System Requirements

This section describes the various system requirements for proper functioning of your Cisco DCNM Release 11.5(4).


Note

We recommend that you do not upgrade any underlying third-party software separately. All the necessary software components will be updated during the inline upgrade procedure. Upgrading the components outside of DCNM upgrade causes performance issues.

Java Requirements

The Cisco DCNM server is distributed with JRE 11.0.8 into the following directory: 

DCNM_root_directory/java/jdk11

Server Requirements

Cisco DCNM Release 11.5(4), supports the Cisco DCNM server on these 64-bit operating systems:

Database Requirements

Cisco DCNM Release 11.5(4) supports the following databases:


Note
The ISO and OVA installations support only the embedded PostgreSQL database.

Hypervisors

Cisco DCNM supports the ISO installation on a bare-metal server, no hypervisor, on the following server platforms:

Server

Product ID (PID)

Recommended minimum memory, drive capacity, and CPU count

Cisco UCS C240M4

UCSC-C240-M4S

32G / 500G 16 vCPUs

Cisco UCS C240M4

UCSC-C240-M4L

32G / 500G 16 vCPUs

Cisco UCS C240 M5S

UCSC-C240-M5SX

32G / 500G 16 vCPUs

Cisco UCS C220 M5L

UCSC-C220-M5L

32G / 500G 16 vCPUs


Note

Cisco DCNM can work on an alternative computing hardware with appropriate specifications, despite Cisco is only testing on Cisco UCS.

Server Resource (CPU/Memory) Requirements


Note

If you install Cisco DCNM on a virtual machine, you must reserve resources equal to the server resource requirements to ensure a baseline with the physical machines.


Note

For Huge and Compute deployments, you can add extra disk. The size of the disk can range from a minimum of 32GB to a maximum of 1.5TB.

Allocate sufficient disk space to the root partition to complete DCNM installation and for stable continuous operation of the DCNM applications. Refer to the applications’ User guides for disk space requirements. You can mount another disk where the /tmp directory can be mounted during the installation or upgrade. You can also add additional disk space and the disk file system using appmgr system scan-disks-and-extend-fs command.

VMware Snapshot Support for Cisco DCNM

VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi)

6.0

6.5

6.7

6.7 P01

7.0

VMware vCenter Server

6.0

6.5

6.7

6.7 P01

7.0

Note

You need VMware vCenter server to deploy Cisco DCNM OVA Installer. However, to install DCNM directly on VMware ESXi without vCenter, you can choose DCNM ISO deployment. Ensure that correct CPU, Memory, Disk, and NIC resources are allocated to that VM.

To take a snapshot on the VM, perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click the virtual machine the inventory and select Snapshots > Take Snapshot.

  2. In the Take Snapshot dialog box, enter a name and description for the snapshot.

  3. Click OK to save the snapshot.

The following snapshots are available for VMs.

  • When VM is powered off.

  • When VM is powered on, and active.


Note

Cisco DCNM supports snapshots when VM is either powered on or powered off. DCNM doesn’t support snapshots when the Virtual Machine memory option is selected.

Ensure that Snapshot the Virtual Machine's memory check box must not be selected, as shown in the following figure. However, it is grayed out when the VM is powered off.

You can restore VM to the state in a Snapshot.

Right-click on the Virtual Machine and select Manage Snapshot. Select the snapshot to restore, and click Done.

Supported Web Browsers

Cisco DCNM supports the following web browsers:

  • Google Chrome version: 98.0.4758.109

  • Mozilla Firefox version: 97.0.1

  • Microsoft Edge version: 98.0.1108.62

Other Supported Software

The following table lists the other software that is supported by Cisco DCNM Release 11.5(1).

Table 1. Other Supported Software

Component

Features

Security

  • ACS versions 4.0, 5.1, 5.5, and 5.8

  • ISE version 2.6

  • ISE version 3.0

  • Telnet Disabled: SSH Version 1, SSH Version 2, Global Enforce SNMP Privacy Encryption.

  • Web Client Encryption: HTTPS with TLS 1, 1.1 and 1.2

  • TLS 1.3

OVA\ISO Installers

CentOS 7.8/Linux Kernel 3.10.x

Also, Cisco DCNM supports call-home events, fabric change events, and events that are forwarded by traps and email.

System Requirements for Cisco DCNM, Release 10.4(2)

Java Requirements

The Cisco DCNM Server is distributed with JRE 1.8.0_121 into the following directory: 

DCNM_root_directory/java/jre1.8

Server Requirements

Cisco DCNM, Release 10.4(2), supports the Cisco DCNM Server on these 64-bit operating systems:

  • Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 SP1

  • Microsoft Windows 2008 Standalone SP2

  • Microsoft Windows 2012 R2

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux Release 6.6 and 7.0

  • OVA and ISO with integrated operating system

Cisco DCNM Release 10.4(2) supports the following databases:

  • Oracle11g Express (XE), Standard, and Enterprise Editions, and Oracle 11g Real Application Clusters (RAC)

  • PostgreSQL 9.4.5

  • Oracle 12c Enterprise Edition (Conventional)—(Nonpluggable installation)


    Note

    Cisco DCNM Release 10.4(2) does not support Oracle 12c pluggable database version installation.

  • Oracle 12c RAC (nonpluggable installation)


Note

The Cisco DCNM database size is not limited, and increases according to the number of nodes and ports that the DCNM manages with Performance Manager Collections enabled. You cannot restrict the database size. If you choose Oracle database, we recommend that you use Oracle SE or Enterprise edition, instead of Oracle XE due to table space limitations.


