Installing Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance

Installing Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance on VMware vSphere

Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance is distributed as a deployable virtual machine contained in an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) file format, ZIP file format, or a TAR file format. Install the appliance on an ESXi server using the OVA file format. Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance supports VMware High Availability (VMHA) to ensure non-disruptive operation of the virtual appliance. For more information about VMHA, please refer to the documentation on vmware.com. Use the following procedure to install and deploy the appliance on VMware vSphere.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have downloaded the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance package from the URL provided by your Cisco representative or a location accessible from your setup, such as a local hard drive, a network share, or a CD/DVD drive.


Attention

Setting up Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance requires an IP address and 2 hostnames for that IP address. The hostnames must be in the following formats:

  • myhost.mydomain.com—A hostname in this format is used to access the GUI. This must be defined as an A record and PTR record in DNS. The PTR record is required for reverse lookup of the IP address. If an IP address resolves to multiple hostnames, the first one in the list is used.


    Note

    For Intersight Virtual Appliance versions up to 1.0.9-148 only—See RFC 1123 for details about Regular Expression for a valid hostname.

  • dc-myhost.mydomain.com—The dc- must be prepended to your hostname. This hostname must be defined as the CNAME of myhost.mydomain.com. Hostnames in this format are used internally by the appliance to manage device connections.

  • Ensure that the appropriate entries of type A, CNAME, and PTR records exist in the DNS, as described above.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to VMware vSphere Web Client with administrator credentials.
Step 2

Right-click on the host and select Deploy OVF Template.

Step 3

On the Deploy OVF Template wizard Select template page, specify the source location, and click Next. You can specify a URL or browse to location accessible from your local hard drive, a network share, or a DVD/CD drive.

Step 4

On the OVF Template Details page, verify the OVF template details and click Next. No input is necessary.

Step 5

On the Select a name and location page, add/edit the Name and Location for the Virtual appliance and click Next.

Step 6

On the Select a resource page, select the specific Host (ESX station), Cluster, Resource Pool, or virtual appliance you want to deploy and click Next.

Each VM must be assigned to a specific host on clusters that are configured with vSphere HA or Manual mode vSphere DRS.
Step 7

On the Review details page, verify the OVA template details and click Next.

Step 8

On the Configuration page, select a deployment configuration and click Next.

You can select Small or Medium deployment configuration based on your requirement for Intersight Virtual Appliance. A brief description of the selected size displays.

You can select Tiny(8 vCPU, 16 Gi RAM) deployment configuration for Intersight Assist only.

Step 9

On the Select storage page, select a destination storage (hard drives) for the VM files in the selected host (ESX station) and click Next. Select the Disk Format for the virtual machine virtual disks. Select Thin Provision to optimize disk usage.

Step 10

On the Select networks page, for each network that is specified in the OVF template, select a source network and map it to a destination network and click Next.

Step 11

On the Customize Template page, customize the deployment properties of the OVF template, and click Next.

OVF Property

Description

Enable DHCP

Enables the appliance to obtain IP addresses from the DHCP server running on the same network to avoid using static IP addresses. If you select this option, all static parameters will be ignored. For more information about DHCP, see the Enabling DHCP section.

IP Address(Values you input will be ignored if you Enable DHCP)

Enter the IPv4 address of the node. For example: 10.0.0.100

Net Mask(Values you input will be ignored if you Enable DHCP)

This field is pre-populated with the IPv4 Net Mask 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway(Values you input will be ignored if you Enable DHCP)

Enter the IPv4 Default Gateway. For example: 10.0.1.254

DNS Domain(Values you input will be ignored if you Enable DHCP)

Enter the DNS Search Domain

DNS Servers(Values you input will be ignored if you Enable DHCP)

Enter a comma-separated list of IPv4 addresses for your DNS servers

Admin Password

Enter the admin password. This is the same password that you use to log in to the appliance.

Set Password—Before you register the appliance with Intersight, you must create an admin password. The password can contain 0-9, A-Z, a-z, and all special characters except a colon (:) and space.

NTP Servers

Enter a comma-separated list of hostnames or IPv4 addresses for your NTP servers. You can add up to 3 NTP servers. This setting is still required even if you use DHCP to obtain IP addresses.

Attention 

If the password you set at the time of registering your appliance is weak, Intersight prompts you to change your password to a stronger one. After a successful reset to a strong password, you are directly logged into the appliance. For more information about logging in, see Logging In to Intersight Virtual Appliance.

Enabling DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance VM to obtain an IP address through a DHCP server running on the network that it is installed on. When this option is enabled, the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance is equipped to handle IP address updates through DHCP, subject to lease requirements.

