Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller, Release 2.1(3), Release Notes

Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Release Notes, Release 2.1(3)

This document describes the features, bugs, and limitations for the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) software.

Note: Use this document in combination with the Cisco Nexus 9000 ACI-Mode Switches Release Notes, Release 12.1(3), which you can view at the following location:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/products-release-notes-list.html

Additional product documentation is listed in the “Related Documentation” section.

Release notes are sometimes updated with new information about restrictions and bugs. See the following website for the most recent version of this document:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/application-policy-infrastructure-controller-apic/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

You can watch videos that demonstrate how to perform specific tasks in the APIC on the Cisco ACI YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/CiscoACIchannel

Table 1 shows the online change history for this document.

Table 1 Online History Change

 

 

Contents

This document includes the following sections:

■      Introduction

■      Compatibility Information

■      Usage Guidelines

■      Verified Scalability Limits

■      New and Changed Information

■      Bugs

■      Related Documentation

Introduction

The Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) is an architecture that allows the application to define the networking requirements in a programmatic way. This architecture simplifies, optimizes, and accelerates the entire application deployment life cycle.

The Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure Fundamentals guide provides complete details about the ACI, including a glossary of terms that are used in the ACI.

Compatibility Information

This release supports the following Cisco APIC servers:

 

The following list includes general compatibility information:

■      This release supports the hardware and software listed on the ACI Ecosystem Compatibility List document and the software listed as follows:

—     Cisco NX-OS Release 12.1(3)

—     Cisco AVS, Release 5.2(1)SV3(2.7)

For more information about the supported AVS releases, see the AVS software compatibility information in the Cisco Application Virtual Switch Release Notes at the following URL:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/application-virtual-switch/products-release-notes-list.html

—     Cisco UCS Manager software release 2.2(1c) or later is required for the Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnect and other components, including the BIOS, CIMC, and the adapter

See the ACI Ecosystem Compatibility List document at the following URL:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/application-centric-infrastructure/solution-overview-listing.html

■      The breakout of 40G ports to 4x10G on the N9332PQ switch is not supported in ACI-Mode.

■      To connect the N2348UPQ to ACI leaf switches, the following options are available:

—     Directly connect the 40G FEX ports on the N2348UPQ to the 40G switch ports on the ACI leaf switches

—     Break out the 40G FEX ports on the N2348UPQ to 4x10G ports and connect to the 10G ports on all other ACI leaf switches

Note: A fabric uplink port cannot be used as a FEX fabric port.

■      Connecting the APIC (the controller cluster) to the ACI fabric requires a 10G interface on the ACI leaf. You cannot connect the APIC directly to the N9332PQ ACI Leaf.

■      This release supports the following firmware:

—     1.5(4e) CIMC HUU iso

—     2.0(3i) CIMC HUU iso

—     2.0(9c) CIMC HUU iso (recommended)

■      Beginning with Cisco Application Virtual Switch (AVS) release 5.2(1)SV3(1.10), you can connect service virtual machines that are part of Layer 4 to Layer 7 service graphs to AVS. Layer 4 to Layer 7 service graphs for Cisco AVS can be configured for service virtual machines that are in VLAN mode. By using using an AVS VMM domain with both VLAN and VXLAN, you can have a virtual machine in VXLAN mode that is protected by service graphs that are using the service virtual machine in VLAN mode.

■      This release supports VMM Integration and VMware Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS) 6.x. For more information about guidelines for upgrading VMware DVS from 5.x to 6.x and VMM integration, see the Cisco ACI Virtualization Guide, Release 2.1(2) at the following URL:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/application-policy-infrastructure-controller-apic/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

■      This release supports the Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) Update Rollup 9 and 10 releases, and the Microsoft Windows Azure Pack Update Rollup 9 and 10 releases.

■      This release supports the partner packages specified in the L4-L7 Compatibility List Solution Overview document at the following URL:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/data-center-virtualization/application-centric-infrastructure/solution-overview-listing.html

■      This release supports Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) device package version 1.2.5.5 or later.

■      If you are running a Cisco Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (ASAv) version that is prior to version 9.3(2), you must configure SSL encryption as follows:

(config)# ssl encryption aes128-sha1

■      A known issue exists with the Safari browser and unsigned certificates, which applies when connecting to the APIC GUI. For more information, see the Cisco APIC Getting Started Guide.

