Cisco APIC supports a simplified approach to configuring the ACI with the choice of two additional user interfaces. They are the NX-OS style CLI and the Basic GUI. The existing methods of configuration using REST API and Advanced GUI are supported as well. The Advanced GUI is equivalent to the GUI of the previous releases. Cisco recommends that you use the Advanced GUI to manage any policy that you created in Release 1.2 or earlier releases.

In addition to the simple approach available for network administrators and other users of the NX-OS style CLI and the Basic GUI, there is intelligence embedded in these approaches as compared to the Advanced GUI or the REST API. In several instances, the NX-OS style CLI and the Basic GUI often create the ACI model constructs implicitly for a user's ease of use, and they also provide validations to ensure consistency in configuration. This functionality reduces and prevents faults.

Configurations using NX-OS style CLI and Basic GUI are compatible similar to the compatibility between existing methods of configuration using Advanced GUI and REST API. For further details about configurations and tasks, see the Cisco APIC Basic Configuration Guide and the Cisco APIC NX-OS Style Command-Line Interface Configuration Guide.

The ACI simulator provides real, fully-featured APIC controller software, along with a simulated fabric infrastructure of leaf switches and spine switches in one physical server. The physical server is a UCS C-series server.

The APIC controller software controls a set of five software-simulated ACI switches connected in a fabric topology. This allows the customer to explore the APIC GUI and to create configurations in the simulated fabric. Because the simulator can also be configured using the CLI or the REST API, it allows partners and customers to develop scripts and applications prior to investing in and purchasing the actual ACI switches.

For details about the ACI simulator topology and connections, see the Cisco ACI Simulator Installation Guide.

When using the ACI simulator, the following guidelines and restrictions must be considered:

• The ACI simulator GUI includes an online version under Quick Start that includes video demonstrations.

• Do not change the following:

  • The default names in the initial setup for node names and the cluster configuration.

  • The cluster size and the number of APIC nodes.

  • The infra VLAN.

• The ACI simulator uses NAT for inband management. Inband IP addresses configured by policy are not used. Instead, APIC and node inband IP addresses are internally allocated.

• The ACI simulator does not support the following:

  • Configuring a DHCP server policy.

  • Configuring a DNS service policy.

  • Data path forwarding because the simulator includes simulated switches.

  • Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) between a leaf switch and a hypervisor or between a leaf switch and an unmanaged/Layer 2 switch. Only Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) is supported in these cases .

  • Configuring out-of-band management access for switches.

• APIC out-of-band management IP/gateway cannot be modified using an out-of-band management policy and can be configured only during the APIC first-time setup screen.

• Keep the vMotion PNIC outside the simulator network.

• The infrastructure EPG in the infrastructure tenant is for internal use only.

• The MP-BGP route reflector and the OSPF external routed network protocols do not work if you are using the simulator.

• Virtual shell (VSH) and ishell commands do not work on switches. These commands are implemented on the Cisco NX-OS software, and the Cisco NX-OS software is not available on the simulator.

• Statistics are simulated. As a result, threshold crossing alert (TCA) faults are generated in the simulator to demonstrate the fault generation on the statistics threshold crossing.

• Create a syslog and Call Home source policy under common policy. This policy applies at the system level and sends all syslog and Call Home messages system wide. The GUI path to create syslog and Call Home under common policy are as follows: Admin / External Data Collector/ Monitoring Destinations / [Callhome | SNMP | Syslog].

• The Cisco ACI simulator simulates faults for counters, which can cause the health score of the top-of-rack (TOR) switch to go down. The faults look like the following:

  <faultInst ack="no" cause="threshold-crossed" changeSet="" childAction="" code="F54431" 
  created="2014-01-21T17:20:13.179+00:00" descr="TCA: l2IngrBytes5min dropRate value 9049.94 raised 
  above threshold 9000 and value is recovering "dn="topology/pod-1/node-17/sys/
  ctx-[vxlan-2621440]/bd-[vxlan-15826914]/vlan-[vlan- 1031]/fault-F54431" domain="infra" 
  highestSeverity="minor" lastTransition="2014-01-21T17:22:35.185+00:00" lc="raised" modTs="never" 
  occur="1"origSeverity="minor" prevSeverity="minor" rule="tca-l2-ingr-bytes-drop-rate" 
  severity="minor" status="" subject="counter" type="operational"/> <faultInst ack="no" 
  cause="threshold-crossed" changeSet="" childAction="" code="F54447" 
  created="2014-01-21T17:20:13.244+00:00" descr="TCA: l2IngrPkts5min dropRate 
  value 3.53333 raised above threshold 10" dn="topology/pod-1/node-17
  /sys/ctx-[vxlan-2621440]/bd-[vxlan-15826914]/vlan-[vlan-1 031]/fault-F54447" 
  domain="infra" highestSeverity="warning" lastTransition="2014-01-21T19:42:37.983+00:00" 
  lc="retaining" modTs="never" occur="9" origSeverity="warning"prevSeverity="warning" 
  rule="tca-l2-ingr-pkts-drop-rate" severity="cleared" status="" subject="counter" type="operational"/> 

