Table Of Contents
Cisco Physical Access Manager Quick Start Guide, Release 1.4.1
Before You Begin
Installing the Appliance
Logging In to the Cisco Physical Access Manager
Entering the Initial Configuration
Implementing Cisco PAM on UCS B- and C-Series Platforms
Solution Components
Logical Network Topology
Deploying the OVF Template
Configuring Ethernet 0 IP Address
Installing the Desktop Software
What To Do Next
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Related Documentation
Quick Start Guide
Cisco Physical Access Manager Quick Start Guide, Release 1.4.1
1 Before You Begin
Perform the following tasks before you install and configure the Cisco PAM appliance:
•
If upgrading from a previous version of the Cisco PAM server software, see "Appendix B: Upgrading Software and Firmware" in the Cisco Physical Access Manager User Guide.
•Prepare the site, including rack, safety and power. See the Cisco Physical Security Multiservices Platform Series User Guide for instructions. For Cisco PAM release 1.0.0 through 1.2.0, see the Cisco Physical Access 1125 Appliance User Guide.
•Before connecting power to the Cisco PAM appliance, the following are required:
•A PC with the following configuration:
Windows XP/Vista and Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, or
Windows 7 (64-bit only) and Internet Explorer 8.0 (32-bit) or higher.
Java 6.0 or higher/JDK 1.6 or higher.
•An Ethernet cable to connect your PC directly to the Cisco PAM appliance. Cross-over and straight-through cables are supported.
•In addition, gather the following information:
•IP, subnet, and gateway addresses for the Cisco PAM appliance:
•For a standalone server installation, one IP address for Eth0 is required.
•For a redundant (HA) server configuration, two IP addresses are required: One address for the Shared IP Address setting, and a second address for the Eth0 port.
•(Optional) If using NTP synchronization, the address of the NTP server. We strongly recommend using NTP to synchronize the Cisco PAM appliance and Gateway module clocks to ensure correct event and messaging.
•(Optional) The DNS server settings.
•Administrator password. If you are setting up the appliance for the first time, use the default password supplied in step 4. of Logging In to the Cisco Physical Access Manager.
Tip See the Cisco Physical Access Manager User Guide for complete instructions.
2 Installing the Appliance
To physically install the Cisco PAM appliance, complete the instructions in the Cisco Physical Security Multiservices Platform Series User Guide.
For Cisco PAM release 1.0.0 through 1.2.0, see the Cisco Physical Access 1125 Appliance User Guide.
3 Logging In to the Cisco Physical Access Manager
1. Connect an Ethernet cable from your PC to the eth0 port on the Cisco PAM appliance.
Note After configuration is complete, disconnect your PC from the Eth0 port and connect the Eth0 port to the IP network.
2. Power on the appliance.
3. Open IE on your PC and enter the URL: https://192.168.1.2.
4. Enter the default username and password:
default username: cpamadmin
default password: cpamadmin
4 Entering the Initial Configuration
A series of initial configuration screens appear the first time you log on to a new Cisco PAM appliance. Enter the configuration settings when prompted. For complete instructions, see also Chapter 3 "Configuring and Monitoring the Cisco PAM Server" in the Cisco Physical Access Manager User Guide.
Step 1 Enter the server configuration, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Initial Configuration: Server Configuration
Note You cannot edit the version and serial number.
a. Type: Select the appliance server type.
–Active Server: (Default) Select Active Server for a single appliance, or if the appliance is the active server in a redundant configuration.
–Standby Server: Select Standby Server if the appliance is the standby (backup) server in a redundant configuration. A standby server must exactly have the same configuration settings as the active except the network addresses, hostname, and HA license.
b. Site Name: Enter a description to identify the appliance on the network. This field is disabled for a standby appliance since the standby server assumes the primary server name if a failover occurs. Enter any combination of letters and numbers up to 32 characters. Spaces are not allowed. Dashes and underscore characters are allowed.
Example: SJCsite1.
c. Click Next to continue.
