Configuring Cisco vWAAS and Viewing vWAAS Components
This chapter describes how to configure vWAAS settings, such as Central Manager address and traffic interception settings, and how to identify a vWAAS on the Central Manager or through the WAAS CLI.
Configuring vWAAS
This section contains the following topics:
Configuring vWAAS Settings
After the vWAAS VM has been installed, you must configure the following vWAAS settings:
- IP address and netmask
- Default gateway
- Central Manager address
- Settings for corresponding VLAN in VM for network reachability
- CMS (Centralized Management System)
- Traffic interception (described in Configuring vWAAS Traffic Interception)
To configure vWAAS settings, follow these steps:
Step 1
In the vSphere Client, choose the Console tab and log in to the vWAAS console.
The username is admin, and password is default.
Step 2 Configure the IP address and netmask using the interface virtual command, as shown in the following example:
Note For vWAAS with WAAS Version 6.1.x and later, the vWAAS and vCM devices require both virtual (network) interfaces to be present. One or both virtual interfaces may be active for the vWAAS and vCM devices to be operational after power up.
Step 3 Configure the default gateway using the ip command:
VWAAS(config)# ip default-gateway 2.1.6.1
Ping the IP addresses of the default gateway and Central Manager to verify they can be reached before continuing to the next step.
Step 4 Add the Central Manager address using the central-manager command:
Step 5 Enable CMS to register with the Central Manager using the cms command:
Note vWAAS registration with the Central Manager is mandatory before traffic can be optimized.
Step 6 Configure traffic interception: WCCP, AppNav, or L2 Inline. For more information on traffic interception methods for vWAAS, see Configuring vWAAS Traffic Interception.
Configuring vWAAS Traffic Interception
You can configure the following traffic interception methods for vWAAS. Table 2-1 provides descriptions of each traffic interception method.
– WCCP (Web Cache Communications Protocol)—Available for vWAAS with all WAAS versions.
– AppNav—Available for vWAAS with all WAAS versions
– L2 Inline—Available for WAAS Version 6.2.x and later, for vWAAS with RHEL KVM. Table 2-2 shows the commands for configuring and displaying information on L2 Inline interception for vWAAS.
Table 2-1 Traffic Interception Methods for vWAAS
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Specifies interactions between one or more routers (or L3 switches) and one or more application appliances, web caches, and caches of other application protocols, to establish and maintain the transparent redirection of selected types of traffic. The selected traffic is redirected to a group of appliances. Any type of TCP traffic can be redirected. WCCP uses a WCCP-enabled router or L3 switch.
Note For more information on WCCP, see Chapter 5, “Configuring Traffic Interception” in the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Configuration Guide. |
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A policy and class-based traffic interception method that reduces dependency on the intercepting switch or router by distributing traffic among WAAS devices for optimization. For more information on AppNav, see Chapter 4, “Configuring AppNav” and Chapter 5, “Configuring Traffic Interception” in the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Configuration Guide. |
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Places the vWAAS in the data path between WAN and LAN, with an interface facing each segment to inspect and optimize the traffic as needed. For L2 Inline, traffic is forwarded directly without being sent back to the router. The vWAAS interfaces, with virtual NICs, appear as virtual interfaces in the WAAS CM for the running configuration. By default, the NICs supporting Inline mode do not appear in the running configuration when L2 Inline interception is not enabled.
Note For more information on configuring L2 Inline interception on the WAAS CM, see Chapter 5, “Configuring Traffic Interception” in the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Configuration Guide. Table 2-2 shows the commands for configuring and displaying information on L2 Inline interception for vWAAS. |
Table 2-2 CLI Commands for L2 Inline Traffic Interception
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Enables CDP (Cisco Discovery Protocol) on the interface on a WAAS device. (To globally enable the CDP interval and holdtime options, use the cdp global configuration command.) |
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Terminates interface configuration mode and returns you to global configuration mode. |
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Enables inline traffic interception for an inlineGroup interface. For more information on the inline interface configuration command, including specifying an inline group and inline interception for VLAN IDs, see the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference. |
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Configures the IPv4 address or subnet mask on the interface of a WAAS device, or negotiates an IP address from DHCP on the interface of a WAAS device. |
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Configures the IPv6 address on the interface of a WAAS device, or negotiates an IP address from DHCP on the interface of a WAAS device. |
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Configures the interval at which to poll the network interface for statistics, |
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Displays inline group information and the slot and inline group number for the selected interface. |
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Displays the inline port information and the slot and inline group number for the selected interface. |
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For more information on these commands, see the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference.
Identifying a vWAAS Device
This section has the following topics:
- Identifying a vWAAS Model
- Identifying a vWAAS Device on the Central Manager
- Identifying a vWAAS Device with the WAAS CLI
Identifying a vWAAS Model
As shown in Table 2-3, a vWAAS model is determined by two features: the number of vCPUs and the maximum number of TCP connections.
Table 2-3 vWAAS Models with vCPUs and Maximum TCP Connections
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Identifying a vWAAS Device on the Central Manager
There are two screens on the Central Manager that show identifying information for a vWAAS device. Table 2-4 shows the displayed vWAAS device types.
- Navigate to Devices > device-name. On the dashboard for the device, in the Device Info > Hardware Details section, the Model shows the vWAAS device type.
- Navigate to the Device > All Devices screen, which shows a listing of all devices, with column headings for different information, including Device Type.
Table 2-4 vWAAS Device Types shown in Central Manager and CLI
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Identifying a vWAAS Device with the WAAS CLI
Table 2-5 shows the commands used to display vWAAS device information: For more information on these commands, see the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Command Reference.