• You can test L4-L7 services by connecting your service appliance using in-band management connectivity between the simulator and the appliance.

  For more details about L4-L7 services guidelines when using the simulator, see the guidelines section in the Cisco ACI Simulator Release Notes.

For details about installing the ACI fabric hardware, see the Application Centric Infrastructure Fabric Hardware Installation Guide.

The Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is a distributed, scalable, multitenant infrastructure with external end-point connectivity controlled and grouped through application-centric policies. The Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) is the unified point of automation, management, monitoring, and programmability for the ACI. The APIC supports the deployment, management, and monitoring of any application anywhere, with a unified operations model for the physical and virtual components of the infrastructure. The APIC programmatically automates network provisioning and control that is based on the application requirements and policies. It is the central control engine for the broader cloud network; it simplifies management and allows flexibility in how application networks are defined and automated. It also provides northbound Representational State Transfer (REST) APIs. The APIC is a distributed system that is implemented as a cluster of many controller instances.

When the APIC is launched for the first time, the APIC console presents a series of initial setup options. For many options, you can press Enter to choose the default setting that is displayed in brackets. At any point in the setup dialog, you can restart the dialog from the beginning by pressing Ctrl-C.

Note

If you are using a Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) for your setup, use only the port-side utility console port with the breakout cable. Setup the CIMC first, and then access the APIC through the CIMC KVM or continue to access the APIC locally through the port-side utility console port. Do not use the RJ-45 fan-side console port, unless access to the port side is restricted. If you choose the CIMC KVM access, you will have remote access available later which is required during operations. Do not modify any parameters using CIMC. Do not upgrade software or firmware using the CIMC user interface, XML, or SSH interfaces unless the modified property and software or firmware version are supported with your specific APIC version. Set the NIC mode to Dedicated, when setting up the CIMC, in the CIMC Configuration Utility. After the CIMC is configured, in the CIMC GUI, verify that you have the following parameters set. Parameters Settings LLDP Disabled on the VIC TPM Support Enabled on the BIOS TPM Enabled Status Enabled TPM Ownership Owned Starting with APIC release 1.2(2x), during the initial setup the system will prompt you to select IPv4, or IPv6, or dual stack configuration. Choosing dual stack will enable accessing the APIC and ACI fabric out-of-band management interfaces with either IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. While the examples in the table below use IPv4 addresses, you can use whatever IP address configuration options you chose to enable during the initial setup. A minimum subnet mask of /19 is recommended.

Cluster configuration ...
  Enter the fabric name [ACI Fabric1 #1]: 
  Enter the number of controllers in the fabric (1-16) [3]: 
  Enter the controller ID (1-3) [2]: 
  Enter the controller name [apic2]: 
  Enter address pool for TEP addresses [10.0.0.0/16]: 
  Enter the VLAN ID for infra network (1-4)[4]: <<< This is for the simulator APIC		 
		Enter address pool for BD multicast addresses (GIPO) [225.0.0.0/15]: 

Out-of-band management configuration ...
  Enter the IP address for out-of-band management: 192.168.10.2/24
  Enter the IP address of the default gateway [None]: 192.168.10.254
		Enter the interface speed/duplex mode [auto]:

Administrator user configuration...
  Enable strong passwords? [Y]
  Enter the password for admin:

Note	It can take a few minutes to login as an administrator. Until the entire cluster boots up, you cannot log in to apic2 and apic3.