Step 2 Enter the initial user settings to define the administrator password and email address, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 Initial Configuration: User Configuration
a. Username: The admin username cannot be changed. The default username is cpamadmin.
b. Current Password: Enter the current administrator password. The default password is cpamadmin.
c. New Password: Enter a new administrator password. The administrator has full rights to configure the Cisco PAM appliance, and grant access rights to other users. The new password is required and must be entered to continue.
d. Re-enter Password: Re-enter the new administrator password to confirm the setting.
e. Email Address: (Optional) Enter the email address that will receive system messages.
f. Click Next to continue.
Step 3 Enter the network configuration for the Cisco PAM appliance, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3 Initial Configuration: Network Configuration
a. Host Name: Enter the host name on the active appliance. Enter a different host name on the standby appliance. The host name is used to identify the appliance on the local network and does not impact other configurations.
b. Shared IP Address: (HA configurations only). Enter the same IP address on the active and standby appliance. This address is transferred from the active to the standby appliance if a failover occurs.
The Shared IP address and the Eth0 IP address should be on the same subnet. Eth0 and Eth1 can be on separate subnets. See Understanding IP Addresses on the Cisco PAM Server for more information.
Note Enter a Shared IP Address if you are planning to install a Standby server in future, even if installing only the Active server now. This allows successful HA backups when the Standby server is installed.
c. Transport Port: The default value is 8020. Enter the same number on the active and standby appliances.
d. SSL Enable For Server: Check the SSL checkbox to enable or disable secure IP communication between the Cisco PAM appliance and the Cisco Physical Access Gateways. The settings must be the same on the active and standby appliances.
Note Cisco Systems recommends that SSL always be enabled for all Gateways and the Cisco PAM appliance (default). If SSL is disabled for a Gateway but enabled for Cisco PAM, the Gateway cannot connect to the appliance. If the SSL settings are changed, reset all Gateways and the Cisco PAM appliance. See the Cisco Physical Access Gateway User Guide for more information.
e. Eth0: (Required) Enter a static IP address for the Eth0 port. If the appliance is a standalone server, this port is the Cisco PAM appliance IP address. In a redundant (HA) configuration, the Eth0 port is used for HA communication between the active and standby appliance. The active appliance must have a different Eth0 IP address than the standby appliance.
–IP Address: Enter the IP address for the Eth0 port. This address should be on the same subnet as the Shared IP address, and must be different on the active and standby appliances.
–Subnet Mask: Enter the subnet mask provided by your system administrator.
–Gateway: (Optional) Enter the Gateway provided by your system administrator.
f. Eth1: This port is disabled by default. You can enable and configure the Eth1 port for remote Internet connections to the Cisco PAM Server Administration utility.
–Enable Interface: Check the check box to enable or disable the Ethernet interface.
–DHCP: Check the check box to enable or disable DHCP. When DHCP is enabled, the IP address fields in this tab are disabled, as the information is supplied by the DHCP server.
–IP Address: Enter the IP address for the Eth0 port. If configured, this address must be different on the active and standby appliances.
–Subnet Mask: Enter the subnet mask provided by your system administrator.
–Gateway: (Optional) Enter the Gateway provided by your system administrator. If a Gateway is provided for Eth0, leave this field blank.
g. Click Next to continue.
Step 4 (Optional) Enter the optional DNS Settings for the Cisco PAM appliance. Enter the same settings on the active and standby appliance.
a. Primary DNS: (Optional) Enter the domain name server (DNS) for the active Cisco PAM appliance.
b. Secondary DNS: (Optional) Enter the domain name server for the standby Cisco PAM appliance.
c. Domain: (Optional) Enter the domain name for the Cisco PAM appliance.
d. Click Next to continue.
Step 5 Enter the email settings used to send messages from the Cisco PAM appliance: Enter the same settings on the active and standby appliance.
a. SMTP Server Address: Enter the SMTP server address used to send outgoing messages. Outgoing messages include event and other alarm information.
b. SMTP Email Address from: Enter the email address that will appear in the From field for messages sent by the Cisco PAM appliance. This email address is also the Reply To address.
c. Test: Click the Test button to send a test message and verify the SMTP settings. The test message is sent to the administrator email address entered in User settings.
d. Click Next to continue.
