Installing or Upgrading the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software in Centralized Mode

This chapter contains the following sections:

Installing Cisco Nexus Data Broker in Centralized Mode

Installing or Upgrading the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software in Centralized Mode


Important

Direct upgrade path to Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6 (till Release 3.8) is available from Cisco Nexus Data Broker release 3.0 or above. If you are running a previous release, upgrade to Release 3.0 first before upgrading to Release 3.6 (and above, till Release 3.8).


Note

To add a device to NDB in centralized mode, use the device IP address or the device hostname.

  • To complete a new installation of Cisco Nexus Data Broker, see the Installing the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software section.

Installing the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software in Centralized Mode

Complete these steps to install Cisco Nexus Data Broker software in Centralized mode:

Procedure

Step 1

In a web browser, navigate to www.cisco.com.


Step 2

Under Support, click All Downloads.


Step 3

In the center pane, click Cloud and Systems Management.


Step 4

If prompted, enter your Cisco.com username and password to log in.

Step 5

In the right pane, click Network Controllers and Applications, and then click Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

The file information for Release 3.6.2 is displayed: Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software Application: ndb1000-sw-app-k9-3.6.2.zip

Step 6

Download the Cisco Nexus Data Broker application bundle.

Step 7

Create a directory in your Linux machine where you plan to install Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

For example, in your Home directory, create CiscoNDB.

Step 8

Copy the Cisco Nexus Data Broker zip file into the directory that you created.

Step 9

Unzip the Cisco Nexus Data Broker zip file.

The Cisco Nexus Data Broker software is installed in a directory called xnc. The directory contains the following:

  • runxnc.sh file—The file that you use to launch Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

  • version.properties file—The Cisco Nexus Data Broker build version.

  • configuration directory—The directory that contains the Cisco Nexus Data Broker initialization files.

    This directory also contains the startup subdirectory where configurations are saved.

  • bin directory—The directory that contains the following script:

    • xnc file—This script contains the Cisco Nexus Data Broker common CLI.

  • etc directory—The directory that contains profile information.

  • lib directory—The directory that contains the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Java libraries.

  • logs directory—The directory that contains the Cisco Nexus Data Broker logs.

    Note 

    The logs directory is created after the Cisco Nexus Data Broker application is started.

  • plugins directory—The directory that contains the OSGi plugins.

  • work directory—The webserver working directory.

    Note 

    The work directory is created after the Cisco Nexus Data Broker application is started.

Note 

To migrate from OVA-based Openflow to Native Openflow, see the Uninstalling Cisco Plug-in for OpenFlow chapter.

Upgrading the Application Software in Centralized Mode

Use the upgrade command to upgrade to Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6 or later. When you are upgrading from Release 2.2.0 and/or Release 2.2.1, you first need to upgrade to Release 3.0.0 and only then you can upgrade to Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6 or later. This upgrade is an in-place upgrade, which means that the product bits are replaced. A backup archive is created to restore your original installation, if necessary.


Note

Once you upgrade to Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6 or later, you cannot use the downgrade option to rollback to a previous release. You have to use the configuration archive that is created during the upgrade process to rollback the software.


Note

When you upgrade the software to Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.2 or later release, the hostname should not be changed during the upgrade process. If the hostname is changed during the upgrade process, the upgrade might fail. If you are upgrading from release 2.x, 3.0 and 3.1, the domain name configuration in the switch should be removed before upgrading the software.

When you run the upgrade command, the installation and the configuration are upgraded. However, any changes you made to the shell scripts or configuration files, for example, config.ini, are overwritten. After you complete the upgrade process, you must manually reapply your changes to those files.

Before you begin

  • Stop all controller instances that use the Cisco Nexus Data Broker installation. This will avoid conflicts with the file system, which is updated during the upgrade.

  • For NDB configuration upload or Backup/Restore process, first bring up the NDB instance where configuration is uploaded or where Backup/Restore is done, then start rest of the nodes in the cluster.

  • Backup up the NDB configuration. For more information, see Backing Up or Restoring the Configuration Using NDB GUI section.

  • If you are using high availability clustering, stop all application instances in the cluster to ensure that there are no inconsistencies.

  • Back up your config.ini file.


Important

You should manually backup your config.ini file before upgrading, because the backup process does not back them up for you. If you do not backup your files before upgrading, any changes you made will be lost.


Note

When you run runxnc.sh script, there is a thread in the script that monitors the log and the Cisco Nexus Data Broker JAVA process to monitor the health of the Cisco Nexus Data Broker. The default value for this option is 30 Seconds.

Procedure

Step 1

In a web browser, navigate to Cisco.com.

Step 2

Under Support, click All Downloads.

Step 3

In the center pane, click Cloud and Systems Management.

Step 4

In the right pane, click Network Controllers and Applications, and then click Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

Step 5

Download the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6.2 application bundle: Cisco Nexus Data Broker Software Application—ndb1000-sw-app-k9-3.6.2.zip

Step 6

Create a temporary directory in your Linux machine where you plan to upgrade to Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

For example, in your Home directory, create CiscoNDB_Upgrade.

