Installing Cisco CMX in a VMware Virtual Machine

This chapter describes how to install and deploy a Cisco Mobility Services Engine (MSE) virtual appliance.

Cisco CMX is a prebuilt software solution that comprises one or more virtual machines (VMs) that are packaged, maintained, updated, and managed as a single unit. Cisco CMX is distributed as an Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) for installation on a virtual appliance and as an ISO image for installation on a physical appliance.

Cisco CMX acts as a platform (physical or virtual Cisco Mobility Services Engine [MSE] appliance) to deploy and run the Cisco services.

If you choose Location during installation, you will see the following services in Cisco CMX GUI.

DETECT & LOCATE—Active for 120 day trial period unless either a CMX base or advanced license is added.
ANALYTICS—Active for 120 day trial period unless a CMX advanced license is added.

If you choose Presence during installation, you will see the following services in the Cisco CMX GUI.

CONNECT—Active for 120 day trial period unless either a CMX base license is added.
PRESENCE ANALYTICS

Virtualization Concepts

Refer to these documents for information on virtualization:

Installation Overview

The following table lists the Cisco CMX virtual appliance installation process and contains information about the sections providing details about them:

Table 1. Installation Overview
Step	Task	See
1	Review the deployment checklist and prepare for the installation of a Cisco CMX virtual appliance.	Cisco CMX Virtual Appliance Deployment Checklist and Hardware Guidelines
2	Download the Cisco CMX Open Virtualization Archive (OVA) file from Cisco.com.	Downloading the Cisco CMX OVA File
3	Deploy the Cisco CMX OVA file.	Deploying the Cisco CMX OVA File Using the VMware vSphere Web Client
4	Configure the basic configurations and install the Cisco CMX virtual appliance.	Configuring Cisco CMX Release 10.5.x and Later
5	Set up the Cisco CMX virtual appliance.	Installing Cisco CMX Using Web Interface

Note

Performing a Cisco CMX installation over high latency links might not work in a reliable manner. If you want to install Cisco CMX on a remote location, we recommend that you load the ISO to a remote file server that can be accessed locally by the remote server.

Restrictions for Installing Cisco CMX in a VMware Virtual Machine

Map size must be less than 5 MB in Cisco Prime Infrastructure.
There must be less than 1000 access points on a single map.
The Mobile Application Server is not available.
The Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (wIPS) is available with limited feature support. From 10.4 release onwards, Cisco CMX supports rogue access points and rogue clients.
A common NTP server must be used to synchronize the time.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Mail Server name and authentication mechanism must be used for the Cisco CMX mail notification system.
VMware vSphere Storage API - Data Protection (VADP) hypervisor clone feature is not supported

Cisco CMX Virtual Appliance Deployment Checklist

Cisco Wireless Controller has IP connectivity to a Cisco CMX instance.
Cisco Prime Infrastructure has IP connectivity to a Cisco CMX instance.
Port 16113 is routable from Cisco WLC to the Cisco CMX IP address.
Port 161 (for Simple Network Management Protocol [SNMP] traffic) is routable from Cisco WLC to the Cisco CMX IP address.
SSH client to log in with the root access to the VM is present.
A Secure Copy (SCP) client (on MAC native or installed on PC) or a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) exists to move files into Cisco CMX OVA (specifically, map files and images to upgrade).
Ensure that UDP port 2003 is routable from Cisco WLC to Cisco CMX IP addresss for hyperlocation .

Note

If you are using Cisco 3365 CMX Appliance and need to deploy Cisco CMX 10.5, you can only restore a backup file of maximium 200GB. If your backup file size is more than 200GB, we recommend that you add external disks or perform a selective backup for restoring Cisco CMX data.

Prerequisites for Installing Cisco CMX in a VMware Virtual Machine

VMWare vSphere client.
Hostname IP address, netmask, default gateway, DNS IP address, and Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server IP address or name.

Hardware Guidelines

The following table lists the hardware guidelines for the Cisco CMX virtual appliance.

Note

If the hardware requirements are not met, the OVA deployment fails. Similarly, the Cisco CMX setup fails during installation when the other minimum requirements listed in the table below are not met.

