Step 1

Download the latest available Cisco Crosswork platform image file (*.ova) to your system.

Step 2

With VMware ESXi running, log into the VMware vSphere Web Client. On the left navigation pane, choose the ESXi host where you want to deploy the VM.

Step 3

In the vSphere UI, go to Host > Configure > Networking > Virtual Switches and select the virtual switch for the Management Network that will be used to access the UI of the VM. In the virtual switch, select Edit > Security, and configure the following DVS port group properties:

Step 4

Review and confirm that your network settings meet the requirements.

Step 5

Choose Actions > Deploy OVF Template.

Step 6

The VMware Deploy OVF Template window appears, with the first step, 1 - Select an OVF template, highlighted. Click Choose Files to navigate to the location where you downloaded the OVA image file and select it. Once selected, the file name is displayed in the window.

Step 7

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 2 - Select a name and folder now highlighted. Enter a name and select the respective data center for the Cisco Crosswork VM you are creating.

Step 8

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 3 - Select a compute resource highlighted. Select the host for your Cisco Crosswork VM.

Step 9

Click Next. The VMware vCenter Server validates the OVA. Network speed will determine how long validation takes. After the validation is complete, the Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 4 - Review details highlighted.

Step 10

Review the OVF template that you are deploying. This information is gathered from the OVF, and cannot be modified.

Step 11

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 5 - License agreements highlighted. Review the End User License Agreement and if you agree, click the I accept all license agreements checkbox. Otherwise, contact your Cisco Experience team for assistance.

Step 12

Click Next The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 6 - Configuration highlighted. Choose the desired deployment configuration.

Important

For single VM deployment, the supported configurations are IPv4 Network and IPv6 Network using two NICs.

Step 13

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 7 - Select Storage highlighted. Choose the relevant option from the Select virtual disk format drop-down list. From the table, choose the datastore you want to use, and review its properties to ensure there is enough available storage.

Note	For production deployment, choose the Thick Provision Eager Zeroed option because this will preallocate disk space and provide the best performance. For lab purposes, we recommend the Thin Provision option because it saves disk space.

Step 14

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 8 - Select networks highlighted. From the Destination Network drop-down list, select the proper networks for the Management Network and the Data Network.

Important

Keep Admin Network and NBI Network at default values.

Step 15

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 9 - Customize template highlighted.

1. Expand the Management Network settings. Provide information for the IPv4 or IPv6 deployment (as per your selection).

2. Expand the Data Network settings. Provide information for the IPv4 or IPv6 deployment (as per your selection).

   

3. Expand the Deployment Credentials settings. Enter relevant values for the VM Username and Password.

   Note

   Avoid using passwords that resemble dictionary words (for example, 'Pa55w0rd!') or easily guessable patterns. While such passwords might meet the initial criteria, they are considered weak and could cause the VM setup to fail without a clear explanation. To ensure a successful installation, use a complex password with a minimum of 8 characters that combines uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters in a non-predictable sequence.

4. Expand the DNS and NTP Servers settings. According to your deployment configuration (IPv4 or IPv6), the fields that are displayed are different. Provide information in the following three fields:

   • DNS IP Address: The IP addresses of the DNS servers you want the Cisco Crosswork server to use. Separate multiple IP addresses with spaces.

   • DNS Search Domain: The name of the DNS search domain.

   • NTP Servers: The IP addresses or host names of the NTP servers you want to use. Separate multiple IPs or host names with spaces.

   

   Note	The DNS and NTP servers must be reachable using the network interfaces you have mapped on the host. Otherwise, the configuration of the VM will fail.

5. The default Disk Configuration settings should work for most environments. Change the settings only if you are instructed to by the Cisco Customer Experience team.

6. Expand Crosswork Configuration and enter your legal disclaimer text (users will see this text if they log into the CLI).

7. Expand Crosswork Cluster Configuration. Provide relevant values for the following fields:

   • VM Type: Choose Hybrid.

   • Cluster Seed node: Choose True.

   • Crosswork Management Cluster Virtual IP: Enter the Management Virtual IP address and Management Virtual IP DNS name.

   • Crosswork Data Cluster Virtual IP: Enter the Data Virtual IP address. and the Data Virtual IP DNS name.

   • Initial node count: Set to 1.

   • Initial leader node count: Set to 1.

   • Location of VM: Enter the location of VM.

   • Installation type: Not applicable to single VM deployment. Do not select any checkbox.

   • Enable Skip Auto Install Feature: Set to True.

   • Ignore Diagnose Failure?: Use the default value (True).

