F5 Traffix Systems Signaling Delivery Controller Release Notes · PDF fileF5 Traffix Systems Signaling Delivery Controller ... between LTE networks and legacy 3G SS7-based networks.

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F5 Traffix Systems

Signaling Delivery Controller™

Release Notes

Document Information:

Software Version: 4.0 Build 168

Publication Date: May 2015

Catalog Number: RG-015-400-53-Ver.1

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ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ................................................................................................................................... 5

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ................................................................................................ 5

CONVENTIONS ............................................................................................................. 5

GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................... 6

BUG DESCRIPTION TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................... 6

DOCUMENT VERSION HISTORY ....................................................................................... 6

2 NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 8

NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILD 168 .......................................................... 8



2.3.1 Splunk Data Size Reduction ................................................................................................................ 8

2.3.2 SNMP Site Connectivity Traps ............................................................................................................ 8

NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN BUILDS 107-148.................................................. 8

2.4.1 SNMP Alarm Synchronization ............................................................................................................ 9

2.4.2 SNMP Alarm Timestamp .................................................................................................................... 9

2.4.3 Improved Consistency for Destination Logging ................................................................................. 9

2.4.4 GUI Face Lift ....................................................................................................................................... 9

2.4.5 Installation Utility ............................................................................................................................ 11

2.4.6 SS7-Diameter Support ...................................................................................................................... 12

2.4.7 Element Management System ......................................................................................................... 13

2.4.8 Extract Information for Control Plane Analytic System ................................................................... 13

2.4.9 Improved RADIUS and HTTP Performance and Stability .................................................................. 13

2.4.10 Improved Session Capacity.......................................................................................................... 13

2.4.11 1200 Peers ................................................................................................................................... 13

3 FIXED BUGS ............................................................................................................................................. 15

FIXED BUGS IN BUILD 168 ........................................................................................... 15



FIXED BUGS IN PREVIOUS BUILDS 107-148 .................................................................... 17

4 KNOWN ISSUES ....................................................................................................................................... 21

KNOWN ISSUES IN BUILD 168 ....................................................................................... 21

3

KNOWN ISSUES IN BUILD 158 ....................................................................................... 21

KNOWN ISSUES IN BUILDS 107-148 .............................................................................. 21

5 LIMITATIONS........................................................................................................................................... 22

LIMITATIONS IN BUILD 168 .......................................................................................... 22



LIMITATIONS IN BUILDS 107-148 ................................................................................. 22

5.4.1 Large SS7 messages are not processed ............................................................................................ 22

5.4.2 Cannot save large information in session data (session cookie)...................................................... 22

5.4.3 On Session Release script invoked explicitly only ............................................................................. 22

5.4.4 Old session entries can be kept in the database longer than the configured session timeout ........ 23

5.4.5 Rate limit is not enforced from Remote Server Peer side ................................................................ 23

5.4.6 Invalid script in External Lookup Management may cause CPF failure ........................................... 23

5.4.7 CPF shutdown may cause error in log file ........................................................................................ 23

5.4.8 Tripo session release is delayed when the second Tripo instance is down ...................................... 23

5.4.9 FEPs in Replication sites ................................................................................................................... 23

ABOUT TRAFFIX, A DIVISION OF F5 NETWORKS ............................................................................................... 24

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© 2005-2014 F5 Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

F5 Networks, Inc. (F5) believes the information it furnishes to be accurate and

reliable. However, F5 assumes no responsibility for the use of this information, nor any

infringement of patents or other rights of third parties which may result from its use. No

license is granted by implication or otherwise under any patent, copyright, or other intellectual

property right of F5 except as specifically described by applicable user licenses. F5 reserves

the right to change specifications at any time without notice.

F5 Networks, F5, Traffix Systems, Traffix Systems (design), F5 (design), OpenBloX,

OpenBloX (design), Rosetta Diameter Gateway, Traffix Diameter Load Balancer, Signaling

Delivery Controller and SDC, are trademarks or service marks of F5 Networks, Inc., in the

U.S. and other countries. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of

their respective owners.

