Cisco CDA Visual Quality Experience Application User Guide, Release 3.0
Chapter 2: Getting Started with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

Table Of Contents

Getting Started with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

Web Browser, Screen Resolution, and Other Requirements

Configuring Terminal Emulation Software

Security Restrictions for Logins and Root Privileges

Prerequisites

Connecting Cables to the CDE110

Setting Up SSL Certificates with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

Setting Up SSL Certificates

Using the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility for SSL Certificates

Step-by-Step Example: VQE Startup Configuration Utility's Option 1 for Preparing SSL Certificates

Creating Your Own Certificate Authority

Generating and Deploying Your Own SSL Certificates

Generating a Certificate Signing Request

Signing the Certificate Signing Request

Installing the Certificates, Private Key, and Keystore

Deploying Commercial SSL Certificates

Commercial CA: Installing the Certificates, Private Key, and Keystore

Using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

Terminal Client Software Behavior

Configuration Items

Pre-Configuration Worksheets

VQE Startup Configuration Utility Root Menu

On the VQE-S Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

On the VQE Tools Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

Configuring VQE-S RTCP Exporter

Configuring Static Routes for Feedback Targets on the Attached Router

Configuring Other Parameters for the VQE-S Host


Getting Started with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility


This chapter explains how to use the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility to perform the initial configuration tasks needed to get the two categories of Cisco CDE110 servers running with the Cisco VQE software:

VQE-S server—CDE110 hosting VQE Server

VQE Tools server—CDE110 hosting VQE Channel Provisioning Tool (VCPT) and VQE Client Channel Configuration Delivery Server (VCDS)

In a VQE deployment, use of the VQE Tools server with VCPT and VCDS is optional.


Note Cisco recommends that you use the VQE Startup Configuration Utility rather than try to do the initial configuration manually because the utility simplifies your work and is known to produce correct results.

For information on the manual initial VQE configuration tasks, see Appendix D, "Manual Initial VQE System Configuration."


Read the following sections for information on CDE110 configuration and on using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility:

Web Browser, Screen Resolution, and Other Requirements

Configuring Terminal Emulation Software

Security Restrictions for Logins and Root Privileges

Prerequisites

Setting Up SSL Certificates

Using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

On the VQE-S Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

On the VQE Tools Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

Configuring VQE-S RTCP Exporter

Configuring Static Routes for Feedback Targets on the Attached Router

Configuring Other Parameters for the VQE-S Host


Note The configuration instructions in this chapter are intended for new installations of Cisco VQE, Release 3.0, software, where the Cisco CDE110 has the Cisco VQE, Release 3.0, software preinstalled.

For information on upgrading a Cisco CDE110 from Cisco VQE Release 2.1 to Release 3.0, see the Release Notes for Cisco CDA Visual Quality Experience Application, Release 3.0.


This chapter assumes that the Cisco CDE110 hardware has been installed as described in the Cisco Content Delivery Engine 110 Hardware Installation Guide, including connecting cables and connecting power.

Web Browser, Screen Resolution, and Other Requirements

To access the VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool (VQE-S AMT or AMT) or the VQE Channel Provisioning Tool (VCPT), you need a web browser. For these tools, the following web browsers are supported:

Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or later

Mozilla Firefox version 2.0 or later

The minimum screen resolution required for VQE-S AMT and VCPT is 1024 x 768 pixels.

For VQE-S AMT, Adobe Flash Player must be installed on the computer that hosts the browser accessing AMT. Flash Player is required to display the Channels Status Summary graph of active, inoperative, and inactive channels in the AMT VQE-S Status window. Adobe Flash Player is free and can be found at this URL:

http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Configuring Terminal Emulation Software

The RJ-45 serial ports on the Cisco CDE110 front and back panels can be used for administrative access to the CDE110 through a terminal server. Terminal emulation software must be configured as follows:

Bits per second: 9600

Data bits: 8

Parity: none

Stop bits: 1

Hardware flow control: ON

Security Restrictions for Logins and Root Privileges

For security reasons, the following restrictions apply to VQE:

The root user cannot use Secure Shell (SSH) to log in to a CDE110 that hosts VQE-S or VCPT, or to log in to VQE-S AMT or VCPT. The vqe username should be used instead. The vqe username is a pre-created Linux user ID and has its password set during CDE110 initial system configuration.

Only users in the wheel group can use the su or sudo commands. By default, the vqe username is in the wheel group.

If you want to add user accounts to the wheel group so that additional users can use su and sudo, log in as root and issue the following command:

[root@system]# usermod -G wheel username 

In the preceding, username specifies the user who will be added to the wheel group.

Prerequisites

Before you start the initial VQE software configuration, the following items should be accomplished for the CDE110 that hosts VQE-S and the CDE110 that hosts the VQE Tools:

Connect cables to the CDE110—See the "Connecting Cables to the CDE110" section.

Determine how you will set up Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates—For information on the alternatives available to you, see the "Setting Up SSL Certificates with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility" section.

Connecting Cables to the CDE110

The following cable connections are used on the Cisco CDE110 that hosts VQE-S and on the CDE110 that hosts the VQE Tools:

Depending on whether the host is for VQE-S or VQE Tools, do one of the following:

On a VQE-S server, use Category 5 UTP cable to connect each of the four Ethernet interfaces on the back of the Cisco CDE110 to Ethernet interfaces on the edge router that is providing multicast streams for each IPTV channel. For optimal VQE-S performance, all four Ethernet interfaces on the Cisco CDE110 should have a direct Layer-3 connection to the edge router.

On a VQE Tools server, use Category 5 UTP cable to connect at least one of the four Ethernet interfaces on the back of the CDE110 to the same network that the CDE110s that host VQE-S are on. If you use additional Ethernet interfaces for link redundancy, connect Category 5 UTP cables for those interfaces also.

If a terminal server is used, the RJ-45 cable from the terminal server is connected to an RJ-45 serial port on the front or back of the Cisco CDE110. Only one serial port can be used because it is one shared serial port.

If a PC is directly connected to the CDE110 serial port, the cable from the PC is connected to an RJ-45 serial port on the front or back of the Cisco CDE110. Only one serial port (front or back) can be used because it is one shared serial port. The PC end of the cable connected to the CDE110 serial port varies depending on the type of ports supported by the PC.


