The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
Cisco Emergency Responder (Emergency Responder) is distributed on an installation DVD that contains everything that is required to install Emergency Responder, including the Cisco Unified Communications Operating System software.
Cisco Emergency Responder requires specific hardware and software to run properly. Review the following sections before you proceed with an installation or upgrade:
See the latest version of the Release Notes for Cisco Emergency Responder to verify that you have all the hardware and software, and in the supported versions, that you must install for Emergency Responder and to check that your CiscoUnifiedCommunicationsManager Appliance platform provides the Emergency Responder capabilities to meet your configuration needs. (You can also use equivalent Cisco-certified servers.)
See the License Requirements section to make sure that you have all the required license keys available before you begin the installation process.
The Emergency Responder installation process installs both the platform software and the Emergency Responder software. During the installation, you are prompted to enter information needed by the system to complete the installation.
 Note |
We recommend that you perform the installation or upgrade during off-peak hours. The installation or upgrade procedure completely reformats the hard disk, so Emergency Responder is unavailable for the duration of the installation or upgrade. |
Review the following information before you install Cisco Emergency Responder or upgrade your system to the latest version:
Upgrading Emergency Responder
Before you upgrade to the latest version of Emergency Responder, you must ensure that it is compatible with your existing version of Unified CM.
You must upgrade Emergency Responder before you upgrade Unified CM. Only after you have installed the new version of Emergency Responder can you then upgrade Unified CM.
After you have upgraded both Emergency Responder and Unified CM, you must then update the Unified CM Version on Emergency Responder.
See Table 1 for the correct upgrade order and additional information about this subject.
If you have different security passwords in the active and inactive versions, and when you switch back to a lower version, ensure that you change the security password in the lower version to be same as the higher version. Follow these steps to change the security password:
Switch the publisher node to a lower version.
Change the security password of the publisher node to the new password which is same as the higher
version.
Switch the subscriber to a lower version.
Change the security password of the subscriber node to the new password which is same as the higher version.
Emergency Responder Versions
Different versions of Emergency Responder cannot be deployed in the same Emergency Responder group. The primary and the standby Emergency Responder servers must be running the same version of Emergency Responder. If you are upgrading to the most recent version of Emergency Responder, also make sure to upgrade both Emergency Responder servers.
Note |
Emergency Responder supports interoperability between two server groups in a cluster running different versions of Emergency Responder. |
Determine and list your Emergency Responder hostname and passwords.
Decide on a permanent hostname, user interface administrator name, and password for the Emergency Responder server before you install Emergency Responder. Changing the hostname of an Emergency Responder server after installation may cause problems.
The hostname for the Emergency Responder Publisher and Subscriber must not contain the underscore character (_). If you have an existing Emergency Responder server with an underscore in its hostname, change the hostname of the server before installing Emergency Responder.
The hostname for the Emergency Responder Publisher and Subscriber can begin with a numeric value.
Decide on a password for the Cisco Emergency Responder administrative user.
Note |
The Emergency Responder administrative users password must be at least six characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. It must start with an alphanumeric character. |
Ethernet NIC speed and duplex mode:
Decide if you want to enable auto-negotiation of Ethernet NIC speed and duplex.
If yes, you do not need any additional information.
If no, determine what Ethernet NIC speed and duplex mode you will use.
DHCP Configuration
Decide if you want to use the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to allocate IP addresses.
If yes, you do not need any additional information.
If no, you need the hostname, IP address, IP mask, and gateway address to enter for the Static Network Configuration.
NTP Client information
The system prompts you to set up external Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers. We recommend that you use external NTP servers to ensure that the system time is accurate.
If you decide to use external NTP servers, you must enter the IP address or hostname of the servers.
If you do not choose to use external NTP servers, you must enter the system date and time clock information manually.
Note |
Use of NTP server is mandatory when installing Emergency Responder on UCS servers. |
Note |
To avoid upgrade failures due to time sync issues with VM, disable the VM's NTP sync with the ESXi host using the workaround mentioned in the following link: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1189. |
Database Access Security password
The system requires a database access security password to allow the nodes in a server group to communicate. The password is shared with all nodes in the server group.
The password must be at least six characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. It must start with an alphanumeric character.
SMTP host configuration (optional)
Decide if you want to use an SMTP host.
If yes, determine the hostname or IP address of the SMTP host.
Caveats
Review the latest Release Notes for Emergency Responder before installation.
Perform the installation tasks in the order shown in this table.
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Installation Task |
For More Information |
|---|---|
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Upgrade Emergency Responder |
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Upgrade Unified CM |
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|
Update Unified CM Version |
Install the components for Emergency Responder in the order shown in this table.
|
Installation Task |
For More Information |
|---|---|
|
Install Cisco Unified Communications Manager |
|
|
Install Emergency Responder as a new installation |
The information in the following sections describe the changes for installation, upgrade, and migration of the Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server.
