Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation

This chapter provides the information required for planning your installation of Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 and ensuring that you meet all the prerequisites required for the installation. It also provides procedures for installing Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 in a standard, non-high availability environment. For high availability, see Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 High Availability Installation.

Installation Overview

Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 can be installed as a fresh installation by following the given steps:

  1. Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.0 either on a virtual machine.

    You can refer to Installation Guide for Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager 6.0

  2. Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 UBF as explained in the steps in this guide

The following topics provide information and procedures for installing Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 UBF in standard and high availability deployments.


Note
Before starting the installation procedure, please review the release notes for important information or issues relating to the installation.

Upgrade Paths for Cisco EPN Manager 6.1

The following table lists the valid paths for upgrading to Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 from previous versions.

Current Cisco EPN Manager Version

Installation Path to Cisco EPN Manager 6.1.0

Cisco EPN Manager 6.0.0

Cisco EPN Manager 6.0.1

Cisco EPN Manager 6.0.0 (restore) > 6.0.1 > 6.1.0

Cisco EPN Manager 6.0.2

Cisco EPN Manager 6.0.0 (restore) > 6.0.2 > 6.1.0

Cisco EPN Manager 5.1.4.1

Cisco EPN Manager 5.1.4.1 > 6.0.0 (restore) > 6.0.1 > 6.1.0

See the relevant installation guide for installation prerequisites and procedures for Cisco EPN Manager versions.

For point patch installation instructions, see the readme file supplied with the patch file on the Software Download site on Cisco.com.

Prerequisites for Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation


Note
Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 installation consists of Cisco EPN Manager 6.0 OVA installation followed by Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 UBF installation.

Before installing Cisco EPN Manager 6.1, you must perform the following tasks:

Licensing

Cisco EPN Manager includes a 90-day trial license that is automatically activated for first-time installations. To use the application beyond the trial period, you must obtain and install the necessary Cisco EPN Manager licenses for both production and non-production environments, as follows:

For a production environment:

  • Base license (required)

  • Standby license (optional)—Obtain this license if you will have a high availability deployment with two Cisco EPN Manager servers configured in a redundancy configuration.

  • Right-to-Manage licenses for the types and corresponding numbers of devices to be managed by Cisco EPN Manager.

For a non-production environment (e.g., lab validation or development environment), please obtain and install a Cisco EPN Manager lab license for each Cisco EPN Manager lab installation. The lab license covers all Cisco EPN Manager options, including redundancy (HA), and unlimited right-to-manage scope.

Do not make copies of licenses.

To purchase Cisco EPN Manager licenses, please contact your local sales representative.

For more information on the types of licenses available for Cisco EPN Manager, see the information on viewing and managing licenses in the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager User and Administrator Guide.

Disable Automatic Client Logout

If the client is inactive for a certain period of time, you might be automatically logged out. To avoid being logged out during the installation, we recommend that you disable automatic logout of idle users in the system settings, as follows:

Procedure

Step 1

Go to Administration > Settings > System Settings, then select General > Server.

Step 2

In the Global Idle Timeout section, uncheck the Logout all idle users check box.

Step 3

Click OK in the displayed message reminding you to save your change to the system settings.

Step 4

Click Save.

Step 5

Click the gear icon at the top right of the web GUI window, then click My Preferences. Under User Idle Timeout, uncheck the Logout idle user check box.

Step 6

Click Save.

Step 7

Log out and then log back into Cisco EPN Manager.

Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 in a Standard Environment (No HA)

Follow these steps to install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 in a standard environment (no high availability).

  1. Make sure you have performed the tasks in Prerequisites for Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation.

  2. Place the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation File on the Server.

  3. Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 (No HA).

  4. Perform an inventory collection for all devices to synchronize them with the database. See Synchronize the Inventory of All Devices with the Database (Existing Deployments Only).

If you are using external authentication and authorization, after installation you must export the user task information to your AAA server in order to pick up the latest updates. See the Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager User and Administrator Guide for more information.

Place the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation File on the Server

This procedure explains how to download the ubf installation file to your local machine, then upload it from your local machine to the Cisco EPN Manager server.


