Installing Cisco APIC-EM on a VMware Virtual Machine

In addition to acquiring a dedicated Cisco APIC-EM physical appliance with the ISO image preinstalled and tested, you can also install the Cisco APIC-EM ISO image in a supported virtual environment. You may want to do this for testing the controller within your network, prior to setting up the appliance.

This chapter describes the system requirements and procedures for installing Cisco APIC-EM on a VMware virtual machine.

Cisco APIC-EM VMware vSphere Requirements

The following table lists the minimum system requirements for a successful Cisco APIC-EM VMware vSphere installation.

In addition to the minimum system requirements listed below, we recommend that you also configure specific resource pools for the virtual machine(s). For information about these additional recommended configurations, see the following section about preparing your virtual machines for the Cisco APIC-EM.


Note

You must configure at a minimum 32 GB RAM for the virtual machine that contains the Cisco APIC-EM when a single host is being deployed. The single host server that contains the virtual machine must have this much RAM physically available. For a multi-host deployment (2 or 3 hosts), 32 GB of RAM is required for each of the virtual machines that contains the Cisco APIC-EM. Three servers are required for high availability and redundancy


Note

As with running an application on any virtualization technology, you might observe a degradation in performance when you run the Cisco APIC-EM in a virtual machine compared to running the Cisco APIC-EM directly on physical hardware.

Table 1 Cisco APIC-EM VMware vSphere Requirements

Virtual Machine Options

VMware ESXi Version

5.1/5.5/6.0

Server Image Format

ISO

Virtual CPU (vCPU)

6 (minimum)

Note   

6 vCPUs is the minimum number required for your virtual machine configuration. For better performance, we recommend using 12 vCPUs.

Datastores

We recommend that you do not share a datastore with any defined virtual machines that are not part of the designated Cisco APIC-EM cluster.

If the datastore is shared, then disk I/O access contention may occur and cause a significant reduction of disk bandwidth throughput and a significant increase of I/O latency to the cluster.

Hardware Specifications

CPU (speed)

2.4 GHz

Memory

32 GB (minimum single host deployment)

For specific Cisco APIC-EM scale requirements, see the Release Notes for the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Enterprise Module.

Note   

For a multi-host deployment (2 or 3 hosts) 32 GB of RAM is required for each host.

Disk Capacity

500 GB

Disk I/O Speed

200 MBps

Network Adapter

1

Networking

Web Access

Required

Browser

The following browsers are supported when viewing and working with the Cisco APIC-EM:

  • Google Chrome, version 50.0 or later

  • Mozilla Firefox, version 46.0 or later

Network Timing

To avoid conflicting time settings, we recommend that you disable the time synchronization between the guest VM running the Cisco APIC-EM and the ESXi host. Instead, configure the timing of the guest VM to a NTP server.

Important:

Ensure that the time settings on the ESXi host are also synchronized to the NTP server. This is especially important when upgrading the Cisco APIC-EM. Failure to ensure synchronization will cause the upgrade to fail.

Preparing a VMware System for Cisco APIC-EM Deployment

To ensure that the Cisco APIC-EM works well within a virtual environment, configure the virtual machine with recommended resource pool values. A resource pool is a logical abstraction for the virtual machines that can be used to manage resources. Resource pools can be grouped into hierarchies and then used to partition CPU and memory resources.

You can configure and prepare the virtual machine using either the VMware vSphere Client or Web Client. We recommend that you use the VMware vSphere Web Client, since the Latency Sensitivity setting for resource pools must be configured as High. The Latency Sensitivity setting can only be configured using the VMware vSphere Web Client.


Note

When deploying the Cisco APIC-EM in a virtual environment, you must first configure the VMware system before installing Cisco APIC-EM. To install Cisco APIC-EM, you need to download the ISO image containing the controller from Cisco.com and then map the ISO image to the VMware system and boot from it.

Virtual Machine Configuration Recommendations

The following table lists the recommended configuration settings for a successful Cisco APIC-EM VMware vSphere installation, including resource pools. When installing Cisco APIC-EM on a supported virtual machine, we recommend that the following configuration settings are used.


