SDX 6.4.x Application Library Guide > Configuring the VTA with VTA Configuration Manager > Using One VTA Account for Multiple Subscriber Sessions

Using One VTA Account for Multiple Subscriber Sessions

The VTA allows multiple subscriber sessions to share the same VTA account. The VTA debits usage from all the subscriber sessions from the account. When the account is empty, service sessions for all subscribers are stopped. When the account is refilled, the VTA starts services for all subscriber sessions that share the account.

To use this feature, you use the subscriberId event attribute to map a group of subscribers to the VTA account. You then use the ACCOUNTING_ID plug-in attribute as the VTA subscriber ID. You also set up the NIC to use the accounting ID to look up the SAE that manages a subscriber.

To set up the SDX software to use one VTA account for multiple subscribers:

1. In the subscriber classifier script, assign a value to the accountingUserId attribute. For example, you could assign it to the userName, interfaceName, loginName, or a combination of classification criteria. The purpose of the assignment is to allow the VTA to identify subscribers by many different subscriber attributes using accountingUserId as a wrapper.

For example, the following subscriber classifier script assigns the value of the userName to the accountingUserId attribute:

[<-retailerDn->?accountingUserId=<-userName->?sub?(uniqueID=<-userName->)]

2. Configure the SAE to publish the PA_ACCOUNTING_ID plug-in attribute in subscriber tracking events to the NIC SAE agent plug-in.

See SDX Network Guide: SAE, Juniper Networks Routers, and NIC, Chapter 5, Locating Subscriber Information.

3. Configure the NIC host to use the OnePopAcctId NIC scenario, which is installed with the NIC sample data.

See SDX Network Guide: SAE, Juniper Networks Routers, and NIC, Chapter 13, NIC Configuration Scenarios.

4. In VTA Configuration Manager, configure the following in the Subscriber ID and Lookup screen:

• In the VTA Subscriber ID box, enter ACCOUNTING_ID.
• In the VTA NicProxy Namespace field, enter /NicProxies/AcctIdToSaeNicProxy, which causes the NIC to look up the SAE using the accounting ID.

See Configuring Identifiers for Subscribers and Sessions.

5. If you are using the VTA portals to manage subscriber accounts, configure the following property in the CONSTANTS.incl file:

NIC_PROXY_NAMESPACE=/NicProxies/IpToAcctIdNicProxy

See Managing Subscriber Accounts with the Administrator Portal.

6. (Optional) Set up an action for the SAE proxy processor to apply functions to all subscriber sessions that share the same VTA account. For example, the following action starts services for all subscriber sessions that have the same subscriber ID.