New and Changed

This document provides procedures for installing the Cisco DCNM compute appliance. The following table provides an overview of the significant changes to this guide up to this current release.

Table 1. New and Changed Information In This Document
Feature Description

Cisco Application Services Engine for Cisco DCNM

This guide was first published.

Installing Cisco DCNM Compute Node

Compute nodes enable you to scale Cisco DCNM by sharing the application nodes across all the computes nodes instead of either one or two (for HA) nodes.

If Enable Clustered mode is selected during Cisco DCNM installation, applications such as, Config Compliance, Ethernet Private Line (EPL), Cisco Network Insights Resources (NIR) application and Cisco Network Insights Advisor (NIA) will not function until you install the compute nodes.

Before you begin

Procedure

Step 1

Power on DCNM compute hardware and open CIMC KVM console. A welcome message appears. Press Enter to continue.

Step 2

At the prompt, enter the Management Network IPv4 address.

Step 3

Review and confirm the values. Enter y to confirm.

Step 4

The provided IP address will be used to configure the management network interface (eth0) The system will now be reachable over the network.

Step 5

Open the URL displayed on the console. Press Enter. A welcome message appears.
Step 6

On the Welcome to Cisco DCNM window, click Get Started.

Step 7

On the Cisco DCNM Installer screen, select the Fresh Installation – Standalone radio button.Click Continue.

Step 8

On the Administration tab, enter the password that is used to connect to all the applications in the Cisco DCNM. Adhere to the following password requirements. If you do not comply with the requirements, the Cisco DCNM application may not function.

  • It must be at least eight characters long and contain at least one alphabet and one numeral.

  • It can contain a combination of alphabets, numerals, and special characters.

  • Do not use any of these special characters in the Cisco DCNM password for all platforms:

    <SPACE> " & $ % ' ^ = < > ; : ` \ | / , .*

Select the Show passwords in clear text checkbox to view the password. Click Next.

Step 9

In the Install Mode tab, from the drop-down list, choose Compute to deploy a DCNM Compute node. Click Next.

Step 10

On the Network Settings tab, configure the network parameters.

  1. In the Management Network area, verify if the autopopulated IP address and default gateway address are accurate. Modify, if necessary.

    (Optionally) Enter a valid IPv6 address along with the prefix to configure the management address and the Management Network Default IPv6 Gateway.

  2. In the Out-of-Band Network area, enter the IP address, gateway IP address, and DNS server address. If Cisco DCNM is on the IPv6 network, configure the IP address.

    Out-of-band management provides a connection to the device management ports (mgmt0).

  3. (Optional) In the In-Band Network area, enter the IP address and gateway IP address for the in-band network.

    The In-Band Network provides reachability to the devices using the front-panel ports.

    Note 

    If you do not configure the in-band network, Endpoint Locator and Telemetry features will not be operational.

    However, you can edit the network properties after installation, if required, using the appmgr update network-properties command. For more information, see Editing Network Properties Post DCNM Installation.

  4. Enter the DCNM server IP address, administration password and the internal app services IP subnet.

Click Next.
Step 11

On the Summary tab, review the configuration details.

Step 12

Click Previous to go to the previous tabs and modify the configuration. Click Start Installation to complete the Cisco DCNM Service Appliance installation for the chosen deployment mode.

A progress bar appears to show the completed percentage, description of the operation, and the elapsed time during the installation. After the progress bar shows 100%, click Continue.

A success message appears with the URL to access Cisco DCNM compute node.

***************************************************************
Your Cisco DCNM Compute Node has been installed.
Click on the following link to go to DCNM GUI's Application page:
DCNM GUI's Applications
You will be redirected there in 60 seconds.
Thank you
***************************************************************
Step 13

Log on to the DCNM Web UI with appropriate credentials.

The Applications tab displays all the services running on the DCNM deployment that you have installed.

Click on Compute node tab to view the new compute nodes to be discovered on the Cisco DCNM Web UI.

Re-installation of Compute Nodes

Cisco DCNM Service Engine appliance will be pre-installed with the compute nodes by the Cisco manufacturing and does need to be done again. These steps are for a reinstallation-only case.

Procedure

Step 1

Download Cisco DCNM compute image from https://software.cisco.com/download/home. Ensure that you select the dcnm-se.11.3.1.iso.zip image.

Step 2

Unzip and mount the dcnm-se.11.3.1.iso.zip image in KVM/CIMC console.

Step 3

Installation can be monitored either from Serial over LAN or the KVM Console. Refer to Managing Serial over LAN for more information on enabling Serial over LAN.

Step 4

Boot the server in UEFI mode (default mode). The server can be booted in legacy BIOS mode as well.
Step 5

In the boot menu, boot from virtual CD/DVD.

All the disks will be wiped out.
Step 6

Monitor the installation through virtual serial console. System will shutdown after OS is installed.