README v6.85.3 2026-03-26
Table of contents
1. General
1.1 Extract the NED package
1.2 Install the NED package
1.2.1 Local install
1.2.2 System install
1.3 Configure the NED in NSO
2. Optional debug and trace setup
3. Dependencies
4. Sample device configuration
5. Built in live-status actions
6. Built in live-status show
7. Limitations
8. How to report NED issues and feature requests
9. How to rebuild a NED
10. Configure the NED to use ssh multi factor authentication
11. ENCAP_VLAN_AS_LEAF compile option
12. NED Secrets - Securing your Secrets1. General
This document describes the huawei-vrp NED.
Additional README files bundled with this NED package
Common NED Features
Custom NED Features
Verified target systems
1.1 Extract the NED package
It is assumed the NED package ncs-<NSO version>-huawei-vrp-<NED version>.signed.bin has already been downloaded from software.cisco.com.
In this instruction the following example settings will be used:
NSO version: 6.0
NED version: 1.0.1
NED package downloaded to: /tmp/ned-package-store
Extract the NED package and verify its signature:
In case the signature can not be verified (for instance if no internet connection), do as below instead:
The result of the extraction shall be a tar.gz file with the same name as the .bin file:
1.2 Install the NED package
There are two alternative ways to install this NED package. Which one to use depends on how NSO itself is setup.
In the instructions below the following example settings will be used:
NSO version: 6.0
NED version: 1.0.1
NED download directory: /tmp/ned-package-store
NSO run time directory: ~/nso-lab-rundir
A prerequisite is to set the environment variable NSO_RUNDIR to point at the NSO run time directory:
1.2.1 Local install
This section describes how to install a NED package on a locally installed NSO (see "NSO Local Install" in the NSO Installation guide).
It is assumed the NED package has been been unpacked to a tar.gz file as described in 1.1.
Untar the tar.gz file. This creates a new sub-directory named:
huawei-vrp-<NED major digit>.<NED minor digit>:Install the NED into NSO, using the ncs-setup tool:
Open a NSO CLI session and load the new NED package like below:
Alternatively the tar.gz file can be installed directly into NSO. Then skip steps 1 and 2 and do like below instead:
Set the environment variable NED_ROOT_DIR to point at the NSO NED package:
1.2.2 System install
This section describes how to install a NED package on a system installed NSO (see "NSO System Install" in the NSO Installation Guide).
It is assumed the NED package has been been unpacked to a tar.gz file as described in 1.1.
Do a NSO backup before installing the new NED package:
Start a NSO CLI session and fetch the NED package:
Install the NED package (add the argument replace-existing if a previous version has been loaded):
Load the NED package
1.3 Configure the NED in NSO
This section describes the steps for configuring a device instance using the newly installed NED package.
Start a NSO CLI session:
Enter configuration mode:
Configure a new authentication group (my-group) to be used for this device:
Configure a new device instance (example: dev-1):
If configured protocol is ssh, do fetch the host keys now:
Finally commit the configuration
Verify configuration, using a sync-from.
If the sync-from was not successful, check the NED configuration again.
2. Optional debug and trace setup
It is often desirable to see details from when and how the NED interacts with the device(Example: troubleshooting)
This can be achieved by configuring NSO to generate a trace file for the NED. A trace file contains information about all interactions with the device. Messages sent and received as well as debug printouts, depending on the log level configured.
NSO creates one separate trace file for each device instance with tracing enabled. Stored in the following location:
$NSO_RUNDIR/logs/ned-huawei-vrp-cli-1.0-<device name>.trace
Do as follows to enable tracing in one specific device instance in NSO:
Start a NSO CLI session:
Enter configuration mode:
Enable trace raw:
Alternatively, tracing can be enabled globally affecting all configured device instances:
Configure the log level for printouts to the trace file:
Alternatively the log level can be set globally affecting all configured device instances using this NED package.
The log level 'info' is used by default and the 'debug' level is the most verbose.
IMPORTANT: Tracing shall be used with caution. This feature does increase the number of IPC messages sent between the NED and NSO. In some cases this can affect the performance in NSO. Hence, tracing should normally be disabled in production systems.
