Installation requirements

This chapter provides information about the general guidelines and minimum requirements for installing Crosswork Data Gateway on VMware vCenter and OpenStack.

Preinstallation checklist for Crosswork Data Gateway

The checklist helps you gather the information required to complete the installation and verify that all system requirements are met and required ports are enabled.

Before installing Crosswork Data Gateway, complete the preinstallation checklist.

  1. Determine the data center where you plan on deploying Crosswork Data Gateway, and gather the IP address(s) you want to use for the deployment. For information on the required settings, and details about your environment that you must provide during the deployment, see Proxy server requirements.

  2. Ensure that the host server meets the resource requirements. See Resource requirements for Crosswork Data Gateway.

  3. Enable ports that are required for Crosswork Data Gateway to operate. See Required ports.

  4. Determine if a proxy server may be required in your environment. See Required ports.

  5. Decide whether to enroll Crosswork Data Gateway with Crosswork Cloud during the Day 0 installation or after Crosswork Data Gateway has been deployed. Cisco recommends using the autoenrollment procedure during the Day 0 installation for efficient results. See Configuration parameters required for Crosswork Data Gateway deployment.

Resource requirements for Crosswork Data Gateway

This section specifies the software, hardware, and network resource requirements for deploying Crosswork Data Gateway on supported virtualization platforms. These requirements are consistent across all virtualization platforms, ensuring a successful deployment and optimal performance when met.

VM requirements

Table 1. Resource requirements

Requirement

Description

Data Center

VMware

  • VMware vCenter server 6.7, ESXi 6.5

  • VMware vCenter Server 7.0.3, ESXi 6.5 and 6.7

OpenStack

OpenStack OSP16

Note

 

While these versions are used for testing, we are not responsible for applying security patches or other updates. You must coordinate with VMware and monitor OpenStack forums to stay informed about the latest security fixes and feature improvements.

Memory

32 GB

Total Disk space (Boot disk + Data disk)

74 GB (50 GB + 24 GB)

Note

 

Data disk space is an optional requirement. For information on the disk sizing, see the Data Disk Size parameter's description in Configuration parameters required for Crosswork Data Gateway deployment.

vCPU

8

Supported interfaces

The number of interfaces configured on Crosswork Data Gateway affects the following:

  • Traffic distribution: Determines which type of traffic flows through each interface.

  • IP addressing: Defines how many IP addresses are required to uniquely identify the Crosswork Data Gateway.

  • Port usage: Specifies the type of traffic that must be allowed through each IP address, port, or network connection.

These tables provide detailed configuration options and requirements for each interface setup.

Table 2. Supported interfaces

Number of vNICs

vNIC0

vNIC1

vNIC2

Description

1 vNIC

Management traffic

—

—

All traffic is handled through a single vNIC.

2 vNICs

Management traffic

Southbound data traffic

Control/Northbound External data traffic

—

vNIC0 handles management traffic, and vNIC1 handles both control/northbound external data and southbound data traffic.

3 vNICs

Management traffic

Control/Northbound External data traffic

Southbound data traffic

vNIC0 handles management traffic, vNIC1 handles control/northbound external data traffic, and vNIC2 handles southbound data traffic.

Traffic types

  • Management traffic: Used for accessing the Interactive Console and troubleshooting the Crosswork Data Gateway VM.

  • Control/Northbound external data traffic: Manages the configuration of collection jobs that are received from Crosswork Cloud and forwards the collected data back to the cloud.


    Important

    For Crosswork Data Gateway to connect to the cloud, the control or data interface must have internet access.

  • Southbound data traffic: Handles device management and telemetry data.

Deployment considerations

When deploying with multiple vNICs, you can assign traffic types to the different vNICs based on your network design. For instance, in a 2 vNIC deployment, you can allocate these traffic types:

  • vNIC0: Management traffic

  • vNIC1: Control/Northbound external data traffic or Southbound data traffic

Required ports

The ports listed in this section are required to only enable the base Crosswork Data Gateway VM. Depending on the application that is running the Crosswork Data Gateway, additional ports may be enabled.

This table shows the minimum set of ports that are needed for Crosswork Data Gateway to operate.

Table 3. Ports to be opened for the Management traffic

Port

Protocol

Used for...

Direction

22

TCP

SSH server

Inbound

22

Note

 

The SCP port is configurable.

TCP

SCP client

Outbound

123

UDP

NTP Client

Outbound

53

UDP

DNS Client

Outbound

443

TCP

Crosswork Cloud Controller

Outbound
Table 4. Ports to be opened for Control or Northbound External Data traffic

Port

Protocol

Used for...

Direction

179

TCP

BGP

Outbound

179

TCP

BGP

Inbound

161

UDP

SNMP

Outbound

2055

UDP

Netflow

Inbound

Proxy server requirements

Many production environments do not allow direct connectivity to public Internet sites. If your environment requires an HTTP or HTTPS proxy to access URLs on the public Internet, enable Crosswork Data Gateway to use the configured proxy server. Crosswork Data Gateway connects to the Crosswork Cloud service through this proxy server. If you want to understand whether a proxy server is required, consult with your network administrator.

If a proxy server is required, configure the proxy server details on the Crosswork Data Gateway using one of the following methods:

Table 5. Methods for configuring the proxy server

Method

Configuration details

Reference

(Recommended) During Installation

Enter the proxy server credentials during installation.

See Controller and Proxy Settings in Configuration parameters required for Crosswork Data Gateway deployment

After installation (Interactive Console)

Configure the proxy server from the Interactive Console of the Crosswork Data Gateway.

See Configure control proxy