Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 Installation Guide

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Book Title

Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 Installation Guide

Chapter Title

Installing and Upgrading Cisco Prime IP Express

Results

Updated:
March 11, 2019

Chapter: Installing and Upgrading Cisco Prime IP Express

Installing and Upgrading Cisco Prime IP Express

This chapter contains the following sections:

Installing Cisco Prime IP Express

Procedure

Step 1

Log into the target machine using an account that has administrative privileges:

  • Windows—Account in the Administrators group

Windows—Close all open applications, including any antivirus software.

Step 2

Download and install the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.6 or later, or the equivalent Java Development Kit (JDK), if you have not already done so. These are available from the Oracle website.

Note 

On Windows, add the full path of the bin subdirectory of your Java installation folder to your PATH environment variable; for example, C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jdk1.6\bin.

Step 3

If you are not configuring secure login to the web UI, skip to Step 4. If you are configuring secure login, you must create a keystore file by using the Java keytool utility, which is located in the bin subdirectory of the Java installation (see Step 2). Use the utility to define a self-signed certificate, or to request and later import a certificate from an external signing authority:

  1. To create a keystore file containing a self-signed certificate, run this command and respond to the prompts: 

    

> keytool -genkey -alias tomcat -keyalg RSA -keystore k-file 

Enter keystore password: password 

What is your first and last name? [Unknown]: name

What is the name of your organizational unit? [Unknown]: org-unit 

What is the name of your organization? [Unknown]: org-name 

What is the name of your City or Locality? [Unknown]: local 

What is the name of your State or Province? [Unknown]: state 

What is the two-letter country code for this unit? [Unknown]: cc 

Is CN=name, OU=org-unit, O=org-name, L=local, ST=state, C=cc correct? [no]: yes 

Enter key password for <tomcat> (RETURN if same as keystore password):

    The keystore filename (k-file) is its fully qualified path. You will be entering the keystore path and password in Step 16.

    Note 

    You must use 128-bit SSL to disable weak ciphers in the web UI. For more information, see Enhancing Security for Web UI.

  2. To create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) that you will submit to the Certificate Authority (CA) when you request a certificate, create the keystore file as in the previous substep, then execute this command: 

    > keytool -certreq -keyalg RSA -alias tomcat -file certreq.cer -keystore k-file

    Submit the resulting certreq.cer file to the CA. Once you receive the certificate from the CA, first download the Chain Certificate from the CA, then import the Chain Certificate and your new Certificate into the keystore file, as follows: 

    
> keytool -import -alias root -keystore k-file -trustcacerts -file chain-cert-file 

> keytool -import -alias tomcat -keystore k-file -trustcacerts -file new-cert-file

    For details on the keytool utility, see the documentation at the Java website of Oracle. For details on the keystore file and Tomcat, see the documentation at the website of the Apache Software Foundation.

Caution 

The Cisco Prime IP Express installation program for Windows does not try to modify ACLs to restrict access to the installed files and directories. If you want to restrict access to these files and directories, use the native Microsoft utilities to manually change file and directory permissions. See Modifying ACLs in Windows Installations.

Step 4

Load the installation CD, or browse to the network resource where the Cisco Prime IP Express software is located. If you download a distribution file from the Cisco website, run it from a different directory than where you will install Cisco Prime IP Express.

  • Windows—The cpipe_version-windows.exe file is a self-extracting executable file that places the setup file and other files in the directory where you run it. (If you are not configured for Autostart, run the setup.exe file in that directory.) The Welcome to Cisco Prime IP Express window appears.

    Click Next. The second welcome window introduces the setup program and reminds you to exit all current programs, including virus scanning software. If any programs are running, click Cancel, close these programs, and return to the start of Step 4. If you already exited all programs, click Next.

Step 5

Specify whether you want to install Cisco Prime IP Express in the local or regional cluster mode (see About Cisco Prime IP Express):

Note 

Since a regional server is required for license management, install the regional server first so that you can register the local to the regional. If you face any problem with synchronizing the regional cluster to the local cluster after registration, unset and set the password on the regional cluster, and sync again.

Tip 

Include a network time service in your configuration to avoid time differences between the local and regional clusters. This method ensures that the aggregated data at the regional server appears consistently. The maximum allowable time drift between the regional and local clusters is five minutes. If the time skew exceeds five minutes, then the installation process will not be able to correctly register the server with the regional. In this case, unset and set the password on the regional cluster, and sync again.

