Cisco Identity Services Engine Installation Guide, Release 3.5

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Install Cisco ISE from an ISO on OpenStack

Updated: May 28, 2026

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Overview

Provides step-by-step instructions for installing Cisco ISE from an ISO on OpenStack using CLI tools, detailing flavor creation, image preparation, VM deployment, network configuration, and post-installation verification procedures.

You can install Cisco ISE release 3.4 patch 4 and later releases in an OpenStack environment using these methods:

  • OpenStack Dashboard (for example, Horizon): A web-based interface that allows administrators to manage OpenStack resources and services, including the deployment of Cisco ISE instances.

  • OpenStack Orchestration Tools (for example, HEAT): Templates that define the network, compute, and storage topology for automated deployment and management of Cisco ISE virtual machines.

  • OpenStack Command Line Interfaces (CLI): Command-line tools that provide granular control over deploying and managing Cisco ISE instances within OpenStack.

This section provides a sample CLI-based Cisco ISE installation procedure in an OpenStack environment.

Follow these steps to install Cisco ISE using OpenStack CLI.

Procedure

1.

Create a custom flavor in OpenStack that matches the Cisco ISE appliance size requirements.

Here is a sample command for Cisco SNS 3715 to create a flavor named "sns3715-openstack" with 32 GB RAM, 300 GB disk, and 24 virtual CPUs, with an automatically assigned ID.

openstack flavor create sns3715-openstack --id auto --ram 32768 --disk 300 --vcpus 24

For information about the Cisco SNS appliance size requirements, refer to Cisco SNS Appliance Hardware Installation Guide.

This process takes about 5 to 10 minutes.

You need this flavor name when creating the bootable VM instance.

2.

Create the Glance image for Cisco ISE installation.

  • Follow these steps to create the Glance image using the ISO file:

    1. Create a blank Cinder volume for the VM's main hard drive using this command:

      openstack volume create --size <volume_size_in_GB> <volume_name>

      Ensure that the volume size meets Cisco ISE specifications.

    2. Create a temporary VM to copy the Cisco ISE filesystem onto the blank volume using this command:

      openstack server create --image <iso-image-name-or-id> --volume <volume_name> --flavor <custom-flavor-name> --network <network-name> <temp-ise-install-vm-name>

      Attach both the blank Cinder volume and the installation ISO to the VM.

      This process takes about 5 minutes.

    3. Install the operating system through the VM console.

      1. Access the VM console using this command:

        openstack console url show <temp-ise-install-vm-name>

      2. When the boot menu appears, select [1] Cisco ISE Installation (Keyboard/Monitor) to begin the installation.

        The installer writes the operating system to the blank volume. Wait 20 to 30 minutes for installation to complete.

        After installation completes, the console returns to the boot prompt. The volume now contains a bootable operating system.

    4. Set the volume as bootable.

      1. Delete the temporary VM to release the volume using this command:

        openstack server delete <temp-ise-install-vm-name>

      2. Verify that the volume status is "available" using this command:

        watch openstack volume show <volume_name>

      3. Mark the volume as bootable using this command:

        openstack volume set --bootable <volume_name>

  • Follow these steps to create a QCOW2 image, install Cisco ISE using the ISO, and upload the image to OpenStack.

    1. Create the QCOW2 image using this command:

      qemu-img create -f qcow2 <image_name>.qcow2 <size>

    2. Install the Cisco ISE ISO on the QCOW2 image. Run this command to boot the ISO and begin the installation on the disk image.

      /usr/libexec/qemu-kvm -enable-kvm -m <memory_size> -smp <cpu_cores> -cpu host \ -drive file=<image_name>.qcow2,format=qcow2 \ -cdrom <iso_file_path> \ -boot d -net nic,model=virtio -net user \ -nographic -serial mon:stdio

    3. Perform the installation via the serial console. When the installation menu appears, select 2 to proceed with the installation using the serial console. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the setup.

    4. Upload the QCOW2 image to OpenStack. After the installation is complete and the image is prepared, use the OpenStack CLI to create a new image in your environment.

      openstack image create --disk-format qcow2 --container-format bare --file <image_file_name> --private <image_name>
3.

Create and launch the Cisco ISE server VM with the prepared bootable volume by using this command:

openstack server create --volume <volume_name> --flavor <custom-flavor-name> --network <network-name> <vm-name>

This process takes approximately 5 minutes.
4.

Configure the network settings for the VM.

  1. Access the VM console and enter this command at the setup prompt:

    setup

  2. Follow the prompts to configure the hostname, IP address, and network details.

    After you complete the configuration, access the VM using the assigned IP address.

Run these commands to verify the Cisco ISE VM configuration.

  • To check inventory, use this command:

    show inventory

  • To check the profiles, use this command:

    show tech | inc profile