Note
You need an account on Cisco.com in order to download the installation file.

Procedure

Step 1

Make sure you have performed the tasks in Prerequisites for Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation.

Step 2

Download the required ubf file to your local machine.

  1. Go to the Software Download site on Cisco.com.

  2. Locate the Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release file (in the format cepn6.1-buildXXX.ubf ).

  3. Download the file to your local machine.

Step 3

After the file is downloaded to the local server, make sure to compare the checksum (MD5) with the one available on Cisco.com.
Step 4

Log into the Cisco EPN Manager web GUI as a user with Administrator privileges.

Step 5

Upload the ubf file from your local machine to the Cisco EPN Manager server.

  1. From the left sidebar menu, choose Administration > Software Update.

  2. Click the blue Upload link at the top of the page.

  3. In the Upload Update dialog box, click Browse and navigate to the file you downloaded previously.

  4. Click OK to upload the file to the server.

After the successful upload of Cisco EPN Manager 6.1, the software will appear under the Files tab.

Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 (No HA)

Follow this procedure to install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 in a standard environment with no high availability.

Procedure

Step 1

From the left sidebar, choose Administration > Software Update.

Step 2

Click the Install button associated with EPN Manager 6.1 on the Software Update page.

Step 3

Click Yes in the confirmation message pop-up window to proceed with the installation.

Note 
The server will restart when the installation is complete.
Step 4

If you are asked whether to overwrite an existing file, click Yes.

After successful installation, the status will change to Installed. Cisco EPN Manager will auto-restart and the Cisco EPN Manager web GUI will not be accessible for some time.

Step 5

Check the status of the Cisco EPN Manager services.

  1. Start an SSH session with the Cisco EPN Manager server and log in as the Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user.
  2. Run the ncs status command to ensure that, at a minimum, the following services are up and running: Health Monitor, Database, NMS, SAM Daemon, DA Daemon. Note that for optimal Cisco EPN Manager functionality, all services should be up and running.
Step 6

When the Cisco EPN Manager web GUI is accessible, log in and check that the Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release's status is “Installed” in the Software Update page.

  1. From the left sidebar, choose Administration > Software Update.
  2. Verify that Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release is listed as Installed under the Updates tab. Also verify that the ubf file (in the format cepnm6.1-buildXXX.ubf) is listed in the Files tab and that the In Use status is Yes.

What to do next


Note
The service restart in the Synchorization Clock operation can be ignored as the installation of Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release restarts the Cisco EPN Manager.

Synchronize the Inventory of All Devices with the Database (Existing Deployments Only)

If you have already been using a previous version of Cisco EPN Manager (i.e., this is not a fresh installation), you need to perform a Sync operation on the devices. The Sync operation instructs Cisco EPN Manager to collect device physical and logical inventory and save the information to the database.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Monitor > Network Devices.

Step 2

Select all devices, then click Sync.

Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 in a High Availability Environment

Follow these steps to install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 in a HA environment.

  1. Perform the General and HA Installation Prerequisite Tasks.

  2. Remove the HA Configuration.

  3. Place the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation File on the Server (HA Deployment).

  4. Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 on Primary and Secondary Servers (HA Deployment).

  5. Synchronize the Inventory of All Devices with the Database (Existing Deployments Only).


Note
If you are using external authentication and authorization, after installation you must export the user task information to your AAA server in order to pick up the latest updates.

Remove the HA Configuration


Note
This process is required only if the servers are associated with HA configuration.

Procedure

Step 1

Log into the Cisco EPN Manager web GUI on the primary server as a user with Administrator privileges.

Step 2

From the left sidebar, choose Administration > Settings > High Availability.

Step 3

Click HA Configuration on the left.

Step 4

Click Remove.

Step 5

When the remove operation completes, confirm that the Configuration Mode field displays HA Not Configured.

Place the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation File on the Server (HA Deployment)

Before You Begin

Make sure you have the password (authentication key) that was created when HA was enabled. You will need it to install the patch on the secondary server.

