Configure a Cisco SD-WAN Controller controller to establish centralized control in the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN overlay network. This process ensures the controller is operational and integrated with the network for effective routing and policy management.
Deploying a Cisco SD-WAN Controller controller establishes the centralized control plane for the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN overlay network, enabling centralized routing and policy enforcement.
The Cisco SD-WAN Controller controller is a core component of the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN overlay network, maintaining a centralized routing table and policy. It connects to each vEdge router via DTLS and runs as a virtual machine on a network server.
An overlay network can have one or more Cisco SD-WAN Controller controllers for redundancy and scalability. A single controller supports up to 2,000 control sessions, and a Cisco SD-WAN Manager or Cisco SD-WAN Manager cluster can support up to 20 controllers.
Before you begin
Ensure you have access to an ESXi or KVM hypervisor and the necessary resources to deploy a Cisco SD-WAN Controller virtual machine.
Follow these steps to deploy a Cisco SD-WAN Controller controller:
Procedure
| 1. | Create a Cisco SD-WAN Controller VM instance on an ESXi or KVM hypervisor. |
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| 2. | Create a minimal configuration for the Cisco SD-WAN Controller to allow network accessibility. Use SSH to open a CLI session and manually configure the device. |
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| 3. | Add Cisco SD-WAN Controller to the overlay network so that Cisco SD-WAN Manager is aware of it. |
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| 4. | Create a full configuration for Cisco SD-WAN Controller by creating a Cisco SD-WAN Manager template and attaching it to the controller. Attaching the template overwrites the initial minimal configuration. |
The Cisco SD-WAN Controller controller is deployed, accessible on the network, and integrated with the Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN overlay for centralized routing and policy management.