Co-host with Ella IMS and Ella SMSC¶

This guide runs Ella IMS and Ella SMSC on the same host as Ella Core. Ella IMS runs in its own network namespace, which Ella Core reaches through an N6 network instance.

Prerequisites¶

To follow this guide, you will need:

A host with Ella Core installed with the snap, as in Install, and an eth0 interface towards the radio and the internet.
A free address on the LAN for Ella IMS's UI.

The examples use these values:

Value	Role
`eth0`	Host interface: N2, N3, N6, and the Ella Core and Ella SMSC UIs
`10.3.0.2`	Ella Core's Diameter address
`10.3.0.7`	Ella SMSC's Diameter address
`10.6.0.2`	Ella Core's address on the `ims` network instance
`10.6.0.5`	Ella IMS's SIP and Diameter address
`192.168.1.50/24`	Ella IMS's UI address on the LAN
`192.168.1.1`	LAN gateway
`10.46.0.0/16`	IP pool of the `ims` data network
`001` / `01`	Ella Core's MCC and MNC
`epc.mnc001.mcc001.3gppnetwork.org`	Ella Core's Diameter realm
`+15550000000`	Ella SMSC's service centre address
`15550000100`	Ella IMS's IP-SM-GW number

1. Create the Ella IMS network namespace¶

Create /etc/systemd/system/ims-netns.service:

[Unit]
Description=Ella IMS network namespace
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
RemainAfterExit=true

ExecStartPre=-ip netns delete ims
ExecStartPre=-ip link delete diameter0
ExecStart=ip link add diameter0 type dummy
ExecStart=ip addr add 10.3.0.2/32 dev diameter0
ExecStart=ip addr add 10.3.0.7/32 dev diameter0
ExecStart=ip link set diameter0 up
ExecStart=ip netns add ims
ExecStart=ip link add n6-ims type veth peer name ims0
ExecStart=ip link set ims0 netns ims
ExecStart=ip addr add 10.6.0.2/24 dev n6-ims
ExecStart=ip link set n6-ims up
ExecStart=ip link add lan0 link eth0 type macvlan mode bridge
ExecStart=ip link set lan0 netns ims
ExecStart=ip -n ims link set lo up
ExecStart=ip -n ims addr add 10.6.0.5/24 dev ims0
ExecStart=ip -n ims link set ims0 up
ExecStart=ip -n ims addr add 192.168.1.50/24 dev lan0
ExecStart=ip -n ims link set lan0 up
ExecStart=ip -n ims route add default via 192.168.1.1 dev lan0
ExecStart=ip -n ims route add 10.3.0.0/24 via 10.6.0.2 dev ims0
ExecStart=ip -n ims route add 10.46.0.0/16 via 10.6.0.2 dev ims0 mtu lock 1400
ExecStart=ip netns exec ims ethtool -K ims0 tso off gso off tx off
ExecStart=ethtool -K eth0 gro off
ExecStop=-ip netns delete ims
ExecStop=-ip link delete diameter0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now ims-netns.service

2. Configure Ella Core¶

Edit /var/snap/ella-core/common/core.yaml:

logging:
  system:
    level: "info"
    output: "stdout"
  audit:
    output: "stdout"
db:
  path: "/var/snap/ella-core/common/data/ella.db"
interfaces:
  n2:
    name: "eth0"
  n3:
    name: "eth0"
  n6:
    name: "eth0"
  network-instances:
    - name: "ims"
      n6:
        name: "n6-ims"
  api:
    address: "0.0.0.0"
    port: 5002
  diameter:
    address: "10.3.0.2"
datapath:
  attach-mode: "tcx"
telemetry:
  enabled: false

Create /etc/systemd/system/snap.ella-core.cored.service.d/override.conf:

[Unit]
Requires=ims-netns.service
After=ims-netns.service

Restart Ella Core:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo snap restart ella-core.cored

3. Install Ella IMS in the namespace¶

Install Ella IMS:

sudo snap install ella-ims
sudo snap connect ella-ims:network-control

Edit /var/snap/ella-ims/common/ims.yaml and set its addresses:

api:
  address: 0.0.0.0
  port: 5020
sip:
  addresses: [10.6.0.5]
diameter:
  address: 10.6.0.5

Create /etc/systemd/system/snap.ella-ims.imsd.service.d/override.conf:

[Unit]
Requires=ims-netns.service
After=ims-netns.service

[Service]
NetworkNamespacePath=/var/run/netns/ims

Start Ella IMS:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo snap start --enable ella-ims.imsd

Ella IMS's UI is at http://192.168.1.50:5020.

