Requirements and Limitations
The following sections provide information about the requirements that your system must meet, and limitations that apply when you install or upgrade Cisco Unified Communications Manager or IM and Presence Service.
![]() Caution |
Do not modify any of the IM and Presence Service server entries on the Application Server or Server configuration pages of the Cisco Unified CM Administration interface. The IM and Presence Service upgrade process automatically updates these entries on the Cisco Unified Communications Manager cluster during the final stages (switch version) of the upgrade process. For upgrades from Release 8.x or 9.x to Release 10.x or later, any manual modification of these entries during the upgrade process will result in data migration failures between IM and Presence Service and Cisco Unified Communications Manager. If such failures occur, you must restart the entire upgrade process for both Cisco Unified Communications Manager and IM and Presence Service clusters. |
Limitations
This section describes the limitations that apply when you install or upgrade Cisco Unified Communications Manager or the IM and Presence Service.
Subnet Limitations
Do not install Cisco Unified Communications Manager in a large Class A or Class B subnet that contains a large number of devices.
Cluster Size
The number of Cisco Unified Communications Manager subscriber nodes in a cluster cannot exceed 4 subscriber nodes and 4 standby nodes, for a total of 8 subscribers. The total number of servers in a cluster, including the Cisco Unified Communications Manager publisher node, TFTP server, and media servers, cannot exceed 21.
The maximum number of IM and Presence nodes in a cluster is 6.
For more information, see Cisco Collaboration Solutions Design Guidance at http://www.cisco.com/go/ucsrnd
Network Requirements
This section lists the requirements that your network must meet before you can deploy Cisco Unified Communications Manager and the IM and Presence Service.
IP Address Requirements
A complete collaboration solution relies on DNS in order to function correctly for a number of services and thus requires a highly available DNS structure in place. If you have a basic IP telephony deployment and do not want to use DNS, you can configure Cisco Unified Communications Manager and IM and Presence Service to use IP addresses rather than hostnames to communicate with gateways and endpoint devices.
You must configure the server to use static IP addressing to ensure that the server obtains a fixed IP address. Using a static IP address also ensures that Cisco Unified IP Phones can register with the application when you plug the phones into the network.
DNS requirements
Note the following requirements:
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Mixed-mode DNS deployments not supported—Cisco does not support mixed-mode deployments. Both Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified Communications Manager) and IM and Presence must either use or not use DNS.
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If your deployment uses DNS—Unified Communications Manager and IM and Presence should use the same DNS server. If you use different DNS servers between IM and Presence and Unified Communications Manager, it is likely to cause abnormal system behavior.
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If your deployment does not use DNS, will need to edit the following Host Name/IP Address fields:
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Server—In the Cisco Unified CM Administration Server Configuration window, set IP addresses for your cluster nodes.
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IM and Presence UC Service—In the Cisco Unified CM Administration UC Service Configuration window, create an IM and Presence UC service that points to the IP address of the IM and Presence database publisher node
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CCMCIP Profiles—In the Cisco Unified CM IM and Presence Administration CCMCIP Profile Configuration window, point any CCMCIP profiles to the IP address of the host.
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Multinode considerations—If you are using the multinode feature in IM and Presence, see the section regarding multinode deployments in the Configuration and Administration of IM and Presence on Cisco Unified Communications Manager for DNS configuration options.
Firewall Requirements
Make sure that you configure your firewall so that connections to port 22 are open, and are not throttled. During the installation of IM and Presence subscriber nodes, multiple connections to the Cisco Unified Communications Manager publisher node are opened in quick succession. Throttling these connections could lead to a failed installation.
Platform Requirements
In this release, you cannot install or run Cisco Unified Communications Manager and the IM and Presence Service directly on server hardware; you must run these applications on virtual machines.
Before you can install or upgrade the software on a virtual machine, you must:
- configure the platform
- install and configure ESXi virtualization software
- deploy the correct OVA template for the release
This section provides information about the platform requirements that you must meet before you can deploy Cisco Unified Communications Manager and the IM and Presence Service on virtual machines.
Software Requirements
The following sections provide information about the software requirements that your deployment must meet.
Version Requirements
All servers in a cluster must run the same release of Cisco Unified Communications Manager. The only exception is during a cluster software upgrade, during which a temporary mismatch is allowed.
If you are installing IM and Presence nodes, the software version of the first IM and Presence node (the IM and Presence database publisher node) must match the first three numbers of the software version installed on the Unified Communications Manager publisher node. For example, IM and Presence Service software version 10.0.1.10000-1 is compatible with Cisco Unified Communications Manager software version 10.0.1.30000-2. Refer to the following table for sample Cisco Unified Communications Manager versions and IM and Presence Service versions that are compatible. The bolded numbers must match.
Sample Unified Communications Manager Version |
Example of Compatible IM and Presence Service Version |
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10.0.1.30000-2 |
10.0.1.10000-1 |
10.5.1.10000-7 |
10.5.1.10000-9 |
10.5.2.10000-5 |
10.5.2.10000-9 |
After you install the first IM and Presence node, the software version of any IM and Presence subscriber nodes that you install must match all five version numbers of the first IM and Presence node. For example, if the IM and Presence database publisher node is at version 10.0.1.10000-1, then all IM and Presence subscriber nodes must also be 10.0.1.10000-1.
Software Restrictions
You cannot install or use third-party or Windows-based software applications. The system can upload and process only software that Cisco Systems approves. You must perform all software installations and upgrades using Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration.
