What is an artifact?

Artifact overview

An artifact, in the context of an NSP function, is a piece of software that can be installed in a running NSP system to enable functionality for a type of device (for example, an SR OS router) or use case (for example, VPLS, VPRN, or software upgrade). NSP may require artifacts to be installed in order to perform specific functions. For example, the NE upgrade operation requires a series of workflows. The functional area within NSP that the artifact is designed to support is called the target application, or simply, target.

NSP facilitates the tracking and management of NSP artifacts and artifact bundles by providing a user interface for managing artifacts and artifact bundles in your system; namely, the views accessible under Artifacts in the NSP main menu. The installation and version management capabilities available in the Artifacts views are also supported through RESTCONF API calls.

Certain artifacts can be installed from the Artifacts, Artifact Bundles view, as shown in Table 2-1, Artifacts supported for installation using the NSP Artifacts views, while other artifacts must be installed using legacy tools.

The following are examples of NSP artifacts:

workflows, actions, and Jinja templates
configuration, service, or ZTP intent types
operation types
attribute dependent alarm rules for Model Driven (SROS/SRL) devices
adaptors for model-driven NE management

Artifacts are read-only in the NSP UI. You perform operations on artifact bundles, and the NSP manages the artifacts in the bundle accordingly.

Artifact dependency

An artifact may require the presence of other artifacts to work correctly. For example, an intent type may require NE adaptors to be available before it can be used to create a service. Network Intents can install the artifact, but the artifact is dependent on the NE adaptor to work. The dependency status parameter indicates whether dependencies exist and whether they are resolved, that is, whether the dependent artifact is present.

Adaptor artifacts

NSP supports a variety of Nokia and multi-vendor devices via pluggable adaptor artifacts, sometimes called "MDM adaptors", which are grouped by vendor and type/use case and bundled together for delivery.

Some adaptor artifacts are generic, supporting multiple NE releases. Others are specifically targeted to a single NE release.

Artifact guides are provided with the adaptors for each NE family and NSP release. For example, the Nokia SR OS Artifact Guide for Release 24.11 lists and describes the adaptor suites delivered to support management of Nokia SR OS devices by NSP Release 24.11 over model-driven interfaces. The artifact guides also contain information about the NSP functionality supported by the adaptors, NE compatibility with those NSP functions, NE commissioning information, and a list of active issues.

Obtaining artifacts

Artifacts evolve with the NSP product, and are delivered as part of one or several artifact bundles both with and between NSP releases. Depending on your feature packages, a set of artifacts may be included with your NSP installation. Additional or updated artifact bundles can be downloaded from the Nokia NSP software delivery site:

Artifacts that can be installed using the Artifacts import functions in the NSP UI are located in the NSP/<release>/Artifacts hierarchy. See How do I install an artifact bundle?.
Production adaptors and their associated artifacts can be obtained from the NSP/<release>/Adaptors folder. For installation of adaptors and other artifacts that cannot be installed using the Artifacts views, see “How do I install adaptor artifacts that are not supported in the Artifacts view?” in the NSP System Administrator Guide

Compatible artifacts

The following table shows the artifact types that can be imported via NSP’s Artifacts views.

Note: If the target application for an artifact is not present when the bundle is installed, the installation of the artifact is skipped.

Table 2-1: Artifacts supported for installation using the NSP Artifacts views

Artifact type	Target application
Device mappings for MDM Server telemetry	MDM Telemetry Mappings
Resync device mappings for MDM managed NEs	MDM Resync Mappings
Resync device mappings for classically managed NEs	NFM-P Resync Mappings
YANG to YANG mappings for IETF	YANG-to-YANG Mappings
JSON ACT alarm rules mapping	NSP ACT Framework
Operation types	Device Management - Operations
Cloud native telemetry resources	Telemetry
Workflows, actions, and Jinja2 templates	workflow-manager These artifacts are found in the Workflows views after installation.
Intent types	intent-manager All intent types are found in the Network Intents views after installation. To use intent types in other views, such as Service Fulfillment, you need to import them from the view they will be used in.
Service Management metadata files for data sync	service-fulfillment
Model-driven adaptor artifacts¹	MDM

Notes:

Some adaptor artifacts may not be supported for installation using the Artifacts views. See the artifact guide for the adaptor bundle to verify compatibility. If the adaptor bundle is not installable from the Artifacts view, see “How do I install adaptor artifacts that are not supported in the Artifacts view?” in the NSP System Administrator Guide for information about installing it.

Access control

Depending on your assigned role, some operations in the Artifacts views may not be available to you. Contact your system administrator if you can't access certain network resources or information.

Developer mode

If developer mode is disabled in the NSP, user actions are limited. Importing artifacts using the Artifacts views is supported for signed artifacts only.

Note: Disabling developer mode overrides access control settings. If developer mode is disabled, restricted functions are restricted for all users.

See the NSP Installation and Upgrade Guide for more information.