XPRESSO

Platforms

Platforms, OSes and Branches are related topics as they provide a method to associate metadata (descriptor info that acts as a build/release tag, alias, or label) with devices, device images, and Job Runs. XPRESSO in turn, correlates the applied metadata allowing you to perform additional data filtration, aggregation, charting, and analytics with your test results and as a means to set a baseline.

This topic describes Platform metadata; see the OS topic and Branches topic for the other two ways to apply metadata.

About Platform Metadata

A Platform is any hardware or software used to host an application or service. An application platform, for example, consists of hardware, an operating system, each build in turn can be tagged with a branch unique label to implicitly identify it.

How Platform Metadata is Applied

Platform metadata is relevant when associating a Clean file with a Job Request and as part of a Clean operation associated with DUT images. See "Configuring Job Request Attributes" for more information.

Requesting a New Platform

This sub-topic only applies to Member and Privilege Member Roles.

When XPRESSO is installed, it comes pre-populated with most of the prevalent Cisco platform types registered in XPRESSO in anticipation of deployment to meet the testing requirements of most users. You can view the current registered platforms on the Registered Platforms page.

In the event your Platform type is not registered in XPRESSO, you can make a request to the Group Administrator to add it. This allows you to associate/apply Platform metadata with your Job Runs to assist with tracking purposes and to make working with test results easier.

NOTE:
To eliminate duplicate platform names and/or platforms registered using slightly different naming conventions (for example, asr9k vs. asr9000), Group Admins can control which Membership role in the Group has the permission to create new platforms. See "Group Permissions" for more information.

To Request a New Platform:

  1. From the Main Navigation Bar, choose Main Menu→ENVIRONMENT→Platform to open the Registered Platforms page.

  2. Click the Request New Platform button located on the top-right side of the page. The Request New Platform form appears.

  3. Configure the Name parameter and click the Send Request button. The request is forwarded to the Group Admin for processing.

Registering New Platforms

Only the Group Admin can register a new Platform in XPRESSO.

To Add a New Platform:

  1. From the Main Navigation Bar, choose Main Menu→ENVIRONMENT→Platforms to open the Registered Platforms page.

  2. Click the Add Platform button located on the top-right side of the page. The Add a New Platform form appears.

  3. Configure the following required parameters:

    • Name: Provide a unique identifier for the platform. The platform name must match the "platform" field in the associate testbed YAML file under each device.

    • Associated OS: Select an OS from the pull-down menu to associate with the platform. If the required OS type is not pre-registered in XPRESSO, refer to the OS topic for information about how to add (register) a new OS.

    • Default Image Requirement: Select a Image type from the pull-down menu to associate with the platform. Refer to the Platform Default Image Requirements sub-topic below for parameter details.

    • Provide Later: Go to step 5. You can add the required image at a later date as a post-registration operation via the platform details page. See below for details.
    • Single Image: Click Next. Go to step 4.
    • Image Directory: Click Next. Go to step 4.

  4. Click Next and configure the following parameters based on the selected Default Image Requirement:

    1. Role type (applies to both image types): Select the appropriate role (image | sys | kick) from the pull-down menu to associate with the platform.
    2. Cardinality (applies to Image Directory): Enter the number of images to match with the include pattern, or 'any'.
    3. Include Pattern (applies to Image Directory): Enter a regular expression that matches the image name to include, for example: ^good_image.*.bin$
    4. Exclude Pattern (applies to Image Directory): Enter a regular expression that matches the image name to exclude or skip, for example: ^bad_image.*.bin$
    5. Default Image Directory (applies to both image types): Enter the URL image path to search for the image. The following protocols are supported: file, ftp, tftp, sftp, ftps, scp, http, https.
    1. Click the Save button. The new Platform appears in the list of Registered Platforms.

    Platform Default Image Requirements

    When you register a platform, you need to specify the type of image required by the platform. This allows XPRESSO to perform Clean operation (therefore, load new images to your device) during execution and to prompt you for each required image when required.

    The following applies to Platform Images:

    • Each platform requires at least one image to function.

    • If more than one image is required, the images should be named by their "role/function".

    • Images can be specified individually (directly), or picked up automatically from a directory.

    Single Image:

    For single images, enter the URL image path; the following formats are supported: file, ftp, tftp, sftp, ftps, scp, http, https.

    text
    CopyExamples
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Scenario                  | Role/Function     | Image (Specified Directly)
================================================================================
single image              | image             | /path/to/that/image
================================================================================
multiple image, known     | kick              | /path/to/kick/image
roles (e.g.; n7k)         | sys               | /path/to/sys/image
================================================================================
multiple image, unsure    | image             | /path/to/img-1 /path/to/img-2 ...
about role                |                   | (e.g.; space separate list)

    Image Directory:

    If you elect to have XPRESSO automatically pick-up each image directly from a directory, you can also define each role's accompanying image using the following set of pick-up rules:

    • Cardinality: number of image needed.

    • Include Pattern: regexp pattern that matches up to the image name.

    • Exclude Pattern: regexp pattern, defining the image names to ignore/skip.

    • Image Directory: folder/directory of where to search the image

    XPRESSO also supports URI-based identifiers for files and directories. You can use the following protocols to specify the files/directories on remote servers:

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    CopyExamples
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URI                             | Description
=======================================================================================
file:///path/to/file            | describe a file on the local file system
=======================================================================================
http://host.domain/url/file     | describes a file served on HTTP host
=======================================================================================
scp://host/path/to/file         | describes a file that can be reached through SCP/SSH

    Performing Operations on Platforms

    Only the Group Admin and System Admin can perform operations on a registered platform. You can Edit | Delete platforms or add additional Image Requirement details.

    To Perform Operations on a Platform:

    1. From the Main Navigation Bar, choose Main Menu→ENVIRONMENT→Platforms to open the Registered Platforms page. All Platforms registered to your Group display.

    2. Locate and highlight the Platform that you want to perform the operation on. Perform the following as required:

      1. Click the appropriate following floating action button located to the right of the selected Platform to Edit or Delete the Platform. Group Admins can Edit the Platform details but not deleted them; System Admins can perform both actions.
      2. Click on a registered platform to open the platform details page.
        • Click the Add Image Requirement button. Two selection types appear: Single Image or Image Directory.
        • Click the required button and enter the required parameter details. Go to step 3 in To Add (Register) a New Platform procedure above to complete all required steps and for parameter details.

    NOTE:
    The OS column associated with each Platform provides a link to the Platform OS details page. You can associate a new Platform or Branch to the OS by clicking the appropriate button on this page. See the OS topic for further information.

    Refer to the following topic for other related Platform information:


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