Note The serial port is used for the system console. A system console is typically used rather than a monitor, keyboard, and mouse directly attached to the Cisco CDE110.


If a monitor, keyboard, and mouse are used, the cables for the devices are connected to the appropriate connectors on the Cisco CDE110.

For the location of connectors on the Cisco CDE110 front and back panels, see the Cisco Content Delivery Engine 110 Hardware Installation Guide.

Setting Up SSL Certificates with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates must be deployed on the CDE110s for HTTPS to operate. You can let the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility do most of the creation and deployment, or you can do the creation and deployment tasks yourself. For information on your options for SSL certificates with the startup utility, see the "Using the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility for SSL Certificates" section.

Setting Up SSL Certificates

VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool (VQE-S AMT or AMT) and VQE Channel Provisioning Tool (VCPT) require Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates from a certificate authority (CA). The CA can be you or someone in your company, or can be a commercial CA, such as VeriSign.

On the CDE110s hosting VQE-S and VCPT, the HTTP server is not usable until the SSL certificates and other required SSL files are created and deployed.

Before AMT and VCPT can be used, you need to either deploy your own SSL certificate or deploy a commercial SSL certificate. The procedures that you use are explained in the following sections:

Using the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility for SSL Certificates

Creating Your Own Certificate Authority

Generating and Deploying Your Own SSL Certificates

Deploying Commercial SSL Certificates

You perform the procedures for deploying CA certificates on the VQE-S hosts and the VCPT hosts. As an alternative if you are setting up the certificates manually, you can create the needed files on one host and copy them to the other hosts.

The Open Source toolkit from the OpenSSL Project collaborative is used to generate, sign, and install your own CA certificates and to generate the Certificate Signing Request for commercial certificates. The Open Source toolkit is installed on the VQE-S and VCPT hosts. For more information on the Open Source toolkit and for documentation on toolkit commands, go to the following URL:

http://www.openssl.org

Using the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility for SSL Certificates

If you use the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility, the utility allows you to choose different ways to create and deploy SSL certificates:

Option 1: The Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility creates and deploys a self-signed SSL certificate (vqe.cert), private key (server.key), and stackedChain.pem file.

For an explanation of the tasks involved with using Option 1, see the "Step-by-Step Example: VQE Startup Configuration Utility's Option 1 for Preparing SSL Certificates" section.

Option 2: The Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility generates only a Certificate Signing Request file (server.csr).

The VQE Startup Configuration Utility creates the Certificate Signing Request file in the /etc/opt/certs directory.

You sign the Certificate Signing Request as described one of the following sections:

If you are signing the Certificate Signing Request with a self-created certificate authority, see the "Signing the Certificate Signing Request" section.

If you are submitting the Certificate Signing Request to a commercial CA for signing, see the "Deploying Commercial SSL Certificates" section. You can omit the first step in this section (generating a certificate signing request) as the VQE Startup Configuration Utility does this for you.

You install the certificates, private key, and keystore as described in the "Installing the Certificates, Private Key, and Keystore" section.

Option 3: You manually deploy SSL certificates. Follow the directions in these sections for the needed information.

For overview information of the SSL tasks, see the "Setting Up SSL Certificates" section.

For deploying your own SSL certificates, see the "Creating Your Own Certificate Authority" section and the "Generating and Deploying Your Own SSL Certificates" section.

For deploying commercial SSL certificates, see the "Deploying Commercial SSL Certificates" section.

Step-by-Step Example: VQE Startup Configuration Utility's Option 1 for Preparing SSL Certificates

This section provides a step-by-step example of the tasks that you perform when you choose Option 1 for SSL certificates preparation with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility. With Option 1, the utility creates and deploys a self-signed SSL certificate (vqe.cert), private key (server.key), and stackedChain.pem file on the CDE110 server.

To use the VQE Startup Configuration Utility to create and deploy self-signed SSL certificates, do the following:


Step 1 On the CDE110 hosting VQE-S, when the VQE Startup Configuration Utility runs and displays "Prepare SSL certificate for HTTPS service," select Option 1 to create a self-signed SSL certificate.

Prepare SSL certificate for HTTPS service. Choose from following options: 

1. Generate a self-signed SSL certificate and deploy now. You will need to manually copy 
the certificate to the trusted VCPT host later and import it into its truststore.
2. Generate a certificate signing request and proceed. No SSL certificate will be 
deployed, you will need to sign the generated CSR file externally and manually deploy it.
3. Skip this step now and manually deploy SSL certificate later. Refer to VQE-S User's 
Guide for instructions. VCPT host will not be able to push SDP configurations to VQE-S 
without SSL certificate in place.

Please enter your choice: [1|2|3]  1 
Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key
...

The utility creates these files in the /etc/opt/certs directory:

Server certificate file (vqe.cert)

Private key file (server.key)

stackedChain.pem file

The VQE Startup Configuration Utility continues to execute until the initial configuration is completed. Finish the initial system configuration and verification of the CDE110 hosting VQE-S before performing the next step.

Step 2 On the CDE110 hosting VCPT, when the VQE Startup Configuration Utility runs and displays "Prepare SSL certificate for HTTPS service," select Option 1 to create a self-signed SSL certificate.

Prepare SSL certificate for HTTPS service. Choose from following options: 

1. Generate a self-signed SSL certificate and deploy now. You will need to manually copy 
the certificate to the trusted VCPT host later and import it into its truststore.
2. Generate a certificate signing request and proceed. No SSL certificate will be 
deployed, you will need to sign the generated CSR file externally and manually deploy it.
3. Skip this step now and manually deploy SSL certificate later. Refer to VQE-S User's 
Guide for instructions. VCPT host will not be able to push SDP configurations to VQE-S 
without SSL certificate in place.

Please enter your choice: [1|2|3]  1 
Generating a 2048 bit RSA private key
...

The utility creates these files in the /etc/opt/certs directory:

Server certificate file (vqe.cert)

Private key file (server.key)

stackedChain.pem file

An empty trustedca file is also created in the /etc/opt/certs directory. This file will be used on the VCPT host.

The VQE Startup Configuration Utility continues to execute until the initial configuration is completed. Finish the initial system configuration and verification of the CDE110 hosting VCPT before performing the next step.

