Initial Configuration

Configure Contact Center Enterprise Administration and Data Server Settings

Configure the Contact Center Enterprise Administration & Data Server settings to enable authentication for Cisco Finesse agents and supervisors.


Note

If you are using HTTPS, the first time you access the administration console, you see a browser security warning. To eliminate browser security warnings each time you sign in, you can trust the self-signed certificate provided with Finesse or obtain and upload a CA certificate.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to the administration console.

Step 2

In the Contact Center Enterprise Administration & Data Server Settings area, enter the Administration & Data Server settings as described in the following table. Refer to your configuration worksheet if necessary.

Field

Description

Primary Host/IP Address

The hostname or IP address of the Unified CCE Administration & Data Server. For example, abcd12-5-aw-a.

Backup Host/IP Address

The hostname or IP address of the backup Unified CCE Administration & Data Server. For example, abcd12-5-aw-b.

Database Port

The port of the Unified CCE Administration & Data Server.

The default value is 1433.

Note

 

Cisco Finesse expects the primary and backup Administration & Data Server ports to be the same, hence the Finesse administration console exposes one port field. You must ensure that the port is the same for the primary and backup Administration & Data Servers.

AW Database Name

The name of the AW Database (AWDB). For example, ucceinstance_awdb.

Domain

The domain name of the AWDB. For example, cisco.com.

Username

The username required to sign in to the AWDB.

Note

 

If you specify a domain, this user refers to the Administrator Domain user that the AWDB uses to synchronize with the logger. In which case, the AWDB server must use Windows authentication and the configured username must be a domain user.

If you do not specify a domain, this user must be an SQL user.

Password

The password required to sign in to the AWDB.

Step 3

Click Save.

Configure Contact Center Enterprise CTI Server Settings

Configure the A Side and B Side CTI servers on the primary Finesse server.

Procedure

Step 1

If you are not already signed in, sign in to the administration console on the primary Finesse server:

https://FQDN of Finesse server/cfadmin

Step 2

Sign in with the Application User credentials defined during installation.

Step 3

In the Contact Center Enterprise CTI Server Settings area, enter the CTI server settings as described in the following table. Refer to your configuration worksheet if necessary.

Field

Description

A Side Host/IP Address

Enter the hostname or IP address of the A Side CTI server.

This value is typically the IP address of the Peripheral Gateway (PG). The CTI server runs on the PG.

A Side Port

Enter the port number of the A Side CTI server. The value of this field must match the port configured during the setup of the A Side CTI server.

Peripheral ID

Enter the ID of the Agent PG Routing Client (PIM).

The Agent PG Peripheral ID should be configured to the same value for the A Side and B Side CTI servers.

B Side Host/IP Address

Enter the hostname or IP address of the B Side CTI server.

B Side Port

Enter the port of the B Side CTI server. The value of this field must match the port configured during the setup of the B Side CTI server.

Enable SSL encryption

Check this box to enable secure encryption.

Step 4

Click Save.

Configure Cluster Settings

Configure the cluster settings for the secondary Finesse node. The secondary Finesse node handles agent requests if the primary server goes down.

Procedure

Step 1

If you are not already signed in the primary node, sign in to the administration console of the primary node with the Application User credentials.

Step 2

In the Cluster Settings area, in the Hostname field, enter the hostname of the secondary Finesse server.

Step 3

Click Save.

Restart Cisco Finesse Tomcat

After you make changes to the Contact Center Enterprise CTI Server, Contact Center Enterprise Administration & Data Server, or cluster settings, restart Cisco Finesse Tomcat for the changes to take effect.

Note

After you restart Finesse, it can take approximately 6 minutes for all server-related services to restart. Therefore, you wait 6 minutes before you attempt to access the Finesse administration console.

Procedure

Step 1

Access the CLI and run the following command:

utils service restart Cisco Finesse Tomcat

Step 2

You can enter the command utils service list to monitor the Cisco Finesse Tomcat Service. After Cisco Finesse Tomcat changes to STARTED, the configured agents can sign in to the desktop.

Check Replication Status

Procedure

Step 1

Access the CLI on the primary Finesse server.

Step 2

Sign in with the Administrator User credentials that are defined during installation.

Step 3

Run the following command:

utils dbreplication runtimestate

This command returns the replication status on both the primary and secondary Finesse servers.

Install Language Pack

Download and install a language pack only if you want to use the Finesse desktop interface in a language other than English.

The language pack for Finesse is delivered as a single Cisco Option Package (COP) file. The file is available to download from Cisco.com and contains a single installer for all language variants.

