Table Of Contents
Preparing to Install Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
About the Prerequisites to Installing Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
VMware Software Requirements
VMware Hardware Requirements
Supported OVA Templates
VMware Feature Support
VMware License Requirements
Exceptions for VMware Installations
How to Install Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
Installing Cisco Unified Presence on a New VMware Server
Migrating to Cisco UCS Blade Servers
How to Run Cisco Unified Presence on ESXi 4.1
How to Configure the VMware Identity Feature
Creating the Identity Template
Deploying the Identify Template on a Virtual Cisco Unified Presence
Deploying the Identity Template on a Cisco Unified Presence Cluster
Preparing to Install Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
January 18, 2013
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About the Prerequisites to Installing Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
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How to Install Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
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How to Run Cisco Unified Presence on ESXi 4.1
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How to Configure the VMware Identity Feature
Note
See http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Unified_Communications_Virtualization for further information about VMware installations.
About the Prerequisites to Installing Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
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VMware Software Requirements
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VMware Hardware Requirements
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Supported OVA Templates
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VMware Feature Support
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VMware License Requirements
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Exceptions for VMware Installations
VMware Software Requirements
The software requirements for VMware are:
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Cisco Unified Presence, Release 8.x
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VMware ESXi, Release 4.0 and 4.1
Note
Make sure that you use ESXi, rather than ESX, to run Cisco Unified Presence on VMware. However, the blade server can be part of a VMware ESX cluster.
You can upgrade from Cisco Unified Presence Release 7.0(5) or higher to Cisco Unified Presence Release 8.x on VMware once you use one of the supported VMware specifications described in Supported OVA Templates.
VMware Hardware Requirements
Cisco Unified Presence only supports VMware on Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series Blade Servers.
See Migrating to Cisco UCS Blade Servers for information about migrating from Media Convergence Server (MCS) to a Cisco Unified Presence on VMware on Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series Blade Server.
Supported OVA Templates
If you want to import a preconfigured virtual machine, Cisco provides an OVA template for each VM specification that contains predefined CPU, disk and RAM information. Each OVA template includes a corresponding readme file that provides detailed information about the OVA template. OVA templates can be downloaded from the Cisco Unified Presence Virtualization Download Software page:
http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/release.html?mdfid=283736431&flowid=23181&softwareid=282074312&release=8.0%20-%208.5&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest.
For information about the recommended (minimum) specifications for Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware server, see Unified Communications Virtualization Downloads (including OVA/OVF Templates):
http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/Unified_Communications_Virtualization_Downloads_%28including_OVA/OVF_Templates%29#Cisco_Unified_Presence.
Related Topics
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Release Notes for Cisco Unified Presence Release 8.x for release specific information.
VMware Feature Support
Table 2-1 describes the VMware feature support for Cisco Unified Presence.
Table 2-1 VMware Feature Support
VMware Feature
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Supported
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VMotion
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Yes
Note Cisco supports powering-down a VM, then rebooting the VM on a different blade server. This may be helpful if you want to put a blade server into maintenance mode.
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SVmotion
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No
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Snapshots
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No
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Data Recovery Manager
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No
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Fault Tolerance
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No
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Consolidated Backup
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No
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High Availability
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Yes
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Site Recovery Manager
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Yes
Note All servers associated with this parameter must be on the same server area network (SAN).
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Identity
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Yes
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Boot from SAN
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Yes
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VMware License Requirements
To obtain a license for Cisco Unified Presence running on a VMware server, you require the License MAC value of the server. Choose Cisco Unified OS Administration > Show > System, or Show > Network, to display the License MAC value.
For information on how to obtain Cisco Unified Presence licenses, see the Deployment Guide for Cisco Unified Presence.
If you perform a bridge upgrade to supported hardware for Cisco Unified Presence 8.0, you will need to request new server and software version license files, with the new License MAC value for VMware. To do this send an email to licensing@cisco.com requesting a "rehost" of your license. For further information on this procedure, see the Deployment Guide for Cisco Unified Presence.
Related Topics
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Bridged Upgrade
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Deployment Guide for Cisco Unified Presence
Exceptions for VMware Installations
When you install Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware server, follow the same installation procedure for installing Cisco Unified Presence on a physical server, but note the following exceptions:
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If the installation fails, Cisco Unified Presence dumps the install logs to a file through the serial port of the VMware server; Cisco Unified Presence cannot dump the install logs to a USB key. You must configure the serial port on the VMware server, or more specifically, link the serial port to a file where Cisco Unified Presence can dump the ASCII text. You must configure the serial port when the VMware server is powered off. Therefore, perform this configuration on the VMware server before you start the installation.
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To view the installation logs after they are published to a serial port on the virtual machine, see http://docwiki.cisco.com/wiki/How_to_Dump_Install_Logs_to_the_Serial_Port_of_the_Virtual_Machine.
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Cisco Unified Presence does not support USB tape drive backup on a VMware server.
How to Install Cisco Unified Presence on a VMware Server
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Installing Cisco Unified Presence on a New VMware Server
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Migrating to Cisco UCS Blade Servers
Installing Cisco Unified Presence on a New VMware Server
Use this procedure to install Cisco Unified Presence on a new virtual machine:
Procedure
Step 1
In vSphere Client, edit the VMware server to force entry into BIOS setup the next time the virtual machine reboots.
Step 2
Make the Cisco Unified Presence installation media available to the VM DVD ROM drive.
Step 3
Power on the VMware server.
Step 4
In BIOS setup, promote CD ROM to boot before the hard drive.
Step 5
Complete booting the VMware server.
Step 6
The Cisco Unified Presence installation program starts. Go to the module Installing and Configuring Cisco Unified Presence in this guide.