Step 3 On the CDE110 hosting VCPT, copy the /etc/opt/certs/vqe.cert file from the VQE-S host to /etc/opt/certs/vqe.cert on the VCPT host. Use an appropriate Linux command (for example, scp) for the copy operation.

Step 4 On the CDE110 hosting VCPT, use the keytool command to create the keystore (trustedca) file. For example:

$ cd /etc/opt/certs
$ keytool -import -keystore trustedca -alias vqe1 -file vqe.cert 


Note The vqe.cert file that was copied from the VQE-S host is specified in the -file argument when invoking the keytool command.


When keytool runs, it asks for a keystore password (enter any arbitrary password you want) and asks if you trust this certificate (answer yes).

The trustedca file, where keytool writes it output, is used only on the VCPT host and must be located in the /etc/opt/certs directory.

Step 5 On the VQE-S and VCPT hosts, restart the httpd daemon by logging in as root and stopping and restarting the httpd service as follows:

[root@system]# service httpd restart 

Step 6 After the VQE-S and VCPT hosts are configured and VQE services are started, you can verify that the SSL certificates are created and deployed correctly by doing the following:


Note HTTPS must be used to access VQE-S AMT and VCPT.


a. To verify that VQE-S AMT is accessible from a web browser, enter as the URL the IP address of the Cisco CDE110 that hosts VQE-S:

https://ip_address_of_VQES_host 

The VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool login screen should be displayed.

b. To verify that VCPT is accessible from a web browser, enter as the URL the IP address of the Cisco CDE110 that hosts VCPT:

https://ip_address_of_VCPT_host 

The VQE Channel Provisioning Tool login screen should be displayed.

c. To verify that VCPT is able to send channel information to VQE-S, use VCPT to define channels, and one or more VQE Servers with the needed channel associations. (The VQE Servers have SSL certificates deployed.) Then use VCPT to send the channel information to the VQE Servers.

The send operation should be successful if the SSL certificates were created and deployed correctly.


Creating Your Own Certificate Authority


Note This task is not needed if you are using certificates that are signed by a commercial CA.


This task to create your own certificate authority (CA) is only performed once for all instances of VQE-S and VCPT. The CA that you create can be used to sign server certificates on all CDE110 servers hosting VQE-S or VCPT.

To create a CA certificate, follow these steps:


Step 1 Log in using a valid Linux username and password.

Step 2 To generate an encrypted RSA private key, issue the following command:

$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out ca.key 4096 

The command prompts you to enter a pass phrase to protect the private key. The pass phrase will be needed every time this CA signs a certificate request.

The openssl genrsa command saves the ca.key file in your current working directory.

The generated key is a 4096-bit RSA key, which is encrypted using Triple-DES and stored in PEM format so that it is readable as ASCII text.

Step 3 To generate the CA certificate, issue the following command:

$ openssl req -new -x509 -days 365 -key ca.key -out ca.crt 

The command prompts for the following X.509 attributes of the certificate. It is recommended that you provide valid input for X.509 information. Use a period (.) to indicate blank input.

Country Name—The country where your company resides. Use the two-letter country code without punctuation for country (for example, US or FR).

State or Province—The state or province where your company resides. Spell out the state completely (for example, California). Do not abbreviate the state or province name.

Locality or City—The city or town where your company resides (for example, Berkeley).

Company—Your company's name (for example, XYZ Corporation). If your company or department name has an &, @, or any other symbol that requires using the Shift key in its name, you must spell out the symbol or omit it to enroll.

Organizational Unit—The organization within the company. This field is optional but can be used to help identify certificates registered to an organization. The Organizational Unit (OU) field is the name of the department or organization unit making the request. To skip the OU field, press Enter.

Common Name—The Common Name is the host plus the domain name (for example, www.company.com or company.com).

The openssl req command saves the ca.crt file in your current working directory.


Generating and Deploying Your Own SSL Certificates

When you act as your own certificate authority, you can sign multiple Certificate Signing Requests for the VQE-S hosts and the VCPT hosts. Generating and deploying your own SSL certificates involves three tasks:

1. Generate a Certificate Signing Request.

2. Sign the Certificate Signing Request.

3. Install the certificates, private key, and keystore.

These tasks are explained in the following three sections. We recommend that these tasks be repeated for each CDE110 host so that there is a unique set of files generated for each host. You can create the needed sets of files on one host and copy them to the other hosts.

Generating a Certificate Signing Request

To generate a Certificate Signing Request, follow these steps:


Step 1 To generate a server private key, issue the following command:

$ openssl genrsa -des3 -out server.key 1024 

To bypass the pass-phrase requirement, omit the -des3 option when generating the private key. Bypassing the pass phrase is desirable when you want the Apache web server to be autostarted without human intervention. Otherwise, someone must enter a pass phrase on every restart.

The openssl genrsa command saves the server.key file in your current working directory.


Note We recommend that access to the Cisco CDE110 host be restricted so that only authorized server administrators can access or read the private key file.


Step 2 To generate the Certificate Signing Request (CSR), issue the following command:

$ openssl req -new -key server.key -out server.csr 

The command prompts for the same X.509 attributes that were specified when you created your CA certificate in the "Creating Your Own Certificate Authority" section. It is recommended that you provide valid input for X.509 information. Use a period (.) to indicate blank input.


Note The Common Name (CN) of the CA and the server certificates should not match or else a naming collision occurs and you get errors when the certificates are used.


The openssl req command saves the server.csr file in your current working directory.

The command creates a public/private key pair. The private key (server.key) is stored locally on the server machine and is used for decryption. The public portion, in the form of a Certificate Signing Request (server.csr), is used for certificate enrollment with the CA.


Tip If you are creating Certificate Signing Requests for multiple VQE-S or VCPT hosts and want to reuse most of the X.509 attributes, you can save the information to a file (openssl.cnf) and pass the information to the openssl req command by specifying -config openssl.cnf on the command line.



Signing the Certificate Signing Request

The Certificate Signing Request (CSR) can be signed by commercial CA entities, such as VeriSign, or by your own CA as created in the "Creating Your Own Certificate Authority" section.


Note If you will use a self-created (non-commercial) CA, signing the Certificate Signing Request must be done on the same CDE110 server where the CA was created.

We recommend that the system time of each CDE110 be synchronized with Network Time Protocol (NTP). The system time when the signing of the Certificate Signing Request occurs must be later than the system time when the CA was created.


