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Administration Guide for Cisco Webex Meetings Server Release 3.0

Bias-Free Language

The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.

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Book Title

Administration Guide for Cisco Webex Meetings Server Release 3.0

Chapter Title

Deploying a System: Workflows and Procedures

Results

Updated:
June 22, 2020

Chapter: Deploying a System: Workflows and Procedures

Deploying a System: Workflows and Procedures

Deploying a System Automatically: Workflow

Before you begin

Before you deploy a data center, choose between Audio Encrypted -AE or Audio Unencrypted -AU. After deployment, you cannot convert from one type to the other. Data archived or backed up from one type of system cannot be uploaded to the other type of system. You cannot change the audio encryption type during an upgrade or during an update. The only way to change a system from one type of audio encryption to the other is to deploy a new system.

Procedure

Step 1

Deploying the OVA File From the VMware vSphere Client
Step 2

Selecting Your Language for Setup
Step 3

Confirming the Deployment
Step 4

Confirming the Size of Your System
Step 5

Choosing What System to Install
Step 6

Choosing the Type of Deployment
Step 7

Providing VMware vCenter Credentials
Step 8

Choosing vCenter Settings for Your Media and Web Virtual Machines
Step 9

Entering Networking Information for the Media and Web Virtual Machines
Step 10

Adding Public Access
Step 11

Choosing vCenter Settings for Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP)
Step 12

Entering Networking Information for the Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP)
Step 13

Entering the Public VIP Address
Step 14

Entering the Private VIP Address
Step 15

Entering the Webex Common Site and Administration Site URLs
Step 16

Confirming that the Network is Configured Correctly
Step 17

Deploying the Virtual Machines Automatically
Step 18

Checking the System

Deploying a System Manually: Workflow

Before you begin

Before you deploy a data center, choose between Audio Encrypted -AE or Audio Unencrypted -AU. After deployment, you cannot convert from one type to the other. Data archived or backed up from one type of system cannot be uploaded to the other type of system. You cannot change the audio encryption type during an upgrade or during an update. The only way to change a system from one type of audio encryption to the other is to deploy a new system.

Procedure

Step 1

Deploying the OVA File From the VMware vSphere Client
Step 2

Selecting Your Language for Setup
Step 3

Confirming the Deployment
Step 4

Confirming the Size of Your System
Step 5

Choosing What System to Install
Step 6

Extending System Capacity During Deployment
Step 7

Choosing the Type of Deployment
Step 8

Adding Public Access
Step 9

Choosing vCenter Settings for Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP)
Step 10

Entering Networking Information for the Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP)
Step 11

Entering the Public VIP Address
Step 12

Entering the Private VIP Address
Step 13

Entering the Webex Common Site and Administration Site URLs
Step 14

Confirming that the Network is Configured Correctly
Step 15

Deploying Virtual Machines Manually
Step 16

Checking the System

Deploying the OVA File From the VMware vSphere Client

The OVA template creates two virtual NICs for each virtual machine. However, only the Administration virtual machines uses both virtual NICs. The other Cisco Webex Meetings Server (CWMS) virtual machines use only one virtual NIC and the other one is disconnected.

This procedure is provided as a general guidance. The screens you see during the OVA deployment depends upon your vCenter, storage, and networking configuration, and might be different from what is described in this procedure. See your VMware vSphere documentation for complete information about the OVA wizard.

Before you begin

Obtain the Cisco Webex Meetings Server OVA file for your system and place it in a location that is accessible from VMware vSphere. Use the VMware vSphere client to deploy the Administration virtual machine for your system.

You must use VMware vCenter to manage the ESXi hosts on which the Cisco Webex Meetings Server system is deployed. Using the vSphere client, sign in to vCenter and deploy the OVA file for the Admin virtual machine.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to your VMware vSphere client.

Be sure to sign in as a user that includes administrator privileges: to deploy, configure, power on or off, and delete virtual machines.

Step 2

Go to File > Deploy OVF Template...

Step 3

Click Browse and navigate to the OVA file location, or enter the URL for the OVA serve location, and then click Next.

Click the Cisco Webex Meetings Server link to visit a Web page with detailed information about this system.

Step 4

Read the End User License Agreement, click Accept, then click Next.

Step 5

Navigate to and select the location in the vCenter inventory where you want to place the Admin virtual machine.

Step 6

Enter the name of the virtual machine for your system size and select Next. For more information about selecting the correct size for your company, see General Information for System Deployment.

If you select automatic deployment (recommended), we deploy the virtual machines for you. If you choose manual deployment (required for a 2000 concurrent users system), you must deploy each of the virtual machines by using the same wizard.