F5 TRAFFIX Signaling Delivery Controller

Release Notes

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About this Document: About this Document

About this Document

About this Document

The following document provides information about the new features and improvements, bug

fixes, and any detected issues and limitations included in F5 Traffix SDC Release 4.0, Build

168.

Conventions

The style conventions used in this document are detailed in Table 1.

Table 1: Conventions

Convention Use

Times New Roman Regular text

Times New Roman

Bold

Names of menus, commands, buttons, and other elements of the

user interface.

Times New Roman

Italic

Links to figures, tables, and sections in the document, as well as

references to other documents.

Courier New Language scripts

Note: Notes which offer an additional explanation or a hint on how to

overcome a common problem.

Warnings which indicate potentially damaging User operations

and explain how to avoid them.

An example.

For simplicity, throughout this document, the F5 Traffix Signaling Delivery Controller will be

referred to as SDC.


Release Notes

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About this Document: Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations

Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations

Table 2: Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations

Term Definition

AAA Authentication, Authorization and Accounting.

DEA Diameter Edge Agent

DRA Diameter Routing Agent

EMS Element Management System

FEP-I Front Proxy Incoming Traffic

FEP-O Front Proxy Outgoing Traffic

KPI Key Performance Indicator

Node Physical or virtual addressable entity

Peer Physical or virtual addressable entity. A Client or Server Peer in the

NGN network that provides or consumes AAA services

Remote Node A client or server node in the network that provides or consumes

AAA services.

SDC Signaling Delivery Controller

Bug Description Terminology

From Release 4.0. Build 165, bug fixes, known issues, and limitations are described as follows:

Term Definition

RCA An explanation of the root cause analysis

Fix Details A description of how the bug was fixed

Verification Steps How the bug was tested

Document Version History

Date – Version Change Reference


Release Notes

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About this Document: Document Version History


Release Notes

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About this Document: New Features and Improvements in Build 168

2 New Features and Improvements

This section describes the new features and improvements that were introduced in builds 107-

168.

New Features and Improvements in Build 168

There were no new features or improvements introduced in this build.


There were no new features or improvements introduced in this build.


This section describes the new improvements introduced in this build.

Splunk Data Size Reduction

SNMP Site Connectivity Traps

2.3.1 Splunk Data Size Reduction

The size of the data transferred from SDC to the EMS Splunk components has been reduced,

enhancing system performance. (CPF-8795)

2.3.2 SNMP Site Connectivity Traps

The SNMP traps, SiteConnectivityDown and SiteConnectivityUp, are now sent when the

connectivity between an EMS and an SDC site stops working and is reinstated, respectively.

(CPF-9262)

New Features and Improvements in Builds 107-148

This section describes the new features and improvements introduced in previous builds.

SNMP Alarm Synchronization

SNMP Alarm Timestamp


Release Notes

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About this Document: New Features and Improvements in Builds 107-148

Improved Consistency for Destination Logging

GUI Face Lift

Installation Utility

SS7-Diameter Support

Element Management System

Extract Information for Control Plane Analytic System

Improved RADIUS and HTTP Performance and Stability

Improved Session Capacity

1200 Peers

2.4.1 SNMP Alarm Synchronization

To ensure alarm synchronization between the F5 Traffix EMS and the Operator’s Element

Management System, the F5 Traffix EMS stores all EMS alarms in the internal database for 72

hours (3 days). This database is configured to create hourly reports containing the alarms.

For more information, see the F5 Traffix SDC SNMP Alarm Synchronization document.

2.4.2 SNMP Alarm Timestamp

A variable binding was added to all SDC initiated alarms. This variable binding, the

CPFTimeStamp, displays the time stamp (in Epoch) of the alarm. This release build contains

an updated MIB file that includes and supports this variable binding.

2.4.3 Improved Consistency for Destination Logging

This build includes improved consistency regarding the provided logging abilities. In this

build, the destination that is logged for answers and requests is consistently the remote peer.

2.4.4 GUI Face Lift

Release 4.0 introduces a new product GUI, improving usability and providing more convenient

management tools.


Release Notes

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Figure 1: SDC site screen in new product GUI demonstrates the new GUI design, while

Figure 2: Monitoring screen in new product GUI displays the improved management tools

provided in the improved GUI.