To sign the Certificate Signing Request with the self-created certificate authority, issue the following command:

$ openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in server.csr -CA ca.crt -CAkey ca.key -set_serial 01 
-out server.crt 

The openssl x509 command saves server.crt in your current working directory.

In the example above, the serial number of the signed server certificate is set to 01. Each time you execute this command, you must change the serial number, especially if you sign another certificate before a previously-signed certificate is expired.

Installing the Certificates, Private Key, and Keystore

The certificate needs to be in a certain format and reside in a designated directory to be used by the VQE Server-related or the VCPT-related software.

To install the server and CA certificates, the private key and the keystore, follow these steps:


Step 1 To create a "stacked PEM" file, concatenate the contents of the server certificate file (server.crt) and all CA certificate files (ca.crt) in the CA chain to a file named stackedChain.pem. The safest way to create the stackedChain.pem file is to use the Linux cat command. For example:

$ cat server.crt ca.crt > stackedChain.pem 

Note Using a text editor and a cut-and paste-operation to concatenate the server and CA certificates can produce unusable results because the text editor may add extraneous characters.


The stackedChain.pem file content must be in this order:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
<SSL Server Cert Contents>
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
<CA Cert Contents>
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

The stackedChain.pem file looks something like the following:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIDvjCCAaYCAQEwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEFBQAwZTELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxDTALBgNV
... Omitted contents ... 
/kzgDk5wO1CbTwuxPIY1piy0Os1Q5EWk3VVAmv4tNMT9bANeKDUiVyYyOi1NIiHA
36w=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIGGDCCBACgAwIBAgIJAPtvlrCRokk4MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMGUxCzAJBgNV
... Omitted contents ... 
KV+sxNECGE40iWIvd1dXDA1O34qhAwkVD6/bxw==
-----END CERTIFICATE-----


Note If you are creating stackedChain.pem files for multiple VQE-S or VCPT hosts, the server.crt file should be different for each host.


Step 2 For VCPT only, to create a trust-store file for the SSL Java client, issue the following command:

$ keytool -import -keystore trustedca -alias rootca -file ca.crt 

The CA certificate (ca.crt) specified in the -file argument is the CA certificate that you created in the "Creating Your Own Certificate Authority" section.

The keytool command creates a new keystore with the CA certificate. The resulting file is named trustedca.

Step 3 Do one of the following:

On a VQE-S host, copy the following files to the directory /etc/opt/certs:

server.key

stackedChain.pem

On a VCPT host, copy the following files to the directory /etc/opt/certs:

server.key

stackedChain.pem

trustedca


Deploying Commercial SSL Certificates

As an alternative to acting as your own certificate authority (CA), commercial certificate authorities, such as VeriSign, can issue and sign Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates.

Deploying a commercial certificate involves these steps:

1. Generate a Certificate Signing Request. See the "Generating a Certificate Signing Request" section.

2. Submit the Certificate Signing Request to the commercial CA for signing.

3. Install the certificates, private key, and keystore. See the "Commercial CA: Installing the Certificates, Private Key, and Keystore" section that follows.

Commercial CA: Installing the Certificates, Private Key, and Keystore

When you get the signed certificates back from the commercial CA, you need to install them and the private key and keystore.

To install the certificates, private key, and keystore, follow these steps:


Step 1 To create a "stacked PEM" file, concatenate the contents of the server certificate file (server.crt) and all CA certificate files (ca.crt) in the CA chain to a file named stackedChain.pem. The safest way to create the stackedChain.pem file is to use the Linux cat command. For example:

$ cat server.crt ca.crt > stackedChain.pem 

Note Using a text editor and a cut-and-paste operation to concatenate the server and CA certificates can produce unusable results because the text editor may add extraneous characters.


The stackedChain.pem file content must be in this order:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
<SSL Server Cert Contents>
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
<CA Cert Contents>
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

The stackedChain.pem file looks something like the following:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIDvjCCAaYCAQEwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEFBQAwZTELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxDTALBgNV
... Omitted contents ... 
/kzgDk5wO1CbTwuxPIY1piy0Os1Q5EWk3VVAmv4tNMT9bANeKDUiVyYyOi1NIiHA
36w=
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIIGGDCCBACgAwIBAgIJAPtvlrCRokk4MA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMGUxCzAJBgNV
... Omitted contents ... 
KV+sxNECGE40iWIvd1dXDA1O34qhAwkVD6/bxw==
-----END CERTIFICATE-----


Note If you are creating stackedChain.pem files for multiple VQE-S or VCPT hosts, the server.crt file should be different for each host.


Step 2 For VCPT only, to create a trust-store file for the SSL Java client, issue the following command:

$ keytool -import -keystore trustedca -alias rootca -file ca.crt 

The CA certificate (ca.crt) specified in the -file argument is the commercial CA certificate that you get from the vendor.

The keytool command creates a new keystore with the CA certificate. The resulting file is named trustedca.

Step 3 Do one of the following:

On a VQE-S host, copy the following files to the directory /etc/opt/certs:

server.key

stackedChain.pem

On a VCPT host, copy the following files to the directory /etc/opt/certs:

server.key

stackedChain.pem

trustedca


Using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility

The Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility runs automatically the first time you log in to a CDE110 server. The CDE110 server has the VQE software pre-installed. The utility is available on the CDE110 that hosts VQE-S and on the CDE110 that hosts VQE Tools. We recommend that you use the VQE Startup Configuration Utility rather than try to do the initial configuration manually because the utility simplifies your work and is known to produce correct results.


Caution The Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility runs once the first time a CDE110 boots normally. Do not attempt to use the utility a second time because this will produce incorrect and unpredictable results.

Before using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility, do the following so that you understand how the startup configuration utility works and what information you need to collect before powering on the VQE-S or VCPT server:

Read the "Terminal Client Software Behavior" section.

Read the "Configuration Items" section.

Complete the "Pre-Configuration Worksheets" section.

Read the "VQE Startup Configuration Utility Root Menu" section.

The VQE Startup Configuration Utility displays the Root Menu after you finish entering configuration values. The Root Menu allows you to view the values that you have specified and to change values that are not correct.