IPv6 management addresses can be provisioned on the APIC controller at setup time or through a policy once the APIC controller is operational. Pure IPv4, Pure IPv6 or dual stack (i.e both IPv6 and IPv4 addresses) are supported. The following snippet is of a typical setup screen that describes how to setup dual stack (IPv6 and IPv4) addresses for out-of-band management interfaces during the setup:

Cluster configuration …
 
  Enter the fabric name [ACI Fabric1]:
  Enter the number of controllers in the fabric (1-9) [3]:
  Enter the controller ID (1-3) [1]:
  Enter the controller name [apic1]: infraipv6-ifc1
  Enter address pool for TEP addresses [10.0.0.0/16]:
  Note: The infra VLAN ID should not be used elsewhere in your environment
        and should not overlap with any other reserved VLANs on other platforms.
  Enter the VLAN ID for infra network (1-4094): 4093
  Enter address pool for BD multicast addresses (GIPO) [225.0.0.0/15]:
 
Out-of-band management configuration ...
  Enable IPv6 for Out of Band Mgmt Interface? [N]: Y (Enter Y to Configure IPv6 Address for Out of Band Management Address)
  Enter the IPv6 address [0:0:0:0:0:ffff:c0a8:a01/40]: 2001:420:28e:2020:0:ffff:ac1f:88e4/64 (IPv6 Address)
  Enter the IPv6 address of the default gateway  [None]: 2001:420:28e:2020:acc:68ff:fe28:b540 (IPv6 Gateway)
  Enable IPv4 also for Out of Band Mgmt Interface? [Y]: (Enter Y to Configure IPv4 Address for Out of Band Management Address)
  Enter the IPv4 address [192.168.10.1/24]: 172.31.136.228/21 (IPv4 Address)
  Enter the IPv4 address of the default gateway [None]: 172.31.136.1 (IPv4 Gateway)
  Enter the interface speed/duplex mode [auto]:
 
admin user configuration ...
  Enable strong passwords? [Y]:
  Enter the password for admin:
 
  Reenter the password for admin:

To learn about the features and operation of the Application Centric Infrastructure fabric and the Application Policy Infrastructure Controller, see the available white papers and the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure Fundamentals Guide.

For detailed information about configuring the APIC REST API, see the Cisco APIC REST API User Guide.

Note

From Cisco APIC Release 1.0 until Release 1.2, the default CLI was a Bash shell with commands to directly operate on managed objects (MOs) and properties of the Management Information Model. Beginning with Cisco APIC Release 1.2, the default CLI is a NX-OS style CLI. The object model CLI is available by typing the bash command at the initial CLI prompt.

$ ssh admin@192.168.10.1
Application Policy Infrastructure Controller
admin@192.168.10.1's password: cisco123
apic#             <---- NX-OS style CLI prompt
apic# bash
admin@apic1:~>    <---- object model CLI prompt
admin@apic1:~> exit
apic#

Every user must use the shared directory called /home. This directory gives permissions for a user to create directories and files; files created within /home inherit the default umask permissions and are accessible by the user and by root. We recommend that users create a /home/userid directory to store files, such as /home/jsmith, when logging in for the first time.

For more information about accessing switches using the ACI CLI using modes of operation such as BASH or VSH, see the Cisco APIC Command Line Interface User Guide and the Cisco ACI Switch Command Reference.

For detailed information about configuring the APIC CLI, see the Cisco APIC Object Model Command Line Interface User Guide.

Note

From Cisco APIC Release 1.0 until Release 1.2, the default CLI was a Bash shell with commands to directly operate on managed objects (MOs) and properties of the Management Information Model. Beginning with Cisco APIC Release 1.2, the default CLI is a NX-OS style CLI. The object model CLI is available by typing the bash command at the initial CLI prompt.

When you enter the NX-OS style CLI, the initial command level is the EXEC level. From this level, you can reach these configuration modes:

• To continue in the NX-OS style CLI, you can stay in EXEC mode or you can type configure to enter global configuration mode.

  For information about NX-OS style CLI commands, see the Cisco APIC NX-OS Style CLI Command Reference.

• To reach the object model CLI, type bash.

  For information about object mode CLI commands, see the Cisco APIC Command-Line Interface User Guide, APIC Releases 1.0 and 1.1.

The APIC GUI is a browser-based graphical interface to the APIC that communicates internally with the APIC engine by exchanging REST API messages. The GUI contains several areas and panes.

You can build a fabric by adding switches to be managed by the APIC and then validating the steps using the GUI, the CLI, or the API.

Note	Before you can build a fabric, you must have already created an APIC cluster over the out-of-band network.

An example topology is as follows:

• Two spine switches (spine1, spine2)

• Two leaf switches (leaf1, leaf2)
• Three instances of APIC (apic1, apic2, apic3)

The following figure shows an example of a fabric topology.

Note	For the actual simulator topology see the Cisco ACI Simulator Installation Guide.

Figure 4. Example Fabric Topology