Contents

• Installing the Cisco Prime Network Services Controller
• Information About the Cisco Prime NSC
• Installation Requirements
• Cisco Prime NSC System Requirements
• Web-Based GUI Client Requirements
• Firewall Ports Requiring Access
• Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch Requirements
• Information Required for Installation and Configuration
• Shared Secret Password Criteria
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server Requirement
• Installing Cisco Prime NSC

Installing the Cisco Prime Network Services Controller

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This chapter contains the following sections:

• Information About the Cisco Prime NSC
• Installation Requirements
• Microsoft Hyper-V Server Requirement
• Installing Cisco Prime NSC

Information About the Cisco Prime NSC

The Cisco Prime Network Services Controller (Cisco Prime NSC) is a virtual appliance that provides centralized device and security policy management for Cisco virtual services. Designed to support enterprise and multiple-tenant cloud deployments, the Cisco Prime NSC provides transparent, seamless, and scalable management for securing virtualized data center and cloud environments.

Installation Requirements

Cisco Prime NSC System Requirements

Requirement	Description
Virtual Appliance
Four virtual CPUs	1.8 GHz each
Memory	Minimum 4 GB RAM, recommended 4 GB RAM
Disk space	Without InterCloud functionality, 40 GB on shared NFS or SAN, and configured on two disks as follows: Disk 1: 20 GB Disk 2: 20 GB
Management interface	One management network interface
Processor	x86 Intel or AMD server with 64-bit processor
Microsoft Hyper-V
Microsoft SCVMM 2012 SP1 or SCVMM 2012 R2
Interfaces and Protocols
HTTP/HTTPS	—
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)	—
Intel VT
Intel Virtualization Technology (VT)	Enabled in the BIOS

Web-Based GUI Client Requirements

Requirement	Description
Operating system	Any of the following: Windows Apple Mac OS
Browser	Any of the following: Internet Explorer 9.0 Mozilla Firefox 23.0 Chrome 29.0 Note    If you are running Firefox or IE and do not have Flash, or you have a version of Flash that is older than 11.2, a message displays asking you to install Flash and provides a link to the Adobe website. Note    Before using Google Chrome with Cisco Prime NSC, you must disable the Adobe Flash Players that are installed by default with Chrome. For more information, see Configuring Chrome for Use with Cisco Prime NSC.
Flash Player	Adobe Flash Player plugin (version 11.2 or higher)

Note	Before you can use Chrome with Prime NSC 3.2, you must first disable the Adobe Flash Players that are installed by default with Chrome.

Firewall Ports Requiring Access

Requirement	Description
80	HTTP/TCP
443	HTTP
843	TCP

Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch Requirements

Requirement	Notes
General
The procedures in this guide assume that the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series switch is up and running, and that endpoint Virtual Machines (VMs) are installed.	—
Port Profiles
One port profile configured on the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switch for the service VLAN.	—

Information Required for Installation and Configuration

Information Type	Your Information
For Deploying the Cisco Prime NSC ISO
Name
ISO file location
Storage location
Management port profile name for VM management Note    The management port profile is the same port profile that is used for VSM. The port profile is configured in VSM and is used for the Cisco Prime NSC management interface.
IP address
Subnet mask
Gateway IP address
Domain name
DNS server
Admin password
Shared secret password for communications between the Cisco Prime NSC, Cisco VSG, and VSM.
For Configuring Microsoft Hyper-V in Cisco Prime NSC
HyperV name
Description
Hostname or IP address

Shared Secret Password Criteria

A shared secret password is a password that is known only to those using a secure communication. Passwords are designated strong if they cannot be easily guessed for unauthorized access. When you set a shared secret password for communications between the Cisco Prime NSC, Cisco VSG, and VSM, adhere to the following criteria for setting valid, strong passwords:

Do not include the following items in passwords:

• Characters: & ' " ` ( ) < > | \ ; $
• Spaces

Create strong passwords based on the following characteristics:

Table 1 Characteristics of Strong Passwords

Strong passwords have...	Strong passwords do not have...
At least eight characters. Lowercase letters, uppercase letters, digits, and special characters.	Consecutive characters, such as abcd. Characters repeated three or more times, such as aaabbb. A variation of the word Cisco, such as cisco, ocsic, or one that changes the capitalization of letters in the word Cisco. The username or the username in reverse. A permutation of characters present in the username or Cisco.