We recommend that you include the type in the virtual machine name; for example, include "Admin" in your Admin virtual machine name to easily identify it in your vCenter inventory.

All the internal virtual machines for your system must be in the same subnet as the Admin virtual machine. Depending on the system size you select, you might need one or more media and web internal virtual machines.

Step 7

From the drop-down list, select the virtual machine for your system size and select Next.

Step 8

Navigate the vCenter inventory to select the ESXi host or cluster where you want to deploy the virtual machines, and then click Next.

Step 9

If the cluster contains a resource pool, select the resource pool where you want to deploy the OVA template and select Next.

Resource pools share CPU and memory resources working with VMware features such as DRS or vMotion. Resource pools must be dedicated to a single ESXi Host. VMware resource pools are not recommended for use with Cisco Webex Meetings Server.

Step 10

Select the datastore for your virtual machine and the kind of provisioning for your virtual machine.

You must select Thick Provisioning and create the maximum virtual disk space required for your system. With Thin Provisioning, VMware allocates the file system space on an as-needed basis that can result in poor performance. Lazy zero is sufficient and eager zero is acceptable, but eager zero will take more time to complete.

Step 11

In the Destination Networks column, choose a destination network for each source network, and then click Next.

Note 

Both the VM Network and the VIP Network must be mapped to the same value in the Destination Network column. You can ignore the warning message about multiple source networks mapped to the same host network.

Step 12

Enter the following information for the virtual machine, then click Next:

  • Hostname of the virtual machine (do not include the domain here)

  • Domain for the virtual machine

  • IPv4 address (Eth0) of the virtual machine

  • Subnet mask of the virtual machine

  • Gateway IP address

  • Primary DNS server that contains entries for the hostname and IP address of this virtual machine

  • Secondary DNS server that contains entries for the hostname and IP address of this virtual machine (A system with only one DNS server configured is at risk, because it creates a single point-of-failure. We recommend that you configure a secondary DNS server to create network redundancy.)

  • Language displayed during the install process, following the power on of this virtual machine

Note 

To avoid DNS issues, you can test the URLs and IP addresses before you start the OVA deployment. The deployment fails if there are errors.

Step 13

Confirm the information that you have entered and if there are any mistakes, click Back and change the values.

Step 14

If you are manually upgrading a system, click Finish and go to Upgrading Your System Manually. Otherwise, check Power on after deployment and click Finish.

Copying data from the original system to the upgrade system by using manual deployment should be performed after the upgraded system is deployed, but not yet powered on.

Step 15

If you are deploying an Admin virtual machine, go to vCenter and open a console window for the virtual machine.

If we can confirm connectivity, a green checkmark appears.

If there is a problem, a red X appears. Fix the error and re-attempt the OVA deployment.

Step 16

Write down the case-sensitive URL displayed in the console window.

You require this URL to continue the system deployment.

Rebooting the system, before the configuration is complete, generates a new passcode and you must use the URL with the new passcode.

What to do next

If you are performing a manual deployment, we recommend that you deploy the rest of the virtual machines for your system at this time. This avoids any issues such as time outs when powering on virtual machines.

If the deployment is successful, continue with system deployment in a browser window.

If the deployment failed, see Checking Your Networking Configuration After a Failed OVA Deployment.

Checking Your Networking Configuration After a Failed OVA Deployment

Confirm the networking entries for the virtual machine.


Important

Do not use Edit Settings... for any of the virtual machines in your system, other than after a failed deployment. Once the system is up and running, you must use the Webex Administration site to make any further edits to virtual machine settings. If you use your vSphere client, those changes will not be accepted by the system.


Note

For detailed steps, see your VMware vSphere documentation.

Procedure

Step 1

In the vSphere client, select Power > Shut Down Guest on the virtual machine.

Step 2

Find the virtual machine in the Inventory and right-click Edit settings....

Step 3

Select the Options tab.

Step 4

Select Properties and confirm that all the networking information has been entered correctly. If any changes are required, redeploy the OVA with the correct settings.

One possible networking issue is that the VLAN routing is not set up correctly for the ESXi host. Because the virtual machine is on that VLAN, the virtual machine won't have network connectivity. From the network where the ESXi host resides, you should be able to ping the default gateway IP address of the VLAN you will be using for the virtual machines in your system.

Selecting Your Language for Setup

Determine your preferred language for setting up the system.


Note

Do not close this browser window until the system deployment is complete. If you close the browser early, it might be necessary to restart the deployment.

CWMS System is the default name of the data center after an upgrade; it is not translated from English in any of the other languages.