Related Topics
Installing and Configuring Cisco Unified Presence
Migrating to Cisco UCS Blade Servers
Cisco Unified Presence supports VMware on Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series Blade Servers. If you migrate from Media Convergence Server (MCS) to a Cisco Unified Presence on VMware on Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Server, follow the (high-level) steps described here.
Procedure
Step 1
Upgrade the MCS server to Cisco Unified Presence Release 8.x using the Cisco Unified Operating System interface. See the Release Notes for specific upgrade information relating to this release.
Step 2
Perform a DRS backup on the MCS server. Cisco Unified Presence does not support USB tape drive backup on a VMware server.
Step 3
Import the OVF template, and create the virtual machines on the UCS server.
Step 4
Power off the MCS server.
Step 5
Install Cisco Unified Presence Release 8.x on the virtual machine, and then perform a DRS restore to restore the data backed up from the MCS server to the Cisco Unified Presence on VMware on the UCS server.
Note
Cisco Unified Presence does not support USB tape drive restore on a VMware server.
Step 6
Obtain the license MAC value, and then request the licenses for your new VMWare sever.
Step 7
Upload the new licenses to the VMware server.
Step 8
Manually remove the original invalid license files and restart the license manager
Related Topics
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Supported OVA Templates
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Release Notes for Cisco Unified Presence
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Cisco Unified Operating System Maintenance Guide for Cisco Unified Presence
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Changing the IP Address and Hostname for Cisco Unified Presence
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Disaster Recovery System Administration Guide
How to Run Cisco Unified Presence on ESXi 4.1
For information about how to run Cisco Unified Presence on ESXi 4.1, see the corresponding procedures in the Unified Communications Manager on Virtualized Servers document. The steps for running Cisco Unified Presence on ESXi 4.1 are identical to the steps for running Cisco Unified Communications Manager on ESXi 4.1.
How to Configure the VMware Identity Feature
The VMware identity feature allows you to copy an existing instance of a virtual Cisco Unified Presence, and change its identity. The identity of a system is made up of every setting that you usually configure during a fresh install (such as IP address, hostname, passwords).
You can then use this new identity for another instance of a Cisco Unified Presence on a virtual machine. This avoids you having to perform a complete installation each time you deploy a new virtual Cisco Unified Presence.
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Creating the Identity Template
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Deploying the Identify Template on a Virtual Cisco Unified Presence
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Deploying the Identity Template on a Cisco Unified Presence Cluster
Creating the Identity Template
Procedure
Step 1
Use the correct OVA template to create a new VMware server for Cisco Unified Presence.
Step 2
Perform the standard install process to install Cisco Unified Presence.
Step 3
Apply basic and common configuration to the system.
Caution 
Do not configure any values that may be dependent on IP addresses, hostnames, or any other setting that makes a system unique.
Step 4
Convert the Cisco Unified Presence virtual machine into an (identity) template. You can do this either by cloning the server to a template, or by converting it to a template using VSphere.
What To Do Next
Deploying the Identify Template on a Virtual Cisco Unified Presence
Related Topics
Supported OVA Templates
Deploying the Identify Template on a Virtual Cisco Unified Presence
Before You Begin
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Create the identity template.
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You require the AFG tool for this procedure. You can download the AFG tool at this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/web/cuc_afg/index.html
Procedure
Step 1
Use the identity template you created in the previous procedure to create a new Cisco Unified Presence instance on a VMware server.
Step 2
Power on the VMware server.
Step 3
Use the AFG tool to create a platformConfig.xml file.
Step 4
Insert the platformConfig.xml file into a virtual floppy instance (see Related Topics section for a link to instructions).
Step 5
Mount the .flp file in the floppy drive of the new VMware server.
Step 6
Using console or ssh, sign in to the CLI of the VMware server.
Step 7
Run this command:
The system reboots with the new identity
Troubleshooting Topics
If the Cisco Unified Presence proxy domain name is changed in the platformConfig.xml file, you need to manually change the proxy domain name on Cisco Unified Presence. Perform the proxy domain name change after you import the AFG .flp file, and after you run the post-installation steps on the Cisco Unified Presence administration GUI. See the Deployment Guide for Cisco Unified Presence at this URL for instructions on how to change the proxy domain name:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6837/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.ht
ml
Related Topics
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Creating the Identity Template
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For instructions on creating a virtual floppy instance, go to this URL: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1739
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Deploying the Identity Template on a Cisco Unified Presence Cluster
Deploying the Identity Template on a Cisco Unified Presence Cluster
This is a high-level overview of the steps you perform to deploy the identity template on a Cisco Unified Presence cluster.
Before You Begin
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The New Identity process can only be run on the primary (publisher) node and not on the secondary (subscriber) nodes in a cluster.
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The "skip install" is performed by choosing the option to skip the configuration during the installation process.
Procedure
Step 1
Create an identity template for the publisher Cisco Unified Presence node. Follow the procedure described in this module for creating an identity template.
Note
The subscriber template should be a "skip" install that is ready for configuration.
Step 2
Deploy a publisher and subscriber node using the publisher template and subscriber template respectively.
Step 3
Deploy the identity template on the on the publisher Cisco Unified Presence on the VMware server. Follow the procedure described in this module for deploying the identity template on a virtual Cisco Unified Presence.
Step 4
Start the publisher node, and perform these steps:
a.
Sign in to Cisco Unified Presence Administration interface.
b.
Add each of the subscriber nodes to the Topology interface, and configure its hostname/IP address.
Step 5
On the subscriber node or nodes, mount a floppy image that contains the AFG platformConfig.xml file.
Step 6
Power on the subscriber node or nodes and complete the installation.
Related Topics
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Creating the Identity Template
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Deploying the Identify Template on a Virtual Cisco Unified Presence