  • Windows—Keep the default Cisco Prime IP Express Local or choose Cisco Prime IP Express Regional. Click Next. The Select Program Folder appears, where you determine the program folder in which to store the program shortcuts in the Start menu. Accept the default, enter another name, or choose a name from the Existing Folders list. Click Next.

Step 6

Note these Cisco Prime IP Express installation default directories and make any appropriate changes to meet your needs:

Note 

The installation directory path with spaces is not supported on non-Windows platforms and not recommended on Windows (except for the "Program Files" path).

Note 

If you are upgrading, the upgrade process autodetects the installation directory from the previous release.

Windows default locations:

Caution 

Do not specify the \Program Files (x86) or \Program Files or \ProgramData for the location of the Cisco Prime IP Express data, logs, and temporary files. If you do this, the behavior of Cisco Prime IP Express may be unpredictable because of Windows security.

  • Local cluster

    • Program files (32-bit OS)—C:\Program Files\Cisco Prime IP Express\Local

    • Program files (64-bit OS)—C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco Prime IP Express\Local

    • Data files—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local\data

    • Log files—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local\logs

    • Temporary files—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local\temp

  • Regional cluster

    • Program files (32-bit OS)—C:\Program Files\Cisco Prime IP Express\ Regional

    • Program files (64-bit OS)—C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco Prime IP Express\ Regional

    • Data files—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\ Regional\data

    • Log files—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\ Regional\logs

    • Temporary files—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\ Regional\temp

Step 7

If there are no defined administrators, create an administrator by providing the username and password. You have to confirm the password entered.

If you are installing a regional, continue; else go to Step 10.

Step 8

Enter the filename, as an absolute path, for your base license (see License Files).

Note 

Ensure that you use the absolute path and not a relative path for your base license as there are chances that there might be changes to the default path from what you started the install with.

Entering the filename during installation is optional. However, if you do not enter the filename now, you must enter it when you first log into the web UI or CLI.

Note 

If you install Cisco Prime IP Express using a Remote Desktop Connection to the Windows Server, you will not be able to enter the license information during the installation. Cisco Prime IP Express will reject the licenses as invalid. You must therefore skip the license information step, and add the license after the installation completes, using either the web UI or CLI. See Starting Cisco Prime IP Express for details.

Step 9

Register the local to the regional by providing the regional IP address and SCP port.

After the local is registered to the regional, it can provide those services for which the licenses are present in the regional.

Note 

If you face any problem synchronizing the regional cluster to the local cluster after registration, unset and set the password on the regional cluster, and sync again. This can happen due to time skew of more than five minutes between local and regional clusters.

Include a network time service in your configuration to avoid time differences between the local and regional clusters. This method ensures that the aggregated data at the regional server appears consistently. The maximum allowable time drift between the regional and local clusters is five minutes. If the time skew exceeds five minutes, then the installation process will not be able to correctly register the server with the regional. In this case, unset and set the password on the regional cluster, and sync again.

Step 10

After you register local to the regional, you can select the required services from the licensed services.

Note 

If a service is not selected, upgrade process will use the existing configuration. To remove a service wait until the upgrade process is completed.

Step 11

Choose whether to archive the existing binaries and database in case this installation does not succeed. The default and recommended choice is Yes or y:

If you choose to archive the files, specify the archive directory. The default directories are:

  • Windows—Local cluster (C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local.sav); Regional cluster (C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Regional.sav). Click Next.

Step 12

Choose the appropriate installation type: server and client (the default), or client-only:

  • Windows—Choose Both server and client (default) or Client only. Click Next. The Select Port window appears.

Note 

Choose Client only in a situation where you want the client software running on a different machine than the protocol servers. Be aware that you must then set up a connection to the protocol servers from the client.

Step 13

Enter CCM management SCP port number that the server agent uses for internal communication between servers. The default value is 1234.

Step 14

Enter the location of the Java installation (JRE) 1.6 or JDK selected in Step 2. (The installation or upgrade process tries to detect the location.):

  • Windows—A dialog box reminds you of the Java requirements. Click OK and then choose the default Java directory or another one. Click OK. The Select Connection Type window appears.

Note 

Do not include the bin subdirectory in the path. If you install a new Java version or change its location, rerun the Cisco Prime IP Express installer then specify the new location in this step.