For information about software compatibility for IM and Presence nodes, see the Hardware and Software Compatibility Information for IM and Presence Service on Cisco Unified Communications Manager.
For information about software compatibility for Cisco Unified Communications Manager, see the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Software Compatibility Matrix.
Browser Requirements
Cisco Unified Communications Manager and the IM and Presence Service both provide interfaces that you can use to configure and manage the system. You can access the interfaces by using the browsers and operating systems listed in the following table. Cisco does not support or test other browsers.
You can access Cisco Unified Communications Manager with this browser... |
...if you use one of these operating systems |
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 |
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Mozilla Firefox 3.x or 4.x (if available) |
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Safari 4.x or 5.x (if available) |
Apple Mac OS X (or newest OS release available) |
User Name and Password Requirements
The following sections provide information about the account names and passwords that you must configure for Cisco Unified Communications Manager and the IM and Presence Service.
Accounts and Passwords for Unified Communications Manager
User Name and Password Requirements
![]() Note |
The system checks your passwords for strength. See topics related to password considerations for guidelines on creating a strong password. |
During the installation, you must specify the following user names and passwords:
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Administrator Account user name and password
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Application User name and password
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Security password
Administrator Account User Name and Password
You use the Administrator Account user name and password to log in to the following areas:
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Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration
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Disaster Recovery System
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Command Line Interface
To specify the Administrator Account user name and password, follow these guidelines:
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Administrator Account user name—The Administrator Account user name must start with an alphabetic character and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens and underscores.
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Administrator Account password—The Administrator Account password must be at least six characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores.
You can change the Administrator Account password or add a new Administrator account by using the command line interface. For more information, see the Command Line Interface Reference Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Solutions.
Application User Name and Password
When you install Cisco Unified Communications Manager, you must enter an Application User name and password. You use the Application User name and password to access applications that are installed on the system, including the following areas:
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Cisco Unified CM Administration
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Cisco Unified Serviceability
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Real Time Monitoring Tool
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Cisco Unified Reporting
To specify the Application User name and password, follow these guidelines:
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Application User name - The Application User name must start with an alphabetic character and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens and underscores.
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Application User password - The Application User password must be at least six characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores.
![]() Caution |
Do not use the system application name as the Application User name. Using a system application name causes the installation to fail with an unrecoverable error during the installation of the database. System application names are:
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You can change the Application User name and password by using the command line interface. For more information, see the Command Line Interface Reference Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Solutions.
Security Password
During the installation, you must specify a security password. Cisco Unified Communications Manager systems use this password to authorize communications between nodes in the cluster, including IM and Presence Service nodes. The security password must be identical on all nodes in the cluster.
The Security password must be minimum six characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores.
If you are enabling FIPS, Common Criteria, or Enhanced Security mode on the cluster, ensure that the security password is minimum 14 characters.
If your security password is less than 14 characters:
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Upgrades from any previous versions of FIPS enabled Cisco Unified Communications Manager to Release 12.5 or later aborts with an error message.
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You must set the security password to a minimum of 14 characters to resume the upgrade process.
Accounts and Passwords for IM and Presence Service
Required passwords
During installation of the IM and Presence Service, you must specify the following usernames and passwords:
Administrator account username and password
During installation, you must create an Administrator Account username and password to log into the following areas:
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Cisco Unified Operating System Administration interface
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Disaster Recovery System Administration interface
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Command Line Interface (CLI)
The Administrator login must start with an alphabetic character, be at least six characters long, and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores.
If you lose the Administrator password and cannot access the system, you can recover the Administrator password in Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration.
If you need to reset the Administrator password, use the CLI.
Application username and password
During the installation of Cisco Unified Communications Manager, you are prompted to create an Application User name and password. Use this same Application User name and password when you sign into the Cisco Unified CM IM and Presence Administration interface.
If you need to reset the Application User password, use the CLI.
InterCluster Peer-User and Admin-CUMA Application User Roles Deprecated
The application user group roles InterCluster Peer-User and Admin-CUMA are deprecated from release 10.0(1). Any application users with these roles configured in releases 8.x or 9.x have the roles removed during an upgrade to any 10.x release. After the upgrade the administrator must configure appropriate roles for these users.
![]() Note |
For intercluster to function correctly, the AXL user defined on the IM and Presence Service user interface ( ) must have a Standard AXL API Access role associated with it on the Cisco Unified Communications Manager application user page. |
Password Recommendations
The installation wizard checks to ensure that you enter a strong password. To create a strong password, follow these recommendations:
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Mix uppercase and lowercase letters.
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Mix letters and numbers.
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Include special symbols.
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Remember that longer passwords are stronger and more secure than shorter ones.
Avoid the following types of passwords:
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Do not use recognizable words, such as proper names and dictionary words, even when combined with numbers.
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Do not invert recognizable words.
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Do not use word or number patterns, such as aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 123321, and so on.
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Do not use recognizable words from other languages.
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Do not use personal information of any kind, including birthdays, postal codes, names of children or pets, and so on.
Installation Time Requirements
Time Requirements for Cisco Unified Communications Manager
The entire installation process, excluding pre- and post-installation tasks, takes 45 to 90 minutes, depending on your server type.
Time Requirements for IM and Presence Nodes
The entire IM and Presence installation process, excluding pre- and post-installation tasks, takes approximately 45 to 90 minutes per server, depending on your server type.