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OSM (Open Source MANO)

Open Source MANO (OSM) is an ETSI-hosted open source project that provides a management and orchestration (MANO) stack for deploying and operating virtualized and cloud-native network services based on ETSI Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) specifications (network and service orchestration).

  • End-to-end lifecycle management of virtual network functions (VNFs) and cloud-native network functions (CNFs), including onboarding, instantiation, scaling, healing, and termination (service orchestration).
  • Model-driven service and resource description using ETSI NFV-compliant information models and YANG-based descriptors for network services and functions (network service modeling).
  • Multi-site and multi-cloud orchestration across heterogeneous NFV infrastructures and cloud platforms through resource and interface abstraction (multi-cloud orchestration).
  • Northbound and southbound APIs aligned with ETSI NFV MANO reference points for integration with OSS/BSS, Software Defined Networking (SDN) controllers, and virtualized infrastructure managers (systems integration).
  • Modular architecture with separate components for service orchestration, resource orchestration, and network function configuration, supporting plugins and connectors to external systems (extensible orchestration framework).

More About OSM (Open Source MANO)

Open Source MANO (OSM) is an open source implementation of the management and orchestration (MANO) framework defined by the ETSI Network Functions Virtualisation (NFV) standards (network and service orchestration). It addresses the operational needs of service providers and enterprises that deploy virtual network functions (VNFs) and cloud-native network functions (CNFs) across distributed NFV infrastructure and cloud environments. Optical Switching Matrix (OSM) focuses on automating the lifecycle of network services and functions in alignment with ETSI NFV architecture and information models.

At its core, OSM provides a service orchestrator (service orchestration) that manages end-to-end network services, a resource orchestrator that interacts with virtualized infrastructure managers (VIMs) and, where applicable, Kubernetes-based platforms (infrastructure orchestration), and configuration and control components for VNFs and CNFs (network configuration management). The project uses model-driven definitions based on ETSI NFV-compliant descriptors, often expressed in YANG (data modeling), to describe network services, VNFs, CNFs, and infrastructure requirements. These models enable automated workflows for onboarding, instantiation, scaling, healing, update, and termination of network services.

OSM implements interfaces aligned with ETSI NFV MANO reference points such as Os-Ma, Or-Vnfm, and Or-Vi (standards-based integration). Through these northbound and southbound APIs, OSM can integrate with operations support systems and business support systems (OSS/BSS integration), SDN controllers (SDN integration), and a range of VIMs and cloud platforms (multi-cloud integration). Its plugin-based mechanisms allow the adaptation of OSM to different infrastructure technologies and vendor ecosystems without changing the core orchestration logic.

In enterprise and operator environments, OSM is used to design, deploy, and operate network services that run on NFV infrastructure or cloud-native platforms (network service automation). It supports multi-site and multi-domain scenarios, enabling coordinated orchestration across heterogeneous infrastructure domains (multi-domain orchestration). This is relevant for use cases such as virtualized mobile network functions, enterprise VPNs, edge computing services, and other virtualized or containerized network workloads.

From an architectural perspective, OSM follows a modular, layered design that separates service orchestration, resource orchestration, and configuration/assurance functions (orchestration architecture). It adopts a model-driven approach in which standardized descriptors define the operational behavior of services and functions, enabling consistent lifecycle management across different vendors and platforms (vendor-agnostic orchestration). For enterprise technical stakeholders, OSM fits into categories such as NFV MANO platforms, network service orchestration, and cloud and infrastructure orchestration, providing an implementation that is aligned with ETSI NFV standards and hosted within ETSI’s open source framework.