Performing VMware Post-Installation Tasks

This section contains the following topics:

Configuring NTP

Before performing any operations on the Prime Network Services Controller system, configure Network Time Protocol (NTP) on any of the following deployed VMs and Prime Network Services Controller:
  • VSG
  • VSM

If you do not configure these items with NTP, they will not register with Prime Network Services Controller.


Note

NTP service does not come up on the terminal when PNSC is upgraded from the previous releases to Release 3.4.1d or later. To access the NTP service, you need to re-login into the same terminal or start a new terminal.

For information on configuring NTP, see the following topics:

Configuring NTP on VMs

Configure NTP on VMs by using the information in the following table.

For this VM: Do this:

VSG

Configure the NTP server in the Prime Network Services Controller GUI as described in the Prime Network Services Controller User Guide, section "Configuring NTP."

VSM

Enter the following CLI command from the VSM console, where x.x.x.x is the NTP server IP address: 

clock timezone zone-name offset-hours
offset-minutes
clock summer-time zone-name start-week 
start-day start-month start-time end-week end-day 
end-month end-time offset-minutes
ntp server x.x.x.x

Configuring NTP in Prime Network Services Controller

Use this procedure to configure NTP in Prime Network Services Controller.

Procedure
    Step 1   In your browser, enter https://ip-address where ip-address is the Prime Network Services Controller IP address.
    Step 2   In the Prime Network Services Controller login window, enter the username admin and the admin user password. This is the password that you set when installing Prime Network Services Controller.
    Step 3   Set the time zone by doing the following:
    1. Choose Administration > System Profile > root > Profile > default and click Edit.
    2. In the General tab, choose the time zone in which the Prime Network Services Controller server resides.
    3. Click Save.
    Step 4   Add an external NTP server as the time source, as follows:
    1. Choose Administration > System Profile > root > Profile > default and click Edit.
    2. In the Policy tab, click Add NTP Server.
    3. Enter the NTP server hostname or IP address and click OK.
    4. Click Save.
    Caution    We recommend that you do not set the time zone after you add the NTP server.

    Configuring Connectivity with VMware vCenter

    Establish connectivity between and VMware vCenter by performing the following tasks:

    1. Exporting the vCenter Extension File

    2. Registering the vCenter Extension Plugin in vCenter

    3. Configuring Connectivity with vCenter


    Note

    You need to export and Register the VMware vCenter Extension plugin for VMware vCenter releases 5.5 and 6.0. For VMware vCenter release 6.5 onward, plugin registration is automated and you need to enter VMware vCenter Administrator Credentials while adding VM Manager.

    Exporting the vCenter Extension File

    The first step in configuring connectivity with VMware vCenter is exporting the vCenter extension file.

    Before You Begin
    If you use Internet Explorer, do one of the following to ensure that you can download the extension file:

    • Open Internet Explorer in Administrator mode.

    • After starting Internet Explorer, choose Tools > Internet Options > Security, and uncheck the Enable Protected Mode check box.

    Procedure
      Step 1   In , choose Resource Management > VM Managers > VM Managers.
      Step 2   In the VM Managers pane, click Export vCenter Extension.
      Step 3   Save the vCenter extension file in a directory that the vSphere Client can access because you will need to register the vCenter extension plug-in from within the vSphere Client (see Registering the vCenter Extension Plugin in vCenter).
      Step 4   Open the XML extension file to confirm that the content is available.

      Registering the vCenter Extension Plugin in vCenter

      Registering the vCenter extension plug-in enables you to create a VM Manager in Prime Network Services Controller and communicate with the vCenter VMM and the VMs that Prime Network Services Controller manages.

      Procedure
        Step 1   From the VMware vSphere Client, log in to the vCenter server that you want to manage by using Prime Network Services Controller.
        Step 2   In the vSphere Client, choose Plug-ins > Manage Plug-ins.
        Step 3   Right-click the window background and choose New Plug-in.
        Tip    Scroll down and right-click near the bottom of the window to view the New Plug-in option.
        Step 4   Browse to the Prime Network Services Controller vCenter extension file that you previously exported and click Register Plug-in.

        The vCenter Register Plug-in window appears, displaying a security warning.

        Step 5   In the security warning message box, click Ignore.
        Note    If desired, you can install this certificate for further integration with Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Kerberos facilities.

        A progress indicator shows the task status.

        Step 6   When the success message is displayed, click OK, and then click Close.

        Configuring Connectivity with vCenter

        After you register the vCenter extension plug-in in vCenter, you can configure connectivity with vCenter in Prime Network Services Controller.
        Procedure
          Step 1   Choose Resource Management > VM Managers > VM Managers, and then click Add VM Manager.
          Step 2   In the Add VM Manager dialog box, enter the following information and then click OK:

          • Name—VMM name.

          • Description—VMM description.

          • Hostname / IP Address—Hostname or IP address of the VMM.

          • Port Number—Port number to use for communications.

          • For VMware vCenter release 6.5, choose vCenter 6.5 and greater check box and enter vSphere vCenter Administrator credentials.

          A successfully added VMM is displayed with the following information:

          • Admin State of enable.

          • Operational State of up.

          • VMware vCenter version.

          Enabling Enhanced Scale for Managing Protected VMs Only

          By default, Prime Network Services Controller discovers all VMs on Nexus 1000V switches whether or not a tenant or another organization is configured on the VM vNIC. This procedure describes how to configure Prime Network Services Controller so that it discovers only those VMs with a tenant or another organization configured on a vNIC.


          Note

          If you enable this option, VMs that are protected but powered off will not be managed by Prime Network Services Controller.

          Before You Begin

          Obtain the Prime Network Services Controller debug plugin nsc-dplug.3.4.n.x.bin. If you need assistance in locating this file, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center.

          You can contact the TAC over the phone or via the Web:

          Procedure
            Step 1   Install the Prime Network Services Controller debug plugin and access the root shell.

            For information on installing the debug plugin, contact the Cisco TAC.

            Step 2   In the root shell, do the following:
            1. Using SSH, connect to Prime Network Services Controller and log in as the admin user.
            2. Enter the following commands: 
              # connect local-mgmt
(local-mgmt)# update bootflash:/nsc-dplug.x.x.x.x.bin
(local-mgmt)# run sudo bash
            Step 3   Using a vi editor, open /opt/cisco/sam.config for editing.
            Step 4   In the custom section of the file, add the following entry: 
            skipNonTenantVms=true
            Step 5   Save the file and exit the editor.
            Step 6   Enter exit and then enter service restart.