Attention 

Ensure that the following requirements for using DHCP are met:

  • If you use DHCP, ensure that the IP address returned to the appliance VM resolves to the same FQDN you use to set up the appliance. Cisco recommends that you configure your DHCP to return the same IP address for the appliance VM, and not change your IP address frequently.

  • The appliance only reads the IP address, netmask, gateway, and DNS-Servers from the DHCP lease information. NTP information, if any, must be input into the OVF parameters at the time of the deployment.

  • All IP addresses used in the appliance VM must be in the same subnet as that of the initial IP addresses assigned. For example, the VM cannot be assigned an IP from a different subnet, by connecting to a vSwitch which has a different DHCP server.

Limitations

  • A forced lease renewal could impact the VM configuration settings and could render the appliance unusable.
Step 12

On the Ready to Complete page, select Power On After Deployment and click Finish.

For information on how to complete the set-up of your appliance, see Setting Up Intersight Virtual Appliance.

After providing the OVF parameters, if you notice that your VM does not respond when you visit <http://fqdn-of-your-appliance> after about 15 minutes since power-on, you may use the Intersight Appliance Maintenance Shell to troubleshoot networking or misconfiguration issues.

The diagnostic tool aims to:

  • Detect and display issues with the installation prerequisites.

  • Enable editing the inputs that are provided during the OVA deployment.

  • Assist with continuing the installation after you fix the settings, or set network interface properties such as IP addresses, subnet mask, and default gateway during the OVA deployment.

For more information, see Intersight Appliance Maintenance Shell.

For a demonstration of the Intersight Virtual Appliance Installation and troubleshooting, watch Cisco Intersight Appliance Installation and Debug.

Installing Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance on Microsoft Hyper-V Server

Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance is distributed as a deployable virtual machine contained in an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) file format, ZIP file format, or a TAR file format. Install the appliance on Microsoft Hyper-V Server using the ZIP file format. For more information about Microsoft Hyper-V Server, refer to the Microsoft documentation. Use the following procedure to install and deploy the appliance on Hyper-V Server Manager.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have downloaded the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance package from the URL provided by your Cisco representative or a location accessible from your setup, such as a local hard drive, a network share, or a CD/DVD drive.


Attention

Setting up Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance requires an IP address and 2 hostnames for that IP address. The hostnames must be in the following formats:

  • myhost.mydomain.com—A hostname in this format is used to access the GUI. This must be defined as an A record and PTR record in DNS. The PTR record is required for reverse lookup of the IP address. If an IP address resolves to multiple hostnames, the first one in the list is used.


    Note

    For Intersight Virtual Appliance versions up to 1.0.9-148 only—See RFC 1123 for details about Regular Expression for a valid hostname.

  • dc-myhost.mydomain.com—The dc- must be prepended to your hostname. This hostname must be defined as the CNAME of myhost.mydomain.com. Hostnames in this format are used internally by the appliance to manage device connections.

  • Ensure that the appropriate entries of type A, CNAME, and PTR records exist in the DNS, as described above.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to Hyper-V Server Manager with administrator credentials and select a server where you want to install the appliance.
Step 2

From the Actions pane, select Import Virtual Machine, and click Next.

  1. Select the folder that contains the extracted virtual machine, for example, onprem_vms, and click Next.

  2. Select the virtual machine to import and click Next.

  3. In the Choose Import Type screen, select the Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID) option, and click Next.

  4. Make your selection in the Choose Destination screen and click Next.

  5. Make your selection in the Choose Storage Folders screen and click Next.

  6. Verify your selections in the Summary screen, and click Finish.

After the import is completed, you will see the imported virtual machine in Hyper-V Manager.
Step 3

Right-click on the imported virtual machine and select Settings.

  1. Navigate to Network Adapter and select a virtual switch from the drop-down list.

  2. Click Apply.

Step 4

In the Actions pane, select Start to power-on the virtual machine.

Step 5

In the Actions pane, select Connect to connect to the virtual machine.

The Virtual Machine Connection console is displayed.

Step 6

On the Virtual Machine Connection console, customize the password configuration and IP properties.

Property

Description

Set password for user admin

Set a new password for admin user.

Note 

Ensure that you remember this password as you will use the same one to log into the appliance.

Choose IP Assignment

Type in S for static IP assignment or D for DHCP

Selecting DHCP for your IP assignment enables the appliance to obtain IP addresses from the DHCP server running on the same network to avoid using static IP addresses.

IP Address

Enter the IP address of the node. For example: 10.0.0.100

Subnet Mask

Enter the IP Net Mask. For example: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway

Enter the IP Default Gateway. For example: 10.0.1.254

DNS Servers

Enter a comma-separated list of IP addresses for your DNS servers.

DNS Domain

Enter the DNS Search Domain.

