015G Core Track

5G Core Operations in Practice

Operate, monitor and troubleshoot a live 5G Standalone core — and interpret every line of its output.

Training / Course 01

Live at the console of a running 5G Standalone core. Watch the network functions negotiate over the service-based bus, trace a UE from registration through 5G-AKA authentication to an established PDU session, read the operational dashboard, and — the load-bearing skill — localize a fault to the exact reference point (N1/N2/N3/N4) instead of guessing.

You leave able to: You can look at a broken 5G core and say which function and which interface is at fault, with the signalling to back the claim.

Aims — what you can do after

Explain the role of each 5G Core network function and how it maps to a running service.
Run a daily health check of a live core and interpret every line of its output.
Control the network-function and RAN/UE lifecycle, including clean deregistration.
Monitor the core via logs, metrics and live throughput counters.
Manage subscribers and edit configuration safely.
Query NWDAF analytics and generate labelled traffic datasets for ML.
Diagnose and repair the most common core faults using auto-diagnosis and runbooks.

The core, at a glance

AMF → SMF → UPF → AUSF → UDM → PCF → NRF → NWDAF

Service-based architecture: each network function is an independent service that discovers the others through the NRF. You learn what each one does and how to read its health.

Flow — device registration

  UE            gNB            AMF          AUSF/UDM
   |             |              |               |
   |--Registration Request----->|               |     RRC + NAS
   #  (SUCI / 5G-GUTI, no key yet)
   |             |              |--Auth Request->|     fetch a 5G-AKA vector
   |<------------ Authentication Request --------|     RAND + AUTN
   #  USIM verifies the network, computes RES
   |------------- Authentication Response ------>|     RES == XRES ?
   |<------------ Security Mode Command ---------|     ciphering + integrity on
   |<------------ Registration Accept -----------|     5G-GUTI assigned
   |--PDU Session Establishment---------------->|      a data bearer comes up

The 5G registration you learn to read line by line.

Method — localize before you touch

  "Something is wrong"
   |
   +-- Is the NF service even up?  ------> systemctl / health board
   |
   +-- Does the UE register?
   |     +-- no auth response  ---------> AUSF/UDM or key material
   |     +-- rejects at NAS  -----------> subscriber profile / slice
   |
   +-- Does a PDU session come up?
   |     +-- no  ----------------------> SMF / UPF / GTP path
   |
   +-- Does traffic flow?
         +-- no  ----------------------> UPF forwarding / NAT / routes

The daily fault-localization habit — which layer is broken?

Module breakdown

Lab bootstrap15 min

The shared helpers and the health board every later module reads.

Core architecture & the health dashboard30 min

Every NF, and how to read the core's health at a glance.

NF service control20 min

Start, stop and inspect network functions safely.

RAN & UE operations30 min

Drive the simulated gNB and UE lifecycle, including clean deregistration.

Monitoring, logs & metrics30 min

journald, metrics and live throughput — the operator's instruments.

Subscriber management20 min

List, add and remove subscribers in the database.

Configuration management15 min

Edit NF configuration safely, backup-first.

NWDAF analytics & ML lifecycle20 min

Query network-data analytics and check model-training readiness.

Traffic scenarios & datasets25 min

Generate labelled traffic for downstream ML pipelines.

Troubleshooting lab40 min

Guided fault injection and repair — the localization method in practice.

Backup & restore10 min

Snapshot and restore the whole lab: configs, database, models.

What operating the core looks like

Read a daily health check and know what every green and red line means.
Localize a fault to one network function or interface before restarting anything.
Turn a live core into labelled datasets — the raw material for the ML course.

← Course 00 — Lab Setup Course 02 — IMS Core & VoNR →