Step 15

Choose whether to enable the web UI to use a nonsecure (HTTP) or secure (HTTPS) connection for web UI logins:

  • Windows—Choose Non-secure/HTTP (default), Secure/HTTPS (requires JSSE), or Both HTTP and HTTPS.

Enabling the secure HTTPS port configures security for connecting to the Apache Tomcat web server (see Step 3 for configuration). (To change the connection type, rerun the installer, and then make a different choice at this step.)

  • If you choose HTTPS, or HTTP and HTTPS, click Next and continue with Step 17.

  • If you choose the default HTTP connection, click Next, and go to Step 18.

Step 16

If you enabled HTTPS web UI connectivity, you are prompted for the location of the necessary keystore and keystore files:

  • For the keystore location, specify the fully qualified path to the keystore file that contains the certificate(s) to be used for the secure connection to the Apache Tomcat web server. This is the keystore file that you created in Step 3.

  • For the keystore password, specify the password given when creating the keystore file. On Windows, click Next.

Caution 

Do not include a dollar sign ($) in the keystore password as it will result in an invalid configuration on the Apache Tomcat web server.

Step 17

Enter a port number for the web UI connection. The defaults are:

  • HTTP local cluster—8080

  • HTTP regional cluster—8090

  • HTTPS local cluster—8443

  • HTTPS regional cluster—8453

On Windows, click Next.

Step 18

Choose Yes if you want to enable the Cisco Prime IP Express web services.

Step 19

Select the security mode to be configured. Optional. Allow fallback to unsecure connection is selected by default. Click Next.

Step 20

If you are installing a regional, select Yes to enable BYOD service.

The Cisco Prime IP Express installation process begins. Status messages report that the installer is transferring files and running scripts. This process may take a few minutes:

  • Windows—The Setup Complete window appears. Choose Yes, I want to restart my computer now or No, I will restart my computer later, and then click Finish.

Note 

When you upgrade Cisco Prime IP Express, the upgrade process takes place during the installation. Therefore, the installation and upgrade processes take a longer time depending on the number of scopes, prefixes, and reservations that you have configured.

Step 21

Verify the status of the Cisco Prime IP Express servers:

  • Windows—In the Services control panel, verify that the IP Express Local Server Agent or IP Express Regional Server Agent is running after rebooting the system when the installation has completed successfully.

If the upgrade fails, you can revert to the earlier Cisco Prime IP Express version. For details about reverting to the earlier version, see the Reverting to an Earlier Product Version.

Upgrade Considerations

Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 supports direct upgrades from Cisco Prime IP Express 8.2 or Cisco Prime Network Registrar 7.2 (Windows), and later, on the same platform .

Cisco Prime IP Express does not support the Red Hat 4.0, 3.0, and Solaris 8 and 9 operating systems. Back up your Cisco Prime IP Express data and upgrade your operating system before installing this latest release. (See System Requirements for currently supported operating systems.)

When you install the software, the installation program automatically detects an existing version and upgrades the software to the latest release. The program first prompts you to archive existing Cisco Prime IP Express data. If the program encounters errors during the upgrade, it restores the software to the earlier release.


Note

  • If you are running the Authoritative DNS server, the upgrade process (from Cisco Prime Network Registrar pre-8.2 to 8.3.7) could take a while depending on the number of zones and resource records because of the database changes made to Cisco Prime IP Express 8.2.

  • There are several significant changes with respect to DHCP failover support when upgrading from a version prior to Cisco Prime Network Registrar 8.2 to Cisco Prime IP Express 8.2 or later. For more information, see the Upgrade Considerations for DHCP Failover section in Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 Installation Guide .

  • Either cluster of a DHCP failover pair can be upgraded from Cisco Prime IP Express 8.2 to Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 and operate successfully with the other cluster that is running Cisco Prime IP Express 8.2. You must not run the DHCP failover cross-version for an extended period, and must upgrade both the main and the backup clusters to Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 at the earliest.

During an upgrade, Cisco Prime IP Express now displays any pre-existing HTTPS configuration defaults for the keystore filename and password to enable a secure connection for web UI logins. If you have enabled HTTPS, and are unaware of the keystore filename and password at the time of the upgrade, you can preserve HTTPS connectivity during the upgrade, and re-enter the defaults when prompted.

DNS Upgrade Considerations

Before upgrading from a 8.2 to post-8.2 version:

  • Staged edits will be lost after the upgrade. All the staged edits must be synced to DNS before upgrading.