Before you begin

Be sure you have deployed the Admin virtual machine from VMware vCenter. See Deploying the OVA File From the VMware vSphere Client

Procedure

Step 1

Select the language from the drop-down menu.

Step 2

Select Next.

Confirming the Size of Your System

You selected the size of your system when you deployed the Admin virtual machine by using the OVA file.

Procedure

Step 1

To confirm that the system size you selected during the OVA deployment is correct, click Next.

Step 2

If the system size is incorrect, click I want to change System Size.

Step 3

Using your VMware vSphere client, locate the Admin virtual machine with the incorrect system size.

Step 4

Click Power > Shut Down Guest for the virtual machine.

Step 5

Right-click the virtual machine and click Delete from Disk.

Step 6

Redeploy the OVA file and select the Admin virtual machine for the correct system size.

Choosing What System to Install

Procedure

Step 1

Determine the type of installation.

  • If you are installing this system for the first time, then choose Install a primary system.
  • If you have installed a primary system and are adding a redundant High Availability (HA) system, then choose Create a High Availability (HA) redundant system.

Do not attempt install a HA system before installing the primary system, as you cannot use the HA system unless the primary system has first been installed.

Step 2

Select Next.

Extending System Capacity During Deployment

During the deployment of a large system, you can extend the system from 2000 up to 4000 ports. This option appears only for large system deployments.

Procedure

Step 1

Check the Create extension units check box.

Step 2

Select the number of extension units from the drop-down list, and then click Next.

Note 

Each extension unit adds up to 700 more ports, up to the maximum 4000 ports for the system. When you add 3 extension units, you double the system capacity by adding 700 + 700 + 600 ports.

Choosing the Type of Deployment

You can choose automatic or manual deployment of the system virtual machines. Your choice of automatic or manual deployment depends on the following considerations:

  • If you have time constraints, an automatic deployment is faster than a manual deployment.

  • If you prefer step-by-step guidance, this guidance is provided during an automatic deployment.

  • If you are familiar with VMware vCenter and do not want to provide us your vCenter credentials, select manual deployment.

We recommend that you select Automatic unless you are deploying a 2000-user system, which always requires a manual deployment.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose one of the deployment options:

  • Automatic: We deploy all the virtual machines required for your system.

  • Manual: You manually deploy each virtual machine by using VMware vCenter. After answering a few questions about your system, you are provided with a list of the virtual machines required for your system.

Step 2

Click Next.

Providing VMware vCenter Credentials

If you select an automatic deployment, Cisco Webex Meetings Server requires your vCenter credentials to deploy the virtual machines for you.

Before you begin

All the ESXi hosts for your system must belong to the same VMware vCenter.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the secure https URL for the vCenter where the system will be deployed.

Step 2

Enter the username that we will use to deploy the virtual machines. The vCenter user must include administrator privileges that allow that administrator to deploy, configure, power on and off, and delete virtual machines.

Step 3

Enter the password for this username.

Step 4

Select Next.

Choosing vCenter Settings for Your Media and Web Virtual Machines

The media virtual machine is required for small, medium, and large systems. The web virtual machine is required for large systems.

Procedure

Step 1

From the drop-down list, choose the ESXi host for the media or web virtual machine.

Step 2

Choose the datastore for the media or web virtual machine.

Step 3

Choose the virtual machine port group for the media or web virtual machine.

Cisco recommends you choose the same port group that you selected for the Admin virtual machine.

Step 4

Select Next.

Entering Networking Information for the Media and Web Virtual Machines

After you enter the fully qualified domain name of the media and web virtual machines, Cisco Webex Meetings Server populates the networking information.


Note

The media and web virtual machines must be on the same subnet as the Admin virtual machine. Do not edit the domain, IPv4 gateway, subnet mask, or DNS servers for the media or web virtual machines.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the FQDN of the media and web virtual machines.

Step 2

Select Next.

Adding Public Access

If you add public access by using IRP, users outside the firewall can host or attend meetings from the Internet or mobile devices. IRP virtual machines can be added to a system at any time on a per-data center basis. Adding IRP to one data center in a Multi-data Center (MDC) environment gives users outside the firewall access to the entire system. To prevent external access, all IRP virtual machines must be removed from a system.

For security reasons, we recommend that you locate the Internet Reverse Proxy on a subnet different from the subnet occupied by the Administration virtual machine. This ensures network level isolation between the Internet Reverse Proxy and your internal (Admin and media, if applicable) virtual machines.

In a Multi-data Center (MDC) environment, joined data centers cannot be expanded or upgraded. Secondary data centers must be removed from the MDC and expanded or upgraded as Single-data Centers (SDC). After you modify the data centers and verify that the data center sizes and versions match, you can restore the MDC environment.