An alternative method for generating printouts from the NED is to enable the Java logging mechanism. This makes the NED print log messages to common NSO Java log file.
$NSO_RUNDIR/logs/ncs-java-vm.log
Do as follows to enable Java logging in the NED
Start a NSO CLI session:
Enter configuration mode:
Enable Java logging with level all from the NED package:
Configure the NED to log to the Java logger
Alternatively Java logging can be enabled globally affecting all configured device instances using this NED package.
IMPORTANT: Java logging does not use any IPC messages sent to NSO. Consequently, NSO performance is not affected. However, all log printouts from all log enabled devices are saved in one single file. This means that the usability is limited. Typically single device use cases etc.
SSHJ DEBUG LOGGING For issues related to the ssh connection it is often useful to enable full logging in the SSHJ ssh client. This will make SSHJ print additional log entries in $NSO_RUNDIR/logs/ncs-java-vm.log:
3. Dependencies
This NED has the following host environment dependencies:
Java 1.8 (NSO version < 6.2)
Java 17 (NSO version >= 6.2)
Gnu Sed
Dependencies for NED recompile:
Apache Ant
Bash
Gnu Sort
Gnu awk
Grep
Python3 (with packages: re, sys, getopt, subprocess, argparse, os, glob)
4. Sample device configuration
For instance, create a second Loopback interface that is down:
See what you are about to commit:
Commit new configuration in a transaction:
Verify that NCS is in-sync with the device:
Compare configuration between device and NCS:
Note: If no diff is shown, supported config is the same in NSO as on the device.
5. Built in live-status actions
exec any
The NED has support for all Huawei VRP commands by use of the 'devices device live-status exec any' command action. The output is returned as the device exposes it, in a single string leaf: 'result'.
For example:
To execute multiple commands, separate them with " ; "
NOTE: Must be a white space on either side of the comma.
For example:
Generally the command output parsing halts when the NED detects an operational or config prompt, however sometimes the command requests additional input, 'answer(s)' to questions.
Exec commands in config mode
The NED has dedicated support for all exec commands in config mode. They can be accessed using the 'exec' prefix. For example:
The config exec commands are similar with 'exec any' commands, additional with the config mode command.
Commands via ned-settings huawei-vrp console extension
Using these settings it is possible to define a separate way of interacting with the device, ignoring the default behavior of the ned. Here, the user can define the commands and the response patterns that the device will react with. The user must create its own state machine for the device interactions.
Example ned-settings:
Example executions:
6. Built in live-status show
The Ned supports several dedicated show commands that were built specifically to a device version. The result is parsed and then returned into dedicated yang models
Warning: if a device contains the same command, but with the output different from the one that was developed with, then the Ned's parser might not correctly match the result and end up with unexpected behavior.
Here is the list of supported live-status show commands:
display mac-address
display poe power
display poe power interface
display controller wdm
display isis peer verbose
display interface
display transceiver
display transceiver diagnosis interface
display version
display patch-information
display args patch-information
display license verbose
display constant ifindex configuration
display lldp neighbor brief
display lldp neighbor interface
display bgp peer verbose
display bgp ipv6 peer verbose
display ip vpn-instance | include IPv4
display bgp vpnv4 vpn-instance %s peer verbose
display ip vpn-instance | include IPv6
display bgp vpnv6 vpn-instance %s peer verbose
display cfm remote-mep
7. Limitations
Device CLI diffs between models/versions
Deprecated features
Deprecated NED features are gradually removed from future versions of the NED. In some cases they can still be enabled for a limited time via NED settings.
Version WARNINGS
Look for 'API CHANGE' below to see what changes have been made that may not be backwards compatible.
WARNING:
When using huawei-vrp with other NEDs, certain combinations of NED versions may cause 'random' Exceptions. The reason for this is the introduction of a new common NED component - nedcom.jar - which initially was located in shared-jar, but later moved to private-jar. However, since the JAVA loader looks in shared-jar directories first, a newer NED with nedcom.jar in private-jar will still load another NED's older nedcom.jar in shared-jar; causing a version conflict and quite possibly an Exception.