  • RR upgrades are sourced from a valid AUTHZONE.db. If that database is corrupt, missing, or incomplete, the resulting upgrade will miss some or all RRs. The most common situation is upgrading from a shadow backup or database backup, or a dataset that needs to be rebuilt.

  • Ensure that the database is fully operational before upgrade.

Upgrading on Windows

To upgrade to Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7:

Procedure

Step 1

Ensure that your environment meets the current system requirements (see System Requirements).

Step 2

Use the currently installed release to complete any configuration changes in progress, so that the existing database is consistent before you perform the upgrade.

Step 3

Uninstall the previous version of Cisco Prime IP Express. Your existing configuration data will remain in place after the uninstall.

Step 4

Back up your Cisco Prime IP Express data on a different machine or a shared network device and upgrade your operating system to Windows Server 2008. See documentation supplied by Microsoft for information about how to install/upgrade Windows servers.

Note 

If you install Windows Server 2008 instead of upgrading and the disk is reformatted, you must restore the Cisco Prime IP Express data to the C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\{Local | Regional}\data folder.

Step 5

Install Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3.7 on the Windows Server 2008 machine. For installation instructions, see Installing Cisco Prime IP Express. Ensure that you specify the path where your existing data can be found, for example, C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\{Local | Regional}, to run the upgrade.

Note 

Ensure that you keep the old Cisco IP Express configuration and license information handy as you may need to re-enter this information during the Cisco Prime IP Express installation.

We recommend upgrading the regional cluster before upgrading any local clusters, because an older version of a regional cluster cannot connect to newer local clusters.

Reverting to an Earlier Product Version

The Cisco Prime IP Express installation program provides the capability to archive the existing product configuration and data when you upgrade to a newer version and to revert to an earlier version of the product. If you chose this option, and the upgrade process fails, use the following procedure to revert to the earlier product version and configuration:


Caution

To complete this process, you must have access to the product installer and license key or license file for the earlier Cisco Prime IP Express version. Any attempt to proceed otherwise may destabilize the product.

If the installer had successfully performed the upgrade but you want to roll back to the earlier version at some later point, this procedure can result in network destabilization and data loss; for example, you will lose updates made to the Cisco Prime IP Express database after the upgrade, including DHCP lease data and DNS dynamic updates.

Procedure

Step 1

Verify that the archive directory that you specified during the upgrade process exists and is valid. These examples assume the default archive location provided during installation. Ensure that the path to the cnr_data_archive directory reflects the value of the archive directory that you specified during installation. If you are using:

  • Windows—C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\{Local.sav | Regional.sav}

Step 2

Uninstall Cisco Prime IP Express using the procedure described in the Uninstalling Cisco Prime IP Express.

Step 3

Other than the contents of the specified archive directory, delete any remaining files and directories in the Cisco Prime IP Express installation paths.

Step 4

Reinstall the original version of Cisco Prime IP Express. Ensure that you follow the reinstallation procedure described in Cisco Prime IP Express Installation Guide that is specific to the original product version.

Step 5

After the installation ends successfully, stop the Cisco Prime IP Express server agent:

  • Windows— Local: net stop nwreglocal

    Regional: net stop nwregregion

Step 6

Delete the contents of the Cisco Prime IP Express install-path/data subdirectory.

Step 7

Extract the contents of the backup file to the reinstalled version of Cisco Prime IP Express.

  1. Change to the root directory of the filesystem. On Windows, this directory would be the base drive (such as C:\).

  2. Using the fully qualified path to the archive directory, extract the archive. These examples assume the default archive location provided during installation.

  • Windows—Copy the C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\{Local.sav|Regional.sav}\cnr_data_archive\ contents to the target Cisco Prime IP Express data directory. The following assume the default installation locations for a local cluster: 

    xcopy/s C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local.sav\cnr_data_archive 
C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local\data\
    Note 

    There is also a cnr_file_archive directory which contains the installed files and generally this should not be recovered over a re-installation.

Step 8

Start the Cisco Prime IP Express server agent:

  • Windows—Local: net start nwreglocal

    Regional: net start nwregregion

Step 9

Verify if the previous configuration, including scopes and zones, is intact.

Moving an Installation to a New Machine

Before you begin, ensure that the new machine meets the current system requirements (see System Requirements).

To move an existing Cisco Prime IP Express installation to a new machine on the same platform:

Procedure

Step 1

Stop the server agent on the old machine.

  • Windows— Local: net stop nwreglocal

    Regional: net stop nwregregion

Step 2

Zip up the data directory on the old machine.