For more information about the product GUI, see the F5 Traffix SDC User guide.

For more information about the management tools, see Element Management System on page

13.

Figure 1: SDC site screen in new product GUI


Release Notes

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Figure 2: Monitoring screen in new product GUI

2.4.5 Installation Utility

Release 4.0 introduces the installation utility – a wizard tool that guides you through the

necessary steps to create the site configuration, customize an existing configuration, and

perform the site installation.

Figure 3: Installation utility home page displays the three procedures that the installation

utility centralizes. Figure 4: Sample installation utility screen provides an example of the

installation utility screen, in which the procedure steps are clearly defined and the user can

easily locate his position within the procedure and navigate to a different step.

Figure 3: Installation utility home page


Release Notes

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Figure 4: Sample installation utility screen

For more information about the installation utility, see the F5 Traffix Installation Guide.

2.4.6 SS7-Diameter Support

Release 4.0 introduces the possible expansion of the SDC to act as an interworking function

between LTE networks and legacy 3G SS7-based networks.

In this role, the SDC is capable of translating signals and message flows between Diameter

signals on LTE and GSM-MAP or CAMEL on SS7 (SIGTRAN) networks. SDC fully

complies with the TS 29.305 specification which describes the translation of Diameter S6a and

S13 to GSM-MAP Gr or Gf, respectively.

Build 72 introduces two additional support capabilities:

Auto negotiation for the SendAuthenticationInfo (SAI) request – in previous versions,

the SS7 peer had to be configured to work with either MAPv2 or MAPv3. In build 72,

the SDC is enabled to automatically negotiate between these two MAP versions. It

initiates the SAI session with MAPv3, and, in the event that is receives an abort

message with a proper reason code, will automatically resend the SAI request with

MAPv2.


Release Notes

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SCCP layer translations – build 72 introduces translation solutions between Diameter

based Host and Realm AVPs for origin and destination, to/from SCCP layer Global

Titles (in E214 format) for origin and destination.

For more information about SS7-Diameter support, see the F5 Traffix Diameter Interworking

Function Feature Description.

2.4.7 Element Management System

The F5 Traffix SDC Element Management System (EMS) is designed to provide a convenient

and efficient approach to managing multiple SDC sites, by having one central control point.

For more information about the EMS, see the F5 Traffix SDC Element Management System

Product Description.

2.4.8 Extract Information for Control Plane Analytic System

Short term traffic tracing – provided in release 4.0 – provides in-depth traffic collection and

inspection for troubleshooting purposes.

The SDC collects Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and translates them into a myriad of

performance reports.

2.4.9 Improved RADIUS and HTTP Performance and Stability

Release 4.0 includes internal improvements that increase stability and performance when

processing RADIUS and HTTP traffic.

2.4.10 Improved Session Capacity

Release 4.0 can manage and process an increased number of concurrent sessions (up to 6

million).

2.4.11 1200 Peers

Previously, when over a certain number of peers tried to connect, CER messages were

answered with a timeout response and the Web UI did not display all the Remote Peers

properly. This improvement ensures successful connectivity for up to 1200 peers.


Release Notes

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Release Notes

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Fixed Bugs: Fixed Bugs in Build 168

3 Fixed Bugs The following sections describe the fixed bugs in the current and previous builds of Release

4.0.

Fixed Bugs in Build 168

Description

CPF-12478 When defining (Routing>Routing>Rule Attributes) a rule attribute type as

"number" and the inputted value has an extra space at the end, CPFs and FEPs failed

to restart and a failed to parse Routing Rule table error was generated.

RCA:

Upon restarting the system, the Web UI was not configured to validate the inputted

rule attribute values for number types.

Fix Details:

The code was modified to check the validity of the inputted rule attribute values for

number types and if there are any extra spaces, they are ignored.

Verification Steps:

1. Go to Routing>Routing>Rule Attributes to configure a rule attribute.

2. Under Filter Type, select NUMBER.

3. Add a value with space at the end of the number.

4. Click Submit.

5. Verify that the system continues as expected without any error logs.

CPF-13496 When calling the getSessionFromExternalStorage API while the system was in an

overloaded state, some related Async threads were interrupted and this prevented the

API from functioning as expected.