Step 6 Enter the date and time settings. Enter an initial date and time for the server. These settings are used by the appliance and the Cisco Physical Access Gateways. Enter the same settings on the active and standby appliance.
a. Date & Time: Click the calendar icon to open a pop-up window and select the current day. The current date and time are inserted from your computer's date and time settings.
b. Time Zone: Select the time zone where the appliance is installed.
c. NTP enable: (Optional) Check the checkbox to use a Network Time Protocol (NTP) server that will automatically adjust the date and time. We strongly recommend using NTP to synchronize the Cisco PAM appliance and Gateway module clocks to ensure correct event and messaging.
d. NTP Server Address: (Optional) If NTP is enabled, enter the IP address of the NTP server.
e. Click Next to continue.
Step 7 Enter the event pruning and archiving settings.
•Pruned Events are removed from the main events database table and placed in a separate historic events database table. This allows you to reduce the size of the main database while keeping them accessible on the Cisco PAM system. Pruned events are not visible in Events & Alarms, but are included in reports. Pruned events are also included in system backups.
•Archived events are removed from all Cisco PAM database tables and copied to a compressed file. The file includes a password-protected SQL script, and can be run on an offline database to view the purged events. Archived events are not visible in the Events & Alarms listings or Reports, and are not included in system backups.
a. Click the Pruning tab and enter the following settings:
–Live Events Window (days)—Enter a value between 0 and 500 (inclusive). This is the minimum number of days the events will be available in the live view. After the minimum number of days, the events will be removed at the next scheduled pruning. For example, enter 30 to keep events in the live view for 30 days. After midnight on day 30, the events are subject to pruning and archiving (depending on the schedule defined in the following steps). The number is rounded to midnight of the last day.
–The Pruning Hours field is enabled only when you select Daily in Schedule.The default value is 1.
–For other options in Schedule, the Pruning Hours field is read-only.
Note To ensure that events are regularly pruned, we recommend entering 30 days or less in the Live Events Window field. Entering a value greater than 30 can cause an excessive number of event entries to accumulate in the main database and negatively impact system performance.
–Schedule—define the time and frequency at which events should be pruned.
Date—To schedule pruning for one day per month, select Date and then select a day of the month. For example: 15.
Weekday—To schedule pruning once per week, select Weekday and then select a day of the week. For example: Tuesday.
Daily—To run pruning every day, select Daily.
Time—Enter the time in 24 hour format (hh:mm:ss). For example, to run pruning at 2 p.m., enter 14:00:00. To run pruning at 1 a.m., enter 01:00:00.
b. Click the Archive tab and enter the following settings:
Tip The archive settings are required during the initial setup. After a successful restore, you can disable auto-archiving if necessary. See the Chapter 3 "Configuring and Monitoring the Cisco PAM Server"in Cisco Physical Access Manager User Guide for more information.
–Enter and re-enter the administrator Password. This password is used to restore the archive file (similar to backup files).
–Historic Events Window (days)—Enter the number of days that events will be available in the live view. After the minimum number of days, the events will be archived to a compressed file. For example, enter 30 to keep events in the live view for 30 days. After midnight on day 30, the events are subject to archiving (depending on the schedule defined in the following steps).
–Enter a Schedule when the historic events will be removed from the pruned database and placed into a compressed archive file (archived files are listed above the entry fields).
Date—To schedule archiving for one day per month, select Date and then select a day of the month. For example: 15.
Weekday—To schedule archiving once per week, select Weekday and then select a day of the week. For example: Tuesday.
Daily—To run archiving every day, select Daily.
Time—Enter the time in 24 hour format (hh:mm:ss). For example, to run archiving at 2 p.m., enter 14:00:00. To run archiving at 1 a.m., enter 01:00:00.
–(Optional) Select Copy to remote server to automatically copy the archived event files to a remote FTP or SFTP location.