Table 2-5 CLI Commands for vWAAS Device Information
vWAAS System Partitions
For all vWAAS models the system partition size for /sw and /swstore is increased from 1 GB to 2GB. Note the following considerations for the new system partition size:
- The disk delete-preserve-software command deletes all disk partitions and preserves the current software version.
- The partition size of 2GB each for /sw and /swstore is effective only after a new OVA/ISO installation.
- During an upgrade, the newly defined partition size becomes effective only after you run the disk delete-partitions diskname command.
For detailed information on Object Cache data partitions and Akamai Cache data partitions, see Chapter 15, “Maintaining Your WAAS System” in the Cisco Wide Area Application Services Configuration Guide.
Operating Considerations for vWAAS and WAAS
Consider the following guidelines when using Cisco vWAAS with WAAS:
- For vWAAS with WAAS Version 6.1.x and later, the vWAAS and vCM devices require both virtual (network) interfaces to be present, but both need not be active. If only one virtual interface is active, the vWAAS and vCM devices will not be operational after power up. For more information, see Configuring vWAAS.
- If the virtual host was created using an OVA file of vWAAS for WAAS Version 5.0 or earlier, and you have upgraded vWAAS within WAAS, you must verify that the SCSI Controller Type is set to VMware Paravirtual. Otherwise, vWAAS will boot with no disk available and will fail to load the specified configuration.
If needed, change the SCSI controller type to VMware Paravirtual by following these steps:
b. From the VMware vCenter, navigate to vSphere Client > Edit Settings > Hardware.
d. From the Change Type drop-down list, verify that the SCSI Controller Type is set to VMware Paravirtual. If this is not the case, choose VMware Paravirtual.
vWAAS Upgrade and Downgrade Considerations
This section has the following upgrade and downgrade topics for vWAAS and vCM models.
For full information on the upgrade or downgrade process for WAAS and vWAAS devices, see the Release Note for Cisco Wide Area Application Services.
- vWAAS Upgrade and vWAAS Nodes
- vWAAS Upgrade and SCSI Controller Type
- vWAAS Upgrade and vCM-100 with RHEL KVM or KVM on CentOS
- Migrating a Physical Appliance Being Used as a WAAS CM a vCM
- vWAAS Downgrade Considerations
vWAAS Upgrade and vWAAS Nodes
When upgrading vWAAS, do not upgrade more than five vWAAS nodes at the same time on a single UCS box. Upgrading more than five vWAAS nodes at the same time may cause the vWAAS devices to go offline and to diskless mode.
vWAAS Upgrade and SCSI Controller Type
If the virtual host was created using an OVA file of vWAAS for WAAS Version 5.0 or earlier, and you have upgraded vWAAS within WAAS, you must verify that the SCSI Controller Type is set to VMware Paravirtual. Otherwise, vWAAS will boot with no disk available and will fail to load the specified configuration.
If needed, change the SCSI controller type to VMware Paravirtual by following these steps:
Step 2 From the VMware vCenter, navigate to vSphere Client > Edit Settings > Hardware.
Step 3 Choose SCSI controller 0.
Step 4 From the Change Type drop-down list, verify that the SCSI Controller Type is set to VMware Paravirtual. If this is not the case, choose VMware Paravirtual.
Step 6 Power up the vWAAS, with WAAS Version 6.2.3, or WAAS 6.1.x or later. WAAS Version 6.1.x is the minimum version used.
vWAAS Upgrade and vCM-100 with RHEL KVM or KVM on CentOS
If you upgrade to WAAS Version 6.2.3, or downgrade from WAAS Version 6.2.3 to an earlier version, and use a vCM-100 model with the following parameters, the vCM-100 may not come up due to GUID Partition Table (GPT) boot order errors.
- vCM-100 has default memory size of 2 GB
- vCM-100 uses the RHEL KVM or KVM on CentOS hypervisor
- You use the restore factory-default command or the restore factory-default preserve basic-config command
If you are upgrading a vCM-100 model from an earlier WAAS version to WAAS Version 6.2.3, the upgrade process on this type of configuration will automatically clear system and data partition.
If you upgrade the vCM device to WAAS Version 6.2.3 via the console, a warning message similar to the following will be displayed:
To resolve this situation, follow these steps:
Step 1 Power down the vWAAS using the virsh destroy vmname command or the virt manager.
Step 2 Power up the vWAAS using the virsh start vmname command or the virt manager.
Note This upgrade/downgrade scenario does not occur for vCM-100 models whose memory size is upgraded to 4 GB.
Migrating a Physical Appliance Being Used as a WAAS CM a vCM
To migrate a physical appliance being used as a primary WAAS Central Manager to a vCM, follow these steps:
Step 1 Introduce vCM as the Standby Central Manager by registering it to the Primary Central Manager.
Step 2 Configure both device and device-group settings through Primary CM and ensure that devices are getting updates. Wait for two to three data feed poll rate so that the Standby CM gets configuration sync from the Primary CM.
Step 3 Ensure that the Primary CM and Standby CM updates are working.
Step 4 Switch over CM roles so that vCM works as Primary CM. For additional details please refer to “ Converting a Standby Central Manager to a Primary Central Manager ” section of the WAAS Configuration Guide.
vWAAS Downgrade Considerations
Consider the following when you downgrade vWAAS to an earlier WAAS version:
- vWAAS models vCM-500N and vCM-1000N, introduced in WAAS v5.5.1, cannot be downgraded to a version less than v5.5.1.
- On the UCS E-Series Server Module running vWAAS, downgrading to a version earlier than 5.1.1 is not supported. On other vWAAS devices you cannot downgrade to a version earlier than 4.3.1.
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