■      For information about APIC compatibility with UCS Director, see the appropriate Cisco UCS Director Compatibility Matrix document at the following URL:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/servers-unified-computing/ucs-director/products-device-support-tables-list.html

Usage Guidelines

This section lists usage guidelines for the APIC software.

■      The APIC GUI includes an online version of the Quick Start guide that includes video demonstrations.

■      The infrastructure IP address range must not overlap with other IP addresses used in the fabric for in-band and out-of-band networks.

■      The APIC does not provide IPAM services for tenant workloads.

■      To reach the APIC CLI from the GUI: select System > Controllers, highlight a controller, right-click and select "launch SSH". To get the list of commands, press the escape key twice.

■      In some of the 5-minute statistics data, the count of ten-second samples is 29 instead of 30.

■      For the following services, use a DNS-based host name with out-of-band management connectivity. IP addresses can be used with both in-band and out-of-band management connectivity.

—     Syslog server

—     Call Home SMTP server

—     Tech support export server

—     Configuration export server

—     Statistics export server

■      Both leaf and spine switches can be managed from any host that has IP connectivity to the fabric.

■      If an IP address is learned on one of two endpoints for which you are configuring an atomic counter policy, you should use an IP-based policy and not a client endpoint-based policy.

■      When configuring two Layer 3 external networks on the same node, the loopbacks need to be configured separately for both Layer 3 networks.

■      All endpoint groups (EPGs), including application EPGs and Layer 3 external EPGs, require a domain. Interface policy groups must also be associated with an Attach Entity Profile (AEP), and the AEP must be associated with domains. Based on the association of EPGs to domains and of the interface policy groups to domains, the ports and VLANs that the EPG uses are validated. This applies to all EPGs including bridged Layer 2 outside and routed Layer 3 outside EPGs. For more information, see the Cisco Fundamentals Guide and the KB: Creating Domains, Attach Entity Profiles, and VLANs to Deploy an EPG on a Specific Port article.

Note: When creating static paths for application EPGs or Layer 2/Layer 3 outside EPGs, the physical domain is not required. Upgrading without the physical domain will raise a fault on the EPG stating “invalid path configuration.”

■      An EPG can only associate with a contract interface in its own tenant.

■      User passwords must meet the following criteria:

—     Minimum length is 8 characters

—     Maximum length is 64 characters

—     Fewer than three consecutive repeated characters

—     At least three of the following character types: lowercase, uppercase, digit, symbol

—     Cannot be easily guessed

—     Cannot be the username or the reverse of the username

—     Cannot be any variation of “cisco”, “isco”, or any permutation of these characters or variants obtained by changing the capitalization of letters therein

■      The power consumption statistics are not shown on leaf node slot 1. You must view the statistics from any other node.

■      For Layer 3 external networks created through the API or Advanced GUI and updated through the CLI, protocols need to be enabled globally on the external network through the API or Advanced GUI, and the node profile for all the participating nodes needs to be added through the API or Advanced GUI before doing any further updates through the CLI.

■      For Layer 3 external networks created through the Basic GUI or CLI, you should not to update them through the API. These external networks are identified by names starting with “__ui_”.

■      The output from "show" commands issued in the NX-OS-style CLI are subject to change in future software releases. Cisco does not recommend using the output from the show commands for automation.

■      The CLI is supported only for users with administrative login privileges.

■      Do not separate virtual port channel (vPC) member nodes into different configuration zones. If the nodes are in different configuration zones, then the vPCs’ modes become mismatched if the interface policies are modified and deployed to only one of the vPC member nodes.

■      If you defined multiple login domains, you can choose the login domain that you want to use when logging in to an APIC. By default, the domain drop-down list is empty, and if you do not choose a domain, the DefaultAuth domain is used for authentication. This can result in login failure if the username is not in the DefaultAuth login domain. As such, you must enter the credentials based on the chosen login domain.

■      A firmware maintenance group should contain max of 80 nodes.

■      When contracts are not associated with an endpoint group, DSCP marking is not supported for a VRF with a vzAny contract. DSCP is sent to a leaf along with the actrl rule, but a vzAny contract does not have an actrl rule. Therefore, the DSCP value cannot be sent.

■      When creating a vPC domain between two leaf switches, both switches must be in the same switch generation. Switches not in the same generation are not compatible vPC peers. The generations are as follows:

—     Generation 1—Cisco Nexus N9000K switches without “EX” on the end of the switch name; for example, N9K-9312TX

—     Generation 2—Cisco Nexus N9K switches with “EX” on the end of the switch model name; for example, N9K-93108TC-EX

■      The Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is not supported in policies that are used on FEX interfaces.

