Start mock control plane interface

This document describes how to configure and run F5 NGINX Agent using a mock interface (“control plane”) for NGINX Agent to report to.

The mock interface is useful when developing NGINX Agent, as it allows you to view what metrics are being reported.

Before you begin

To begin this task, you will require the following:

You will also need a copy of the NGINX Agent repository, which you can clone using git:

git clone git@github.com:nginx/agent.git

Read Cloning a repository for more information.

Start the gRPC mock control plane

Start the mock control plane by running the following command from the agent source code root directory:

go run sdk/examples/server.go
INFO[0000] http listening at 54790 # mock control plane port
INFO[0000] grpc listening at 54789 # grpc control plane port which NGINX Agent will report to

The mock control plane can use either gRPC or REST protocols to communicate with NGINX Agent.

To enable them, view the Enable gRPC and REST interfaces topic.

Launch Swagger UI

To launch the Swagger UI for the REST interface run the following command:

make launch-swagger-ui

Start NGINX Agent

Open another terminal window and start NGINX Agent. Issue the following command from the agent source code root directory.

sudo make run
WARN[0000] Log level is info
INFO[0000] setting displayName to XXX
INFO[0000] NGINX Agent at with pid 12345, clientID=XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX name=XXX
INFO[0000] NginxBinary initializing
INFO[0000] Commander initializing
INFO[0000] Comms initializing
INFO[0000] OneTimeRegistration initializing
INFO[0000] Registering XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX
INFO[0000] Metrics initializing
INFO[0000] MetricsThrottle initializing
INFO[0000] DataPlaneStatus initializing
INFO[0000] MetricsThrottle waiting for report ready
INFO[0000] Metrics waiting for handshake to be completed
INFO[0000] ProcessWatcher initializing
INFO[0000] Extensions initializing
INFO[0000] FileWatcher initializing
INFO[0000] FileWatchThrottle initializing
INFO[0001] Events initializing
INFO[0001] OneTimeRegistration completed

Open a web browser to view the mock control plane at http://localhost:54790. The following links will be shown in the web interface:

  • registered - shows registration information of the data plane
  • nginxes - lists the nginx instances on the data plane
  • configs - shows the protobuf payload for NGINX configuration sent to the management plane
  • configs/chunked - shows the split-up payloads sent to the management plane
  • configs/raw - shows the actual configuration as it would live on the data plane
  • metrics - shows a buffer of metrics sent to the management plane (similar to what will be sent back in the REST API)

For more NGINX Agent use cases, refer to the NGINX Agent SDK examples.

Last modified February 12, 2025