Procedure

Step 1

Make sure you have removed the HA configuration as described in Remove the HA Configuration.

Step 2

On the primary server, upload the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 ubf file. Follow the procedure in Place the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 Installation File on the Server.

Step 3

Upload the Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 ubf file to the secondary server. (You will use the same file that was uploaded and installed on the primary server.)

  1. Log into the secondary server’s HM web page by entering the following URL in your browser:

    https://serverIP:8082

    Where serverIP is the IP address or host name of the secondary server.

  2. Enter the authentication key and click Login.

  3. Click Software Update at the top right of the Health Monitor window to open the Secondary Server Software Update window.

  4. Enter the authentication key and click Login.

  5. Click the Upload link under the window title, browse to the ubf file, and click OK.

After the successful upload of the ubf file, the file will appear under the Files tab.

Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 on Primary and Secondary Servers (HA Deployment)

Before You Begin

  • Make sure you have the password (authentication key) that was created when HA was enabled. You will need it to install the Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release file on the secondary server.
  • Make sure no backups are in progress.

This ensures that the compliance server will be up and running on the secondary server after failover.

Procedure

Step 1

Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 on the primary server and verify the installation, as described in Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 (No HA). After the installation, the primary server automatically restarts and the web GUI will not be accessible for some time.

Step 2

Synchronize the hardware and NTP clocks on both the primary and secondary servers, then check that the clocks on each server are synchronized with one another.

Note 

The service restart in the Synchorization Clock operation can be ignored as the installation of Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release restarts the Cisco EPN Manager.

Step 3

Install Cisco EPN Manager 6.1 on the secondary server.

  1. Log into the secondary server’s HM web page by entering the following URL in your browser: https://serverIP:8082

    Where serverIP is the IP address or host name of the secondary server.

  2. Enter the authentication key and click Login.
  3. Click Software Update at the top right of the Health Monitor window to open the Secondary Server Software Update window.
  4. Enter the authentication key and click Login.
  5. Click the Install button associated with Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release on the Software Update page.
  6. Click Yes in the confirmation message pop-up window to proceed with the installation. On successful installation, the status will change to Installed and the secondary server will restart automatically.
Step 4

After the secondary server has restarted, verify the installation on the secondary server.

  1. Start an SSH session with the secondary server and log in as the Cisco EPN Manager CLI admin user.
  2. Run the ncs status command to ensure that, at a minimum, the following services are up and running: Health Monitor, Database, NMS, SAM Daemon, DA Daemon. Note that for optimal Cisco EPN Manager functionality, all services should be up and running.
  3. Once the web GUI is accessible, verify the installation and version in the secondary server’s HM web page. Enter the following URL in your browser: https://serverIP:8082

    Where serverIP is the IP address or host name of the secondary server.

  4. Enter the authentication key and click Login .
  5. Click Software Update at the top right of the Health Monitor window to open the Secondary Server Software Update window.
  6. Enter the authentication key and click Login .
  7. In the Files tab, verify that the Cisco EPN Manager Minor Release file (in the format cepnm6.1-buildXXX.ubf ) is listed and that the In Use status is Yes.
Step 5

On the primary server, enable high availability and verify that the primary server’s HA status is Primary Active.

  1. Enable high availability.
    1. Log into the Cisco EPN Manager web GUI as a user with Administrator privileges.
    2. From the left sidebar menu, choose Administration > Settings > High Availability.
    3. Click HA Configuration on the left, then enter the secondary server’s IP address, the secondary server’s authentication key, and an email address to which Cisco EPN Manager should send HA state change notifications.
    4. If you are using virtual IP addressing in your HA setup (if the primary and secondary servers are in the same subnet), check the Enable Virtual IP check box and enter the virtual IP address(es).

    5. Check Readiness for HA by following the process mentioned in section Check Readiness for HA Configuration.

    6. Click Save, then wait until the servers are synchronized.
    7. Verify that the Configuration Mode is HA Enabled.
  2. Verify the primary server’s HA status.
    1. Click HA Status on the left.
    2. Check that the Current State Mode displays Primary Active.
Step 6

Verify that the secondary server’s HA status is Secondary Syncing.