   • Enable Diagnostics Script Check Run?: Use the default value (True).

   • Default Application Resource Profile: Use the default value (Empty).

   • Default Infra Resource Profile: In case of the Large profile, set the value to small. In case of the XLarge profile, use the default value (Empty).

   • Auto Action Manifest Definition: Use the default value (Empty).

Step 16

Click Next. The Deploy OVF Template window is refreshed, with 10 - Ready to Complete highlighted.

Step 17

Review your settings and then click Finish if you are ready to begin deployment. Wait for the deployment to finish before continuing. To check the deployment status:

1. Open a VMware vCenter client.

2. In the Recent Tasks tab of the host VM, view the status of the Deploy OVF template and Import OVF package jobs.

Step 18

Once the deployment is completed, right-click on the VM and select Edit Settings. The Edit Settings dialog box is displayed. Under the Virtual Hardware tab, update these attributes:

Step 19

Power on the Crosswork VM. To power on, expand the host’s entry, click the Cisco Crosswork VM, and then choose Actions > Power > Power On.

Step 1

On the machine where you have the OVF tool installed, use the following command to confirm that you have OVF tool version 4.4:

ovftool --version

Step 2

Create the script file (see example in this step) and provide relevant information as per your target environment (such as IP addresses, gateway, netmask, password, and VCENTER_PATH, etc.).

cat svm_install.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
Host="X.X.X.X"
DM="thick"
DS="DS36"
Deployment="cw_ipv4"
DNSv4="10.10.0.99"
NTP="ntp.cisco.com"
Timezone="US/Pacific"
EnforcePodReservations="True"
EnableSkipAutoInstallFeature="True"
Domain="cisco.com"
Disclaimer="ACCESS IS MONITORED"
VM_NAME="svmEMS"
DataNetwork="DataNet"
ManagementNetwork="MgmtNet"
DataIPv4Address="x.x.x.x"
DataIPv4Gateway="x.x.x.x"
DataIPv4Netmask="x.x.x.x"
ManagementIPv4Address="x.x.x.x"
ManagementIPv4Gateway="x.x.x.x"
ManagementIPv4Netmask="x.x.x.x"
K8sServiceNetworkV4="10.75.0.0"
K8sPodNetworkV4="10.225.0.0"
Password="CLI Password"
Username="cw-admin"
ManagementVIP="x.x.x.x"
DataVIP="x.x.x.x"
VMType="Hybrid"
IsSeed="True"
InitNodeCount="1"
InitMasterCount="1"
 
SVM_OVA_PATH=$1
 
VCENTER_LOGIN="Administrator%40vsphere%2Elocal:Password%40123%21@x.x.x.x"
VCENTER_PATH="DC1/host"
 
ovftool --version
ovftool --acceptAllEulas --skipManifestCheck --X:injectOvfEnv -ds=$DS \
--numberOfCpus:"*"=24 --viCpuResource=:50000: \
--memorySize:"*"=131072 --viMemoryResource=:131072: \
--diskMode=$DM --overwrite --powerOffTarget --powerOn --noSSLVerify \
--allowExtraConfig \
--deploymentOption=$Deployment \
--prop:"DNSv4=${DNSv4}" \
--prop:"NTP=${NTP}" \
--prop:"Timezone=${Timezone}" \
--prop:"EnforcePodReservations=${EnforcePodReservations}" \
--prop:"EnableSkipAutoInstallFeature=${EnableSkipAutoInstallFeature}" \
--prop:"Domain=${Domain}" \
--prop:"Disclaimer=${Disclaimer}" \
--name=$VM_NAME \
--net:"Data Network=${DataNetwork}" \
--net:"Management Network=${ManagementNetwork}" \
--prop:"DataIPv4Address=${DataIPv4Address}" \
--prop:"DataIPv4Gateway=${DataIPv4Gateway}" \
--prop:"DataIPv4Netmask=${DataIPv4Netmask}" \
--prop:"ManagementIPv4Address=${ManagementIPv4Address}" \
--prop:"ManagementIPv4Gateway=${ManagementIPv4Gateway}" \
--prop:"ManagementIPv4Netmask=${ManagementIPv4Netmask}" \
--prop:"K8sServiceNetworkV4=${K8sServiceNetworkV4}" \
--prop:"K8sPodNetworkV4=${K8sPodNetworkV4}" \
--prop:"CWPassword=${Password}" \
--prop:"CWUsername=${Username}" \
--prop:"ManagementVIP=${ManagementVIP}" \
--prop:"DataVIP=${DataVIP}" \
--prop:"VMType=${VMType}" \
--prop:"IsSeed=${IsSeed}" \
--prop:"InitNodeCount=${InitNodeCount}" \
--prop:"InitMasterCount=${InitMasterCount}" \
$SVM_OVA_PATH \
vi://$VCENTER_LOGIN/$VCENTER_PATH/$Host