Step 3

Copy the zip file over to the same location on the new machine and unzip the file.

Step 4

Install Cisco Prime IP Express on the new machine. The installation will detect an upgrade and will do so based on the copied data.

This procedure preserves your original data on the old machine.

Step 5

Login to the web UI and navigate to the List Licenses page under the Administration menu.

Step 6

Edit the regional server information as necessary. Ensure that the regional server information provided is where you would like to register your new machine.

Step 7

Click the Register button to register with the regional server.

Moving a Regional Cluster to a New Machine

License management is done from the regional cluster when Cisco Prime IP Express is installed. The regional server is installed first and all licenses are loaded in the regional server. When the local cluster is installed, it registers with the regional server to obtain its license.

When you want to move a regional cluster to a new machine, you need to back up the data on the old regional cluster and copy the data to the same location on the new machine.


Note

When the regional server goes down or is taken out of service, the local cluster is not aware of this action. If the outage lasts for less than 24 hours, it results in no impact on the functioning of the local clusters. However, if the regional cluster is not restored for more than 24 hours, the local cluster will get warning messages that the local cluster is not properly licensed (in the web UI, CLI, or SDK). This does not impact the operation of the local clusters and the local clusters continue to work and service requests.

To move an existing Cisco Prime IP Express installation to a new machine:

Procedure

Step 1

Stop the server agent on the old regional server:

  • Windows:

    net stop nwregregion

Step 2

Zip up the data directory on the old regional server.

Step 3

Copy the zip file over to the same location on the new server.

Step 4

Install Cisco Prime IP Express (regional cluster) on the new server. For more information, see Installing Cisco Prime IP Express.

The installation will detect an upgrade and will do so based on the copied data. This procedure preserves your original data from the old regional server.

Note 

When you install Cisco Prime IP Express on the new machine, you must choose the data directory on which you have copied the data from the old regional server.

Step 5

Start the Cisco Prime IP Express web UI or CLI. For more information, see Starting Cisco Prime IP Express.

Step 6

Log in as superuser to the CLI for the new regional cluster.

Step 7

To list the local clusters: 

nrcmd-R>cluster listnames
Step 8

To synchronize the data as well as the license information: 

nrcmd-R>cluster <name of local cluster> sync

Troubleshooting the Installation

The Cisco Prime IP Express installation process creates a log file, install_cnr_log, in the Cisco Prime IP Express log file directory. For upgrades, one additional log file is created: lease_upgrade_log. The log directory is set to these locations by default:

  • Windows:

    • Local cluster: C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Local\logs

    • Regional cluster: C:\CiscoPrimeIPExpress\Regional\logs

If the installation or upgrade does not complete successfully, first check the contents of these log files to help determine what might have failed. Some examples of possible causes of failure are:

  • An incorrect version of Java is installed.

  • Insufficient disk space is available.

  • Inconsistent data exists for an upgrade.

If the log messages do not clearly indicate the failure, you can gather additional debug information by using the debug_install utility script. This script appears only if the installation failed and is located by default in the Cisco Prime IP Express program files directory:

  • Windows:

    • Local cluster: C:\Program Files(x86)\Cisco Prime IP Express\Local\debug_install.cmd

    • Regional cluster: C:\Program Files\Cisco Prime IP Express\Regional\debug_install.cmd

If you need help determining the cause or resolution of the installation failure, forward the output of this script to Cisco Systems for further analysis. To contact Cisco for assistance, see the following Cisco website:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html

Troubleshooting Local Cluster Licensing Issues

If your regional cluster and local cluster are located in isolated networks, are separated by a firewall, or the time skew between the regional and local clusters is more than five minutes, then the local cluster may be unable to register with the regional server. The firewall may block the return connection used to validate the local cluster admin credentials that are sent from the local cluster to the regional cluster.

To register a local cluster with the regional cluster:

Procedure

Step 1

Install Cisco Prime IP Express (local cluster) on the server and create the admin user for the local cluster. For more information, see Installing and Upgrading Cisco Prime IP Express.

When you install Cisco Prime IP Express on the local cluster, you can skip the registration of the local cluster with the regional cluster.

Step 2

Log into the regional cluster and add the new local cluster to the regional cluster with the admin credentials. For more information, see Adding Local Clusters section of Cisco Prime IP Express 8.3 CLI Reference Guide.

Step 3

To synchronize the data as well as the license information, click the Resynchronize icon.

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