Note

When preparing the virtual machine for the Cisco APIC-EM, the configuration settings terminology may differ depending upon the VMware application and GUI that your are using.

Table 2  Virtual Machine Configuration Recommendations (Including Resource Pools)

Resource Pool: CPU Resources

Reservation—14400 MHz is minimum configuration setting for this value

Limit—Unlimited

Shares—Normal

vCPU

6 (minimum)

Note   

6 vCPUs is the minimum number required for your virtual machine configuration. For better performance, we recommend using 12 CPUs.

Resource Pool: Memory

Memory—32 GB or 64 GB is the minimum configuration setting for this value, depending upon your hardware.

Reserve all guest memory—Enable

SCSI controller value

VMware Paravirtual

New network value

New network value—Enter the network that the controller will connect to.

Status—Connect at power on

Adapter type—VMXNET3

Advanced

Choose High for the Latency sensitivity

Configuring Resource Pools Using vSphere Web Client

To ensure that the Cisco APIC-EM works well within a virtual environment, you should configure resource pools with the recommended values. A resource pool is a logical abstraction for the virtual machines that can be used to manage resources. Resource pools can be grouped into hierarchies and then used to partition CPU and memory resources.


Note

You should first create a new resource pool with the recommended configuration values as described in this procedure, and then subsequently create a virtual machine (where the Cisco APIC-EM will be installed) on that resource pool.

Before You Begin

You have reviewed your VMware documentation concerning resource pools and their configuration.

You are familiar with the VMware vSphere Web Client and have a basic knowledge of how to create, manage and troubleshoot virtual machines using it.

You have your host and virtual datastores already set up and accessible in vSphere Web Client for this procedure.

    Step 1   Open the VMware vSphere Web Client to perform the procedure.

    Figure 1. VMware vSphere Web Client

    Step 2   Click vCenter in the Navigator.

    Figure 2. vCenter Home

    Step 3   Click on Hosts.

    Figure 3. Hosts

    Choose a host where you will create the resource pool.

    Step 4   Right-click on the selected host and click All vCenter Actions | New Resource Pool.

    Figure 4. New Resource Pool

    Step 5   Enter a name and specify values for the resource pool in the New Resource Pool dialog box.

    Figure 5. New Resource Pool

    We recommend entering the following resource pool values in this dialog box:

    • CPU Resources

      • Shares—Choose Normal from the drop-down menu

      • Reservation—14400 MHz is minimum configuration setting for this value

      • Reservation Type—Check box for Expandable

      • Limit—Set to Maximum Limit

    • Memory Resources

      • Shares—Choose Normal from the drop-down menu

      • Reservation—32 GB or 64 GB is the minimum configuration setting for this value, depending upon your hardware.

      • Reservation Type—Check box for Expandable

      • Limit—Set to Maximum Limit

    Step 6   Click OK to save the configured resource pool values.
    What to Do Next

    Proceed to create a new virtual machine on this resource pool. For assistance with this procedure, see the following procedure, Configuring a VMware Server Using vSphere Web Client.

    Configuring a Virtual Machine Using vSphere Web Client

    To ensure that the Cisco APIC-EM properly functions in a virtual environment, create the virtual machine(s) following the procedure described below with the recommended settings.


    Note

    You must create this virtual machine on the resource pool that you earlier configured, as described in the previous procedure.

    Before You Begin

    You have reviewed the minimum system requirements for a successful Cisco APIC-EM VMware vSphere installation, as previously described in this guide.

    You are familiar with the VMware vSphere Web Client and have a basic knowledge of how to create, manage and troubleshoot virtual machines using the Web Client.

    You have your host and virtual datastores already set up and accessible in vSphere Web Client for this procedure.

    You have already created a resource pool on the host, following the steps described in the previous procedure, Configuring Resource Pools Using vSphere Web Client.

      Step 1   Open the VMware vSphere Web Client to perform the procedure.

      Figure 6. VMware vSphere Web Client

      Step 2   Click vCenter in the Navigator.

      Figure 7. vCenter

      Step 3   Click Resource Pools in the Inventory Lists in vCenter.
      Step 4   Choose the resource pool where you will install the virtual machine from the list.