You can download the language pack for Finesse at the following link:

https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=283613135&softwareid=284259728&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest

COP files can generally be installed on an active, running system. However, language COP files cannot be removed or rolled back.


Note

If the ReadMe file for a specific COP file contradicts these general guidelines, follow the instructions provided with the file.

For more information about supported languages, see the Cisco Finesse Administration Guide (https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-user-guide-list.html).

Procedure

Step 1

Download the Finesse COP file from the Cisco Software site https://software.cisco.com/download/type.html?mdfid=283613135&i=rm to a local source or an SFTP server that can be accessed by the Finesse server.

Step 2

Use SSH to log in to your Finesse system with the platform administration account.

Step 3

Use the CLI to run the command utils system upgrade initiate.

Step 4

Follow the instructions provided by the utils system upgrade initiate command.

Step 5

Reboot the server.

Step 6

Repeat step 2 through step 5 on the secondary Finesse server.

Step 7

When the installation is complete on both Finesse servers, agents and supervisors must clear their browser cache and cookies.

Configure IPv6 Settings

Cisco Finesse supports IPv6 using dual stack (IPv4 and IPv6). By default, only IPv4 is enabled at installation. You can enable IPv6 after installation using either Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration or the CLI.

With IPv6 enabled, the Finesse Administration Console, Finesse Desktop Interface, and Finesse REST APIs can connect to the Finesse server using IPv4 or IPv6. However, the Finesse server can connect to Unified CCE and the CTI server using IPv4 only.

When you set up IPv6 on Finesse, restart the system for the updates to take effect.

Set Up IPv6 Using Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration

To set up IPv6 using Cisco Unified Operating System Administration, perform the following procedure on both the primary and secondary Finesse servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Cisco Unified Operating System Administration on the Finesse server (https://FQDN:8443/cmplatform, where FQDN is the fully qualified domain name of the Finesse server).

Step 2

Navigate to Settings > IP > Ethernet IPv6.

Step 3

To enable IPv6, check the Enable IPv6 check box (or uncheck the box to disable IPv6).

Step 4

Enter values for IPv6 Address, Prefix Length, and Default Gateway.

Step 5

To restart after you save the changes, check the Update with Reboot check box.

Step 6

Click Save.

Set Up IPv6 Using the CLI

To set up IPv6 using the CLI, perform the following procedure on both the primary and secondary Finesse servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Access the CLI on the Finesse server.

Step 2

To enable or disable IPv6, enter:

set network ipv6 service {enable | disable}

Step 3

Set the IPv6 address and prefix length:

set network ipv6 static_address addr mask

Example:

set network ipv6 static_address 2001:db8:2::a 64

Step 4

Set the default gateway:

set network ipv6 gateway addr

Step 5

Restart the system for the changes to take effect.

utils system restart

Step 6

To display the IPv6 settings, enter:

show network ipv6 settings

Ensure Agents Have Passwords

Agents who do not have a password defined in Unified CCE Configuration Manager cannot sign in to Finesse.

Agent password is an optional field in Unified CCE, but it is mandatory for Cisco Finesse.

For agents who do not have passwords, you must perform the following steps:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch Unified CCE Configuration Manager.

Step 2

Locate the record for the agent (Agent Explorer > Agent tab).

Step 3

Enter a password, and save the record.

Ensure Logout Non-Activity Time for Agents is Configured

The Logout non-activity time specifies how long an agent can remain inactive in the Not Ready state before that agent is signed out of Finesse.

For agents who use the Task Routing interface on Finesse for non-voice tasks, set the Logout non-activity time to blank.

Perform the following steps to configure Logout non-activity time for an agent.

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the Unified CCE Configuration Manager.

Step 2

Launch Agent Desk Settings List (Tools > List Tools).

Step 3

Select Agent Desk Settings List.

Step 4

In the Logout non-activity time field, enter the number of seconds of agent inactivity while in the Not Ready state before the system software signs the agent out. You can enter a value between 10 seconds and 7200 seconds.

Step 5

Click Save.

The modified settings are applied to all of the agents who use these agent desktop settings.

Configure Finesse IP Phone Agent

With Finesse IP Phone Agent (IPPA), agents and supervisors can access Finesse features on their Cisco IP Phones as an alternative to accessing Finesse through the browser. Finesse IPPA supports fewer features than the Finesse desktop in the browser, but it does allow agents and supervisors to receive and manage Finesse calls if they lose or do not have access to a computer.

To set up Finesse IPPA, see the Cisco Finesse Administration Guide (https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-user-guide-list.html).


Note

The Finesse IPPA setup requires a Cisco Finesse Tomcat restart.