After using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility, perform the verification tasks in the following sections:

On the VQE-S Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

On the VQE Tools Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

Terminal Client Software Behavior

When using the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility with a CDE110 serial port connection and terminal client software, different terminal client facilities have varying behavior for the Backspace and Delete Keys:

With console/konsole on Linux, or putty on Windows, pressing Backspace usually works correctly.

With HyperTerminal on Windows, pressing Ctrl-Backspace usually works correctly.

With HyperTerminal on Windows, pressing Backspace (without Ctrl) produces errors.

With UNIX xterm shell, pressing Backspace produces errors. With the UNIX xterm shell, the Delete key (not Backspace) should be used to remove characters.

Other terminal client facilities may produce different behaviors for the Backspace and Delete keys.

Configuration Items

This section provides information on the configuration items present in the VQE Startup Configuration Utility. Before using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility, read the descriptions of the configuration items in this section.


Tip For many configuration items, you will need to gather some information prior to booting the CDE110 for the first time and using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility. The worksheets in the "Pre-Configuration Worksheets" section may be helpful in organizing the information.


In the explanations that follow, these conventions are used for the configuration items.

For the items that are for a VQE-S host only, VQE -S Host Only appears in parentheses after the item name.

For optional items, Optional appears in parentheses after the item name.


Note To not enter data for an optional item, press Enter without entering any data at the VQE Startup Configuration Utility prompt.


Passwords for root and the vqe User IDs

The password for root is set when the CDE110 boots normally for the first time (when you log in as root) and before the VQE Startup Configuration Utility executes.

The vqe username is a predefined Linux user ID that the system administrator can use to log in to VQE-S AMT and VCPT.

The root and vqe user passwords have the following requirements: A valid password should be a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, and other characters. You can use an eight-character long password with characters from at least three of these four classes, or a seven-character long password containing characters from all the classes. An uppercase letter that begins the password and a digit that ends it do not count towards the number of character classes used.

The password can be a passphrase. A passphrase should be at least three words with a combined total length of 12 to 40 characters.

Hostname for the CDE110

The hostname is used in multiple Linux configuration files. Allowed range is 3 to 200 characters.

Domain Name System (DNS) IP Addresses and a Search Domain (Optional)

The IP addresses of one or more DNS servers and an optional search domain. Allowed range for the search domain is 3 to 200 characters.

System Timezone and Current System Time

The timezone and current system time that will be used for this CDE110. The VQE Startup Configuration Utility prompts for the needed information.

NTP Server IP Addresses (Optional)

The IP addresses of one or more Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers.


Note We recommend that the system time of each CDE110 be synchronized with NTP. Problems (for example, with Session Description Protocol [SDP] updates) can occur if the server time is not synchronized with NTP.


SNMP Read-only Community String, Location, Contact, and Trap-Listener IP Addresses or Hostnames (Optional)

If your deployment will use SNMP, you specify the following:

Read-only community string—Password for read-only access to the VQE-S or VQE Tools server

Location information—Physical location of the VQE-S or VQE Tools server

Contact information—Username of a contact person who has management information for the CDE110 server

Trap listeners—IP addresses or fully qualified hostnames of the management hosts that will receive the SNMP messages

For more information on SNMP for the CDE110, see Appendix B, "Using Net-SNMP."

Ethernet Interface Configurations IP Addresses and Prefix Lengths

For one or more of the Ethernet ports on the Cisco CDE110, you specify an IP address and prefix length. The four ports are named eth1, eth2, eth3, and eth4 as shown in Figure 2-1.

On a VQE-S host, four Ethernet interfaces are typically configured and used for incoming multicast streams, outgoing Unicast Retransmissions, and other VQE-S traffic.

On a VQE Tools host, at least one Ethernet interface is typically configured and used for VCPT and VQE Client Channel Configuration Delivery Server (VCDS) traffic.

Optionally on both the VQE-S host and VQE Tools host, one Ethernet interface may be used for a management network, that interface should be included in the set for which you provide IP addresses and prefix lengths.

Figure 2-1 Ethernet Port Numbering for Software Configuration

IP Address and Prefix Length and Gateway Address for a Static Route for a Management Network (Optional)


Note If you configure a static route for a management network using VQE Startup Configuration Utility, see "Static Route for a Management Network Is Missing on CDE110 Hosting VQE-S or VQE Tools" section on page 5-7 for some additional information.


If your deployment will make use of a management network, the VQE Startup Configuration Utility can configure static routes for the management network. You specify the following:

Management subnet IP address and prefix-length for the management network. The following example shows the allowed format for the subnet IP address and prefix-length:

10.1.0.0/16

Gateway (next hop) IP address of the interface on the router that is directly attached to the CDE110 Ethernet interface that will be used for the management network.

As an example of gateway (next hop) IP address, if Ethernet interface eth4 were used for the management network, you would specify the IP address of the router interface that is directly attached to eth4.


Note On the VQE Tools server, proper route configuration is needed for external access to the VQE Tools server. You can use the static management route created by this parameter to configure this access.


Gateway IP Addresses for Multipath Static Routes (VQE-S Host Only)

The IP addresses for the interfaces on the router that is directly attached to the VQE-S host. Specify as many gateway (next hop) router interfaces as are reachable through the CDE110 Ethernet interfaces that have been configured with an IP address and prefix length.


Note If one Ethernet interface is used for a management network, that interface should not be included in the set for which gateway router interfaces are specified.


VQE-S uses Equal Cost Multipath (ECMP) to load-balance its output traffic across all the gateway router interfaces that are specified. If a default route (the gateway IP address) is configured for each Ethernet interface that is available to VQE-S for Unicast Retransmissions, RCC, and other VQE-S traffic, ECMP load balances output traffic across all of the listed gateway interfaces.

For information on ECMP configuration, see the "Configuring Default ECMP Routes for CDE110 Ethernet Interfaces (VQE-S Host)" section on page D-6.

SSL Certificates Options

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates must be created and deployed for VQE-S AMT or VCPT to be accessed using HTTPS. The VQE Startup Configuration Utility gives you three options for creating and deploying the certificates. For information on the three options and using the utility for creating and deploying SSL certificates, see the "Using the Cisco VQE Startup Configuration Utility for SSL Certificates" section.

Trusted Channel-Provisioning Server (VQE-S Host Only)

If your IPTV deployment will use VCPT or another channel-provisioning server to send channel information to the VQE Servers, you specify the IP addresses of the trusted channel-provisioning servers. The VQE Startup Configuration Utility configures the CDE110 that hosts VQE-S so that only trusted HTTPS clients (from the trusted channel-provisioning servers) can send channel information to the VQE-S host.

