Installing DCNM on Open Virtual Appliance
This chapter contains the following sections:
Downloading the Open Virtual Appliance File
The first step to install the Open Virtual Appliance is to download the dcnm.ova file. Point to that dcnm.ova file on your computer when deploying the OVF template.
Note |
If you plan to use HA application functions, you must deploy the dcnm.ova file twice. |
Procedure
Step 1 |
Go to the following site: http://software.cisco.com/download/ . |
Step 2 |
In the Select a Product search box, enter Cisco Data Center Network Manager. Click Search icon. |
Step 3 |
Click Data Center Network Manager from the search results. A list of the latest release software for Cisco DCNM available for download is displayed. |
Step 4 |
In the Latest Releases list, choose Release 11.0(1). |
Step 5 |
Locate the DCNM Open Virtual Appliance Installer and click the Download icon. |
Step 6 |
Save the dcnm.ova file to your directory that is easy to find when you start to deploy the OVF template. |
Deploying the Open Virtual Appliance as an OVF Template
After you download the Open Virtual Appliance file, you must deploy the OVF template from the vSphere Client application or the vCenter Server.
Note |
Deploy two OVAs for the HA setup. |
Procedure
Step 1 |
Open the vCenter Server application and connect to the vCenter Server with your vCenter user credentials.
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Step 2 |
Navigate to Home > Inventory > Hosts and Clusters and choose the host on which the OVF template is deployed. |
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Step 3 |
On the correct Host, right-click and select Deploy OVF Template. You can also choose Actions > Deploy OVF Template. Deploy OVF Template Wizard opens. |
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Step 4 |
On the Select template screen, navigate to the location where you have downloaded the OVA image. You can choose the OVA file by one of the following methods:
Click Next. |
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Step 5 |
Verify the OVA template details and click Next. |
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Step 6 |
On the End User License Agreement screen, read the license agreement. Click Accept and click Next. |
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Step 7 |
On the Select name and location screen, enter the following information:
Click Next. |
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Step 8 |
On the Select configuration screen, select the configuration from the drop-down list.
Click Next. |
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Step 9 |
On the Select a resource screen, select the host on which you want to deploy the OVA template. Click Next. |
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Step 10 |
On the Select storage screen, based on the Datastore and Available space choose the disk format and the destination storage for the virtual machine file. Click Next. |
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Step 11 |
On the Select Networks screen, map the networks that are used in the OVF template to networks in your inventory.
From the Destination Network drop-down list, choose to associate the network mapping with the port group that corresponds to the subnet that is associated with the corresponding network. If you are deploying more than one DCNM Open Virtual Appliance for HA functionality, you must meet the following criteria:
Click Next. |
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Step 12 |
On the Customize template screen, enter the Management Properties information. Enter the IP Address (for the outside management address for DCNM), Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway.
Click Next. |
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Step 13 |
On the Ready to Complete screen, review the deployment settings. Click Back to go to the previous screens and modify the configuration. Click Finish to deploy the OVF template. You can see the deployment status in the Recent Tasks area on the vSphere Client.
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Step 14 |
After the installation is complete, right click on the installed VM and select Power > Power On.
You can see the status in the Recent Tasks area. |
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Step 15 |
Navigate to the Summary tab and click Settings icon and select Launch Web Console. A message indicating that the DCNM appliance is configuring appears on the screen.
Copy and paste the URL to the browser to complete the installation, using the Web Installer. |
What to do next
You can choose to install DCNM in Standalone mode or Native HA mode. For more information, see Installing Cisco DCNM OVA in Standalone Mode or .
Installing Cisco DCNM OVA in Standalone Mode
Paste the URL displayed on the Console tab and hit Enter key. A welcome message appears.
To complete the installation of Cisco DCNM from the web installer, perform the following procedure.
Procedure
Step 1 |
On the Welcome to Cisco DCNM screen, click Get Started. |
Step 2 |
On the Cisco DCNM Installer screen, select Fresh Installation radio button. Click Continue. |
Step 3 |
On the Administration tab, enter the password that is used to connect to all the applications in the Cisco DCNM Open Virtual Appliance. Adhere to the following password requirements. If you do not comply with the requirements, the DCNM application may not function properly.