Browser Settings for Agent and Supervisor Desktop

To ensure that all features of the Cisco Finesse agent and supervisor desktop work properly, you must disable popup blockers from the supported browsers. For the list of supported browsers, see the Unified CCE Compatibility Matrix.

Ensure Agents Can Sign in to Desktop

After the system administrator defines configuration settings and restarts services, agents who have passwords and operational handsets can sign in to the Finesse Agent Desktop.


Note

Finesse agents can enter either their AgentID or Login name (in the Username field of the desktop login screen) to sign in. Ensure that each agent's AgentID and Login name are unique across both sets of data. If one agent's AgentID matches another agent's Login name, neither agent can sign in.


Note

After you restart Finesse, it takes approximately 6 minutes for all server-related services to restart. Therefore, you should wait 6 minutes before you attempt to sign in to the desktop.


Note

If you are using HTTPS, the first time you access the agent desktop, you see a browser security warning. To eliminate browser security warnings each time you sign in, you can trust the self-signed certificate provided with Finesse or obtain and upload a CA certificate.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the following URL in the address bar of your browser:

https://FQDN of Finesse server/desktop

Step 2

If you installed the language pack COP file, on first login, select the language you want to appear on the desktop from the drop-down menu in the language selector screen and click Next. If you did not install the language pack COP file, the language selector drop-down list does not appear in the user interface.

Note

 

If you installed the language pack COP file, you can also select a language by passing the locale as part of the URL (for example, https://FQDN of Finesse server/desktop?locale=fr_FR) or by changing your browser preferred language. The default language is English (en_US).

Step 3

Enter your username, password, and extension, and then click Sign In.

Note

 

The Sign In button is enabled once the username, password and extension fields are entered. If any field is incomplete, the Sign In button will remain disabled.

Step 4

If you wish to change the language that appears on your desktop, use the Change the Language link to return to the language selector screen and choose the language.

If your agent is signed into the Agent Desktop in Single Sign-On Mode or Hybrid Mode, refer to the sections Sign In to Finesse Desktop Single Sign-On Mode or Sign In to Finesse Desktop Hybrid Mode in the Cisco Finesse Desktop User Guide for Unified Contact Center Enterprise.

Ensure Failover Functions Correctly

Finesse provides a diagnostic tool that you can run on the Finesse desktop to ensure that failover is functioning correctly.


Note

For this tool to make an accurate diagnosis, the alternate Finesse server must be accessible and in service

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to the Finesse desktop.

Step 2

Enter the following URL in the address bar of the browser:

https://FQDN of Finesse server/desktop/failover

The tool performs a simulated failover test and displays the results. If the test passes, the following message appears:

Test sequence passed for failover to <Finesse alternate server name>. Click OK to test failback by running the test sequence from <Finesse alternate server name>.

Step 3

Click OK to test failback.

Note

 

If the failover test fails, the server may not be accessible (for example, certificate exceptions may be blocking browser access). To ensure that this is not the case, try to access the alternate Finesse server directly using the FQDN and manually sign in to the desktop. If sign-in succeeds, certain browser settings or policies may be preventing failover from working properly. For example, accessing Finesse with its hostname or IP address instead of the FQDN may cause browsers to place client-side security restrictions on access between the two servers because they are considered to be third-party to each other. If the two servers are on the same domain and accessed with the FQDN, these restrictions are not as strict.

Configure DNS on Clients


Note
This procedure is required for uncommon environments where non-hierarchical DNS configuration exists. If your environment has hierarchical DNS configuration, you do not need to perform this procedure. This procedure applies to clients that use a Windows operating system. For information about configuring DNS on Mac clients, see your Apple documentation (www.apple.com/mac).

Configuring DNS on client computers allows the clients to resolve the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the active Finesse server during a failover.

Procedure

Step 1

Go to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center. (Open the Control Panel, enter Network Connections in the search bar, and then click View network connections.)

Step 2

Click the appropriate network connection.

A dialog box showing the status of the connection appears.

Step 3

Click Properties.

Step 4

On the Networking tab, select Internet protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) or Internet protocol version 6 (TCP/IPv6) if the client is IPV6, and then click Properties.

Step 5

Click Advanced.

Step 6

On the DNS tab, under DNS server addresses, in order of use, click Add.

Step 7

Enter the IP address of the DNS server that was entered during installation and click Add.

Step 8

If a secondary DNS was entered during installation, repeat Step 5 and Step 6 to add its IP address.