Step 7

Unzip the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6.2 zip file into the temporary directory that you created.

Step 8

Navigate to the xnc directory that was created when you installed the Cisco Nexus Data Broker release earlier.

Step 9

Backup your Cisco Nexus Data Broker release installation using your standard backup procedures.

Step 10

Stop running all Cisco Nexus Data Broker release processes.

Step 11

Navigate to the xnc/bin directory in the temporary directory that you created for the Cisco Nexus Data Broker Release 3.6.2 upgrade software.

Step 12

Upgrade the application by entering the ./xnc upgrade --perform --target-home {xnc_directory_to_be_upgraded} [--verbose] [--backupfile {xnc_backup_location_and_zip_filename}] command.

You can use one of the following options:

Option Description

--perform --target-home {xnc_directory_to_be_upgraded}

Upgrades the Cisco XNC Monitor Manager installation to Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

--perform --target-home {xnc_directory_to_be_upgraded} --backupfile {xnc_backup_location_and_zip_filename}

Upgrades the Cisco XNC Monitor Manager installation to Cisco Nexus Data Broker and creates a backup .zip file in the directory path that you set.

Note 

You must provide the name of the backup file and the .zip extension.

Note 

The backup file should not be saved in the xnc directory with current NDB installation or its subdirectory.

--verbose

Displays detailed information to the console. This option can be used with any other option and is disabled by default.

--validate --target-home {xnc_directory_to_be_upgraded}

Validates the installation.

./xnc help upgrade

Displays the options for the upgrade command.

Step 13

Navigate to the xnc directory where you originally installed Cisco XNC Monitor Manager.

Step 14

Start the application processes that you previously stopped.

Note 

Clear the browser cache. Use Shift+Ctrl+Delete keys to clear the cache.
Note 

Press Ctrl–F5, or press the Cmd, Shift, and R keys simultaneously when you access Cisco Nexus Data Broker through a web UI following an upgrade.

Upgrading the Application Software in Centralized Mode Using GUI

Complete the following steps to upgrade the application software in the Centralized mode using GUI:

Procedure

Step 1

Log into NDB.
Step 2

Navigate to the System tab under Administration.

The System Administration window is displayed.

Step 3

Click Download Configuration to download the switch configuration file in a .zip file format.

The default name of the zip file is configuration_startup.zip.

OR

Navigate to the System tab under Administration > Backup/Restore tab. Click Backup and Backup Locally to download the configuration in zip file format.

Step 4

Stop the current NDB instance using the runxnc.sh -stop command.

Example:

./runxnc.sh -stop
Step 5

Start the new NDB installation using the runxnc.sh -start command.

Example:

./runxnc.sh -start
Step 6

Navigate to the System tab under Administration.

Step 7

Click Restore Locally and upload the configuration_startup.zip

Step 8

Restart the new NDB instance using the runxnc.sh -restart command.

Example:

./runxnc.sh -restart

Starting the Application

Procedure

Note 

When you are running xnc for the first time, the URL that you need to connect to and the port that it is listening on are displayed on the screen. For example, when you run the ./runxnc.sh script, the following message is displayed on the screen: Web GUI can be accessed using below URL: [https://<IP_address>: 8443].

You can use one of the following options:

Option Description

no option

-jmxport port_number

Enables JMX remote access on the specified JVM port.

-debugport port_number

Enables debugging on the specified JVM port.

-start
-start port_number
-stop
-restart
-status
-console
-help

Displays the options for the ./runxnc.sh command.

-tls

To enable TLS, start the controller by entering the ./runxnc.sh -tls -tlskeystore keystore_file_location -tlstruststore truststore_file_location command.

-osgiPasswordSync

To set the OSGi web console password same as the XNC password if the XNC password is changed.

Note 

This step is optional. If the application is started without this option, the OSGi console can be accessed through the default credentials.

Note 

Use runxnc.sh script to start Cisco Nexus Data Broker. You have to set a path variable named JAVA_HOME. It sets the path variables that are used for startup and launches the OSGi framework with the specified options. If a user attempts to start the Cisco Nexus Data Broker application with Java version lower than 1.7, an error message is displayed and the application aborts. To resolve the issue, upgrade your current Java version and restart Cisco Nexus Data Broker. If the current Java Version used is lower than 1.8.0_45, a warning message is issued before the start that Upgrade to 1.8.0_45 or above is recommended.

Verifying The Application Status

Procedure

Step 1

Navigate to the xnc directory that was created when you installed the software.

Step 2

Verify that the application is running by entering the ./runxnc.sh -status command.

The controller outputs the following, which indicates that the controller is running the Java process with PID 21680: 

Controller with PID:21680 -- Running!

What to do next

Connect the switches to the controller. For more information, see the configuration guide for your switches.