  1. Log into the secondary server’s HM web page by entering the following URL in your browser: https://serverIP:8082

    Where serverIP is the IP address or host name of the secondary server.

  2. Enter the authentication key and click Login .
  3. Verify that the Current State Mode is Secondary Syncing (with a green check mark).

Check Readiness for HA Configuration

During the HA configuration, other environmental parameters related to HA like system specification, network configuration, and bandwidth between the servers determine the completion of HA configuration.

15 checks are run in the system to ensure the completion of HA configuration without any error or failure. The checklist name and the corresponding status with recommendations if any, will be displayed when you run the Check Readiness feature.


Note

The Check Readiness does not block the HA configuration. You can configure HA even if some of the checks do not pass.

If the primary and secondary authentication keys are different, then Check Readiness shall not proceed. You can proceed with HA Registration.

To check readiness for HA configuration, follow these steps:

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to Cisco EPN Manager with a user ID and password that has administrator privileges.

Step 2

From the menu, select Administration > Settings > High Availability. Cisco EPN Manager displays the HA status page.

Step 3

Select HA Configuration.

Step 4

Provide the secondary server IP address in the Secondary Server field and the secondary authentication key in the Authentication Key field.

Step 5

Click Check Readiness.

A pop-up window with the system specifications and other parameters will be displayed. The screen will show the checklist item name, status, impact, and recommendation details.

Below is the list of checklist test names and the description displayed for Check Readiness:

Table 1. Checklist name and description

Checklist Test Name

Test Description

SYSTEM - CHECK CPU COUNT

Checks the CPU count in the primary and secondary servers.

The CPU count in both servers must satisfy the requirements.

SYSTEM - CHECK DISK IOPS

Checks the disk speed in the primary and secondary servers.

The minimum expected disk speed is 200 MBps.

SYSTEM - CHECK RAM SIZE

Checks the RAM size of the primary and secondary servers.

The RAM size of both servers must satisfy the requirements.

SYSTEM - CHECK DISK SIZE

Checks the disk size of the primary and secondary servers.

The disk size of both servers must satisfy the requirements.

SYSTEM - CHECK SERVER PING REACHABILITY

Checks that the primary server can reach the secondary server through a ping.

SYSTEM - CHECK OS COMPATABILITY

Checks that the primary server and secondary servers have the same OS version.

SYSTEM - HEALTH MONITOR STATUS

Checks whether the health monitor process is running in the primary and secondary servers.

NETWORK - CHECK NETWORK INTERFACE BANDWIDTH

Checks if the speed of interface eth0 matches the recommended 500 Mbps in primary and secondary servers.

This test will not measure the network bandwidth by transmitting the data between the primary and secondary servers.

NETWORK - CHECK FIREWALL FOR DATABASE PORT ACCESSIBILITY

Checks if the database port 1522 is open in the system firewall.

If the port is disabled, the test will grant permission for 1522 in the IP tables list.

DATABASE - CHECK ONLINE STATUS

Checks if the database files status is online and accessible in primary and secondary servers.

DATABASE - CHECK MEMORY TARGET

Checks for "/dev/shm" database memory target size for HA setup.

DATABASE - LISTENER STATUS

Checks if the database listeners are up and running in primary and secondary servers.

If there is a failure, the test will attempt to start the listener and report the status.

DATABASE - CHECK LISTENER CONFIG CORRUPTION

Checks if all the database instances exist under the database listener configuration file "listener.ora"

DATABASE - CHECK TNS CONFIG CORRUPTION

Checks if all the “WCS” instances exist under the database TNS listener configuration file “tnsnames.ora"

DATABASE - TNS REACHABILITY STATUS

Checks if TNSPING is successful in primary and secondary server.
Step 6

Once the check is completed for all the parameters, check their status and click Clear to close the window.

Note 

Failback and failover events during Check Readiness are forwarded to the Alarms and Events page. Configuration failure events are not present in the Alarms and Events list.