Cisco Modeling Labs OVA Installation

Prepare for an OVA File Installation

There is a number of key prerequisites that must be in place in order to successfully install Cisco Modeling Labs using an OVA file.

These prerequisites are:

  • The host must support Intel VT-x/EPT virtualization extensions, and these extensions must be enabled in the BIOS.

  • The target disk must be at least 250 GB.

  • For installations to a VM, the following hypervisors are supported:

    • VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1 U2 (Build 1483097) or later.

    • VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 U1 (Build 1623387) or later.

    • VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 (Build 2494585).


      Note
      Additionally, you must verify that you are using vSphere Client v5.5 Update 2 (Build 1993072) or later before deploying Cisco Modeling Labs.  Failure to use this minimum version will result in a failed deployment that returns an error stating that nested virtualization is not supported.

    Note
    Oracle VirtualBox VM is not supported due to its lack of support for nested virtual machines.

Note

Depending on network speed and target platform performance, an installation can take between 30 and 60 minutes.

Download the Cisco Modeling Labs OVA File

You must download the Cisco Modeling Labs OVA file using the link provided in your purchase confirmation email.

The OVA files are large (~4 GB), so rather than HTTP downloads using a web browser, the use of a download manager for Mac or Windows is recommended.

An MD5 hash sum for the OVA file is provided along with the download link on the download website. You must calculate and verify that the hash sum of the downloaded OVA file matches the source file:

  • On OS X, use the command 'md5 <filename>'.
  • On Linux, use the command 'md5sum <filename>'.
  • On Windows, use Microsoft File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV).

Configure Security and Network Settings


Note
You must enable Intel VT in the BIOS for Cisco Modeling Labs to operate correctly.

The Cisco Modeling Labs virtual machine requires connections to five unique virtual network port groups, the first of which is for management and is site unique. It is, by default, VM Network. The other four port-groups areFlat, Flat1, SNAT, and INT. They are used by Cisco Modeling Labs for external Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity and are created as described in this section.

Before You Begin
  • Ensure that you have met the requirements as specified in the section Cisco Modeling Labs Server Requirements.
  • Ensure that you have administrator access to the VMware ESXi server in which you plan to deploy the Cisco Modeling Labs OVA in order to enable nested virtualization.
    Step 1   Log in as administrator to the remote VMware ESXi server using the VMware vSphere Client.
    Step 2   Click the Configuration tab.
    Step 3   Choose Software > Security Profile.
    Step 4   Click Properties to edit the properties associated with security services.
    Step 5   The Services Properties dialog box is displayed. Enable SSH access, ESXi Shell, and Direct Console UI as follows:
    1. Click Options.
    2. Click the Start and Stop with Host radio button.
    3. Click Start.
    4. Click OK.
      Figure 1. Services Properties



    Step 6   Click OK.
    Step 7   To add the four additional port groups—Flat, Flat1, SNAT, and INT, which are required for external Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity and configure network settings, choose Networking > Properties.
    Step 8   Click Add.
    Step 9   In the Add Network wizard, choose the Virtual Machine connection type.
    Figure 2. Connection Type



    Step 10   Click Next.
    Step 11   Under Port Group Properties, in the Network Label field, enter Flat and assign a site-relevant VLAN ID, for example, 19, in the VLAN ID field.
    Note    VLAN IDs are unique for each port group. A VLAN ID is used to identify which VLAN a packet belongs to; specifically, switches use the VLAN ID to determine which port(s), or interface(s), to send a broadcast packet to.

    Note    If you have previously installed Cisco Modeling Labs version 1.0, you will only need to add the Flat1 and INT port groups, since Flat and SNAT are already available.
    Figure 3. Flat Connection Settings



    Step 12   Click Next. The new port group is assigned.
    Step 13   Click Finish to add the port group.
    Step 14   Repeat Step 7 through Step 13 to add the remaining port groups.
    Figure 4. SNAT Port Group Assigned



    Figure 5. Flat1 Port Group Assigned



    Figure 6. INT Port Group Assigned



    Step 15   Configure all the port groups to allow promiscuous mode:
    1. Under the Configuration tab, choose Hardware > Networking and click Properties of the port group for which you want to enable promiscuous mode, for example, Flat1.
    2. Select the Flat1 port group and click Edit.
    3. Click the Security tab.
    4. Check the Promiscuous Mode check box, and from the Promiscuous Mode drop-down list, choose Accept.
      Note    Ensure that the values for MAC Address Changes and Forged Transmits are also set to their default value of Accept.
      Figure 7. Promiscuous Mode for the Flat1 Port Group



    5. Click OK.
    Note    Promiscuous mode permits traffic to flow between Cisco Modeling Labs simulated nodes and other virtual machines running on the ESXi host.