To run Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server, your system must meet the requirements listed in the following table.
|
System Parameter |
System Parameter options |
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|---|---|---|---|
|
Supported Virtual Machine Configuration |
See the documentation at |
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IOPS per virtual machine (VM) |
See the documentation at |
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VMware version |
ESXi 4.0 Update 1
|
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|
VMware—vMotion |
No
|
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|
VMware—Site Recovery Manager |
Yes |
||
|
VMware—High Availability |
Yes |
||
|
VMware—Data Recovery (VDR) |
Yes |
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|
All other unlisted VMware features |
Not supported |
To operate Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server successfully, you should have the experience and skills to manage a host server running VMware ESXi. If you do not have this experience and want to obtain the required information quickly, consider using VMware GO, a Web-based application that facilitates VMware.
Note |
Even if you use VMware GO, you still must use the supported VMware configuration on Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server, which are documented at both http://www.cisco.com/go/swonly and https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/uc_system/virtualization/virtualization-cisco-emergency-responder.html. |
This following sections describe how to perform a fresh installation of a Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS server:
The following procedure provides the major steps required to install and configure Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server.
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Step 1 |
Prepare to install the server. |
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Step 2 |
Physically install and connect the server. |
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Step 3 |
Power on the server and configure Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) for remote management. |
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Step 4 |
If you purchased the UCS server separately, configure the RAID settings to the following specification:
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Step 5 |
If you purchased the UCS server separately, configure the BIOS to the following specification:
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Step 6 |
Install and configure VMware EXSi on the smaller of the two available disks. |
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Step 7 |
Install vSphere Client. |
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Step 8 |
Align the datastores for the VMs. |
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Step 9 |
If you use 802.1q trunking, set the MTU size to 1472. |
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Step 10 |
Install and configure a virtual machine (VM). |
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Step 11 |
Install Cisco Emergency Responder on the VM. |
This section describes how to prepare to install a Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS server in a standalone configuration, which indicates that it is not in a data center.
Allocate the following resources before installation:
Space in a rack to receive a 2-RU UCS server
Ethernet ports on a switch close to the UCS server:
One port for the CIMC
Two ports for the LAN on motherboard (LOM) NICs
An IP address for the CIMC management port
An IP address for the virtual host. The UCS server's IP address and is used by ESXi.
A hostname, and optionally configured DNS for the virtual host's hostname
IP addresses for the VMs
If you purchased the UCS server separately, configure the RAID settings to the following specifications:
Note |
Number of drives may be different in different versions of UCS servers. |
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Step 1 |
During server bootup, press Ctrl+Y to enter the preboot CLI. |
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Step 2 |
Enter the following commands to determine the current RAID configuration: -ldinfo -l0 -a0 -ldinfo -l1 -a0 The required configuration is two drives in a RAID 1 array for logical drive 0, and four drives in a RAID 5 array for Logical drive 1. If the RAID configuration is wrong, continue with this procedure.
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Step 3 |
Enter the command -cfgclr -a0 to clear the RAID configuration.
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Step 4 |
Enter the following commands to configure RAID: -cfgldadd -r1 [252:0, 252:1] -a0 -cfgldadd -r5 [252:2, 252:3, 252:4, 252:5] -a0 If the hard drives did not have a RAID configuration previously, you are done configuring RAID. If the hard drives had a RAID configuration before, continue with this procedure. |
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Step 5 |
Enter the following commands to initialize the logical volumes: - ldinit -start -full -l0 -a0 (l0 is the letter l and the number 0, not the number 10) - ldinit -start -full -l1 -a0 (l1 is the letter l and the number 1, not the number 11) These commands clear data on the drives and initialize the new array. |
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Step 6 |
Allow these commands to finish running before exiting the Preboot CLI. Enter the following commands to display the progress of the commands: -ldinit -showprog -l0 -a0 -ldinit -showprog -l1 -a0 When both commands report that no initialization is running, it is safe to quit the Preboot CLI. |
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Step 7 |
After configuring the two logical volumes, you can exit the Preboot CLI by entering q. |
When the virtual host is available on the network, you can browse to its IP address to bring up a web-based interface. The vSphere Client is Windows-based, so the download and install must be performed from a Windows PC.
After the vSphere Client is installed, you can run it and log into the virtual host using the virtual host's name or IP address, the root login ID, and the password you configured.
You can join the host to a vCenter if you want to manage it through vCenter.
When you install VMware ESXi, the second logical volume is automatically imported unaligned. VMs have better disk performance when all partitions (physical, ESXi, and VM) start on the same boundary and you will have fewer incidents of disk blocks being fragmented across the different boundaries.
To ensure that the ESXi partition used for VMs are aligned, delete the unaligned datastore (the larger disk partition, which is 407 GB), then recreate the datastore using vSphere client.
Cisco provides a VM template for you to download and transfer to your virtual host. Use this template to create the VM for Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server installation.
Before you deploy the template and create the VM, you should have a hostname and IP address allocated for the new VM.
