ONAP supports multivendor VNF deployment by giving operators a common way to onboard packages, model network services, and orchestrate lifecycle operations. It does not make every vendor image plug and play: each VNF must meet the package, interface, dependency, and infrastructure requirements of the ONAP release and cloud environment where it will run.
How ONAP connects design-time onboarding to runtime operations
ONAP divides the work between cooperating design-time and runtime frameworks. At design time, teams model and onboard resources; the resulting information model is used by the runtime framework to orchestrate services. Runtime operations use standard APIs supplied by the VNF developer to perform tasks such as instantiation, configuration, scaling, monitoring, and reconfiguration. ONAP’s VNF guidelines describe the lifecycle as also covering recovery from resource failures and resource allocation.
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The practical meaning of “multivendor” is therefore shared contracts, not identical implementations. Different vendors can supply VNFs, but their packages and management capabilities must be described in ways ONAP and the target infrastructure can use.
What a VNF provider must supply
ONAP’s VNF and PNF onboarding and package-management requirements call for package identification—including provider, name, description, and version—and accompanying documentation that explains how the function is deployed and operated.
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Package and operational documentation
- Deployment and configuration-management APIs, plus supported configuration parameters.
- Health monitoring, events, runtime lifecycle actions, functional inputs and outputs, and dependencies on other VNFs or infrastructure.
- VES event registration information and compute and network topology.
- For applicable Heat packages, VM specifications and images.
- Redundancy and scaling characteristics, provider test scripts and results, and licensing information.
The requirements allow external licensing arrangements. If ONAP licensing is used, the package requirements call for license metrics and metadata. The ONAP requirements page is rolling documentation and retains requirements updated in earlier named releases, so verify applicability against the release you deploy.
Configuration and cloud compatibility
Configuration can be managed through standardized APIs or through EMS and VF-C, according to the guidelines. Infrastructure capabilities also differ among network-cloud providers. A package that works with one backend or management path should not be assumed to behave identically on another.
Choose the package path supported by the target release
ONAP’s test specification recognizes two VNF package paths for its onboarding-and-instantiation test: an ONAP-compliant OpenStack Heat ZIP, or a CSAR containing a TOSCA VNFD. The applicable route depends on package technology and the target ONAP release; consult the release-specific documentation rather than treating either format as universally interchangeable. ONAP VNF test specification
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Typical onboarding and service lifecycle
An official ETSI NFVO setup example illustrates one workflow. It is a worked demo, not a universal deployment recipe; its screens, addresses, credentials, and API calls are specific to that environment.
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- Onboard the VNF package and Network Service CSAR through SDC.
- Import and certify the VNF, then compose a service.
- Add the Network Service deployment artifact, then certify and distribute the service.
- Onboard the service to the ETSI catalog.
- Use the catalog workflow for operations such as create, instantiate, terminate, and delete.
For an actual installation, confirm the workflow and configuration against the ONAP release and cloud backend in use.
What onboarding success proves—and what it does not
The ONAP test specification’s onboarding and instantiation test stops at instantiation. Passing it is evidence for that bounded test, not proof that the VNF supports monitoring, scaling, healing or recovery, reconfiguration, or every other runtime lifecycle operation. Validate those capabilities separately against the provider’s documented interfaces and the needs of the service.
Similarly, ONAP examples should be applied within their stated scope. The vFirewall CNF example lists SDC, SO, CDS, SDNC, Multicloud, and Kubernetes integration for that CNF use case. It is not a universal component checklist for deploying VNFs.
How to compare vendors or packages
Use the same operational criteria for each candidate, and check each against the intended ONAP release and cloud environment.
Best Value
| Check | What to verify |
|---|---|
| Package and descriptor | Supported package format, provider identity, version, and completeness of deployment and configuration documentation. |
| Cloud compatibility | Infrastructure requirements, topology, images and VM specifications where applicable, and compatibility with the target backend. |
| Management interfaces | Configuration APIs or EMS/VF-C path, supported parameters, lifecycle actions, and functional inputs and outputs. |
| Operations | Health monitoring and events, scaling and redundancy behavior, reconfiguration, and recovery capabilities. |
| Dependencies | Dependencies on other VNFs and infrastructure, including placement constraints such as affinity or anti-affinity. |
| Licensing and validation | Licensing model and metadata where applicable, plus provider test scripts and results and evidence for lifecycle behavior beyond instantiation. |
ONAP’s package requirements state: “The VNF Provider MUST provide documentation regarding any dependency (e.g. affinity, anti-affinity) the VNF has on other VNFs and resources.” That requirement makes dependencies part of the deployment contract, not an implementation detail to discover after composition.
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