      Figure 8. Resource Pools

      Step 5   Right click on the resource pool and select New Virtual Machine from the menu.

      Figure 9. New Virtual Machine

      Note   

      We strongly recommend that only a single virtual machine be created under the resource pool.

      Step 6   Click Create a new virtual machine in the New Virtual Machine dialog box under 1a Select creation type.

      Figure 10. Select Creation Type

      Click Next to proceed to the next step.

      Step 7   In the New Virtual Machine dialog box under 2 Edit Settings, click 2a Select a name and folder.

      Enter a name for the virtual machine and a location for the virtual machine.

      Figure 11. Select Name and Folder

      Click Next to proceed to the next step.

      Step 8   Click 2b Select a computer resource.

      Select the resource pool that was created in the previous procedure.

      Figure 12. Select Computer Resource

      Click Next to proceed to the next step.

      Step 9   Click 2c Select storage.

      Select a datastore for your virtual machine.

      Figure 13. Select Storage

      Click Next to proceed to the next step.

      Step 10   Click 2d Select compatibility.

      Select ESX 5.1 and later from the drop down menu.

      Figure 14. Select Compatibility

      Click Next to proceed to the next step.

      Step 11   Click 2e Select a guest OS.

      Select the following values from the drop down menus:

      • Guest OS Family: Linux

      • Guest OS Version: Ubuntu Linux (64-bit)

      Figure 15. Select Guest OS

      Click Next to proceed to the next step.

      Step 12   Click 2f Customize hardware.

      Figure 16. Customize Hardware

      Step 13   In the Virtual Hardware tab, ensure that the following CPU values are selected.

      CPU

      Enter a value of 6 cores.

      Note   

      6 cores is the minimum number to enter for your virtual machine configuration. For better performance, we recommend entering and using 12 cores.

      Reservation

      Enter a minimum value of at least 14400 MHz.

      Limit

      Select Unlimited from the drop down menu

      Shares

      Select Normal from the drop down menu.

      Note   

      The above dedicated CPU resources for the host are required for the Cisco APIC-EM.

      Step 14   In the Virtual Hardware tab, ensure that the following Memory values are selected.

      Memory

      Enter a minimum value of 32 GB or 64 GB, depending on your hardware.

      Reserve all guest memory (all locked)

      Check this box.

      Note   

      The above dedicated memory resources for the host are required for the Cisco APIC-EM.

      Step 15   In the Virtual Hardware tab, ensure that the following New Hard disk value is entered.

      New Hard disk

      Increase to at least 500 GB minimum.

      Step 16   In the Virtual Hardware tab, ensure that the following New SCSI controller value is entered.

      New SCSI controller

      Select VMware Paravirtual from the drop down menu.

      Step 17   In the Virtual Hardware tab, ensure that the following New Network values are entered.

      New network value

      Enter the network that the controller will connect to for this value.

      Status

      Check the box for Connect at Power On.

      Adapter type

      Select VMXNET3 from the drop down menu.

      Step 18   In the Virtual Hardware tab, ensure that the following New CD/DVD Drive value is entered.

      New CD/DVD Drive

      Select Datastore ISO file from the drop down and the configure the location of the ISO file in the File window.

      Step 19   Click the VM Options tab to open it and ensure that the following values are entered.

      Advanced

      Choose High for Latency sensitivity from the drop down menu.

      Click Ok to save your configuration and to proceed to the next step.

      Step 20   Click 3 Ready to complete.

      Click Finish to finish the virtual machine configuration.

      Step 21   In the virtual machine, map the Cisco APIC-EM ISO image onto the local drive (CD/DVD).
      Step 22   Boot up the virtual machine and choose the CD-ROM option from the Boot Menu.
      Step 23   Choose Install Grapevine Appliance from the Ubuntu window that appears in the virtual machine.
      What to Do Next

      Proceed to deploy the controller by following the configuration wizard prompts.

      For information about the deployment process and configuration wizard options, see Chapter 4 in the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Enterprise Module Deployment Guide, and the following sections:

      • Configuring Cisco APIC-EM as a Single Host Using the Wizard

      • Configuring Cisco APIC-EM as a Multi-Host Cluster Using the Wizard