Note Only the three most recent archive files are saved. If you do not save the archive file manually or by copying it to a remote server, then the oldest file will be permanently deleted when the fourth file is created.
FTP: for standard File Transfer Protocol servers.
SFTP: for secure file transfers using the Secure File Transfer Protocol (also known as the SSH File Transfer Protocol).
Address—the IP address or hostname of the remote server.
Username—the username required to log in to the server.
Password—the login password for the remote server.
Path—the directory path where the compressed archive will be copied. The path must exist on the remote server. If the directory is not available, the archive will fail.
c. Click Next to apply the settings and continue.
Tip Pruning and Archiving schedules should not overlap each other.
Step 8 Enter the license settings to obtain and install the software license:
Note Enter all licenses except high availability (HA) on the active appliance. Enter only the HA license on the standby appliance.
a. Locate the Product Authorization Key (PAK) included with the Cisco Physical Access Manager appliance.
b. In a Web browser, open the Cisco Product License Registration Web page.
http://www.cisco.com/go/license/
c. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the form and enter the PAK. A license file with the extension .lic is sent to your email address.
d. Save the file to the PC used to configure the Cisco PAM appliance.
e. In the License screen of Initial setup, click Browse to select the license file located on your local drive. The selected filename appears in the File field.
f. Click Finish to install the license file on the Cisco PAM appliance and activate the included features.
Step 9 Wait for the installation to complete. A status screen displays each configuration item as it is applied. When all items are marked Done, the CPAM Server Administration utility status page is displayed.
Note If any errors occur, the setup returns to Step 1. If a serious error occurs, contact your Cisco support representative for assistance.
Step 10 Create a system backup. You should have at least one backup file to preserve critical system data and to restore the appliance software using the recovery CD.
a. Select Setup and then Backup.
b. Select the Manual tab.
Note Manual backups are enabled only if automatic backups are disabled.
c. Enter and re-enter a password for the backup file. This password must be entered when the backup file is used to restore the data.
d. (Optional) Check the Exclude Events box to exclude events from the backup. Events will not be backed up and cannot be restored.
e. (Optional) Select the Copy to remote server check box to automatically copy the backup to a remote server. Select the server type and enter the server address, username, password, and directory path where the files will be copied.
f. Click Backup Now to begin the backup process and create a new .zip backup file. When the backup is complete, the new backup file is added to the top of the screen. The file name includes the date and the server software version number.
For example: December 16, 2009 11:53:15 AM PST.
g. To save the file to another location, right click the filename and click the Save option from the browser menu.
Step 11 Disconnect your PC from the Eth0 port and connect the Eth0 port to the IP network.
5 Implementing Cisco PAM on UCS B- and C-Series Platforms
This section summarizes the high-level design recommendations and best practices for implementing Cisco Physical Access Manager on the UCS B- and C-Series platforms. In some instances, existing network equipment and topologies have the necessary configuration and performance characteristics to support high-quality Cisco Physical Access Manager (CPAM). Figure 4 represents a virtualized Cisco PAM application running on a UCS B-Series platform.
Figure 4 Cisco Physical Access Manager on UCS.
Note This section does not describe the configuration and operation of the Cisco Physical Access Manager (CPAM) products. For more detailed information See the Installing the Appliance
Solution Components
The components required for designing and deploying Cisco PAM on UCS B-and C-Series platforms include:
•UCS B- and C-Series servers—The Cisco UCS Servers can be deployed as rack-mount servers (C-Series) or blade servers (B-Series) running the ESXi 5.0 virtualization software. The B-Series servers deliver a scalable and flexible architecture to meet your data center needs while helping to reduce the total cost of ownership. The C-Series servers address fluctuating workload challenges through a varying balance of processing, memory, I/O, and internal storage resources.
•Cisco Physical Access Manger (CPAM) software—This software runs on UCS B-or C-Series server in a virtualized environment. The Cisco PAM software is available as an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) file on Cisco.com. The OVA package is a tar file with the Open Virtualization Format (OVF) directory inside.
