Getting Started Installing or Upgrading Cisco StadiumVision Director

First Published: April 21, 2014

Revised: July 23, 2014

Read this module before you perform an initial installation or upgrade of the Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2 software. It includes the following topics:

Before You Begin

Be sure that you understand and have met the following prerequisites before you begin to install or upgrade the Cisco StadiumVision Director software:

  • Refer to the Release Notes for Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2 for the latest information about hardware and software requirements, changes, important notes, and caveats for your software release.
  • The Cisco StadiumVision Director Platform 2 server ships with two 300 GB hard drives configured with RAID 1 mirroring for redundancy. Two additional 300 GB hard drives (SV-FRU2-HD3G=) for another RAID 1 volume in the Cisco StadiumVision Director Platfrom 2 Server are required to run Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2 with a minimum of 4 drives.

Note If you need to install additional hard drives in the Platform 2 server to meet the 4-drive minimum requirement to support Release 3.2, then you must perform different upgrade tasks in a certain order.

The physical installation of the additional drives must precede the upgrade to Release 3.1.0-797 (SP2), which is the required prerequisite release to upgrade to Release 3.2.

Refer to the “Upgrading a Cisco StadiumVision Director Platform 2 Server from Release 3.0 SP2 to Release 3.1” in the Cisco StadiumVision Director Software Installation and Upgrade Guide, Release 3.1.

  • Determine if you have compatible Cisco Digital Media Player (DMP) models and firmware versions installed. The DMP firmware image is not bundled with the Cisco StadiumVision Director software. You must download the firmware image separately from the software download center site for the Cisco Digital Media Player model. For more information about supported firmware versions, see the Release Notes for Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2.
  • Be sure that you have a supported browser (Google Chrome Version 31.0, Mozilla FireFox Version 26.0, and Adobe Flash Player (Version 11.9.900.170) installed for access to Cisco StadiumVision Director.

Note Unless specifically identified as unsupported, other browser versions might work, but their compatibility with Cisco StadiumVision Director cannot be assured.

  • Verify that the Cisco StadiumVision Director server is connected to the network using the Ethernet port eth0 on the rear panel.
  • To access the Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) for the software installation, the following requirements are met:

– Your computer meets the minimum browser and Flash player requirements for Cisco StadiumVision Director, and also has Java 1.6 or later installed.

– You have a laptop connection with access to the Cisco StadiumVision Director server network.

– You have the IP address of the CIMC interface on the Cisco StadiumVision Director server.

– You have the CIMC interface login credential. The default credential is admin and password.

Note Due to the difficulty in recovering from an interrupted installation process if the Linux shell is accidentally closed or the network drops, it is highly recommended that you use a server console connection method that does not pose a risk to the success of upgrade completion if the session breaks during upgrade. You also can use a monitor and keyboard that are directly connected to the Cisco StadiumVision Director server to log into the TUI.

To learn more about the KVM console and the CIMC interface, see the Cisco UCS C-Series Integrated Management Controller Configuration guide that corresponds to your server release at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10739/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html

Hardware Prerequisites

You can install Release 3.2 on a Platform 2 or Platform 3 server, or use your own server to run the Cisco StadiumVision Director software. Be sure that your configuration meets the miminum system requirements in Table 1 and supports a VMware virtual machine environment.

Note Cisco StadiumVision Director servers are meant to be physically located close to the DMPs that they operate with, such as at the remote venue edge, and communicating to the players over a LAN. For information about installation-related licensing compliance, see the “Installation Requirements for Licensing Compliance” section of the Release Notes for Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2.

 

Table 1 Minimum System Requirements for a Virtualized Environment running Cisco StadiumVision Director
System Component
Minimum Requirement

Forward Write (fwrite) in operations per second (ops)

10,000

Hard Drive Capacity

900 GB

Note The hard drives must be configured as a single logical volume. A RAID volume is strongly recommended.

Processor

Dual processor equivalent to an Intel Xeon Processor E5-2460 (15 MB cache, 2.50 GHz clock, 7.20 GT/s Intel® QPI)

Virtual RAM (VRAM)

32 GB

Virtual CPUs

24

VMware vSphere Tested Versions for Cisco StadiumVision Director

Cisco StadiumVision Director has been tested with VMware vSphere version 5.1 and 5.5. Other VMware vSphere versions cannot be guaranteed to work with Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2.