Click Next. |
Step 4 |
In the Install Mode tab, from the drop-down list, choose LAN Fabric installation mode for the OVA DCNM Appliance. |
Step 5 |
On the System Settings, configure the settings for the DCNM Appliance.
Click Next. |
Step 6 |
On the Network Settings tab, configure the network parameters. |
Step 7 |
On the Summary tab, review the configuration details. Click Previous to go to the previous tabs and modify the configuration. Click Start Installation to complete the Cisco DCNM OVA Installation for the chosen deployment mode. A progress bar appears showing the completed percentage, description of the operation, and the elapsed time during the installation. After the progress bar shows 100%, click Continue. A success message appears with the URL to access DCNM Web UI.
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What to do next
Log on to the DCNM Web UI with appropriate credentials.
Click the Settings icon and choose About DCNM. You can view and verify the Installation type that you have deployed.
dcnm# appmgr setup inband-route --subnet switches-fabric-links-IP-subnet/mask
dcnm# appmgr setup inband-route --subnet switch-loopback-IP-subnet>/mask
dcnm# appmgr setup inband-route --subnet 10.0.0.0/24
dcnm# appmgr setup inband-route --subnet 40.1.1.0/24
Installing Cisco DCNM OVA in Native HA mode
The native HA is supported on DCNM appliances with ISO or OVA installation only. Unlike general HA mechanisms, it doesn't require any external dependencies like an Oracle database or a shared NFS filesystem.
By default, Cisco DCNM is bundled with an embedded PostgreSQL database engine. The native HA feature allows two Cisco DCNM appliances to run as active and standby applications, with their embedded databases synchronized in real time. Therefore, when the active DCNM is not functioning, the standby DCNM will take over with the same database data and resume the operation.
Perform the following task to setup Native HA for DCNM.
Procedure
Step 1 |
Deploy two DCNM virtual appliances (OVA/ISO).
If both eth0 and eth1 interfaces are in the same subnet, edit the /etc/sysctl.conf file for DCNM ISO Virtual appliance Native HA installation on both Active and Standby nodes for both the appliances, as follows:
Save and close the file. On the SSH terminal, execute the sysctl --system command. |
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Step 2 |
Wait for all the applications to be operational. Use the appmgr status all command to check the status of the applications. Example:
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Step 3 |
Use the appmgr stop all command to shut down all applications on both the Cisco DCNM applications. Use the appmgr status all command to check the status of the applications. Example:
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Step 4 |
On the active node, edit the ha-setup.properties file, by using the following command: vi /root/packaged-files/properties/ha-setup.properties Example:
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Step 5 |
Edit the active node parameters and enter appropriate values. Please refer to section for more information. |
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Step 6 |
Install Native HA on the Active node with the following command: Example:
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Step 7 |
On the Standby node, check if the below property values are updated in the ha-setup.properties file, by using the following command: Example:
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Step 8 |
Verify if the Standby node parameters are updated.
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Step 9 |
If it is auto-populated and validated, install Native HA on the stand-by node, using the following command: Example:
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What to do next
Refer to Native HA Failover and Troubleshooting for troubleshooting Native HA.
Example for DCNM Native HA Installation
The example in this section considers the following parameters and shows how to install DCNM Native HA.
Parameter |
Active |
Standby |
Virtual IP (VIP) |
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Eth0 IP |
1.1.1.1/24 |
1.1.1.2/24 |
1.1.1.3/24 |
Eth1 IP |
2.2.0.1/16 |
2.2.0.2/16 |
2.2.0.3/16 |
Hostname (FQDN) |
dcnm1.cisco.com |
dcnm2.cisco.com |
dcnm3.cisco.com |
On the active node, edit the property file by using the following command:
vi /root/packaged-files/properties/ha-setup.properties
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Enter the HA ping IP address if necessary.
HA_PING_ADDRESS, must be different from the DCNM Active and Standby addresses.
Note |
You must configure the HA ping IP Address to avoid the Split Brain scenario. |
On the standby node, check if the property values are updated in /root/packaged-files/properties/ha-setup.properties
vi /root/packaged-files/properties/ha-setup.properties
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Note |
The Virtual IP (VIP) is seen on the active node. You can verify VIP by using the ip address show command. |