NTP Servers

Provide NTP information when configuring a static IP.

Enter a comma-separated list of hostnames or IP addresses for your NTP servers. You can add up to 3 NTP servers.

You cannot provide NTP information if you configured selected DHCP for your IP assignment.
Attention 

If the password you set at the time of registering your appliance is weak, Intersight prompts you to change your password to a stronger one. After a successful reset to a strong password, you are directly logged into the appliance. For more information about logging in, see Logging In to Intersight Virtual Appliance.

Enabling DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance VM to obtain an IP address through a DHCP server running on the network that it is installed on. When this option is enabled, the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance is equipped to handle IP address updates through DHCP, subject to lease requirements.

Attention 

Ensure that the following requirements for using DHCP are met:

  • If you use DHCP, ensure that the IP address returned to the appliance VM resolves to the same FQDN you use to set up the appliance. Cisco recommends that you configure your DHCP to return the same IP address for the appliance VM, and not change your IP address frequently.

  • The appliance only reads the IP address, netmask, gateway, and DNS-Servers from the DHCP lease information. NTP information for the Hyper-V Server must be input into the Virtual Machine Connection console when configuring static IP.

  • All IP addresses used in the appliance VM must be in the same subnet as that of the initial IP addresses assigned. For example, the VM cannot be assigned an IP from a different subnet, by connecting to a vSwitch which has a different DHCP server.

Limitations

  • A forced lease renewal could impact the VM configuration settings and could render the appliance unusable.
Step 7

Proceed to <http://fqdn-of-your-appliance> to complete the post-install set-up of your appliance.

For information on how to complete the set-up of your appliance, see Setting Up Intersight Virtual Appliance.

After providing the password and IP property parameters, if you notice that your VM does not respond when you visit <http://fqdn-of-your-appliance> after about 15 minutes, you can use the Intersight Appliance Maintenance Shell to troubleshoot networking or misconfiguration issues.

The diagnostic tool aims to:

  • Detect and display issues with the installation prerequisites.

  • Enable editing the inputs that are provided during the OVA deployment.

  • Assist with continuing the installation after you fix the settings, or set network interface properties such as IP addresses, subnet mask, and default gateway during the OVA deployment.

For more information, see Intersight Appliance Maintenance Shell.

For a demonstration of the Intersight Virtual Appliance Installation and troubleshooting, watch Cisco Intersight Appliance Installation and Debug.

Installing Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance on KVM Hypervisor

Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance is distributed as a deployable virtual machine contained in an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) file format, ZIP file format, or a TAR file format. Install the appliance on KVM hypervisor using the TAR file format. The following procedure shows how to install and deploy the appliance on KVM hypervisor using Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

Note

Software Requirements:

  • Linux operating system with support for KVM hypervisor or Linux operating system pre-configured with KVM hypervisor. On CentOS 7.9, the minimum supported KVM hypervisor version is 1.5.3.

  • A virtual network bridge to provide network connectivity to VMs.

Before you begin

Ensure that you have downloaded the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance package from the URL provided by your Cisco representative or a location accessible from your setup, such as a local hard drive, a network share, or a CD/DVD drive.


Attention

Setting up Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance requires an IP address and 2 hostnames for that IP address. The hostnames must be in the following formats:

  • myhost.mydomain.com—A hostname in this format is used to access the GUI. This must be defined as an A record and PTR record in DNS. The PTR record is required for reverse lookup of the IP address. If an IP address resolves to multiple hostnames, the first one in the list is used.


    Note

    For Intersight Virtual Appliance versions up to 1.0.9-148 only—See RFC 1123 for details about Regular Expression for a valid hostname.

  • dc-myhost.mydomain.com—The dc- must be prepended to your hostname. This hostname must be defined as the CNAME of myhost.mydomain.com. Hostnames in this format are used internally by the appliance to manage device connections.

  • Ensure that the appropriate entries of type A, CNAME, and PTR records exist in the DNS, as described above.

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) client.
Step 2

Select File > New Virtual Machine on the menu bar to install a new virtual machine on a KVM hypervisor.

The New VM dialog box appears and displays Step 1 of 4 of the New VM installation.

Step 3

Under Choose how you would like to install the operating system, select Import existing disk image, and click Forward.

Step 2 of 4 is displayed.
Step 4

Under Provide the existing storage path, click Browse.

Step 5

Under Choose storage volume, browse your directories to locate and select the first disk of the Intersight Virtual Appliance image file, (for example, intersight-appliance-1.0.9-180-1.qcow2) that you have extracted on your system.

Step 6

Under Choose an operating system type and version, select Linux for OS type and CentOS 7.0 for Version, and click Forward.

