastore, which is a representation of the actual
75 network state based on data from the managed network elements.
77 b. A message bus that provides a way for the various services and protocol
78 drivers to notify and communicate with one another.
80 * If you’re interacting with OpenDaylight through DLUX or the REST APIs while
81 using the the OpenDaylight interfaces, the microservices architecture allows
82 you to select available services, protocols, and REST APIs.
84 .. _NeXt_demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBsUDu8aucs