Step 3

Download the OVA and install scripts from cisco.com. For the purpose of these instructions, we use the file name as signed-cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova.

tar -xvzf signed-cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova

svm]# ls -al
-rw-r--r--   1 root root 15416145920 Mar 28 11:12 cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root root        2324 Apr  2 14:06 svm_install.sh

Step 4

Use the following command to make the scripts executable:

chmod +x {filename}

chmod +x svm_install.sh

Step 5

Execute the script with the OVA file name as parameter:

svm]# ./svm_install.sh cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova
VMware ovftool 4.4.0 (build-16360108)
Opening OVA source: cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova
<Removed some output >
Completed successfully

Step 1

In your Docker-capable machine, create a directory where you will store everything you will use during this installation.

Step 2

Download the installer bundle (.tar.gz file) and the OVA file from cisco.com to the directory you created previously. For the purpose of these instructions, we will use the file name as signed-cw-na-unifiedems-installer-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.tar.gz and signed-cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova.

Step 3

Use the following command to extract the installer bundle:

tar -xvf signed-cw-na-unifiedems-installer-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.tar.gz

Step 4

Review the contents of the README file to understand everything that is in the package and how it will be validated in the following steps.

Step 5

Use the following command to verify the signature of the installer image:

python cisco_x509_verify_release.py -e <.cer file> -i <.tar.gz file> -s <.tar.gz.signature file>
-v dgst -sha512

python3 cisco_x509_verify_release.py3 -e <.cer file> -i <.tar.gz file> -s <.tar.gz.signature file>
-v dgst -sha512

Step 6

Use the following command to load the installer image file into your Docker environment.

docker load -i <.tar.gz file>

docker load -i cw-na-unifiedems-installer-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.tar.gz

Step 7

Run the Docker image list or Docker images command to get the "image ID" (which is needed in the next step).

docker images

My Machine% docker images
REPOSITORY                        TAG                                                 IMAGE ID             CREATED        SIZE
dockerhub.cisco.com/cw-installer  cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823   a4570324fad30  7 days ago     276MB

Step 8

Launch the Docker container using the following command:

docker run --rm -it -v `pwd`:/data {image id of the installer container}

docker run --rm -it -v `pwd`:/data a4570324fad30

% docker run --rm -it -v `pwd`:/data a45
docker: invalid reference format: repository name must be lowercase.
See 'docker run --help'

docker: Error response from daemon: Mounts denied: approving /Users/Desktop: file does not exist
ERRO[0000] error waiting for container: context canceled

Step 9

Navigate to the directory with the VMware template.

Step 10

Copy the template file found under /opt/installer/deployments/7.0.0/vcentre/deployment_template_tfvars to the /data folder using a different name.

Step 11

Edit the template file located in the /data directory in a text editor, to match your planned deployment (for reference, see Sample Manifest Template). The <sample manifest template> includes an example that you can reference for proper formatting. The example is more compact due to the removal of descriptive comments:

Step 12

From the /opt/installer directory, run the installer.

./cw-installer.sh install -m /data/<template file name> -o /data/<.ova file>

./cw-installer.sh install -m /data/deployment.tfvars -o /data/signed-cw-na-unifiedems-7.0.0-85-release700-240823.ova

Step 13

Read, and then enter "yes" if you accept the End User License Agreement (EULA). Otherwise, exit the installer and contact your Cisco representative.

Step 14

Enter "yes" when prompted to confirm the operation.

Warning: Line 119: No space left for device '8' on parent controller '3'.
Warning: Line 114: Unable to parse 'enableMPTSupport' for attribute 'key' on element 'Config'.

cw_vms = <sensitive>
INFO: Copying day 0 state inventory to CW
INFO: Waiting for deployment status server to startup on 10.90.147.66. Elapsed time 0s, retrying in 30s
Crosswork deployment status available at http://{VIP}:30602/d/NK1bwVxGk/crosswork-deployment-readiness?orgId=1&refresh=10s&theme=dark 
Once deployment is complete login to Crosswork via: https://{VIP}:30603/#/logincontroller 
INFO: Cw Installer operation complete.