    Step 16   Repeat Step 15a through Step 15e to set the promiscuous mode for all port groups.
    Step 17   Click Close.
    Figure 8. Available Port Groups



    Deploy the Cisco Modeling Labs OVA

    Before You Begin

    • Ensure that you have configured the necessary security and network settings.

    • Ensure that you know where the OVA file resides.

      Step 1   To install the OVA, log in to the VMware ESXi server.
      Step 2   From the vSphere Client menu, choose File > Deploy OVF Template.
      Figure 9. Deploying OVA



      Step 3   Click Next.
      Step 4   In the Source screen, click Browse to navigate to the OVA package.
      Step 5   In the dialog box displayed, click Open.
      Step 6   Click Next to review the OVA details.
      Figure 10. OVF Template Details



      Information about the OVA you are about to deploy is displayed.
      Step 7   Click Next.
      Step 8   In the Name and Location screen, confirm or provide a new name for the virtual machine, for example, Cisco Modeling Labs, and click Next.
      Figure 11. Name and Location Details



      Step 9   In the Disk Format screen, confirm that the Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed radio button is selected and click Next.
      Figure 12. Disk Format Details



      Step 10   In the Network Mapping screen, confirm the source and destination network mappings and click Next.
      Note    The source VM Network must be mapped to a valid site-relevant network port group used for virtual machine management.

      Figure 13. Network Mapping Details



      Step 11   In the Ready to Complete screen, ensure that the Power On After Deployment check box remains unchecked to allow the virtual machine settings to be updated before it is powered on.
      Step 12   Click Finish to start the OVA deployment.
      Figure 14. Final Summary Page



      OVA deployment starts.
      Figure 15. Deploying the OVA



      When the deployment completes, click Close.

      Edit the Virtual Machine Settings

        Step 1   In the vSphere client, click Edit Virtual Machine Settings. The Virtual Machine Properties dialog box is displayed.
        Step 2   Update the values for Memory and CPUs as required for your environment.
        Figure 16. Updated Virtual Machine Properties



        Step 3   In addition, confirm that the network adapters have been setup correctly.
        Step 4   Under the Options tab, ensure that the setting CPUID Mask is set to Expose Nx flag to guest as shown.
        Figure 17. CPUID Mask Setting



        If using the vSphere web client, under the Virtual Hardware tab, locate the Hardware Virtualization option. Ensure that CPUID Mask is set to Expose NX/XD flag to guest and that the setting Expose Hardware Assisted Virtualization to the Guest OS is enabled as shown.
        Figure 18. Enable the Hardware Virtualization Option



        Step 5   Click OK to save the changes.

        Start the Cisco Modeling Labs Server for the First Time

          Step 1   In the vSphere client, click Power On the Virtual Machine. The virtual machine starts up.
          Step 2   Open a console window by right-clicking on Cisco Modeling Labs 1.1 and choose Open Console from the list. In the Console window you can see the virtual machine starting up.
          Figure 19. Virtual Machine Starting Up



          When the virtual machine has started, the login screen is displayed.

          Step 3   Log in with the username virl and the password VIRL.
          Figure 20. Cisco Modeling Labs Server Log In



          The Cisco Modeling Labs desktop is displayed.
          Figure 21. Cisco Modeling Labs Desktop



          Step 4   On the desktop, click the xterm icon and enter the CLI command kvm-ok. To ensure that the installation worked correctly, confirm that you received the statement acceleration can be used, indicating that the images will work.
          Figure 22. Run the kvm-ok Command



          There are a number of default settings in the settings.ini file. Values edited in this file are used to configure the Cisco Modeling server for your environment.
          Step 5   Double-click the 0. Edit settings.ini file icon on the desktop.
          Step 6   Scroll down the file and update the following:
          1. If you are installing the Cisco Modeling Labs server behind an HTTP Proxy server, uncomment the proxy parameter to allow the client to communicate with the server. For example, the two entries are proxy="True" and #proxy="False". If your installation is not behind an HTTP proxy server, the two entries are #proxy="True" and proxy="False".
          2. Disable DHCP since a static address will be defined (if applicable for your deployment). To do this, add the comment sign (#) to the start of the line "using dhcp on the public port? = "True"" and remove the comment sign (#) from the start of the line "using dhcp on the public port? = "False"".
            Note   

            You must set your Nameserver entries if you are not using DHCP.

