Allow for connecting routers to networks in the network topology

[Liz Blanchard]

The current network topology functionality is limited since it's in it's early days, but it would be great to see a feature addition that allows routers to be connected to Networks via the network topology view. This has been brought up on the operators mailing list by an end user.

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Shouldn't this be submitted as a new blueprint?

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

I was a bit on the fence about creating a new blueprint vs. a bug since it's a small addition to an existing feature. But I can log a new blueprint instead if you think that makes more sense.

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Let me see how big is the change, and then we can discuss this again. Thanks!

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Liz, I've attached an screenshot with one alternative of solution. Let me know what do you think, and if you think this is not a suitable solution (perhaps you want to list the available networks there), which could be a valid solution on your opinion.

Thanks a lot!

PD: I've been also thinking on propose an improvement for the network topology tab, which could be done using a js library like this one: http://jsplumbtoolkit.com/. Let know your thoughts about this, so and I can submit the blueprint with more details.

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Hi Facundo,

Thanks for posting the screenshot of your improvement idea. I think this solution could work, but I wonder if having the "Add Interface" button next to the "Delete Router" would make more sense. This way, when the user clicks it, you could allow them to choose from a list of interfaces. I think it could be confusing if we list each interface out under the "Interfaces" section even if they aren't connected.

I really like the idea of improving the visualization capabilities of the network topology by potentially using jsplumb. It looks very slick. We should look into what was used in the Orchestration section for stacks. Also, I know curvature (project being worked on by some CIsco engineers) has some neat visualizations. I thought I heard there were some plans to bring this into Horizon, but I'm not sure what the state on this is. Here is a link to a demo they did at the Portland summit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-wvxoNvTEg

Thanks!
Liz

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Alright, I do agree that having the button next to "Delete Router" makes more sense. Thanks!

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Btw.. I've seen the video that you sent me of Curvature! Impressive! :)

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Yes! Very neat stuff :)

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Liz! I've been analyzing a bit the network topology component, and as you told me the "Add Interface" should open a new popup with the available networks, and then the user would be able to associate the given router with the networks that he wants.
Does this behavior sounds good for you? I've been thinking and maybe it should be a blueprint since it isn't an small change. Do you know if this would be required for icehouce-rc1? Thanks a lot.

Facundo

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Hi Facundo,

I definitely don't see this being something that has to hit for icehouse. I see it as a very nice update to early Juno if we can make it happen. The behavior you describe above sounds perfect to me. I'd be happy to log a blueprint for Juno if you think it's a big enough change! Let me know.

Thanks,
Liz

[OpenStack Infra (hudson-openstack)]

Fix proposed to branch: master
Review: https://review.openstack.org/81233

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Liz, please check the fix and let me know your thoughts about it. Thanks

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Hi Facundo,

I've been trying to get an environment running Neutron up and running today with no luck. Would you be able to post some screenshots here for me to review?

Thanks!
Liz

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Hi Liz!
Yes, I can, but it wouldn't be better if we use Skype or Hangouts so I can show you by using screen sharing how this is working?

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Yes, great point. One other idea would be to do a quick screencast to show the feature working. This way you could attach it here so others could see too? I've used Quicktime to do this in the past and it's worked well.

Liz

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Here you have the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQXDzn-aCH4&feature=youtu.be
Feedback is welcomed.

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Excellent work on this Facundo. And thanks for sharing the video, it's very helpful to see it work interactively. One though I had was...would we be able to take the user right back to the Network Topology page after successfully creating an interface? Currently it drops them in the Router Details page, but I think it would be really nice if we took them back to where they initiated the action. Thoughts on this?

Best,
Liz

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Not sure if I can do that. Now on, the change it's only on the UI side, and using a current behavior to add the network.
Do you think that the behavior that is showcased on the video is enough to close the bug?

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Yes, for sure! I think this is a great improvement. Once it is released I can test it more with users. If they have further recommendations I will log other items :)

Thanks so much again for your fast work on this. Very well done!

Liz

[Facundo Farias (facundo-farias)]

Alright. Let's see what the guys say on the review. Can you push a little bit this review?
Thanks for your time!

[Liz Blanchard (lblanchard)]

Sounds great, I will send a note to #openstack-horizon to see if we can get some core reviewers.

[OpenStack Infra (hudson-openstack)]

Reviewed: https://review.openstack.org/81233
Committed: https://git.openstack.org/cgit/openstack/horizon/commit/?id=72fe47e413a3e22c4b22240b3edf3600bb214a98
Submitter: Jenkins
Branch: master

commit 72fe47e413a3e22c4b22240b3edf3600bb214a98
Author: facundo Farias <email address hidden>
Date: Tue Mar 18 08:12:35 2014 -0300

    Added button Add Interface on Network Topology tab

    On the Network Topology tab, when a router is selected a new
    button was added to allow it connect with different networks.
    This change was made following the most simple mechanism that
    I could find, please check if it is the correct behavior.

    Change-Id: Ia08c5f22e3237fc4e90767a8becfe6413d754b04
    Closes-Bug: #1288779