Table 2. Hardware Guidelines
Hardware Platform	Basic Appliance	Standard Appliance	High-End Appliance
CPU	8 vCPU (2.4 GHz core)	16 vCPU (2.4 GHz core)	20 vCPU (2.4 GHz core)
RAM	24 GB	48 GB	64 GB ¹
HDD ²	550 GB	550 GB	1 TB

¹ The high-end deployment VM (20 vCPU, 64 GB RAM) reserves 63.74 GB for itself and the rest of the RAM is used by ESXi.

² For Cisco CMX OVA installation, 160 GB is the default HDD (hard disk drive) on low-end, standard and high-end virtual machines. We strongly recommend immediately after deploying the OVA file and before powering on the VM that you increase the disk space to the recommended amount as described in the above table, so that the HDD resource does not run low while using Cisco CMX. If you do not increase the disk space before powering on the VM, refer to the VMWare 6.7 guidelines on how to increase disk space: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-79116E5D-22B3-4E84-86DF-49A8D16E7AF2.html

Note

We recommend you to allocate the required HDD space. For more information, see step 12 in Deploying the Cisco CMX OVA File Using the VMware vSphere Web Client section.

Release Upgrade Compatibility Matrix

The following table lists the Cisco CMX releases available on Cisco.com.

Table 3. Cisco CMX Releases Available on Cisco.com
Cisco CMX Release	OVA	3365 ISO	3375 ISO	Upgrade Option Only
10.1.0	cmx-v10-1-0.ova	—		—
10.1.1	—	10.1.1		—
10.1.1-2	—	—		cisco_cmx-10.1.1-2.tar.gz (cisco_cmx-10.1.1-2.x86_64.rpm and cisco_cmx_connect-10.1.1-30.x86_64.rpm)
10.1.2	—	—		cisco_cmx-10.1.1-2.tar.gz
10.2	10.2 OVA	10.2 ISO		10.2 backend upgrade (10.1 and 10.1.1 to 10.2) script and.CMX image file
10.3	10.3 OVA	10.3 ISO		—
10.4	10.4 OVA	10.4 ISO		—
10.5	10.5 OVA	10.5 ISO		No direct upgrade option. New OVA/ISO System
10.6	10.6 OVA	10.6 ISO	10.6 ISO	—

Table 4. Node Types Supported Per Release
Release	Location and Analytics Node	Location and Connect Node	Location, Analytics, and Connect Node (L-Node)	Connect and Presence Node (P-Node)	High Availability
10.1.0	Yes	—	—	—	—
10.1.1-2	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—
10.1.2	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—
10.2	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Analytics to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Connect to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Yes	Yes	—
10.3	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Analytics to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Connect to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Yes	Yes	Yes
10.4	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Analytics to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Connect to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Connect to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Yes	Yes
10.5	No direct upgrade is available. New OVA/ISO system upgrade	No direct upgrade is available. New OVA/ISO system upgrade	Yes	Yes	Yes
10.6	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Analytics to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Use the upgrade script to change Location and Connect to Location, Analytics, and Connect internally.	Yes	Yes	Yes

Table 5. Upgrade Path by Node Type

Upgrade Path 1³

Location and Connect Node

Location and Analytics Node

Location, Analytics, and Connect Node (L-Node)

Connect and Presence Node (P-Node)

10.1.0 OVA to 10.2

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to10.2 and change Location and Connect to Location, Connect, and Analytics.

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to10.2 and change Location and Analytics to Location, Connect, and Analytics.

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to 10.2.

—

10.1.1-2 tar.gz to 10.2

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to10.2 and change Location and Connect to Location, Connect, and Analytics.

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to10.2 and change Location and Analytics to Location, Connect, and Analytics.

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to 10.2.

—

10.1.2 tar.gz to 10.2

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to10.2 and change Location and Connect to Location, Connect, and Analytics.

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to10.2 and change Location and Analytics to Location, Connect, and Analytics.

10.2 backend script to upgrade image to 10.2.

—

10.2 OVA/ISO to 10.3

—

UI upgrade script to upgrade image.

UI upgrade script to upgrade image

10.3 OVA/ISO to 10.4

—

UI upgrade script to upgrade image.

UI upgrade script to upgrade image

10.5 OVA/ISO

—

UI upgrade script to upgrade image.