For more information on VCPT and how it sends channel information, see the "VQE Channel Provisioning Tool and Channel Information" section on page 1-14.

Ethernet Interfaces That Will Be Used for VQE-S Traffic (VQE-S Host Only)

You specify which of the CDE110 Ethernet interfaces will be available for VQE-S traffic. The interface names are eth1, eth2, eth3, and eth4.


Note If one Ethernet interface is used for a management network, that interface should not be included as one of the interfaces that will be available for VQE-S traffic.


Automatic Start of VQE Services on a Reboot

After you finish specifying values for the configuration items, the VQE Startup Configuration Utility displays the following menu:

VQE Configuration Tool Root Menu:

     1) System Parameters   
     2) Network Parameters  
     3) Configure VQE Password
     4) Generate SSL Certificate
     5) VQE-S Parameters    
     S) Save/Apply and reboot system

Enter your choice: 

When you have completed the configuration items, you choose S) Save/Apply and reboot system. The VQE Startup Configuration Utility saves your configuration in the VCDB file, applies the VCDB values to the configuration files under /etc, and reboots the CDE110 system. Each time the VQE-S or VQE Tools host reboots, the services listed in Table 2-2 and Table 2-2 will be started.

Table 2-1 VQE-S and System Services for CDE110 That Hosts VQE-S  

Service
Description

vqes

The VQE-S service (process_monitor process) starts and monitors the other VQE-S processes—Control Plane, Data Plane, Multicast Load Balancer, and STUN Server.

sshd

The Secure Shell daemon.

httpd

HyperText Transfer Protocol daemon (the Apache web server).

tomcat5

The Apache Tomcat application server.

snmpd

(Optional) The SNMP daemon.

snmpsa

(Optional) The SNMP subagent.

ntpd

(Optional) The NTP daemon.

check_daemons

A script that monitors httpd and tomcat processes and attempts to restart them if they fail. The script runs once a minute as a cron job owned by root.


Table 2-2 VCDS and System Services for CDE110 That Hosts VQE Tools  

Service
Description

vcds

VQE Client Channel Configuration Delivery Server (VCDS) service

sshd

The Secure Shell daemon.

httpd

HyperText Transfer Protocol daemon (the Apache web server).

tomcat5

The Apache Tomcat application server.

snmpd

(Optional) The SNMP daemon.

snmpsa

(Optional) The SNMP subagent.

ntpd

(Optional) The NTP daemon.

check_daemons

A script that monitors httpd and tomcat processes and attempts to restart them if they fail. The script runs once a minute as a cron job owned by root.



Note On the VQE Tools host, VCPT is a web application and has no dedicated processes associated with it. The processes needed for the VCPT web application to work (for example, the web server) are started automatically when the Cisco CDE110 is started.



Pre-Configuration Worksheets

Before using the VQE Startup Configuration Utility, complete the pre-configuration worksheets in Table 2-3 for a VQE-S host and Table 2-4 for a VQE Tools host before the first normal boot. The use of a VQE Tools server and VCPT is optional.

For information on the configuration items in Table 2-3 and Table 2-4, see the "Configuration Items" section.

Table 2-3 VQE-S CDE110: Pre-Configuration Worksheet  

Configuration Item
Value for Your Deployment

Password for root

 

Password for the vqe username (a pre-defined Linux user ID)

 

Hostname of the CDE110 for VQE-S

 

Domain Name System (DNS) IP addresses and a search domain

DNS IP address:

DNS IP address:

Search domain:

System timezone

 

NTP server IP addresses

 

SNMP read-only community string

Location for SNMP

Contact for SNMP

SNMP trap-listener IP addresses or hostnames

community string:

location:

contact:

IP addresses or hostnames:

Ethernet interface configurations (IP address and prefix lengths)

eth1:

eth2:

eth3:

eth4:

Gateway (next hop) IP addresses for multipath static routes

 

For static routes for a management network—subnet IP address and prefix-length, and gateway (next hop) IP address

IP address and prefix-length:

Gateway (next hop) IP address:

SSL certificate option

 

Trusted channel-provisioning server IP addresses

 

Ethernet interface names that will be used for VQE-S Traffic

 

Table 2-4 VQE Tools CDE110: Pre-Configuration Worksheet  

Configuration Item
Value for Your Deployment

Password for root

 

Password for the vqe username (a pre-defined Linux user ID)

 

Hostname of the CDE110 for VCPT

 

Domain Name Service (DNS) IP addresses and a search domain

DNS IP address:

DNS IP address:

Search domain:

System timezone

 

NTP server IP addresses

 

SNMP read-only community string

Location for SNMP:

Contact for SNMP:

SNMP trap-listener IP addresses or hostnames

community string:

location:

contact:

IP addresses or hostnames:

Ethernet interface configurations (IP address and mask)

eth1:

eth2:

eth3:

eth4:

For static routes for a management network—subnet IP address and prefix-length, and gateway (next hop) IP address

IP address and prefix-length:

Gateway (next hop) IP address:

SSL certificate option

 

VQE Startup Configuration Utility Root Menu

After you have used the VQE Startup Configuration Utility to specify values for the configuration items, the utility displays the Root Menu. The Root Menu allows you to view the values that you have specified and to change values that are not correct. The Root Menu on a VQE-S server is as follows:

VQE Configuration Tool Root Menu:

     1) System Parameters   
     2) Network Parameters  
     3) Configure VQE Password
     4) Generate SSL Certificate
     5) VQE-S Parameters    
     S) Save/Apply and reboot system

Enter your choice: 

This Root Menu and its behavior are similar to the standard VQE Configuration Tool Root Menu and behavior. The two differences are the numbered choices 3 and 4 are only present in the VQE Startup Configuration Utility, and the Save/Apply choice in the VQE Startup Configuration Utility includes a reboot of the system.


Note For information on how to use the VQE Configuration Tool Root Menu and the other menu choices, see the "Using the VQE Configuration Tool" section on page 6-4. The information in the "Using the VQE Configuration Tool" section is applicable to the Root Menu and other menu choices presented at the end of the VQE Startup Configuration Utility.