■      Cisco ACI does not support a class E address as a VTEP address.

■      In a multipod fabric, if a spine in POD1 uses the infra tenant L3extOut-1, the TORs of the other pods (POD2, POD3) cannot use the same infra L3extOut (L3extOut-1) for Layer 3 EVPN control plane connectivity. Each POD must use its own spine switch and infra L3extOut.

■      If the communication between the APIC and vCenter is impaired, some functionality is adversely affected. The APIC relies on the pulling of inventory information, updating vDS configuration, and receiving event notifications from the vCenter for performing certain operations.

■      When you create an access port selector in a leaf interface rofile, the fexId property is configured with a default value of 101 even though a FEX is not connected and the interface is not a FEX interface. The fexId property is only used when the port selector is associated with an infraFexBndlGrp managed object.

Verified Scalability Limits

For the verified scalability limits (except the CLI limits), see the Verified Scalability Guide for this release.

For the CLI verified scalability limits, see the Cisco NX-OS Style Command-Line Interface Configuration Guide for this release.

You can access these documents from the following website:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/application-policy-infrastructure-controller-apic/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

New and Changed Information

This section lists the new and changed features in this release and includes the following topics:

■      New Software Features

■      New Hardware Features

■      Changes in Behavior

New Software Features

The following table lists the new software features in this release:

Table 2 New Software Features, Guidelines, and Restrictions

 

New Hardware Features

For new hardware features, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 ACI-Mode Switches Release Notes, Release 12.1(3) at the following location:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/products-release-notes-list.html

Changes in Behavior

There are no changes in behavior in this release.

Bugs

This section contains lists of open and resolved bugs and known behaviors.

■      Open Bugs

■      Resolved Bugs

■      Known Behaviors

Open Bugs

This section lists the open bugs. Click the bug ID to access the Bug Search tool and see additional information about the bug. The "Exists In" column of the table specifies the 2.1(3) releases in which the bug exists. A bug might also exist in releases other than the 2.1(3) releases.

Table 3 Open Bugs in the 2.1(3) Release

Resolved Bugs

This section lists the resolved bugs. Click the bug ID to access the Bug Search tool and see additional information about the bug. The "Fixed In" column of the table specifies whether the bug was resolved in the base release or a patch release.

Table 3 Resolved Bugs in the 2.1(3) Release

 

Known Behaviors

This section lists bugs that describe known behaviors. Click the Bug ID to access the Bug Search Tool and see additional information about the bug. The "Exists In" column of the table specifies the 2.1(3) releases in which the known behavior exists. A bug might also exist in releases other than the 2.1(3) releases.

Table 6 Known Behaviors in the 2.1(3) Release

 

■      In a multipod configuration, before you make any changes to a spine switch, ensure that there is at least one operationally “up” external link that is participating in the multipod topology. Failure to do so could bring down the multipod connectivity. For more information about multipod, see the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure Fundamentals document and the Cisco APIC Getting Started Guide.

■      If you have VLAN pools that are colliding with an infra VLAN and you upgrade to the 2.3(1) release, if you upgrade the CIMC firmware from pre-2.3(1) to post-2.3(1), you will see the following fault: Error:400 - Encapsulation value ? collides with INFRA.

Related Documentation

The Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) documentation can be accessed from the following website:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/application-policy-infrastructure-controller-apic/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

The documentation includes installation, upgrade, configuration, programming, and troubleshooting guides, technical references, release notes, and knowledge base (KB) articles, as well as other documentation. KB articles provide information about a specific use case or a specific topic.

By using the “Choose a topic” and “Choose a document type” fields of the APIC documentation website, you can narrow down the displayed documentation list to make it easier to find the desired document.

The following tables describe the core APIC documentation.

Note: Not every document has a new version for each release. Unless specified otherwise, the latest document version applies if the document was not revised for a specific release.

Table 7 Release Notes

Table 8 Installation, Upgrade, and Configuration Documentation

Table 9 Interface Documentation

Table 10 Reference Documentation

Table 11 Layer 4 to Layer 7 Documentation

Table 12 Virtualization Documentation

Table 13 Cisco ACI with OpenStack Documentation

Table 14 Troubleshooting Documentation

 

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Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.

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