Note Any VMware license that does not allow your virtual machine to be set to the minimum requirements described in Table 1 is not supported.

Restrictions for Virtual Server Support

Be sure that you consider the following restrictions before you configure a virtual server environment for Cisco StadiumVision Director:

  • Migrating to a virtualized environment on your existing Platform 2 or Platform 3 servers is not supported. For more information, see the “Important Migration and Upgrade Notes” section of the Release Notes.
  • When using a virtual server environment, Cisco Technical Support only provides support for the Cisco StadiumVision software. No support is provided for third-party hardware or the virtual OS environment installed by the customer.
  • The recommended configuration is for a dual virtual server environment to support a primary and backup server using the standard Cisco StadiumVision Director backup/restore and failover tools.
  • Cisco has not tested and does not provide support for any VMware tools in a Cisco StadiumVision system. If your site chooses to use backup, recovery or other tools outside of the Cisco StadiumVision Director software to manage your virtual servers, then you accept the risks and responsibility associated with securing your data.

Overview of the Installation and Upgrade Process

There are different tasks required to install or upgrade your Cisco StadiumVision Director server for software Release 3.2 depending on your current server environment:

Note A full ISO installation on a Platform 2 server is not supported in Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2. Only ISO upgrades are supported.

Upgrading from Release 3.1 SP2 to Release 3.2

Caution If you need to install additional hard drives in the Platform 2 server to meet the 4-drive minimum requirement to support Release 3.2, then you must perform the upgrade in a certain order. The physical installation of the additional drives must precede the upgrade to Release 3.2, followed by extension of the RAID volume post-upgrade, and then content migration and the remainder of the upgrade verification.

The upgrade process for an existing server running Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.1-0-797 Service Pack 2 involves the following tasks:

  • Running Proof of Play reports.
  • Installing two additional hard drives to meet the 4-drive minimum requirement for Release 3.2 (as required for a Platform 2 Server).
  • Performing an ISO upgrade to Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2.
  • Extending the Original RAID Volume to Create a Single Group (as required for the HDD expansion on a Platform 2 server).
  • Upgrading DMP 4310G firmware.
  • Disabling DMP failover for all DMPs.
    (Disabled is the default beginning in Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.1.0-787 [SP1])
  • Verifying the upgrade, including validating the content migration.

For detailed information and important best practices and requirements, see the “Upgrading a Cisco StadiumVision Director Server from Release 3.1 SP2 to Release 3.2” module in this guide.

Installing on a Virtual Server with Release 3.2 for the First Time

The installation process for a virtual server running Cisco StadiumVision Director software release 3.2 for the first time involves the following tasks:

  • Verify that your virtual server meets the requirements listed in Table 1 .
  • Install VMWare client software.

Note Cisco StadiumVision Director has been tested with VMware vSphere version 5.1 and 5.5. Other VMware vSphere versions cannot be guaranteed to work with Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2.

Any VMware license that does not allow your virtual machine to be set to the minimum requirements described in Table 1 is not supported.

  • Load the Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2 full ISO.
  • Run the installation.

Installing a Platform 3 Server with Release 3.2 for the First Time

The installation process for a new Platform 3 server running Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2 for the first time involves the following tasks:

  • Confirmation of CIMC/BIOS version and upgrade as required.
  • Installation from CIMC of a full ISO image file that runs an installation program with configuration prompts for your network information.
  • Disabling DMP failover for all DMPs.
    (Disabled is the default beginning in Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.1.0-787 [SP1])
  • Upgrading the DMP 4310G Firmware.

For detailed information, see the “Installing Cisco StadiumVision Director for the First Time” .

Upgrading an Existing Cisco StadiumVision Director Server Already Running Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2.0-489 or Later

You can upgrade an existing server already running Release 3.2.0-489 or later software version using an upgrade ISO image file available from Cisco.com and using the upgrade option from the Software Manager in the Cisco StadiumVision Director web browser interface.

For detailed information, see the “Using the Software Manager to Upgrade Cisco StadiumVision Director Release 3.2 Software, Language Packs, and Fonts” .