The Root Menu choices allow you to do the following:

View and change the parameter or password values that you have set (choices 1, 2, 3, and 5)

Generate and deploy SSL certificates (choice 4)

Save the parameter values to the VQE Configuration Database (VCDB), and apply the values to the VQE-S server or VQE Tools server (choice S)

To view and change parameter values, you can select choices 1, 2, 3, and 5 as many times as you wish.


Note When you are finished specifying parameter values, you must select choice S) Save/Apply and reboot system to save the parameter values to the VQE Configuration Database (VCDB), and apply the values to the VQE-S server or VQE Tools server.


Table 2-5 provides more information about the choices on the Root Menu. You enter the number or letter for your choice.

Table 2-5 Root Menu Choices  

Root Menu Choice
Menu Description

1) System Parameters

Allows you to view the current system parameter values that you have set, and to change or set the system parameters values:

1) Hostname
2) DNS Server(s)
3) DNS Search Domain
4) Timezone
5) NTP Server(s)
6) SNMP RO Community String
7) SNMP System Location
8) SNMP System Contact
9) SNMP Trap Listener(s)

2) Network Parameters

Allows you to view the current network parameter values that you have set, and to change or set the network parameters values:

1) Eth1 Interface
2) Eth2 Interface
3) Eth3 Interface
4) Eth4 Interface
5) Default Gateway(s)
6) Management Route(s)

3) Configure VQE Password

Allows you to set the password for the vqe username. Once you select this menu choice, you must enter the password value even if you choose to keep the current password.

4) Generate SSL Certificate

Allows you to create and deploy a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for VQE-S AMT or VCPT, or to generate a Certificate Signing Request file (server.csr).

5) VQE-S Parameters

Allows you to view the current VQE-S parameter values that you have set, and to change or set the VQE-S parameters values:

1) Trusted VCPT host(s)
2) Log Priority *
3) Excess Bandwidth Fraction *
4) VQE-S Traffic Interfaces

* The VQE Startup Configuration Utility does not allow you to set the values of these parameters in the set of parameters that were previously displayed. You can supply values at this point if you want or accept the defaults. For more information on these values, see the vcdb.conf.sample file and Appendix A, "VQE, System, and Network Parameters."

5) Save/Apply and reboot the system

Saves the changes you have made to the parameters in the VQE Configuration Database (VCDB), applies parameter values to the configuration files under /etc, and reboots the CDE110 system.


On the VQE-S Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

After the VQE Startup Configuration Utility finishes and the CDE110 that hosts VQE-S reboots, it is recommended that you perform some quick checks to ensure that VQE and system services are running.

To verify the status of VQE services on the VQE-S host, follow these steps:


Step 1 If needed, log in as root.

Step 2 To verify that the SSH service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service sshd status

sshd (pid 21165 21110 20595 20569 2777) is running...

Step 3 To verify that the HTTP service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service httpd status

httpd (pid 9665 9664 9663 9661 9660 9658 9657 9656 3978) is running...

Step 4 To verify that the Tomcat 5 service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service tomcat5 status 

Tomcat is running...

Step 5 If you configured SNMP, to verify that the SNMP service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service snmpd status

snmpd (pid 2754) is running...

Step 6 If you configured SNMP, to verify that the SNMP subagent service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service snmpsa status

The SNMP subagent is running.

Step 7 To verify that the VQE-S service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service vqes status 

process_monitor (pid 21853) is running...

Step 8 To check that the VQE-S processes are running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# ps -ef | grep vqe 

root     17928 17896  0 Jun02 pts/1    00:00:00 tail -f vqe.log
root     21853     1  0 Jun03 ?        00:00:00 /opt/vqes/bin/process_monitor
vqes     21903 21853  0 Jun03 ?        00:00:00 mlb --interface eth1 eth2 eth3 eth4 
--xmlrpc-port 8052 --unicast-reservation 20 --ssm --log-level 4
root     21914 21853  0 Jun03 ?        00:00:04 vqes_dp --max-pkts 1000000 --log-level 
4 --rtp-inactivity-tmo 300
vqes     21944 21853  0 Jun03 ?        00:00:00 vqes_cp --cp-uid 499 --cp-gid 499 
--xmlrpc-port 8051 --cfg /etc/opt/vqes/vqe_channels.cfg --er-cache-time 3000 
--rtp-hold-time 100 --client-er-policing --client-er-tb-rate-ratio 5 
--client-er-tb-depth 10000 --log-level 4 --rcc-mode conservative 
--igmp-join-variability 100 --max-client-bw 0 --max-idr-penalty 0 --rap-interval 2000 
--excess-bw-fraction 20 --excess-bw-fraction-high-def 12 --rcc-burst-delay-to-send 10 
--rtp-dscp 0 --rtcp-dscp 24

In the preceding output, the VQE-S processes to check for are as follows:

process_monitor—Process Monitor

stun_server—STUN Server

mlb—Multicast Load Balancer

vqes_dp—Data Plane

vqes_cp—Control Plane

Step 9 Issue the following command to check that the STUN Server process is running:

[root@system]# ps -elf | grep stun 

4 S vqes     21972 21959  0  75   0 -  3745 322792 Jul15 pts/1    00:00:00 stun_server 
--ss-uid 499 --ss-gid 499 --xmlrpc-port 8054 --log-level 4

Step 10 If you configured an IP address for an NTP server, to verify that the NTP service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service ntpd status

ntpd (pid 2790) is running...

Step 11 To use the VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool from a web browser, enter as the URL the IP address of the Cisco CDE110 that hosts VQE-S:

https://ip_address_of_VQES_host 

Log in using the vqe username and password. (Any valid Linux username and password can be used to log in to the VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool.)

If you click System in the left pane, the VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool displays information on the VQE-S processes and channels. Figure 4-2 on page 4-4 shows an example. Because at this point no channel information has been sent to the VQE-S, no channels will be displayed.

Step 12 Do one of the following:

If the preceding checks indicate that all is well, you are ready to start using VQE-S and VQE-S AMT. For information, see Chapter 4, "Using the VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool."

If one of the preceding checks fails, inspect the configuration of the item that failed and make any needed adjustments. You can get more information on VQE-S host configuration in Appendix D, "Manual Initial VQE System Configuration."