Cloud Connect Certificates

Import Cloud Connect certificates to the trust store of Finesse to communicate with the Cloud Connect server using HTTPS. You must import a valid non-expired X.509 CA or self-signed certificate into the Cisco Finesse trust store.

CA-Signed Certificate

Procedure

Step 1

Obtain the CA-signed certificate from the certification authority for Cloud Connect server.

  1. Sign in to Cisco Unified OS Administration on the Cloud Connect server using the following URL: https://FQDN of Cloud Connect server:8443/cmplatform.

  2. Generate the CSR and sign it from the certification authority. For more information on generating the CSR, see the Certificate Management section in the Getting Started chapter of Cisco Finesse Administration Guide at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

Step 2

Import the CA-signed certificate of Cloud Connect server to the Cisco Finesse server trust store as tomcat-trust. For more information, see Import Cloud Connect Certificate.

Self-Signed Certificate

Procedure

Step 1

Export the self-signed Cloud Connect certificate from the Cisco Unified Operating System Administration. For more information, see Export Cloud Connect Certificate.

Step 2

Import the downloaded self-signed Cloud Connect certificate to the Cisco Finesse trust store as tomcat-trust. For more information, see Import Cloud Connect Certificate.

Export Cloud Connect Certificate

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Cisco Unified OS Administration on the Cloud Connect server using the following URL: https://FQDN of Cloud Connect server:8443/cmplatform.

Step 2

Select Security > Certificate Management.

Step 3

Enter the search criteria as tomcat and then click Find to filter the certificate.

The tomcat certificates list is displayed. If you do not find the tomcat certificate for your server in the Certificate List, then click Generate Self-signed. When the certificate generation is complete, reboot your server. Then restart this procedure. For more information on generating the self-signed certificate, see Cisco Unified Operating System Administration Online Help.

Step 4

Click Download .PEM File.

Step 5

Save the .PEM file in your local machine.

What to do next

Follow the same steps for both publisher and subscriber nodes.

Import Cloud Connect Certificate

Before you begin

Export tomcat certificate for all Cloud Connect nodes and save in your local machine. For more information, see Export Cloud Connect Certificate.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Cisco Unified OS Administration on the primary Finesse server using the following URL: https://FQDN of Finesse server:8443/cmplatform

Step 2

Select Security > Certificate Management > Upload Certificate/Certificate chain.

Step 3

Upload the Cloud Connect certificate.

  1. From the Certificate Purpose drop-down list, select tomcat-trust.

  2. In the Upload File field, click Browse and browse to the Cloud Connect certificate file.

  3. Click Upload.

Step 4

Reboot the Cisco Finesse server.

Customer Collaboration Platform Certificates

You can develop applications using Customer Collaboration Platform and Cisco Finesse APIs in order to use Task Routing. The Customer Collaboration Platform Task API enables applications to submit non-voice task requests to Unified CCE. Cisco Finesse uses Customer Collaboration Platform APIs for task management.

Validation of the X.509 certificate is enforced. It is mandatory to have a valid non-expired Customer Collaboration Platform X.509 CA or self-signed certificate to be imported into the Cisco Finesse trust store.

The administrator must set the utils finesse set_property webservices trustAllCertificates to false to enable the validation of the X.509 CA or the self-signed certificate.

For more information on CLI commands, see Service Properties section in Cisco Finesse Administration Guide at https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/customer-collaboration/finesse/products-maintenance-guides-list.html.

Export Customer Collaboration Platform

Before you begin

Add the Customer Collaboration Platform IP address to the allowed list addresses.

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Cisco Unified OS Administration on the CUCM server using the following URL: https://FQDN of Customer Collaboration Platform server/cmplatform.

Step 2

Select Security > Certificate Management.

Step 3

Enter the search criteria as tomcat and then click Find to filter the certificate.

The tomcat certificates list is displayed. If you do not find the tomcat certificate for your server in the Certificate List, then click Generate Self-signed. When the certificate generation is complete, reboot your server. Then restart this procedure. For more information on generating the self-signed certificate, see Cisco Unified Operating System Administration Online Help.

Step 4

Click Download .PEM File.

Step 5

Save the .PEM file in your local machine.

What to do next

Follow the same steps to export the certificate for all the CUCM nodes.

Import Customer Collaboration Platform Certificate

Procedure

Step 1

Sign in to Cisco Unified OS Administration on the Finesse server using the following URL: https://FQDN of Finesse server: 8443/cmplatform

Step 2

Select Security > Certificate Management > Upload Certificate/Certificate chain.

Step 3

Upload the Customer Collaboration Platform certificate.