RCA:

A race condition between the Async and Tripo client.worker threads caused some

Async threads to be interrupted.

Fix Details:

The code was modified by adding a flag to prevent Tripo client.worker threads from

interrupting the Async threads.



Release Notes

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Fixed Bugs: Fixed Bugs in Build 158

Bug Number Description

CPF-10960 The /opt/traffix/sdc/bin/license.log file (that monitors the actual TPS versus the

defined amount in a customer license) grew without any defined limit.

RCA:

There was no defined log rotation for this license.log file.

Fix Details:

The code was modified so that the license log file size is limited.

Verification Steps:

1. Verify that the license.log file size is not filled up with data.

CPF-11254 An exception was thrown after many (over 2 million) requests were sent from a CPF

to both mated Tripos.

RCA:

The system was configured to continuously send requests on an alternating basis to

each of the mated Tripos that are defined by a specific array index number. Upon

reaching a high amount of traffic, the system sent an invalid array index number that

did not relate to either of the mated Tripos. As a result, the request could not be

routed correctly and an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException was thrown.

Fix Details:

The code was modified to check the validity of the array index number prior to

accessing either of the mated Tripos.

Verification Steps:

6. Install the setup.

7. Configure a simple topology and routing rules.

8. Start traffic through the SDC (i.e. 3k TPS CCR)

9. Observe the output of the UI_ViewStorage –s.

10. Verify that traffic flows as expected.


Bug Number Description

CPF-9331 EMS Web UI configuration changes are now correctly propagated to its relevant

remote site.

CPF-9348 In the case that only the EMS site, and not its relevant remote site, is started, you can

now successfully log in to the EMS Web UI.


Release Notes

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Fixed Bugs: Fixed Bugs in Previous Builds 107-148

Fixed Bugs in Previous Builds 107-148

Bug

Number

Description

CPF-6310 The CPF does not recognize reconnection of SS7 peer

Previously, there were cases when the CPF missed the notification about SS7 peer

connectivity. Now, the CPF initiates queries to the SS7 driver about the peers.

CPF-6387 Incorrect SNMP trap formatting

Previously, the sysLocation OID was sent in the wrong order, causing some SNMP

managers to discard the traps as an error. Now, the SNMP trap is sent with sysLocation

as the third variable.

CPF-6420 The “Received/Sent Messages” graph on the Dashboard disp lays incorrect MPS

Previously, the “Received/Sent Messages” graph on the Dashboard displayed double

the sum of all MPS through all remote sites. Now, the information displayed in this

graph is correct.

CPF-6440 Failure exporting information from the EMS

Previously, exporting to HEX format from the EMS failed. Now, exporting to HEX

from the EMS is successful.

CPF-6441 SCTP SNMP trap not issued

Previously, no SNMP trap was issued when the SCTP link went down. Now, an SNMP

trap is issued upon SCTP link failure.

CPF-6497 The EMS agent does not correctly connect to the configuration server

Previously, after lengthy periods of high load, the EMS agent couldn’t reconnect to the

configuration server. Now, the EMS agent consistently connects to the configuration

server.

CPF-6532 The FEP does not consistently reconnect to the CPF

Previously, after multiple disconnections between the FEP and the CPF, the FEP did

not always reconnect to the CPF. Now, the FEP consistently reconnects to the CPF.

CPF-6539 “Export” link not accessible from all screens

Previously, the “export” link was not enabled on the Reports>Traced Messages and

Reports>Transaction Data KPIs screens. Now, the “export” link is enabled on these

screens.


Release Notes

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Bug

Number

Description

CPF-6548 The “Decision Table” graph displays unequal data

Previously, the “Decision Table” graph in the Reports > SDC Nodes KPIs screen

displayed unequal reading when displaying data for time resolutions of “Last 15

minutes” or less. Now, the correct data is displayed.