          3. Set the Static IP, public_network, public_netmask, and public_gateway parameters by removing the comment sign (#) in front of the parameter.
          4. If you are using more than 16 GB of memory, set the ramdisk parameter.
          5. Update the values for the Flat, Flat1, SNAT and INT interfaces as required for your network configuration.
          6. Update the port values for ANK web server, VIRL web services, and VIRL user management as required for your installation.
          7. Add any additional user accounts. The default user account is guest.
          8. Add users to the users list as required.
          9. Save the file and exit.
          Note   

          Do not update the hostname at this time.

          Step 7   On the desktop, click the 1. Upgrade or Rehost icon to start a standard installation process.
          Step 8   When completed, click the 2. REBOOT icon to reboot the virtual machine.
          Step 9   Log in with the username virl and the password VIRL.
          Step 10   Enter the command ifconfig eth0 to view the IP address assigned.

          You will use this IP address to access the User Workspace Management interface.

          (Optional) Configure Static IP

          Where there is no DHCP addressing facility on the subnet to which the Cisco Modeling Labs virtual machine is connected via eth0, it is necessary to assign a static IP address before proceeding.

          This section describes the configuration steps to use when Static IP addressing is required. However, if DHCP is being used to configure the eth0 IP address, you may skip this section.

            Step 1   Start the virtual machine and log in using the username virl and the password VIRL.

            Note    The Ubuntu Software Updater may start automatically upon login. It is safe to close the Updater and continue with the installation.

            Step 2   Click the xterm icon to open a terminal window.
            Step 3   Change to the network interfaces configuration directory: cd /etc/network
            Step 4   Open the interfaces configuration file for editing: sudo nano interfaces
            Step 5   Change the eth0 addressing method to static: iface eth0 inet static
            Step 6   Provide the static IP address: address n.n.n.n
            Step 7   Provide the static IP address netmask: netmask mmm.mmm.mmm.mmm
            Step 8   Provide the default IP gateway address: gateway g.g.g.g
            Step 9   Provide valid reachable DNS name-server addresses: dns-nameservers a.a.a.a b.b.b.b
            Step 10   Enter Ctrl-X to exit.
            Step 11   Enter Y and Enter to confirm saving the interfaces file and exit.
            Step 12   Enter sudo reboot now to reboot the virtual machine in preparation for the remaining installation steps.

            Determine License Key Requirements

              Step 1   In a web browser, use the IP address or hostname of your Cisco Modeling Labs server to access the CML Server interface, in the format http://<IP address | hostname>.
              Figure 23. CML Server Options



              Step 2   Click User Workspace Management and log in to the interface using the username uwmadmin and the password password and switch to Admin mode.
              Figure 24. User Workspace Management Login



              Step 3   In the left pane, click Licenses.
              Step 4   In the Licenses page, click Register Licenses.
              Step 5   Record the Host Name and Mac Address for license key registration.
              Figure 25. Information for License Key Registration



              Use this information when completing the Register Claim Certificates instructions in the eDelivery Order Notification email to request your license key for use with the Cisco Modeling Labs server.

              Two types of licenses are available, as shown in the following table.
              Table 1 License Types
              License Type Description
              Base Subscription 15-node capacity for initial deployment.
              Capacity Subscription 10-node, 50-node, and 100-node bundles available.
              Note    You can have any number or type of licenses. Licenses are determined by the node capacity you want to deploy.

              You will receive your license key as an attachment via an email.

              Step 6   Open the attachment in a text editor and copy all the details.
              Step 7   Return to the Register Licenses page.
              Step 8   Repeat Step 1 and Step 2, and paste the details into the Licenses text area.
              Step 9   Click Register to register the license key.
              Note   

              We recommend that you add the Base Subscription license first.

              Under Licenses, you will see the license that is added, the number of nodes permissible, and an expiry date for the license.
              Step 10   Click Log Out to exit the User Workspace Management interface.