Hence, if you are using a newer NED (with private-jar/nedcom.jar) you must make sure no other NEDs in your project has a shared-jar/nedcom.jar. If they do, you must upgrade them to a version which also has nedcom in private-jar.
The following NED versions have their nedcom.jar in shared-jar:
Elements that are present with 'undo' as prefix
The Huawei CLI presents some elements that have the 'undo' prefix when shown in the device running configuration. For simple elements (e.g leafs), that act like a boolean type the ned will automatically show the 'no' prefix when 'undo' is detected. The user will just have to send a 'no' command for that element.
For more complex elements (e.g list entries), that have the undo as prefix, the only way the ned can mimic the device behavior is to add an additional leaf 'undo' at the end of the command in NSO, and then the ned will move it in front of the command when reading and writing from/to the device.
Having a 'no' in from of a list entry is not XML and Yang compatible (there is no way to mark the non-existence of an entry in a list). Also, there are cases where an element can exist in the device running-config with the 'undo' present, without it, and also can be deleted (3 states).
Example of commands with such behavior:
Device config:
''' l2vpn-family evpn peer DUNE_RR advertise encap-type srv6 advertise-srv6-locator undo peer FDCA:3F00:2106::1 advertise encap-type srv6 advertise-srv6-locator exit
'''
NSO config:
''' l2vpn-family evpn peer DUNE_RR advertise encap-type srv6 advertise-srv6-locator peer FDCA:3F00:2106::1 advertise encap-type srv6 advertise-srv6-locator undo exit '''
8. How to report NED issues and feature requests
Issues like bugs and errors shall always be reported to the Cisco NSO NED team through the Cisco Support channel:
The following information is required for the Cisco NSO NED team to be able to investigate an issue:
Do as follows to gather the necessary information needed for your device, here named 'dev-1':
Enable full debug logging in the NED
Configure the NSO to generate a raw trace file from the NED
If the NED already had trace enabled, clear it in order to submit only relevant information
Do as follows for NSO 6.4 or newer:
Do as follows for older NSO versions:
Run a compare-config to populate the trace with initial device config
Reproduce the found issue using ncs_cli or your NSO service. Write down each necessary step in a reproduction report.
In addition to this, it helps if you can show how it should work by manually logging into the device using SSH/TELNET and type the relevant commands showing a successful operation.
Gather the reproduction report and a copy of the raw trace file containing data recorded when the issue happened.
Contact the Cisco support and request to open a case. Provide the gathered files together with access details for a device that can be used by the Cisco NSO NED when investigating the issue.
Requests for new features and extensions of the NED are handled by the Cisco NSO NED team when applicable. Such requests shall also go through the Cisco support channel.
The following information is required for feature requests and extensions:
Set the config on the real device including all existing dependent config and run sync-from to show it in the trace.
Run sync-from # devices device dev-1 sync-from
Attach the raw trace to the ticket
List the config you want implemented in the same syntax as shown on the device
SSH/TELNET access to a device that can be used by the Cisco NSO NED team for testing and verification of the new feature. This usually means that both read and write permissions are required. Pseudo access via tools like Webex, Zoom etc is not acceptable. However, it is ok with access through VPNs, jump servers etc as long as we can connect to the NED via SSH/TELNET.
9. How to rebuild a NED
To rebuild the NED do as follows:
When the NED has been successfully rebuilt, it is necessary to reload the package into NSO.
10. Configure the NED to use ssh multi factor authentication
This NED supports multi factor authentication (MFA) using the ssh authentication method 'keyboard-interactive'.
Some additional steps are required to enable the MFA support:
Verify that your NSO version supports MFA. This is configurable as additional settings in the authentication group used by the device instance.
Enter a NSO CLI and enter the following and do tab completion:
If 'mfa' is displayed in the output like above, NSO has MFA support enabled. In case MFA is not supported it is necessary to upgrade NSO before proceeding.
Implement the authenticator executable. The MFA feature relies on an external executable to take care of the client part of the multi factor authentication. The NED will automatically call this executable for each challenge presented by the ssh server and expects to get a proper response in return.