On the VQE Tools Host: Verifying Status of VQE and System Services

After the VQE Startup Configuration Utility finishes and the CDE110 that hosts VQE Tools reboots, it is recommended that you perform some quick checks to ensure that VQE and system services are running.

To verify the status of VQE services on the VQE Tools host, follow these steps:


Step 1 If needed, log in as root.

Step 2 To verify that the SSH service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service sshd status

sshd (pid 21165 21110 20595 20569 2777) is running...

Step 3 To verify that the HTTP service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service httpd status

httpd (pid 9665 9664 9663 9661 9660 9658 9657 9656 3978) is running...

Step 4 To verify that the Tomcat 5 service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service tomcat5 status 

Tomcat is running...

Step 5 If you configured SNMP, to verify that the SNMP service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service snmpd status

snmpd (pid 2754) is running...

Step 6 If you configured SNMP, to verify that the SNMP subagent service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service snmpsa status

The SNMP subagent is running.

Step 7 If you configured an IP address for an NTP server, to verify that the NTP service is running, issue the following command:

[root@system]# service ntpd status

ntpd (pid 2790) is running...

Step 8 To verify that VCPT is accessible from a web browser, enter as the URL the IP address of the Cisco CDE110 that hosts VCPT:

https://ip_address_of_VCPT_host 

Log in with a Linux username and password.

If you are able to log in successfully, VCPT is running correctly.

Step 9 Do one of the following:

If the preceding checks indicate that all is well, you are ready to start using VCPT. For information, see Chapter 3, "Using the VQE Channel Provisioning Tool."

If one of the preceding checks fails, inspect the configuration of the item that failed and make any needed adjustments. You can get more information on VCPT host configuration in Appendix D, "Manual Initial VQE System Configuration."


Configuring VQE-S RTCP Exporter

VQE-S RTCP Exporter is the VQE-S software component responsible for sending the RTCP reports to an external device that hosts the video-quality monitoring (VQM) application. Use of RTCP Exporter is optional.

To monitor the RTCP Exporter, use the VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool (AMT). This tool displays RTCP Exporter configuration details and status as well as counters of exported packets. The VQE-S Application Monitoring Tool can also be used to enable or disable RTCP Exporter debugging.

To troubleshoot the RTCP Exporter, examine the Exporter syslog messages, which are sent to the VQE-S log file (/var/log/vqe/vqe.log). If more detailed troubleshooting is needed, enable RTCP Exporter debugging using the AMT tool and examine the debug messages, which are also sent to the VQE-S log file.

To configure and enable the RTCP Exporter on the Cisco CDE110 that hosts VQE-S, follow these steps:


Step 1 If needed, log in as root. You must have root privileges to modify the vcdb.conf file and use the vqe_cfgtool command.

Step 2 Edit the /etc/opt/vqes/vcdb.conf file and add to the file the three key-value pairs for the RTCP Exporter parameters listed in Table 2-6. Specify values for each of the parameters.

For information on manually editing the vcdb.conf file, see the "Manually Editing the VCDB File" section on page 6-12. The parameters used for enabling the RTCP Exporter are not available in the VQE Configuration Tool.

Step 3 Save the vcdb.conf file.

Table 2-6 RTCP Exporter Parameters

Parameter
Value Required

vqe.vqes.vqm_host="IP_addr_or_domain_name"

IP address or fully qualified Internet domain name of the host on which the VQM application resides. There is no default value.

vqe.vqes.vqm_port="vqm_port_no"

TCP port number on which the VQM application listens for video quality data from RTCP Exporter. Allowed range is 1024 to 65535. There is no default value.

vqe.vqes.exporter_enable="true_or_false"

Either true or false. The value true enables RTCP exports, and false disables RTCP exports. The default value is false.


RTCP Exporter remains disabled unless both vqe.vqes.vqm_host and vqe.vqes.vqm_port are configured and are valid.

By default, the vcdb.conf file contains no RTCP Exporter parameters and RTCP Exporter is disabled.

Step 4 To apply the RTCP Exporter parameter values to the /etc configuration files and restart VQE-S, issue the following command:

[root@system]# vqe_cfgtool -apply 

For more information on the vqe_cfgtool command and the -apply option, see "Using the VQE Configuration Tool Command-Line Options" section on page 6-16.


Note The vqe_cfgtool command with -apply asks you if you want to restart VQE-S. When RTCP Exporter parameters are added or modified, this restart is required for the new or changed parameter values to take effect.



Configuring Static Routes for Feedback Targets on the Attached Router

When channels are configured with a channel-provisioning tool such as VQE Channel Provisioning Tool, it is required that you specify a unique Feedback Target (FBT) address for each channel. The router that is directly attached to the VQE-S host must have a static route configured for the FBT address so that the router can reach the target. If the FBT addresses are allocated within a contiguous address range, this configuration piece can be done with a single aggregated route.

For example, if the FBT addresses for the channels are assigned to be 8.86.1.1, 8.86.1.2, 8.86.1.3, ..., 8.86.1.250, then the single static route 8.86.1.0/24 configured on the directly attached router allows any of these FBT addresses to be reached. The commands on the router for the FBT addresses would be as follows:

configure terminal 
ip route 8.86.1.0 255.255.255.0 11.2.9.2 
ip route 8.86.1.0 255.255.255.0 11.2.10.2 
ip route 8.86.1.0 255.255.255.0 11.2.11.2 
ip route 8.86.1.0 255.255.255.0 11.2.12.2 

As shown in Figure D-3 on page D-6, the IP addresses 11.2.9.2, 11.2.10.2, 11.2.11.2, and 11.2.12.2 have been assigned to the Ethernet interfaces on the VQE-S host. These interfaces are used for Unicast Retransmission.

Configuring Other Parameters for the VQE-S Host

The set of parameters for the VQE-S host includes many parameters that are not configurable with the VQE Startup Configuration Utility. Many additional parameters are used, for example, to make adjustments to the VQE-S software facilities that perform Unicast Retransmission and Rapid Channel Change.

Read the following to get information on these additional parameters:

Chapter 6, "Configuring VQE Server and VQE Tools" describes the tools and procedures to used to configure all parameters for a VQE-S or VQE Tools system.

Appendix A, "VQE, System, and Network Parameters" describes the VQE-S, system, and network parameters.

The file /etc/vqes/vcdb.conf.sample provides additional information on the VQE-S, system, and network parameters.