Examples of strong passwords are:

• If2CoM18
• 2004AsdfLkj30
• Cb1955S21

Microsoft Hyper-V Server Requirement

You must set the clock to the correct time on all the Microsoft Hyper-V servers that will run Cisco Prime NSC, Cisco VSG, or VSM. If you do not set the correct time on the server, the Cisco Prime NSC CA certificate that is created when the Cisco Prime NSC VM is deployed might have an invalid time stamp.

After you set the clock to the correct time on all the Hyper-V servers that run the Cisco Prime NSC, you can, as an option, set the clock on the Cisco Prime NSC as follows:

• If you set the clock manually, be sure to enter the correct time zone as a Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) offset.
• If you set the clock by synchronizing with the Network Time Protocol (NTP), you can select the UTC time zone.

Installing Cisco Prime NSC

Before You Begin

• Verify that the Hyper-V host on which to deploy the Cisco Prime NSC VM is available in SCVMM.
• Copy the Cisco Prime NSC ISO image to the SCVMM library location on the file system. To make this image available in SCVMM, choose Library > Library Servers, right-click on the library location, and then refresh.
• Set your keyboard to United State English before installing the Cisco Prime NSC and using the VM console.
• There is no dependency on the VM hardware version, so the VM hardware version can be upgraded if required.

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Step 1	Launch the SCVMM.
Step 2	Choose the Hyper-V host on which to deploy the Cisco Prime NSC VM.
Step 3	Right-click the Hyper-V host and choose Create Virtual Machine.
Step 4	In the Create Virtual Machine wizard, from the Select Source screen, select the Create the new virtual machine with a blank virtual hard disk radio button, then click Next.
Step 5	In the Specify Virtual Machine Identity screen, provide the required information, then click Next.
Step 6	In the Configure Hardware screen, do the following: From General, do the following: Choose Processor and select the number of processors . Choose Memory and choose the required memory value. You will need minimum 4 GB memory for Prime NSC. From Bus Configuration > IDE Devices, do the following: Choose Hard Disk, enter the required size of the hard disk. You will need at least 20 GB. Choose Virtual DVD Drive, select the Existing ISO image file radio button, and browse to select theCisco Prime NSC 3.2 ISO image file. Choose Network Adapters > Network Adapter 1, select the Connect to a VM Network radio button, and browse to select a VM Network. Click Next.
Step 7	In the Select Destination screen, do the following: Select the Place the virtual machine on a host radio button. Choose All hosts from the Destination drop-down list. Click Next.
Step 8	In the Select Host screen, choose the destination, then click Next.
Step 9	In the Configure Settings screen, review the virtual machine settings, then click Next.
Step 10	In the Add properties screen, select the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (64 bit) operating system, then click Next.
Step 11	In the Summary screen, do the following: Verify the settings. Check the Start the virtual machine after deploying it check box. Click Create. The job Create virtual machine starts. You can see the status of this job in The Recent Jobs window. Ensure that the job completes without any errors.
Step 12	After the virtual machine is successfully created, right-click the new Virtual Machine (vnmc21-perf in this case) and choose Connect or View > Connect Via Console.
Step 13	Launch the console and install Cisco Prime NSC Note    Before the final Cisco Prime NSC installation step, before you reboot, launch SCVMM again and right-click the Virtual machine (vnmc21-hyperv in this case) and choose Properties > Hardware Configuration > Bus Configuration > Virtual DVD Drive > no media, so that Cisco Prime NSC does not use the ISO image at boot time.
Step 14	After Cisco Prime NSC is successfully deployed, click Close and power on the Cisco Prime NSC VM.

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