Preparing Virtual
Machines for Cisco APIC-EM
- Preparing a VMware System for Cisco APIC-EM Deployment
- Virtual Machine Configuration Recommendations
- Configuring Resource Pools Using vSphere Web Client
- Configuring a Virtual Machine Using vSphere Web Client
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. |
Resource Pool: CPU Resources |
Reservation—14400 MHz is minimum configuration setting for this value Limit—Unlimited Shares—Normal |
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vCPU |
6 (minimum)
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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 |
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SCSI controller value |
VMware Paravirtual |
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New network value |
New network value—Enter the network that the controller will connect to. Status—Connect at power on Adapter type—VMXNET3 |
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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. |
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.
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. |
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.
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: