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Oracle® Communications Service Broker Online Mediation Controller Implementation Guide
Release 6.1

E29452-02
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5 Using Degraded Mode

This chapter describes how to configure and use the Degraded Mode in Oracle Communications Online Mediation Controller.

About Degraded Mode

Online Mediation Controller relies on an external online charging system (OCS), such as Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) or Oracle Communications Elastic Charging Engine (ECE), to make service authorization decisions and apply charges to subscriber accounts.

Online Mediation Controller and the OCS depend on network connectivity during normal operations. Network disruption or hardware failure in the OCS may affect the ability of users to access services if charging requests cannot be processed.

Degraded mode is an Online Mediation Controller operating mode ensuring service continuity for subscribers if integrated instances of BRM or ECE become unavailable. Online Mediation Controller actively monitors the health of BRM and ECE. If the BRM or ECE becomes unavailable for any reason, Online Mediation Controller temporarily assumes the charging function and acts as a local OCS. Online Mediation Controller also provides a default RADIUS service access decision while in degraded mode.

While acting on behalf of BRM or ECE, Online Mediation Controller applies a configurable default authorization decision to incoming service requests. Online Mediation Controller also records user activity information, which it stores in the Subscriber Store in the form of charging data records (CDRs). Online Mediation Controller replays the charging records to the BRM or ECE when the instance is available again.

Degraded mode operation is transparent to the OCS. Replayed CDRs are processed by the OCS in the same manner as real-time requests. Accordingly, the BRM and ECE require no special configuration to support degraded mode.

Online Mediation Controller supports degraded mode for external systems through the following IM types:

  • IM-OCF PCP

  • IM-OFCF PCP

  • IM-OCF ECE

  • IM-OFCF ECE

About Degraded Mode Triggers

When degraded mode is enabled, Online Mediation Controller monitors the availability of the external OCS and automatically assumes the functions of the OCS in response to:

  • The OCS failing to acknowledge or reply to a request during an active session.

  • The OCS not replying to a configurable heartbeat check.

When degraded mode is triggered during an active session, only the affected session is transferred to degraded mode. The session is processed in degraded mode until completed. Other active sessions and new sessions (except those associated with the same user that is being handled in degraded mode) continue to be handled by the external OCS.

If in-order CDR replay is enabled in the Administration Console, any new sessions associated with a user who is already in degraded mode are handled in degraded mode as well. This ensures that the activities recorded in all CDRs for that user are replayed in the order in which they occurred, even if that user is accessing the network from different devices.

If a heartbeat check failure triggers degraded mode, Online Mediation Controller moves all active sessions to degraded mode and handles all new sessions in degraded mode.

Online Mediation Controller continues to monitor the availability of the external OCS. When the OCS becomes available again, Online Mediation Controller resumes using it for new sessions. Existing sessions continue to be processed in degraded mode until completed.

You can also trigger degraded mode manually in the Administration Console. This is useful when you know in advance of system downtime, for example, for planned maintenance.

About Configuring Degraded Mode

By default, degraded mode is disabled. That is, Online Mediation Controller does not monitor the availability of an external OCS or automatically assume the OCS role if it becomes unavailable.

To enable degraded mode, you need to configure degraded mode operation settings, along with the settings related to degraded mode in the SSU Diameter and IMs that interact with the external OCS, as described in this chapter.

Degraded mode relies on the Subscriber Store (the repository of subscriber information) for certain capabilities. For example, the Subscriber Store enables Online Mediation Controller to correlate multiple sessions initiated on different devices to a single subscriber. This allows Online Mediation Controller to replay all CDRs associated with a subscriber in order, even for sessions that were originated on different devices. Online Mediation Controller performs default charging behaviors configured in each IM when the Subscriber Store cannot be reached.

Also, for degraded mode to work properly with orchestrated mediation, Online Mediation Controller must be configured to retrieve iFC user orchestration profiles from the Subscriber Store. Degraded mode does not work if Online Mediation Controller retrieves iFCs using the LSS mechanism. See Oracle Communications Service Broker Subscriber Store User's Guide for information on how to set up the Subscriber Store.

The general steps for configuring degraded mode for are:

  1. Configure CDR persistence. See "Configuring CDR Persistence" for more information.

  2. See "Configuring the Signaling Tier for Degraded Mode", for information on configuring the signaling tier settings for the SSU for use with the local OCS. For more information, see Oracle Communications Service Broker Signaling Server Units Configuration Guide.

  3. Configure local OCS properties, the settings applicable to the internal Online Mediation Controller component that performs the function of the external OCS during degraded mode. See "Configuring Local OCS Properties" for more information.

  4. Create an IM-OCF instance for the local OCS. See "Creating and Configuring IM-OCF for the Local OCS", for more information. Additional information on creating and configure IMs can be found in Oracle Communications Service Broker Modules Configuration Guide.

  5. Add degraded mode settings to the IM that connects to the external OCS. See "Configuring IM Degraded Mode Settings", for more information.

  6. Add a branching condition to the orchestration logic for the IMs that routes messages to one or the other IM based on the degraded mode status of the session. The status is indicated in degraded mode header of the message.

    If the value of this header is true, the iFC routes the message to the IM of the local OCS. If false, it routes the message to the IM of the external OCS. See Oracle Communications Service Broker Orchestration User's Guide, for more information on configuring orchestration.

  7. Configure the default client authentication decision when Online Mediation Controller is acting on behalf of the external OCS. See "Configuring a Default Service Access Decision" for more information.

  8. Configure CDR replay settings. "Configuring Degraded Mode CDR Replay Behavior" for more information.

  9. Configure external OCS monitoring. See "Configuring External OCS Monitoring" for more information.

  10. Configure whether degraded mode is triggered manually. See "Triggering Degraded Mode Manually", for more information.

  11. Configure manual CDR replay options if applicable. See "Replaying Charging Data Records Manually", for more information.

  12. Configure service unit counters. See "Configuring Service Unit Counters" for more information.

Configuring CDR Persistence

You can use either Oracle Berkeley DB or Oracle 11g Enterprise Database for CDR storage. Install and instantiate the database before domain creation when using Oracle 11g Enterprise Database. Set the CDR persistence mechanism to your choice of database when creating a Online Mediation Controller domain.

The default persistence mechanism is Oracle Berkeley DB. To enable Berkeley DB storage, you only need to configure the file storage location. To use Oracle Database 11g, you need to change the persistence package installed in the domain and then configure the database connection settings.

The following steps provide an overview of how to configure CDR persistence. For more information on data storage, see the information on configuring data storage in the Oracle Communications Service Broker Installation Guide.

Using Oracle Database 11g Persistence

To use Oracle 11g Database for CDR storage, follow these steps:

  1. Prepare the database for CDR storage by running this SQL script: degraded_mode_cdr_store.sql.

    The script is located in this directory:

    Oracle_home/ocsb61/admin_server/scripts/database

  2. Open the Administration Console.

  3. Expand Domain Management, then select Packages.

  4. Remove the existing persistence bundle from the domain by selecting this package and clicking Uninstall:

    oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.service.degraded_mode.persistence.bdb

  5. Install the Oracle 11g Database bundle in the domain by selecting this package and clicking Install:

    oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.service.degraded_mode.persistence.database.jar

  6. Ensure that the start level for the package matches that of this package:

    oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.service.degraded_mode.core

  7. Configure the database connection for each Managed Server, as described in the Oracle Communications Service Broker Installation Guide.

For more information on how to perform these steps, see the Oracle Communications Service Broker Installation Guide.

Using Oracle Berkeley DB File-Based Persistence

The default persistence package in the domain used for CDR storage is the Berkeley DB file-based persistence package. Therefore, to implement Berkeley DB for CDR storage, you only need to configure the storage location settings for the managed servers in your domain.

See Oracle Communications Service Broker Installation Guide for information on configuring Berkeley DB settings.

Configuring the Signaling Tier for Degraded Mode

To use degraded mode, you need to configure a route to the local online charging server (OCS). The local OCS is the internal Online Mediation Controller component that acts as the proxy for the unavailable OCS when operating in degraded mode. When degraded mode is active, the Signaling Server Unit (SSU) directs requests to the local OCS rather than the external OCS.

To configure routing to the local OCS:

  1. Start the Administration Console.

  2. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  3. Expand Signaling Tier.

  4. Click SSU Diameter.

  5. In the SSU Diameter tab, click the Outbound Destinations subtab.

  6. Click New.

  7. In the dialog box, enter values for the following fields:

    • Name: A name for the local OCS definition in the configuration.

    • Alias: An alias for the local OCS destination, such as localocs.

    • Destination Host: The host name of the system on which the Diameter SSU runs. This host contains the local OCS. For example, ro.server.example.com.

    • Destination Realm: The destination realm for the local OCS. This should be set as the same destination realm used for the Diameter SSU in your deployment. For example, us.example.com.

      Note:

      The destination host and realm you specify in this tab must match the values defined in the Local OCF node located in the Degraded Mode configuration folder. See "Configuring Local OCS Properties", for more information.
    • Weight: An integer defining the relative amount of traffic sent to the destination host. This value is compared to weights specified in other destination hosts when more than one destination host is configured.

  8. Click Apply.

The new local OCS configuration appears in the outbound destinations list.

Now configure the peer and route configuration in SSU Diameter, as follows:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Signaling Tier.

  3. Click SSU Diameter.

  4. Click the DIAMETER tab.

  5. With the default node selected, configure the following settings of the General tab:

    • Realm: The destination realm for the local OCS. This should be the same value as you configured for the destination realm for the local OCS, such as us.example.com.

    • Host: The host name of the system on which the local OCS runs. This should be the same value as you configured for the Destination Host for the local OCS, such as ro.server.example.com.

      Note:

      The destination host and realm you specify in this tab must match the values defined in the Local OCF node located in the Degraded Mode configuration folder. See "Configuring Local OCS Properties", for more information.

    Use the default node for the local OCS configuration.

    Configure other general settings for the route as needed. For more information, see the chapter on SSU Diameter in Oracle Communications Service Broker Signaling Server Units Configuration Guide.

  6. Click the Routes tab.

  7. Click Add to create a route.

  8. Enter a Name for the route.

  9. Click Apply.

  10. Specify the following settings of the new route:

    • Realm: The destination realm for the local OCS. This should be the same value as you configured for the destination realm for the local OCS, such as us.example.com.

    • Application ID: The application ID of the Diameter application. Enter 4, which represents Diameter Ro.

    • Action: The routing action to perform for the local OCS. Set to relay.

  11. Click New under the KeyID Host table.

  12. In the Host field, specify the host name of the system on which the local OCS runs. This should be the same value as you configured for the destination host for the local OCS, such as ro.server.example.com.

  13. Click Apply.

  14. Click the Peers tab.

  15. Create a new local OCS Diameter peer as described in the chapter on configuring SSU Diameter in Service Broker Signaling Server Units Configuration Guide.

  16. Select the check box next to your newly created peer. The peer represents the local OCS.

  17. Click Update.

  18. Specify the peer settings as follows:

    • Host: The host name of the system on which SSU Diameter runs. This address is configured in the General settings located at the following location: OCSB, then Signaling Tier, then SSU Diameter, then the DIAMETER tab, then the Diameter Configuration subtab. See the chapter on configuring SSU Diameter in the Oracle Communications Service Broker Signaling Server Units Configuration Guide, for more information

    • Address: The IP address SSU Diameter is configured to listen on. This address is configured in the General settings located at the following location: OCSB, then Signaling Tier, then SSU Diameter, then the DIAMETER tab, then the Diameter Configuration subtab. See the chapter on configuring SSU Diameter in the Oracle Communications Service Broker Signaling Server Units Configuration Guide, for more information.

    • Port: The port number on which the SSU Diameter listens for Diameter traffic. The default value is 3588.

    • Protocol: The network protocol to use for the local OCS. Select either tcp or sctp.

    The Watchdog check box can remain disabled with a FALSE value.

  19. Click Apply.

The signaling tier is now configured to route Diameter traffic to the local OCS.

Configuring Local OCS Properties

The local OCS settings define properties for the Online Mediation Controller component that performs the functions of the external OCS when unavailable.

Verifying the Degraded Mode Local OCS Configuration

By default, the Online Mediation Controller installation creates the degraded mode local OCS. Additional local online charging systems are created and managed in the Local OCF Configuration tab.

Verify that the default degraded mode local OCS is configured:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand Degraded Mode.

  5. Click Local OCF.

  6. Ensure there is an entry for localocs-Degraded.

Configuring Local OCS Properties

Configure local OCS degraded mode properties as follows:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand Degraded Mode.

  5. Click OCS.

  6. In the Degraded mode enabled OCS field, specify the external OCS that the local OCS supports:

    • BRM: Degraded mode is configured for use with Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management.

    • ECE: Degraded mode is configured for use with Oracle Communications Elastic Charging Engine

  7. Click Apply.

Creating and Configuring IM-OCF for the Local OCS

Online Mediation Controller requires configuration of an instance of IM-OCF used with Degraded Mode.

  1. Create an IM-OCF instance for the local OCS. See the chapter on setting up IM-OCF in Oracle Communications Service Broker Modules Configuration Guide for more information.

  2. In the Degraded Mode tab of the IM-OCF for the local OCS, specify the following settings:

    • CDR Mode: Set to ALWAYS.

    • Local-OCF Alias: Set to the alias of the local OCF.

    Optionally, configure other degraded mode settings for the IM as described in "Common IM Degraded Mode Settings".

  3. If triggering degraded mode manually, leave the Destination-Realm-AVP in the Diameter Credit Control Application tab of the IM-OCF blank.

  4. Add a branching condition to the orchestration logic for the IMs that routes messages to one or the other IM based on the degraded mode status of the session. The orchestration logic branching condition is required if you trigger degraded mode manually.

    Example 5-1 shows a sample orchestration IFC configuration rule file. In this example, The Degraded Mode status is indicated in the x-wcs-degraded-mode header of the message. If the value of this header is true, the iFC routes the message to the IM of the local OCS. If false, the iFC routes the message to the IM of the external OCS.

    For more information on configuring orchestration, see Oracle Communications Service Broker Orchestration User's Guide.

    Example 5-1 Sample Orchestration IFC Configuration

    <IFCs>
                <InitialFilterCriteria>
                    <Priority>0</Priority>
                    <TriggerPoint>
                        <ConditionTypeCNF>0</ConditionTypeCNF>
                        <SPT>
                            <ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated>
                            <Group>0</Group>
                            <SIPHeader>
                                <Header>x-wcs-degraded-mode</Header>
                                <Content>true</Content>
                            </SIPHeader>
                        </SPT>
                    </TriggerPoint>
                    <ApplicationServer>
                        <ServerName>imocf.IMOCF@ocsb</ServerName>
                        <DefaultHandling>1</DefaultHandling>
                        <Extension>
                        </Extension>
                    </ApplicationServer>
                              </InitialFilterCriteria>
                              <InitialFilterCriteria>
                    <Priority>1</Priority>
                    <TriggerPoint>
                        <ConditionTypeCNF>0</ConditionTypeCNF>
                        <SPT>
                            <ConditionNegated>1</ConditionNegated>
                            <Group>0</Group>
                            <SIPHeader>
                                <Header>x-wcs-history</Header>
                                <Content>id=0;.*</Content>
                            </SIPHeader>
                        </SPT>
                    </TriggerPoint>
                    <ApplicationServer>
                        <ServerName>imocfpcp.IMOCFPCP@ocsb</ServerName>
                        <DefaultHandling>1</DefaultHandling>
                        <Extension>
                        </Extension>
                    </ApplicationServer>
                </InitialFilterCriteria>
            </IFCs>
    

Configuring IM Degraded Mode Settings

To configure degraded mode for orchestrated mediation:

  1. Configure the degraded mode settings in each OCS IM deployed in your system. To access the degraded mode settings in the IM:

    1. In the Processing Tier tree, expand Interworking Modules.

    2. Click the IM instance of the external OCS for which you want to enable degraded mode.

    3. In the Configuration tab, click the Degraded Mode subtab.

    4. Configure the degraded mode settings shown in "Common IM Degraded Mode Settings" as appropriate for the external OCS. For information on the IM configuration, see Oracle Communications Service Broker Modules Configuration Guide.

Common IM Degraded Mode Settings

The IMs that support degraded mode have common configuration settings related to degraded mode operation. This section provides an overview of the common settings. For more information about a particular type of IM, see Oracle Communications Service Broker Modules Configuration Guide.

The common degraded mode IM settings are:

  • On OCF Failure: Specifies the module behavior when there is an Online Charging Function (OCF) Failure. This setting is overwritten by the OCF AVP settings for Credit Control Failure Handling and Realtime Required.

    • ALWAYS_REFUSE: Use when degraded mode is disabled. Online Mediation Controller writes no CDRs to storage.

    • USE_LOCAL_REFUSE: Use when degraded mode is activated. Online Mediation Controller writes CDRs to the Subscriber Store for replay at a later time. If the Subscriber Store is unavailable, service is refused.

    • USE_LOCAL_GRANT: Use when degraded mode is activated. Online Mediation Controller writes CDRs to the Subscriber Store for replay at a later time. If the Subscriber Store is unavailable, permit service.

  • CDR Mode: The mode in which Online Mediation Controller writes CDRs to local storage, from these options:

    • Normal: Online Mediation Controller writes CDRs only after it assumes the functions of the external OCS.

    • History: After it assumes the functions of the external OCS, Online Mediation Controller writes CDRs that reflect the history of each active session, including for requests received before assuming the active OCS role.

    • Always: Online Mediation Controller writes CDRs always.

  • CDR Writer Impl: The internal class that performs CDR writing. This can be one of the following values:

    • oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.ocfproxy.cdrwriter.CDRWriterImpl: Writes CDRs to the degraded mode service. This is the standard implementation to use for degraded mode processing.

    • com.convergin.common.diameter.ocfproxy.CDRWriterLogImpl: Writes information to the log only. This is useful for testing.

  • CDR Writer Service The CDR writer service that Online Mediation Controller uses. Enter oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.service.dmode.DegradedModeService to use the default service. If no value is provided, NULL will be passed.

  • Degraded Mode Timer: The period, in milliseconds, that Online Mediation Controller waits for a response from the online charging server. If the online charging server does not respond within the specified period, the user session is switched to degraded mode.

  • Local-OCF Alias: Specifies the alias of the local OCS. This alias is mapped to the destination host and destination realm of the local online charging server as defined in the configuration of Diameter SSU outbound routing rules. See the discussion of Diameter SSU in Oracle Communications Service Broker Signaling Server Units Configuration Guide for more information.

  • Local-OCF External Protocol: Specifies the protocol that Online Mediation Controller uses to communicate with the local online charging server.

  • Degraded Mode Error Codes: The error response code from the external OCS that indicates a failure for which degraded mode should be activated. Specify as comma-delimited integers.

    For example:

    5012,5023

Configuring a Default Service Access Decision

Online Mediation Controller can perform the role of a RADIUS server, applying service authorization and authentication decisions to incoming requests. Online Mediation Controller acts as the access enforcement point for network services.

When presented with a user request for a service, Online Mediation Controller retrieves the service authorization information for a given user from the external OCS. If the user is authorized to access the service, Online Mediation Controller also retrieves that user's credentials from the OCS. Online Mediation Controller uses the credentials to validate those in the incoming request and permits or denies access to a service for the user based on the results.

You can configure a default RADIUS authentication decision for Online Mediation Controller to apply when it is in degraded mode.

To configure the default credit authorization decision:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Click RADIUS Mediation.

  4. In the degraded-mode-behavior field, enter one of the following values:

    • reject: Blocks all requests.

    • accept: Permits all requests.

    • discard: Silently discards all requests, which the client typically perceives as a server unavailable error.

  5. Click Apply.

Configuring Degraded Mode CDR Replay Behavior

The CDR replay configuration settings determine how Online Mediation Controller replays CDRs when an external OCS becomes available again.

This section describes how to configure properties associated with CDR replay. See "Replaying Charging Data Records Manually" for information about manually replaying CDRs.

To configure CDR replay behavior:

  1. Start the Administration Console.

  2. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  3. Expand Processing Tier.

  4. Expand Applications.

  5. Expand Degraded Mode.

  6. Click the Replay node.

  7. In the Control tab, set the Enable Manual Replay field to either of the following values:

    • TRUE: Disables automatic CDR replay. In this case, a Online Mediation Controller administrator must manually initiate the CDR replay process when an OCS resumes availability.

    • FALSE: Enables automatic CDR replay. In this case, Online Mediation Controller triggers CDR replay when it detects that an OCS has resumed availability.

      The default value is FALSE.

  8. Click the Degraded CDR Replay tab.

  9. In the Degraded CDR Replay pane, configure these settings:

    • Enable In-Order replay: If TRUE, Online Mediation Controller ensures that outstanding requests are replayed to the external OCS in the order in which they occurred. With in-order replay, Online Mediation Controller takes into account requests in new sessions for the same subscriber. That is, while there are any pending CDRs for a given subscriber, all new sessions for that subscriber are handled in degraded mode to ensure in-order processing of CDRs across devices. The default value is FALSE.

    • Replay rate: To avoid over-burdening the OCS when it restarts, you can control the rate at which Online Mediation Controller submits CDRs to the external OCS using this attribute. This value determines the number of CDRs replayed per second after the OCS resumes operation. The default value is 10000.

    • Replay Trigger Interval: The minimum amount of time, in milliseconds, between replay trigger events. You can use this value to pace the replay of CDRs to ensure that the external OCS is not overwhelmed with requests when its service is resumed. The default value is 2000.

    • Replay Trigger Delay: The time to wait, in milliseconds, before beginning CDR replay after the OCS returns to online mode. This value is respected only when Enable Manual Replay is set to false. The default value is 2000.

    • Replay Failure Threshold: The number of timeout events during CDR replay after which Online Mediation Controller pauses CDR replay. It resumes CDR replay after the configured interval. The default value is 5.

    • Max number of CDRs to fetch: The maximum number of CDRs retrieved from the data store. The default value is 1000.

    • Delete CDRs: Whether Online Mediation Controller should delete the CDRs from the CDR store after they have been successfully replayed. The default value is FALSE.

  10. Click Apply to save your changes.

Configuring External OCS Monitoring

Online Mediation Controller monitors an external OCS to determine its availability. You can configure the following aspects of how Online Mediation Controller monitors the OCS:

  • Heartbeat Interval

  • Heartbeat Failure Threshold

The Heartbeat Interval determines how frequently Online Mediation Controller sends a health check message to the external OCS.

To configure the heartbeat check interval, follow these steps:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand the OCSB node.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand Degraded Mode.

  5. Click Replay.

  6. In the configuration pane, click the Heartbeat tab.

  7. In the Heartbeat Interval field, enter how frequently, in milliseconds, the degraded mode application checks the health of the external OCS. The default is 10000 milliseconds.

  8. Configure the Heartbeat Timeout value.

    The Heartbeat Timeout value indicates the interval in milliseconds to wait for the heartbeat response. If the response is not received within this time, a heartbeat failure is indicated. You should set this value less than the Heartbeat Interval value.

  9. Configure the Heartbeat Failure Threshold.

    The Heartbeat Failure Threshold value indicates the number of missed heartbeat intervals that trigger degraded mode. In some high-availability configurations the failure of an OCS node may cause a single missed heartbeat before another OCS node assumes processing of charging requests. In such cases, the heartbeat failure threshold should be set to greater than 1. The default value is 2.

To configure the heartbeat failure threshold:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand the OCSB node.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand Degraded Mode.

  5. Click Replay.

  6. In the configuration pane, click the Heartbeat tab.

  7. In the Heartbeat Failure Threshold field, enter the number of heartbeat check cycle failures before degraded mode is triggered. The default value is 2.

Triggering Degraded Mode Manually

To manually trigger degraded mode, perform the following steps:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand DegradedMode.

  5. Select Replay.

  6. In the Control tab, set the Enable Manual Degraded Mode value to TRUE.

    Setting this mode enables degraded mode to be activated manually.

    If FALSE, degraded mode can only be activated automatically, that is, in response to network events.

  7. Click Apply.

After enabling manual degraded mode triggering, you can trigger degraded mode by invoking the markSystemStatusAsDegraded operation in the following runtime MBean:

oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.service.dmode.mbeanDegradedModeMBean

To access the runtime MBean, connect to the managed server JMX process using any JMX client software.

Replaying Charging Data Records Manually

By default, Online Mediation Controller replays CDRs automatically when it detects OCS recovery. Alternatively, you can disable automatic CDR replays, and instead invoke CDR replay manually when needed.

Configure the CDR replay behavior by performing the following steps:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand DegradedMode.

  5. Select Replay.

  6. In the Control tab, set the Enable Manual Replay to one of the following values:

    • TRUE: Disables automatic CDR replay and enables manual replay.

    • FALSE: Enables automatic CDR replay.

  7. Click Apply.

After enabling manual CDR replay, you can trigger CDR replay using the startManualReplay operation in the following runtime MBean:

oracle.ocsb.app.rcc.service.dmode.mbeanDegradedModeMBean

The operation does not replay all outstanding CDRs. It only replays the number of CDRs configured as the maximum number of CDRs to fetch in the replay configuration (1000, by default). To automatically replay all outstanding CDRs, you must create an MBean script that repeatedly invokes the startManualReplay operation.

See "Configuring Degraded Mode CDR Replay Behavior" for information on the maximum number of CDRs to fetch setting.

Configuring Service Unit Counters

Counters in the Online Mediation Controller configuration comprise the network service units that you can adapt to your Diameter application requirements.

By default, the predefined counters are based upon the requested service in the Diameter request. Specifically, they are based on the content of the REQUESTED-SERVICE-UNITS AVP, which can be:

  • CC-Time is mapped to code 420

  • CC-Total-Octets is mapped to code 421

  • CC-Input-Octets is mapped to code 412

  • CC-Output-Octets is mapped to code 414

  • CC-Service-Specific-Units is mapped to code 417

To modify the default unit counter configuration:

  1. In the navigation tree, expand OCSB.

  2. Expand Processing Tier.

  3. Expand Applications.

  4. Expand Degraded Mode.

  5. Select LocalOCF.

  6. In the General tab, verify the implementation class that performs service unit calculations. The default is oracle.ocsb.app.localocf.ruleengine.UnitCalculatorBasicImpl. You should modify this value only if you have implemented a custom unit calculator.

  7. Click the Counters tab.

  8. In the Counters pane, modify the default counter configuration by selecting a counter from the list and clicking the Update button.

  9. In the Update dialog box, enter values for these fields:

    • type: The AVP code number that represents the counter type.

    • value: The initial unit value for this counter type.

  10. Click OK.