Step 3 of 4 is displayed.
Step 7

Under Choose Memory and CPU settings, do the following, and click Forward.

  • Select or enter 32768 for Memory (RAM)

  • Set CPU at 16

Step 4 of 4 is displayed.

For more information about appliance deployment sizes, see Intersight Virtual Appliance Sizing Options .

Step 8

In the dialog box, complete the following configuration:

  • Under Ready to begin the installation, in the Name field, enter a name for the Intersight Virtual Appliance software. For example, intersight-appliance-1.0.9-180

  • Ensure that you have selected the Customize configuration before install option.

  • Under Network selection, ensure that you select the appropriate virtual network bridge.

Step 9

Click Finish.

You have now completed the process of adding the first disk of the Intersight Virtual Appliance image. You will need to add disks 2 through 8, one by one, before you can begin the installation process.

Step 10

On the VMM console, complete the following configuration:

  1. Click Add Hardware that you can find at the bottom of the left navigation panel.

  2. Under Storage, ensure that Select or create custom storage is selected.

  3. Browse your directories to locate and select the second disk of the Intersight Virtual Appliance image file, (for example, intersight-appliance-1.0.9-180-2.qcow2) that you have extracted on your system, and click Choose volume.

  4. Click Finish.

Repeat this step until you have added disk 3 through disk 8. Ensure that all eight disks appear on the left navigation panel.
Step 11

Click Begin installation.

Step 12

On the VMM console, customize the password configuration and IP properties.

Property

Description

Set password for user admin

Set a new password for admin user.

Note 

Ensure that you remember this password as you will use the same one to log into the appliance.

Choose IP Assignment

Type in S for static IP assignment or D for DHCP

Selecting DHCP for your IP assignment enables the appliance to obtain IP addresses from the DHCP server running on the same network to avoid using static IP addresses.

IP Address

Enter an IPv4 address of the node. For example: 10.0.0.100

Note 

You must have an IPv4 address configured in order for the appliance to be functional.

It is recommended that you configure IPv6 addresses subsequent to completing the initial installation and deployment of the appliance using an IPv4 address.

Subnet Mask

Enter the IP Net Mask. For example: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway

Enter the IP Default Gateway. For example: 10.0.1.254

DNS Servers

Enter a comma-separated list of IP addresses for your DNS servers.

DNS Domain

Enter the DNS Search Domain.

NTP Servers

Provide NTP information when configuring a static IP.

Enter a comma-separated list of hostnames or IP addresses for your NTP servers. You can add up to 3 NTP servers.

You cannot provide NTP information if you configured selected DHCP for your IP assignment.
Attention 

If the password you set at the time of registering your appliance is weak, Intersight prompts you to change your password to a stronger one. After a successful reset to a strong password, you are directly logged into the appliance. For more information about logging in, see Logging In to Intersight Virtual Appliance.

Enabling DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) allows the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance VM to obtain an IP address through a DHCP server running on the network that it is installed on. When this option is enabled, the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance is equipped to handle IP address updates through DHCP, subject to lease requirements.

Attention 

Ensure that the following requirements for using DHCP are met:

  • If you use DHCP, ensure that the IP address returned to the appliance VM resolves to the same FQDN you use to set up the appliance. Cisco recommends that you configure your DHCP to return the same IP address for the appliance VM, and not change your IP address frequently.

  • The appliance only reads the IP address, netmask, gateway, and DNS-Servers from the DHCP lease information. NTP information for the KVM hypervisor must be input into the VMM console when configuring static IP.

  • All IP addresses used in the appliance VM must be in the same subnet as that of the initial IP addresses assigned. For example, the VM cannot be assigned an IP from a different subnet, by connecting to a vSwitch which has a different DHCP server.

Limitations

  • A forced lease renewal could impact the VM configuration settings and could render the appliance unusable.
Step 13

Proceed to <https://fqdn-of-your-appliance> to complete the post-install set-up of your appliance.

For information on how to complete the set-up of your appliance, see Setting Up Intersight Virtual Appliance.

After providing the password and IP property parameters, if you notice that your VM does not respond when you visit <https://fqdn-of-your-appliance> after about 15 minutes, you can use the Intersight Appliance Maintenance Shell to troubleshoot networking or misconfiguration issues.

The diagnostic tool aims to:

  • Detect and display issues with the installation prerequisites.

  • Enable editing the inputs that are provided during the appliance image deployment.

  • Assist with continuing the installation after you fix the settings, or set network interface properties such as IP addresses, subnet mask, and default gateway during the appliance image deployment.

For more information, see Intersight Appliance Maintenance Shell.

For a demonstration of the Intersight Virtual Appliance Installation and troubleshooting, watch Cisco Intersight Appliance Installation and Debug.