Before you begin

It is not necessary to connect your storage server to an Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP) server.

If there is a firewall between the Administration virtual machines and the IRP virtual machines, the temporary IP address must be allowed through the firewall.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose whether or not external users can host or attend meetings.

  • If you want to add public access, confirm that Create an Internet Reverse Proxy virtual machine is selected.
  • If you want only internal users (those behind the company firewall) to host or attend meetings, then uncheck Create an Internet Reverse Proxy virtual machine.
Step 2

Select Next.

What to do next

Choosing vCenter Settings for Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP)

Before you begin

Verify that the firewall ports required by VMware vCenter are open so that vCenter can deploy the Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP) virtual machine. For more information on the required firewall ports, see the Cisco Webex Meetings Server Planning Guide for your release.

Procedure

Step 1

From the drop-down list, choose the ESXi host for the IRP virtual machine.

Step 2

Choose the datastore for the IRP.

Step 3

Choose the virtual machine port group.

Step 4

Select Next.

Entering Networking Information for the Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP)

Before you begin

Add the hostnames and IP addresses of Internet Reverse Proxy (IRP) servers in your DNS servers, to enable lookup from an external network.

If you have DNS servers to support lookup from internal networks, add the information to these servers too. This configuration enables a secure connection between your internal virtual machines and the IRP servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the following:

  • Fully qualified domain name (FQDN)

  • IPv4 gateway

  • IPv4 subnet mask

  • Primary DNS server IPv4 address

  • (Optional) Secondary DNS server IPv4 address

If you entered the hostname and IP address of the Internet Reverse Proxy virtual machine in your DNS servers, the IPv4 Address field populates automatically.

Step 2

Select Next.

Entering the Public VIP Address

  • This public VIP address must be visible from both the Internet and the internal network (split-horizon DNS only).

  • This public VIP address must be on the same subnet as the Internet Reverse proxy.

  • If you do not have a split-horizon DNS, then all users use the Public VIP address to host and attend meetings.

  • If you have a split-horizon DNS, and added public access, then external users use the Public VIP address to host and attend meetings.

For more information about non-split horizon and split-horizon DNS, and public access, see the Cisco Webex Meetings Server Planning Guide for your release.


Note

If you are creating a High Availability (HA) system, you do not need to reenter this information, as we will use the information you entered for the primary system.

Procedure

  • Enter the public VIP IPv4 address and select Next.

Entering the Private VIP Address

Administrators configure, monitor, and maintain the system from the Administration site URL that maps to the private VIP address.

If you have a split-horizon DNS, then internal users also use the Private VIP address to host and attend meetings.

If you are adding a High Availability (HA) system, you do not need to reenter this information; we will use the information you entered for the primary system.

Before you begin

The private virtual IP (VIP) address must be on the same subnet as your internal (Admin and Media, if applicable) virtual machines.

Procedure

  • Enter the IPv4 private VIP address and select Next.

Entering the Webex Common Site and Administration Site URLs

The Common Site URL allows users to schedule and host meetings, and access meeting recordings. The Administration Site URL provides management of the system. If you are adding a High Availability (HA) system, it is not necessary to reenter this information; the primary system URLs should match the HA system URLs.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the Webex Common Site and Webex Administration Site secure (https) URLs.

The Webex Common Site URL must be different from the Webex Administration URL.

Do not reuse the hostnames of the virtual machines in the hostname portion of the Webex URLs.

Step 2

Select Next.

Webex Site and Webex Administration URLs

Webex Site URL

Users access the Webex site URL to schedule, host, or attend meetings. This URL resolves to either the private VIP address or the public VIP address, depending on whether or not you are using a split-horizon DNS.

  • Resolves to the public VIP address for all users, when you do not have split-horizon DNS.

  • Resolves to the public VIP address for external users when you have split-horizon DNS.

  • Resolves to the private VIP address for internal users when you have split-horizon DNS.


Note

Ports 80 and 443 must be open for the Webex site URL.

Webex Administration URL

Administrators access the Webex Administration URL to configure, manage, and monitor the system. This URL resolves to the private VIP address.


Note

Ports 80 and 443 must be open for the Webex Administration URL.