  1. From the Certificate Purpose drop-down list, select tomcat-trust.

  2. In the Upload File field, click Browse and browse to the Customer Collaboration Platform certificate file.

  3. Click Upload .

Note

 

Configure Customer Collaboration Platform in Unified CCE and Unified CCX using the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN).

Step 4

After the upload is complete, sign out from the platform administration page of Cisco Finesse.

Step 5

Reboot the Cisco Finesse server.

Note

 

Follow the same steps to upload the Customer Collaboration Platform certificate on both the primary and secondary Finesse nodes.

Load Balancing for Finesse

After agents sign in to the Finesse desktop, Finesse desktop client manages the failover. For example, if a Finesse server goes out of service, the Finesse client automatically redirects and signs the agent into the other Finesse server. The client can manage various network and server failure use cases. Given this client-side logic, the use of a load balancer after sign-in is not required nor supported.

However, the following are two scenarios in which you can use a load balancer with Finesse. These scenarios apply only to the Finesse desktop and not to Finesse IP Phone Agents.


Note

Starting from the Finesse 12.6.1 ES05 release, the allowed hosts must not contain the hostname or IP address of the load balancer. It should contain only the internal and external hostname and IP address of the reverse-proxy.

When Agents Navigate to the Finesse Sign-In Page

If agents attempt to navigate to a Finesse server that is down or not reachable, agents cannot access the sign-in page. Agents receive an error and must manually sign in to the other Finesse server. To avoid this manual step, you can use a load balancer using URL redirect mode to direct the agents to a Finesse server that is operational. One option is to use the Finesse SystemInfo REST API, which provides the status of the Finesse server. For details about this API, see the Cisco Finesse Web Services Developer Guide.

When you configure a load balancer to determine the status of the Finesse servers, the call flow is as follows:

  1. When agents sign in to Finesse, they point their browsers to the load balancer.

  2. The load balancer redirects the agent browser to an appropriate Finesse server.

  3. The agent signs in to the Finesse server directly. At this stage, the load balancer is no longer part of the call flow.

When Customers Use the Finesse API Directly

If you use the Finesse REST API directly, the Finesse client-side failover logic is not in the call flow. In this case, you can opt to use a load balancer to manage high availability. This load balancer is considered part of a custom application which, like all custom applications, Cisco does not support. You must provide the required support for the load balancer.

Before you configure the load balancer, remember that there are two connections between Finesse clients and the Finesse server:

  • A REST channel for request and response.

  • An XMPP channel that the server uses to send notifications to the client.

Both channels for a given client must connect to the same Finesse server.

You cannot connect the load balancer to the REST connection for one Finesse server and to the XMPP channel connection for the other Finesse server. This setup provides unpredictable results and is not supported.

Initial Configuration Troubleshooting

If

Then

The administration console does not load after a fresh installation.

  1. Clear your browser cache (delete browsing history and cookies).

  2. If the problem persists, restart the Cisco Finesse Tomcat service or restart the Finesse server.

Agents cannot sign in to the desktop after a fresh installation.

  1. Verify that the agent ID and password are correct.

    Note

     

    Finesse agents can use either their loginID or loginName to sign in. Ensure that each agent's loginID and loginName are unique across both sets of data. If one agent's loginID matches another agent's loginName, neither agent can sign in.

  2. Verify that a valid domain was configured during installation and that forward and reverse DNS are set up correctly. To check whether DNS was configured during installation, check the install.log for the following:

    InstallWizard|USER_ACTION_BTN_PUSH: Screen = DNS Client Configuration, button pushed = No|<LVL::Info

    The preceding message indicates that DNS was not configured during the installation. Reinstall Finesse and configure the DNS with a valid domain.

  3. Verify that the agent is configured in Unified CCE.

  4. Verify that the AWDB is configured correctly.

    1. Check the realm.log for the following line:

      "ERROR com.cisco.ccbu.finesse.realms.ccerealm.CCERealmConfig - Cannot connect to any AWDB! Ensure that at least one AWDB is configured properly and running!"

      This line indicates that Finesse cannot connect to the AWDB.

    2. Check that the values entered in the Contact Center Enterprise Administration & Data Server Settings gadget are correct.

      • Verify that the username entered is a Windows domain user.

      • Verify that the username is not prepended with the domain (for example, domain\username).

      • Verify that the port configured is open to the Finesse server.

    3. Check that the AWDB is set up correctly and running.

      • The AWDB SQL server must use Windows authentication.

      • Verify that the AWDB server is up and that the Distributor service is running.

  5. Restart Cisco Finesse Tomcat on the primary and secondary Finesse servers.

  6. Verify that the agent's device is properly configured in Unified Communications Manager and is active.