CPF-6551 Graphs in “Monitoring > Host Performance” screen displays incomplete data

Previously, the graphs and graph legends in the Monitoring > Host Performance screen

did not show all machine NICs. Now, all machine NICs are represented in the screen

graphs.

CPF-6552 Server-related errors are handled using client-related error handling scripts

Previously, client-related errors handling scripts were used to handle server-related

errors. Now, server-relates errors are correctly handled using server-related handling

scripts.

CPF-6555 FEP SCTP virtual server fails to establish a connection

Previously, with many open files, the FEP SCTP virtual server failed to establish a

connection. Now, the FEP SCTP virtual server successfully established a connection.

CPF-6557,

6103

The “% Success vs Total Requests” graph displays inconsistent data

Previously, the “% Success vs Total Requests” graph on the Dashboard did not

consistently display the correct data. Now, the correct data is consistently displayed.

CPF-6559 Failure processing long responses

Previously, sending large messages from the server to the client resulted in failure.

Now, ULA messages are successfully send to the MME.

CPF-6616

(Previous

Limitation)

Network statistics are displayed with minor deviation

Previously, network statistics displayed in the Monitoring > Host Performance screen

may have appeared with a minor 10% deviation. This deviation no longer occurs.

CPF-6703 The local site configuration is not updated with the new configuration after an

upgrade

Previously, the local site configuration was not updated with the new EMS

configuration after upgrading both the local and EMS sites. Now, both the EMS and

the local site configuration are updated after an upgrade.


Release Notes

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Bug

Number

Description

CPF-6761 MIB Time Stamp

Previously, the time stamp of the MIB file was 2010. The time stamp was updated.

CPF-6895 Incorrect CPF alarm is issued

Previously, an alarm stating that the CPF was running was issued when the CPF was

down. Now, the correct alarms are issued indicating the CPF state.

CPF-6896 SCTP connection cannot be reestablished on both the primary and secondary

links

Previously, the SDC could only reestablish the SCTP connection on the primary link.

Now, the SCTP connection can be reestablished on both the primary and secondary

links.

CPF-6993 Local SDC peer changes are not displayed in the EMS Web UI

Previously, local SDC peer changes were not displayed in the EMS Web UI. Now, the

EMS Web UI displays all changes to local SDC sites.

CPF-7018 Only selected rows are kept when filtering a selection of rows. The other rows are

deleted.

Previously, submitting changes made to a selection of rows in a list deleted the rows

that were not selected. Now, submitting changes made to a selection of rows in a list

saves the change to the selected row and doesn’t affect the other rows.

CPF-7104 The SDC does not send DWRs to remote peers

Previously, DWRs were not sent by the SDC if the SDC was running with the default

configuration. Now, when the SDC runs with the default configuration, DWRs are sent

to remote peers.

CPF-7113 Pool State

Previously, in some cases the web UI displayed a false state of Pools (false “Close”

indication when the Pool was in fact open). Now, the UI indication reflects the real

state of the Pool.

CPF-7162 Peer.isReplicator()

Previously, Peer.isReplicator() returned “false” also when the Peer's "use for site

replication" option was enabled. The function returns the real value now.


Release Notes

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Bug

Number

Description

CPF-7169 Tripo fails on startup when the NMSAgent is already started

Previously, if the Tripo tried to start after the NMS Agent had already started, it would

fail. Now, the Tripo successfully starts after the NMSAgent is up.

CPF-7239 Bond Interface Speed Detection

Previously, the SNMP Daemon could not detect the Bond network interface’s speed,

therefore redundant Network Utilization traps were generated. Now, the Bond network

interface’s speed is detected and no redundant traps are generated.

CPF-8346 The Security popup during user login into SDC Web UI (Firefox browser) was

eliminated.

CPF-8735 SNMP traps are now logged in their correct chronological order according to their time

stamp.

CPF-8372 Previously, in some cases where the network latency between EMS and SDC sites was

high, the configuration was not distributed properly. Following a configuration

distribution optimization, the distribution is performed without issues.

CPF-8374 On an EMS installation, SNMP traps initiated from an external source as SNMP v1 are

no longer reformatted to SNMP v2, so that the SNMP trap receiver can now display

the relevant alarm.