UI upgrade script to upgrade image

10.6 OVA/ISO

—

UI upgrade script to upgrade image.

Upgrade is supported from the Cisco CMX Release 10.5.x to Cisco CMX Release 10.6.

Note

Releases earlier than Cisco CMX Release 10.5 cannot be upgraded to Cisco CMX Release 10.6, for example Cisco CMX Release 10.4.1 cannot be upgraded to Cisco CMX Release 10.6.

³ The path that is provided for upgrade is the same as that used for backup and restore.

VM Alerts

The following table displays the alerts shown on the VM for the following conditions:

Table 6. VM Alerts
Hard Disk Status	Alert Shown
50 percent	Do Not Back Up
80 percent	System Is About To Run Out Of Space
85 percent	All The Services Are Stopped

Downloading the Cisco CMX OVA File

Procedure

Step 1	Download the Cisco CMX image from Download Software on cisco.com.
Step 2	Save the Cisco CMX OVA installer to your computer and ensure that it is accessible.

Deploying the Cisco CMX OVA File Using the VMware vSphere Web Client

The VMware vSphere Web Client (Flash/Flex client) is the client to manage vCenter Server 6.5 environment with all the features and plugins. From VMware vSphere release 6.5 version, the recommened option to use is vSphere Web Client.

From VMware vSphere release 6.5 version, the thick client is no longer supported. Only the vSphere Client (HTML 5) and vSphere Web Client are supported.

To deploy the Cisco CMX OVA file using the VMware vSphere Web Client, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the VMware vSphere Web Client application on your desktop.

Step 2

From the Navigator pane, click Create/Register VM to create or register a virtual machine.

Step 3

Choose Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file as a creation type and click Next. This option helps you to create a virtual machine from a Cisco CMX OVA file.

Step 4

In the Select OVF and VMDK files section, enter a name for the virtual machine, select the Cisco CMX OVA file that is stored locally on the machine and click Next.

Step 5

Select the destination datastore for the virtual machine configuration files and virtual disks and click Next.

Step 6

Click I Agree to accept the End User License Agreement and then click Next.

Step 7

Select the deployment options. Ensure that Power on automatically is not checked.

Step 8

In the Ready to complete section, review the settings and click Finish. Ensure that you do not refresh the browser while the VM is deployed.

Step 9

Click the deployed VM and choose Actions > Edit settings.

Step 10

Click Hard disk, modify the provisioned size to match the instance requirement and click Save. The default size is 160 GB.

Note

If the instance is powered on, it will display a warning message for the Hard Disk Size Failure ( for Standard and High End instances) as shown below.

Step 11

Click Power on to power on the VM. The first boot takes a while as the new disk has to be expanded.

Configuring Cisco CMX Release 10.5.x and Later

After the Cisco CMX is deployed, you can install and configure a Cisco CMX virtual machine (VM). Note the following points:

Cisco CMX does not have a node install menu. However, there is a first-boot script that checks if a configuration exists on the device. If the script does not find a valid configuration, it launches the setup routine and initiates network configuration tasks using the CLI, followed by the initial setup tasks on the browser.
The new first-boot script determines if the initial configuration is completed, and then displays the normal login prompt. If the initial configuration is not completed, the default login prompt is displayed.

Note

The cmxctl node install command is no longer valid.

To install and configure a Cisco CMX VM, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1

Right-click the Cisco CMX VM and click Open Console.

The CentOS initial boot displays 3 options, with the last option, rescue image, being selected by default. Retain the selection and wait for 5 seconds.

Step 2

Enter the login name cmxadmin and password cisco, as prompted.

Step 3

Press Enter when prompted, as shown in the figure below.

Step 4

Enter a new password for the root user and reconfirm it when prompted. The password should meet the minimum requirements listed on the screen.

Note

The root password is used only for the root operating system configuration and not for the cmxadmin user functions.

Starting Cisco CMX Release 10.6.3, you are not required to enter new password for root user.

Step 5

Enter a new password for cmxadmin user and reconfirm it. The password should meet the minimum requirements listed on the screen.

Note

The cmxadmin password is used for logging in to the Cisco CMX account for future network admin configurations.

Step 6

Enter the following network configuration parameters when prompted.