Names for the Webex Site and Webex Administration URLs

You may choose almost any names for these URLs, comprising all lowercase characters. However, you cannot use the following as the hostname in the URLs:

  • the same name as the hostnames for any of the virtual machines in the system

  • authentication

  • client

  • companylogo

  • dispatcher

  • docs

  • elm-admin

  • elm-client-services

  • emails

  • maintenance

  • manager

  • orion

  • oriondata

  • oriontemp

  • nbr

  • npp

  • probe

  • reminder

  • ROOT

  • solr

  • TomcatROOT

  • upgradeserver

  • url0107ld

  • version

  • WBXService

  • webex

Confirming that the Network is Configured Correctly

This screen provides links to online help for the networking changes required for your system. The online help provides details on DNS server changes as well as firewall settings.

You must make the DNS server and firewall changes that allow us to test network connectivity.

If you have not done so already, complete the networking configuration and select Next.

If you are testing an automatic deployment, we deploy the virtual machines required for your system when you select Next.

If you are testing a manual deployment, enter the hostnames for your virtual machines and deploy them (if you have not deployed them already).

When the deployment is complete, test them by powering them on and verifying that all the virtual machines powered on successfully.

Deploying the Virtual Machines Automatically

Based on the information that you entered earlier, we deploy the virtual machines required for your system.

The deployment requires several minutes to complete. Do not leave this page until all the virtual machines have deployed and are powered on, unless error messages appear.

When the status column shows all green checks, the deployment is complete with no errors. You can change the FQDNs for the virtual machines by clicking Detect virtual machines.

Procedure

Step 1

(Optional) After the status column shows all green checks, click Next.

Step 2

If errors are indicated, fix the errors.

You can click Download log file to obtain the log file for the deployment. The log provides information that you can use to troubleshoot a failed deployment.

Step 3

Power off and delete the virtual machines involved with the errors.
Step 4

Click Next to redeploy the system.

Deploying Virtual Machines Manually

After providing information about the virtual machines in the system, connect to each of the virtual machines. Virtual machines for extension units appear in this list.


Note

Do not leave this browser page until the system is connected to all of the virtual machines, unless a connection fails with an error message to indicate the problem.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) for the virtual machines required for your system.

You entered the Admin virtual machine FQDN earlier, when you deployed it from the OVA file.

Step 2

If you have not done so already, using VMware vCenter, deploy the virtual machines.

Step 3

Power on all of the virtual machines and verify that they powered on successfully.

Step 4

Click Detect virtual machines.

We establish connections to these virtual machines. This can take several minutes.

Step 5

Wait until the Connected status appears for each the virtual machine.

Step 6

After the status column shows all green checks, click Next.

Step 7

If errors are indicated, fix the errors.

You can click Download log file to obtain the log file for the deployment. The log provides information that you can use to troubleshoot a failed deployment.

Step 8

Power off and delete the virtual machines involved with the errors.
Step 9

Click Next to redeploy the system.

Checking the System

The system check verifies the configuration parameters of your system. This includes confirming that the virtual machines have the required minimum configuration, and validating the Webex site and Webex Administration URLs.

The system check takes several minutes to complete. Do not leave this page until all the checks have been completed successfully, or the system check fails and shows error messages indicating the problem.

If you reload the page before the checks are complete, you are returned to the first page of this system deployment. When the checks are completed successfully, the first page of configuration utility appears.

The Administration site URL used during the deployment process is the Administration virtual machine hostname. During basic configuration, the hostname is replaced with the Administration site URL. As a result, the first time you sign in to the Administration site, the system might prompt you to accept the certificate exception.

Procedure

  • Complete one of the following:

    • If there are no errors and the status shows all green checks, select Next and continue with Configuring an Email (SMTP) Server. In rare cases, you might see Not tested. This does not mean that there are any problems with your virtual machines. It simply states that system checks were not completed; for example, the entry might display because there was a temporary loss of network connectivity. Once you complete the deployment, you can sign in to the Administration site and check these resources.
    • If there is a problem with network connectivity, verify that the Webex Site URL, Administration URL, and IP addresses are entered correctly. Verify that these sites are in the same subnet, and the parameters have been correctly entered in the DNS servers.
    • If there are problems with your system meeting the minimum system capacity, you have two options:

      • Power down all the virtual machines from VMware vCenter and manually delete them. Then retry the system deployment on a system with resources that meet or exceed the minimum requirements.

      • Proceed with your current installation. If you do, you must acknowledge that you forgo the right to request technical support from Cisco. Confirm by checking the error message check box and select Next.

    • If there are any problems with one or more of your virtual machines, power off the virtual machines with errors and manually delete them by using the VMware vCenter. Fix the issues and retry the system deployment.

  • Select Continue to go to the basic configuration where you begin by setting up the mail server (Configuring an Email (SMTP) Server) and identifying an administrator (Creating Administrator Accounts). If another administrator will complete the basic configuration, send this URL to that administrator.

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