CPF-8620 The system now supports entering the maximum allowed value of 500 when

configuring the Events in Interval parameter in the SNMP Dilution Manager.


Release Notes

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Known Issues: Known Issues in Build 168

4 Known Issues

Known Issues in Build 168

There were no known issues detected in this build.

Known Issues in Build 158

There were no known issues detected in this build.

Known Issues in Builds 107-148

This section describes the Known Issues that were detected in previous builds.

CPF Description

CPF-6134 Disk Usage SNMP trap displays incorrect data and severity.

CPF-6161 Graph display is delayed when many EMS Web UI instances are opened.

CPF-6391 Remote peers may be selected for message routing even if they are approaching

their rate limit.

CPF-6482 The web browser gets stuck upon log into the Web UI of the SDC when trying to

display a large number of Routing Table statistics graphs.

CPF-6547 The handle time measurement in graphs in the Reports > SDC Nodes KPIs screen

only displays CPF handling time.

CPF-6873 The network interface utilization alarm is constantly sent.

CPF-7347 Peers cannot be added via SOAP API.

CPF-7223 In Transformation scripts, AddProxyFromReplicator does not take effect (the

Proxy is not added).

CPF-7380 Deletion of the sessions is not always synchronized with the replicated site.


Release Notes

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Limitations: Limitations in Build 168

5 Limitations

Limitations in Build 168

No limitations were detected in this build.





Limitations in Builds 107-148

5.4.1 Large SS7 messages are not processed

When configuring SS7 to process ULR-UGLR messages, the configured sequence must be

smaller than 700 octets (CPF-6100).

5.4.2 Cannot save large information in session data (session cookie)

Session data size is limited to 1k bytes. The user cannot save larger amounts of data over the

session cookie (CPF-6879).

5.4.3 On Session Release script invoked explicitly only

The session release script cannot be invoked when the session is released as a result of the

configured timeout. (CPF-5650)


Release Notes

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Limitations: Limitations in Builds 107-148

5.4.4 Old session entries can be kept in the database longer than the configured

session timeout

After an instance has recovered from a failover, the session entries are retained in the instance

database longer than the configured session timeout, decreasing the system’s capacity to

maintain new sessions. (CPF-5757)

5.4.5 Rate limit is not enforced from Remote Server Peer side

Due to the lack of rate limit enforcement, the Remote Server peer’s SNMP traps

"cpfNodeServersIncomingQueueOverload" and

"cpfNodeServersIncomingQueueOverloadClear" are never activated. (CPF-6138)

5.4.6 Invalid script in External Lookup Management may cause CPF failure

The CPF may fail if an invalid script is used in External Lookup Management. (CPF-6072)

5.4.7 CPF shutdown may cause error in log file

Errors may appear in the CPF log file after a CPF shutdown. (CPF-5793)

5.4.8 Tripo session release is delayed when the second Tripo instance is down

When the connection between the Tripo instances is down, the Tripo instance will try backing

up data to the other Tripo instance before checking and working with the defined session

timeout. Session release will therefore be delayed 21 seconds longer than the defined session

timeout. (CPF-6008, 5972)

5.4.9 FEPs in Replication sites

FEPs of replication sites cannot have identical names. (CPF-6426)


Release Notes

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About Traffix, a Division of F5 Networks:

About Traffix, a Division of F5 Networks Traffix is a business division of F5 Networks, the global leader in Application Delivery

Networking (ADN). Traffix, the 4G & Diameter experts, leads the market with a range of

Diameter products deployed at over 100 locations worldwide. Powered by the largest

workforce dedicated only to Diameter signaling solutions, Traffix supports service providers as

they build high-capacity, high-performance 4G networks.

The Traffix Signaling Delivery Controller (SDC) platform enables full connectivity, unlimited

scalability, and comprehensive control for operators to upgrade their control plane for the

demands of a data-dominated world. For more information, visit www.F5.com.

http://www.f5.com/

F5 Traffix Systems Signaling Delivery Controller Release Notes · PDF fileF5 Traffix Systems Signaling Delivery Controller ... between LTE networks and legacy 3G SS7-based networks.

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