Hostname
IP Address
Netmask
Gateway
DNS Server
Search Domain Name

Figure 14. Network Configuration Parameters

Step 7

Confirm the network configurations when prompted.

Step 8

The network is restarted and a success message is displayed.

Figure 15. Network Configuration Success Message

Step 9

(Optional) Enter the NTP server name or the IP address of the NTP server when prompted.

Note

After installation, the task of changing the NTP information either through the CLI or the GUI is not supported. Use the cmxos reconfigure command from the CMX CLI to change the NTP information. The following example shows a workaround to change the NTP information.
```
cmxctl stop
cmxctl stop ?a
!Go to root user
su
!Run the timezone script
/opt/cmx/bin/tzselect
!Logout of the box
exit
!Log back in and check the timezone
date
!Restart the services
cmxctl start agent
cmxctl start
```

Step 10

Configure a time zone and save the changes.

Step 11

(Optional) Encrypt the /opt partition of the disk. You can perform disk encryption during the installation process or at a later time.

If you do not want to perform disk encryption, enter N and complete the CMX operating system configuration process. However, we recommend that you perform disk encryption after the CMX operating system configuration is complete, using the cmxos encryptdisk command. The time taken for disk encryption is equal to the amount of data available on the /opt partition.
If you want to perform disk encryption, enter y. The system performs the /opt folder backup operation and enters the rescue mode. Confirm the passphrase for encrypting the disk. A system reboot is mandatory if you perform disk encryption during the installation. After the reboot, you must complete the CMX operating system configuration from https://<ip address or CMX DNS name>:1984.

Step 12

Access the URL when prompted.

Figure 19. Access URL for CMX Configuration - No Disk Encryption

Step 13

Open the URL https://<ip-address>:1984 when prompted in the browser. The Cisco Mobility Services Installation sign-in window is displayed.

Step 14

Enter your cmxadmin credentials and proceed with the installation.

Note

Use Step 13 and Step 14 while installing a new CMX VM.

Installing Cisco CMX Using Web Interface

Launch the Cisco CMX user interface using Google Chrome 40 or later, and follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1

In the Cisco CMX web interface, enter the login credentials for a Cisco CMX administrator and click Sign in to continue.

The login username is cmxadmin . Use the password that was configured when the system was started for the first time.

Step 2

Choose the Cisco CMX type as either Location or Presence.

The installation is initiated and services are started. Note that this may take a few minutes.

The sequence of events is as follows:

Consul Configuration
DB Installation
Schema Migration
InfluxDB Configuration
Cassandra Installation
Node Registration

Step 3

Click Please click to continue setup or press Enter to proceed to the main portal.

Note

You can monitor the progress of the installation either through the graphical status display or the console output. Note that this console is for display only.

The installation is complete. If this is a reinstallation, the Cisco CMX Welcome window is displayed. If this is a fresh installation, the user is automatically authenticated and the Cisco CMX Welcome is skipped.

Step 4

What to do next

A Edit User Settings window is displayed, from where you can complete the initial configuration. You must now set a password for the admin user using this window.

Procced to import Cisco WLC details and maps from Cisco Prime Infrastructure, and configure and test mail server settings.

Use https://<ip address> for all subsequent logins to the web user interface. Use https:// <ip-address>:1984 only for initial configuration.

Verifying Installation of Cisco CMX in a VMware Virtual Machine

You can verify the overall system health and status of the Cisco CMX services using the System tab in the Cisco CMX user interface. Ensure that all the services, memory, and CPU indicate a healthy status (green) for each Cisco CMX and Cisco CMX node, and that there is at least 1 active Cisco WLC.

The System tab contains the following subtabs:

Dashboard—Provides an overall view of the system.
Alerts—Enables you to view live alerts.
Patterns—Enables you to detect patterns of various criteria, such as Client Count, CPU Usage, Memory Usage, and so on.
Metrics—Enables you to view system metrics.

Cisco Mobility Services Engine Virtual Appliance Installation Guide for Cisco CMX Release, 10.3 and Later

Bias-Free Language

Book Title

Cisco Mobility Services Engine Virtual Appliance Installation Guide for Cisco CMX Release, 10.3 and Later

Chapter Title