The executable can be a simple shell script or a program implemented in any programming language.
The required behaviour is like this:
read one line from stdin The line passed from the NED will be a semi colon separated string containing the following info:
The elements for device name, user, password and opaque corresponds to what has been configured in NSO. The ssh server name, instruction and prompt are given by the ssh server during the authentication step.
Each individual element in the semi colon separated list is Base64 encoded.
Extract the challenge based on the contents above.
Print a response matching the challenge to stdout and exit with code 0
In case a matching response can not be given do exit with code 2
Below is a simple example of an MFA authenticator implemented in Python3:
Configure the authentication group used by the device instance to enable MFA. There are two configurables available:
executable The path to the external multi factor authentication executable (mandatory).
opaque Opaque data that will passed as a cookie element to the executable (optional).
Try connecting to the device.
10.1 Trouble shooting
In case of connection problems the following steps can help for debugging:
Enable the NED trace in debug level:
Try connect again
Inspect the generated trace file.
Verify that the ssh client is using the external authenticator executable:
Verify that the executable is called with the challenges presented by the ssh server:
Check for any errors reported by the NED when calling the executable
11. ENCAP_VLAN_AS_LEAF compile option
The Huawei devices support ranged lists with the following format: '1 3 to 6 8 to 100 300'. In this Ned, it is ussually about vlans.
This is incompatible with XML language, hence it's incompatible with Yang.
The only way xml/yang can support it is by using leaf-lists.
The problem is that means in XML, it will be every entry on a line. When there are thousounds of entries, this will lead to huge xml files. On top, if there are nested lists, it might lead to milions of lines just to represent the vlans.
A solution for this is to handle the range a simple string, thus from thousounds of lines, there will be just one line in xml format.
The downside of that is that the user/service must mimic device behavior and not expect a leaf-list functionality.
E.g: to remove a vlan from the range, the user must send it's end result, and not a delete command for that vlan. It should not send 'no vlan 50' (for the above range). It should send '1 3 to 6 8 to 49 51 to 100 300'. The Ned will insert a delete command before any modify so that the device will accept the new entry.
To improve performance due to slow handling of large leaf-lists in several vlan lists, a make variable has been introduced to change the node from leaf-list to leaf.
The changed nodes are:
// vlan/batch *
// interface * / trust upstream * vlan *
// interface * / trust 8021p inbound vlan *
// interface * / trust 8021p outbound vlan *
// interface * / trust 8021p vlan *
// stp region-configuration / instance * vlan *
// interface * / multicast-source-deny / vlan *
// interface * / l2protocol-tunnel * / vlan *
// interface * / port isolate-state / vlan *
// interface * / qos phb disable vlan *
// interface * / qos phb dscp disable vlan *
// interface * / qos phb inner-8021p disable vlan *
// interface * / qos phb outer-8021p disable vlan *
// interface * / qos phb mpls-exp disable vlan *
// interface * / encapsultation qinq vid * / ce-vid *
All of the above leafs expect range syntax similar to NSO leaf-lists, that the NED will translate to the device range syntax.
E.g:
User will send:
The ned will send:
All of the above, except //vlan/batch * will have the "remove-before-change" behavior, meaning that the existing value will be deleted and then the new value will be set.
E.g:
For the //vlan/batch leaf, there is no remove-before-change behavior, as deleting vlans might disrupt existing configurations. Instead, the NED will simulate the leaf-list functionality and generate set and delete commands, based on the delta between what is set by the user and what's exists on cdb. E.g:
Existing:
New values set by the user (Note the leaf-list syntax):
The NED will send:
Warning: it's the user's responsibility to set the same value to the vlan value as the one that is expected to be present in the device at 'display' (with the range syntax conversion applied). Otherwise out-of-sync will occur. The ned will not make any input validation.
To change node-type to leaf from leaf-list (i.e. to handle these ranges explicitly as a string) re-compile the NED package from the src directory in the package using the below command line:
Another example with this enabled:
Removing vlan 320:
12. NED Secrets - Securing your Secrets
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