Note

Customers are responsible for all the support associated with the Oracle databases, including maintenance, troubleshooting, and recovery. We recommend that customers perform regular database backups, either daily or weekly, to ensure that all the data is preserved.

Cisco DCNM Release 10.4(2) supports ISO installation on bare-metal server (no hypervisor) on the following server platform:

  • Cisco UCS C240M4 12G / 100G 4-CPU Cores with Cisco hardware RAID Controller [UCSC-MRAID12G-1GB/2GB] for RAID operation.

Cisco DCNM Release 10.4(2) supports the running of the Cisco DCNM Server on the following hypervisors:

  • VMware ESXi 6.0

  • VMware ESXi 6.5

  • VMware ESXi 6.7

  • VMware ESXi 6.7 U1

  • VMware vCenter 6.0

  • VMware vCenter 6.5

  • VMware vCenter 6.7

  • VMware vCenter 6.7 U1


Note

  • vCenter server is mandatory to deploy the Cisco DCNM OVA Installer.

  • When you log into the VMware vSphere Web Client, the Adobe Shockwave Flash crashes with the latest Google Chrome 62.0.3202.62 (64-bit), Mozilla Firefox 56.0.1 (64-bit) and Internet Explorer 8.0.7601.17514. Hence you cannot install Cisco DCNM on VMware ESX using VMware vSphere Web Client. This is a known issue with Adobe Shockwave Flash version 27.0.0.159.

Cisco DCNM Server resources for various installers are summarized in the following table:

Table 2. Server Resources for LAN or Programmable Fabric and SAN

LAN: 25 Switches and up to 1000 Ports

SAN: 50 Switches and up to 2000 Ports

LAN: 100 Switches and up to 3000 Ports

SAN: 200 Switches and up to 5000 Ports

LAN and SAN: 400+ Nodes and 20000 Ports

2 CPU Cores 2 GHZ (or faster)

2 vCPUs for ESXi or KVM, 2 GHz (or faster)

4 CPU Cores 2 GHZ (or faster)

4 vCPUs for ESXi or KVM, 2 GHz (or faster)

4 CPU Cores 2 GHZ (or faster)

4 vCPUs for ESXi or KVM, 2GHz (or faster)

8-GB memory, 80-GB free hard disk

2 servers or 2 VMs (ESXi or KVM), LAN/Programmable Fabric Native-HA or SAN federation

12-GB memory, 100-GB free hard disk

2 servers or 2 VMs (ESXi or KVM), LAN/Programmable Fabric Native-HA or SAN federation

12 GB memory, 100-GB free hard disk

2 servers or 2 VMs (ESXi or KVM), LAN/Programmable Fabric Native-HA or SAN federation

PostgreSQL 9.4.5 (included)

Oracle11g or Oracle 12c Standard or Enterprise

PostgreSQL 9.4.5 (included)

Oracle11g or Oracle 12c Standard or Enterprise

Native-HA: PostGreSQL (Included with OVA/ISO), Oracle11g or Oracle 12c Standard or Enterprise with RAC with dedicated resources

Note

  • If there are multiple devices in the SNMP unreachable state, or if the Elasticsearch is running, Cisco DCNM (with 12GB memory) may run out of memory. This might happen when you use the Temperature monitoring or the Endpoint Locator features since both applications use Elasticsearch. In this case, you need to add an additional 12 GB memory.

  • Although it is not mandatory, we recommend that you register the server system with Domain Name Service (DNS) servers.

Client Requirements

Cisco DCNM SAN desktop client and Cisco Device Manager support Windows 7, Windows 2008, Windows 2012, Windows 10, and Red Hat Linux. The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements for these client systems.

Table 3. Client Hardware Requirements

Hardware

Minimum Requirements

RAM (free)

4 GB

CPU speed

3 GHz or faster

Disk space (free)

20 GB

If you install Cisco DCNM in a virtual machine, you must reserve resources equal to the server resource requirements to ensure a baseline with the physical machines.

Some Cisco DCNM features require a license. Before using the licensed features, you must install a Cisco DCNM license for each Nexus-managed or MDS-managed platform.

Host Requirements

The following table lists the server resource requirements for deploying Cisco DCNM Release 10.4(2) Virtual Appliance (OVA).


Note

Resource reservations for the OVA virtual machine are required to ensure consistent performance of the Cisco DCNM server.
Table 4. Host Requirements

Small Deployment: Up To 50 Switches

Large Deployment: More than 50 Switches

4 vCPUs, 2 GHz (or faster)

8 vCPUs, 2 GHz (or faster)

12 GB memory, 200 GB

24 GB memory, 200 GB

Supported Web Browsers

Cisco DCNM supports the following web browsers:

  • Mozilla Firefox Version 53.0 (32-bit or 64-bit)

  • Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 11.0.9600.18617CO

Other Supported Software

The following table lists the other software supported by Cisco DCNM, Release 10.4(2).

Table 5. Other Supported Software

Component

Minimum Requirements

Security

  • ACS versions 4.0, 5.1, and 5.5

  • Telnet Disabled: SSH Version 1, SSH Version 2, Global Enforce SNMP Privacy Encryption

  • Web Client and Cisco DCNM-SAN Server Encryption: HTTPS with TLS 1, 1.1 and 1.2

DHCP Server

  • Cisco Network Registrar 8.2

OVA/ISO Installers

CentOS 6.7

Additionally, Cisco DCNM supports EMC call-home events, fabric change events, and events that are forwarded by traps and email.