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Cisco Identity Services Engine Installation Guide, Release 3.5

Which protocols are required for communication between Cisco ISE nodes and AD?
How do port requirements change when deploying Cisco ISE behind a firewall?
Where can I find the specific CLI commands for verifying node synchronization?

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Cisco Identity Services Engine Installation Guide, Release 3.5

Which protocols are required for communication between Cisco ISE nodes and AD?
How do port requirements change when deploying Cisco ISE behind a firewall?
Where can I find the specific CLI commands for verifying node synchronization?

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About this content

Network Deployments in Cisco ISE

Cisco ISE network architecture
Cisco ISE deployment terminology
Node types and personas in distributed deployments
Cisco ISE deployment models
Small network deployments
Medium-sized network deployments
Large network deployments
Network device configuration for Cisco ISE

Cisco Secured Network Server Series Appliances and Virtual Machine Requirements

Cisco ISE hardware and virtual appliance requirements
VMware cloud solutions for Cisco ISE
Virtual machine size recommendations
Disk space requirements for VMs in a Cisco ISE deployment
Disk space guidelines for Cisco ISE
CPU requirements for hypervisors

Install Cisco ISE

Install Cisco ISE using Cisco Integrated Management Interface
Run the setup program of Cisco ISE
Verify the Cisco ISE installation process
Install Cisco ISE from an ISO on OpenStack
Install Cisco ISE on a Cisco SNS appliance using NFS
Localized ISE installation

Additional Installation Information

Tools used to create a bootable USB device from installation ISO file
SNS appliance maintenance
VMware virtual machine
Linux KVM
Microsoft Hyper-V
Create a Cisco ISE virtual machine on Hyper-V
Zero Touch Provisioning

Installation Verification and Post-Installation Tasks

Log in to the Cisco ISE web-based interface
Cisco ISE configuration verification
List of post-installation tasks

Common System Maintenance Tasks

Bond ethernet interfaces for high availability
Reset a lost, forgotten, or compromised password using a DVD
Reset a disabled password due to administrator lockout
Change the IP address of a Cisco ISE appliance
View installation and upgrade history
Perform a system erase

Cisco ISE Network Ports and Protocols Specifications

Ports used by all Cisco ISE personas
Cisco ISE infrastructure requirements
Operating system ports
Administration node ports
Monitoring node ports
Policy Service node ports
Cisco pxGrid service ports
OCSP and CRL service ports
Cisco ISE processes
Required internet URLs

Cisco Identity Services Engine Installation Guide, Release 3.5

SNS appliance maintenance

Updated: September 18, 2026

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Create a bootable USB device using Rufus

Create a bootable USB device using Fedora Media Writer

Create a bootable USB device using balenaEtcher

Reimage the Cisco SNS hardware appliance

Outlines the maintenance and management of physical Cisco Secure Network Server (SNS) hardware. It includes essential procedures such as reimaging the appliance and preparing the hardware for initial software installation.

Create a bootable USB device using Rufus

Before you begin

Download the Cisco ISE installation ISO file to the local system.
Use a 16 GB or 32 GB USB device.

Procedure

Reformat the USB device with the FAT16 or FAT32 file system to erase all data and free up space.
Plug the USB device into the local system. Then, launch Rufus.
From the Boot Selection drop-down list, choose Disk or ISO Image.
Click Select and choose the Cisco ISE ISO file.
From the Partition Scheme drop-down list, choose MBR.
From the Target System drop-down list, choose BIOS or UEFI.
Click Start.

The progress bar shows the status of creating the bootable USB device. When the process finishes, access the USB drive contents on your local system.
Remove the USB device from the local system safely.
Plug in the bootable USB device to the Cisco ISE appliance, restart the appliance, and install Cisco ISE by booting from the USB drive.

Create a bootable USB device using Fedora Media Writer

Before you begin

Download the Cisco ISE installation ISO file to the local system.
Download Fedora Media Writer from this location:

https://github.com/FedoraQt/MediaWriter/releases/tag/5.0.6
Use a 16 GB or 32 GB USB device.
Reformat the USB device using FAT16 or FAT32 to free up all the space.

Procedure

Open the Fedora Media Writer application.
In the Select Image Source tab, click Select .iso file, choose the ISO file, and click Next.
Plug in the USB device to the local system and launch Fedora Media Writer.
Choose the ISO file and click Write.

Wait until the process finishes. It may take several minutes, depending on your USB device’s speed. You will see a notification message when the operation is complete.
Safely remove the USB device from the local system.
Plug the bootable USB device into the Cisco ISE appliance, restart the appliance, and boot from the USB drive to install Cisco ISE.

Create a bootable USB device using balenaEtcher

Before you begin

Download the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) installation ISO file to your local system.
Download balenaEtcher from this location.

https://github.com/balena-io/etcher/releases/tag/v1.19.21
Use a 16 GB or 32 GB USB device.
Reformat your USB device using the FAT-16 or FAT-32 file system to ensure all space is available.

Procedure

Run the balenaEtcher application.
Click Flash from file. Choose the ISO file from your local system.

If a Missing Partition Table message appears, click Continue.
Click Select Target. Choose the USB device.
Click Flash to start the process.

You will see a notification message when the process is complete.
Plug in the bootable USB device into the Cisco ISE appliance. Restart the appliance. Boot from the USB drive to install Cisco ISE.

Reimage the Cisco SNS hardware appliance

The Cisco SNS hardware appliances do not have built-in DVD drives. Therefore, to reimage a Cisco ISE hardware appliance with Cisco ISE software, choose one of these options.

Note

Cisco SNS hardware appliances support the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) secure boot feature. This feature ensures that only a Cisco-signed ISE image can be installed on the SNS hardware appliances, and prevents installation of any unsigned operating system even with physical access to the device. For example, generic operating systems, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Microsoft Windows cannot boot on this appliance.

Use the Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC) interface to map the installation .iso file to the virtual DVD device.
Create an installation DVD with the installation .iso file. Plug a USB external DVD drive into the appliance, and boot the appliance from the DVD drive.
Create a bootable USB device using the installation .iso file. Boot the appliance from the USB drive.

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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.