Unpacking and Inspecting the Appliance
Tip Keep the shipping container in case the server requires shipping in the future.
Note The chassis is thoroughly inspected before shipment. If any damage occurred during transportation or any items are missing, contact your customer service representative immediately.
To inspect the shipment, follow these steps:
Step 1 Remove the chassis from its cardboard container and save all packaging material.
Step 2 Compare the shipment to the following list of components that ship with Management Centers. As you unpack the system and the associated accessories, check that your package contents are complete as follows:
- one appliance
- power cord (two power cords are included with appliances that include redundant power supplies)
- Category 5e Ethernet straight-through cable
- one rack-mounting kit
Step 3 Check for damage and report any discrepancies or damage to your customer service representative. Have the following information ready:
- Invoice number of shipper (see the packing slip)
- Model and serial number of the damaged unit
- Description of damage
- Effect of damage on the installation
Installing the Management Center in a Rack
You can rack-mount all Management Centers. When you install an appliance, you must also make sure that you can access its console. To access the console for initial setup, connect to the appliance in one of the following ways:
Keyboard and Monitor/KVM
You can connect a USB keyboard and VGA monitor to a Management Center, which is useful for rack-mounted appliances connected to a keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) switch.
Caution
Do
not use a KVM console with USB mass storage to access the appliance for the initial setup because the appliance may attempt to use the mass storage device as a boot device.
Ethernet Connection to Management Interface
Configure a local computer, which must not be connected to the Internet, with the following network settings:
– IP address: 192.168.45.2
– netmask: 255.255.255.0
– default gateway: 192.168.45.1
Using an Ethernet cable, connect the network interface on the local computer to the management interface on the appliance. Note that the management interface is preconfigured with a default IPv4 address. However, you can reconfigure the management interface with an IPv6 address as part of the setup process.
After initial setup, you can access the console in the following additional ways:
Serial Connection/Laptop
You can connect a computer to any Firepower Management Center using the physical serial port. Connect the appropriate rollover serial cable (also known as a NULL modem cable or Cisco console cable) at any time, then configure the remote management console to redirect the default VGA output to the serial port. To interact with the appliance, use terminal emulation software such as HyperTerminal or XModem. The settings for this software are 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity checking, 1 stop bit, and no flow control.
The serial port on a Firepower Management Center uses an RJ-45 connection.
After you connect the appropriate rollover cable to your device, redirect the console output as described in the Firepower Management Center Getting Started Guide. To locate the serial port for each appliance model, use the diagrams in Hardware Specifications.
Lights-Out Management Using Serial over LAN
The LOM feature allows you to perform a limited set of actions on a Firepower Management Center using a SOL connection. If you need to restore a LOM-capable appliance to factory defaults and do not have physical access to the appliance, you can use LOM to perform the restore process. After you connect to an appliance using LOM, you issue commands to the restore utility as if you were using a physical serial connection. For more information, see the Firepower Management Center Getting Started Guide.
Note You can use Lights-Out Management on the default (eth0
) management interface only.
To use LOM to restore the appliance to factory settings, do not delete network settings. Deleting the network settings also drops the LOM connection. For more information, see the Firepower Management Center Getting Started Guide.
To install the appliance:
Step 1 Mount the appliance in your rack using the mounting kit and its supplied instructions.
Step 2 Connect to the appliance using either a keyboard and monitor or Ethernet connection.
Step 3 If you are using a keyboard and monitor to set up the appliance, use an Ethernet cable now to connect the management interface to a protected network segment.
If you plan to perform the initial setup process by connecting a computer directly to the appliance’s management interface, you will connect the management interface to the protected network when you finish setup.
Step 4 Attach the power cord to the appliance and plug into a power source.
If your appliance has redundant power supplies, attach power cords to both power supplies and plug them into separate power sources.
Step 5 Turn on the appliance.
If you are using a direct Ethernet connection to set up the appliance, confirm that the link LED is on for both the network interface on the local computer and the management interface on the appliance. If the management interface and network interface LEDs are not lit, try using a crossover cable.
What To Do Next
- Complete the setup process that allows the new appliance to communicate on your trusted management network. See the Firepower Management Center Getting Started Guide.