Logical Network Topology
Figure 5 illustrates the overall logical topology of the networking and CPAM components, including a UCS B-Series containing the ESXi host running CPAM, gateways, expansion modules, and the operator workstations running the CPAM client.
Figure 5 Logical Network Topology
Deploying the OVF Template
Tip Before performing the following steps, ensure that the ESXi 5.0 Hypervisor is installed on the UCS B- and C-Series platforms.
To deploy the OVF template, complete the following procedure:
Step 1 Log in to VSphere Client.
Step 2 From the File menu, select Deploy OVF Template.The Deploy OVF Template page opens
.
Step 3 Click Browse to select the path of the OVF file from local directory or URL using source window.
Step 4 Click Next and the OVF Template Details page appears displaying the CPAM version and disk properties.
Step 5 Click Next and the Name and Location page opens.
Step 6 Enter the CPAM appliance name.
Step 7 Click Next, the Disk Format page opens.
Step 8 Select the desired provisioning policy for the virtual disk file.
Note It is advisable to choose either Thick Provision Lazy Zeroed or Thin Provision. It takes a longer time to create a disk with Thick Provision Eager Zeroed format.
Step 9 Click Next, the Ready to Complete page opens.
Step 10 Check the Power on after deployment checkbox.
Step 11 Click Finish to start the OVF deployment process.
Step 12 While processing, the following page appears.
Step 13 When deployment is complete, the following page appears.
Configuring Ethernet 0 IP Address
To configure Ethernet 0(eth0) IP address, complete the following procedure:
Step 1 Launch console connection for the installed Cisco Physical Access Manager from VSphere Client.
Step 2 Login with the default user name and password (cpamadmin/cpamadmin).
Step 3 Change the permission to super user.
Step 4 Copy ifcfg-eth0 file in /home/cpamadmin to /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ using the following command:
• cp /home/cpamadmin/ifcfg-eth0 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
Step 5 Edit the file using vi and change the default IP ,subnet mask and the default Gateway for ifcfg-eth0 file in - / etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/.
Sample configuration of ifcfg-eth0:
Note The above network parameters IPADDR, NETMASK, and GATEWAY should be configured based on network.
Step 6 Restart the network services using - /sbin/service network restart
Step 7 Check eth0 configuration using - /sbin/ifconfig
Step 8 Restart cpamadmin service using- /sbin/service cpamadmin restart
Now the CPAM appliance is ready for Initial setup.
Note The CPAM VM, gateways, expansion modules, and CPAM client workstations are reachable in the network.
6 Installing the Desktop Software
When the initial configuration is complete, the CPAM Server Administration utility is displayed. To install the Cisco PAM desktop software, select Launch Client from the menu bar, and complete the onscreen instructions to install the software. This process will install the desktop software, or upgrade an existing version to match the Cisco PAM appliance.See also Chapter 4 "Getting Started With the Cisco PAM Desktop Software" in Cisco Physical Access Manager User Guide
Note•You can also select Launch Cisco PAM Client from the login window of the CPAM Server Administration utility.
•Always upgrade the Cisco PAM desktop client when the server software is upgraded. If the versions are not the same, an error will occur when launching the desktop client.
•If the download fails, check your Java Web Start network settings. The Cisco PAM client launches using Java Web Start.
7 What To Do Next
Refer to the following Cisco documents for complete installation and configuration information:
•To install and configure the Cisco PAM appliance, see the Cisco Physical Access Manager User Guide.
•To install and configure the Cisco Physical Access Gateways and optional expansion modules, see the Cisco Physical Access Gateway User Guide.
8 Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service and Cisco currently supports RSS version 2.0.
9 Related Documentation
For more information on Cisco-related products, see the following resources:
Cisco Physical Security product information:
http://www.cisco.com/go/physec/
Cisco UCS Manager Configuration Guide:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers Data Sheet and Literature:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10280/prod_literature.html
Cisco Physical Access Manager User guide:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9688/products_user_guide_list.html
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