4. Install Ella SMSC¶

Install Ella SMSC:

sudo snap install ella-smsc

Edit /var/snap/ella-smsc/common/smsc.yaml and set its Diameter address:

diameter:
  address: 10.3.0.7

Create /etc/systemd/system/snap.ella-smsc.smscd.service.d/override.conf:

[Unit]
Requires=ims-netns.service
After=ims-netns.service

Start Ella SMSC:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo snap start --enable ella-smsc.smscd

Ella SMSC's UI is at http://<eth0 address>:5010.

5. Connect Ella IMS to Ella Core¶

In the Ella IMS UI, go to the Operator page:

Click the edit icon next to Operator ID (MCC/MNC), enter 001 / 01, and click Update.
Click the edit icon next to Numbering Plan, enter your country code and prefixes, and click Update.

Go to the Cores page:

Under Peers, click Add Peer, enter 10.3.0.2, check HSS and PCRF, and click Add.
Under HSS, click the edit icon next to HSS Realm, enter epc.mnc001.mcc001.3gppnetwork.org, and click Update.
Under Voice QoS, click the edit icon next to Policy Function, select PCRF, and click Update.
Click the edit icon next to PCRF Realm, enter epc.mnc001.mcc001.3gppnetwork.org, and click Update.

6. Connect Ella SMSC to Ella Core¶

In the Ella SMSC UI, go to the Operator page:

Click the edit icon next to Operator ID (MCC/MNC), enter 001 / 01, and click Update.
Click the edit icon next to Service Centre Address, enter +15550000000, and click Update.
Click the edit icon next to Numbering, enter your country code and prefixes, and click Update.

Go to the Diameter page and note the Host, e.g. smsc.node.epc.mnc001.mcc001.3gppnetwork.org.

In the Ella Core UI, go to Operator, scroll to the SMS section, click Add SMSC, and enter:

Name: smsc
Numbers: +15550000000
Address: 10.3.0.7
Diameter Identity: Ella SMSC's Host.

Click Add.

7. Enable SMS over IP¶

In the Ella IMS UI, go to the Cores page:

Under SMS over IP, click the edit icon next to IP-SM-GW Number, enter 15550000100, and click Update. Note the IP-SM-GW Name.
Under Peers, click Add Peer, and enter:
- Address: 10.3.0.7
- Roles: SGd only
- Service Centres: 15550000000
- Transport: SCTP
- Host: Ella SMSC's Host.
Click Add.
Click the edit icon of the 10.3.0.2 peer, check Sh, S6c and SGd, and click Update.

In the Ella Core UI, go to Operator and scroll to the IMS section:

Click Add Application Server, enter ip-sm-gw as the Name and Ella IMS's IP-SM-GW Name as the Server Name, and click Add.
Click Add Service Profile, enter sms-over-ip as the Name. Under Add from preset, select the SMS over IP preset and the ip-sm-gw Application Server, click Add Criteria, and click Add.

8. Route the `ims` data network to Ella IMS¶

In the Ella Core UI:

Go to Networking > Data Networks, click Create, enter ims as the Name and 10.46.0.0/16 as the IPv4 Pool, turn on IMS (voice and mission critical services), and click Create.
Open the ims data network. In Slices, select the slice of your subscribers and click Serve on slice, then set its Network instance to ims.
Go to Operator, scroll to the IMS section, click the edit icon next to P-CSCF Addresses, enter 10.6.0.5, and click Update.

9. Set up the subscribers¶

In the Ella Core UI, for each profile whose subscribers make calls and send SMS:

Go to the Profiles page and open the profile.
Click Add Policy, enter a Name, set the Data Network to ims, and click Create.
Click the edit icon next to IMS Service Profiles, set MMTel (voice, SMS) to sms-over-ip, and click Save.

For each subscriber, go to the Subscribers page, open the subscriber, click the edit icon next to MSISDN, enter its E.164 number, e.g. +15551230001, and click Update.

On each SIM card, set the SMSC number to +15550000000. On each phone, turn on VoLTE (4G) or VoNR (5G).

10. Verify¶

In the Ella Core UI, go to Networking > Interfaces: the N6 (External) · ims card shows n6-ims, used by ims.
In the Ella IMS UI, go to Cores: under Peers, 10.3.0.2 and 10.3.0.7 show open.
In the Ella SMSC UI, go to Diameter: under Connected Peers, Ella Core and Ella IMS show open.
In the Ella Core UI, go to Subscribers and open a subscriber with an MSISDN: Voice shows Registered.
Call a phone from another. The call connects with audio in both directions.
Send an SMS between two phones. In the Ella SMSC UI, on the Messages page, it shows delivered.