To create a VM and prepare to install Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server, follow these steps.
|
Step 1 |
Download the VM template for your application. See Download Virtual Machine Templates (OVA Templates) for more information. |
|
Step 2 |
Upload the template to a datastore on the UCS server. We recommend that you use the smaller datastore (with ESXi installed on it). |
|
Step 3 |
Make this template available to the UCS server. |
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Step 4 |
Deploy the template file using vSphere Client. Enter the following information for the new VM:
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|
Step 5 |
Complete creating the VM. At this point a new VM is created with the correct amount of RAM, number of CPUs, size and number of disks for the intended application. |
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Step 6 |
Install Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server on the VM. See Install Emergency Responder on VM for more information. |
The configuration of a Cisco Emergency Responder virtual machine must match a supported virtual machine template.
To obtain the virtual machine template for Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server, follow these steps:
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Step 1 |
Select this URL in your browser: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/software/navigator.html?mdfid=272877967 |
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Step 2 |
If your browser prompts you to do so, type your Cisco.com User Name and Password in the text boxes, then click the Log In button. |
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Step 3 |
Select the desired version of Cisco Emergency Responder. |
|
Step 4 |
Click the Emergency Responder Virtual Machine Templates link. |
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Step 5 |
Move your mouse over the filename and click the Readme link to view the virtual machine template's release information. |
|
Step 6 |
Click the Download Now button. Follow the prompts and provide the required information to download the software. |
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Step 1 |
In vSphere Client, edit the VM to force entry into BIOS setup the next time the VM reboots. |
|
Step 2 |
Make the Emergency Responder installation media available to the VM DVD-ROM drive. |
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Step 3 |
Power on the VM, then in BIOS setup, promote CD ROM to boot before the hard drive. |
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Step 4 |
Complete booting the VM. The Cisco Emergency Responder installation program starts. For information about performing the installation, see the Installing Cisco Emergency Responder document. |
With the virtual machine configuration for running Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server, the VMware server must match the specifications described in the System Requirements to be supported by Cisco.
While Cisco Emergency Responder can be installed and licensed in other virtual machine configurations, Cisco does not support these configurations.
Migrating from a Media Convergence Server (MCS server) to a Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server follows a procedure that is very similar to replacing server hardware.
The following procedure outlines the migration process and references to other pertinent documentation.
|
Step 1 |
Upgrade the MCS server to the most recent version of Cisco Emergency Responder. |
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Step 2 |
If the Emergency Responder VM uses a different IP address from the MCS server, change the IP address of the MCS server to the value used by the Emergency Responder VM.
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Step 3 |
Perform a DRS backup on the MCS server. |
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Step 4 |
Create the virtual machine (VM) on the Cisco UCS server used as the replacement for the MCS node. |
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Step 5 |
Install the new version of Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS server. |
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Step 6 |
Perform a DRS restore to restore the data backed up from the MCS server to the Cisco UCS server. |
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Step 7 |
Upload the new licenses to the Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS server. |
Consider the following, when using Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server:
Install, upgrade, and recovery procedures now use "soft media" such as ISO or FLP (virtual floppy) if the server does not have a DVD drive.
USB tape backup is not supported.
NIC teaming is configured at the VMware virtual switch.
Hardware SNMP and syslog move to VMware and UCS Manager.
Install logs are written only to the virtual serial port.
Unattended installs use virtual floppy instead of USB.
Basic UPS Integration is not supported.
Boot order is controlled by the BIOS of the VMware VM.
Hardware BIOS, firmware, and drivers must be the required level and configured for compatibility with Cisco Emergency Responder supported VMware product and version.
For more information about the UCS C-series server, go to the following URL:
To view the list of product installation and configuration guides for Cisco UCS C-Series Integrated Management Controller, go to the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10739/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
To view the list of product installation and configuration guides for Cisco UCS Manager, go to following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
Daily operations for Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server software applications are identical to when the application is installed on an MCS server.
There are some differences in hardware management and monitoring because Cisco Emergency Responder on the Cisco UCS Server operates in a virtual environment.
Applications running in a VM have no ability to monitor the physical hardware. Hardware monitoring must be done from the CIMC, ESXi plugins, vCenter, or by physical inspection (for example, for flashing LEDs.).
The CIMC provides the following hardware monitoring:
An overview of CPU, memory, and power supply health
An overview of hardware inventory, including CPUs, memory, power supplies, and storage
Monitoring of sensors for power supplies, fans, temperature, and voltage
A system event log that contains BIOS and sensor entries
The vSphere Client provides the following monitoring features:
When you are logged in to vCenter, the vSphere Client displays hardware and system alarms defined on the Alarms tab.
VM resource usage is displayed on the Virtual Machines tab and on the Performance tab for each VM.
Host performance and resource usage is displayed on the Performance tab for the Host.
When ESXi is used standalone (without vCenter), hardware status and resource usage are available, but alarming is not possible.
The UCS RAID Controller SMI-S Reference Guide, which describes Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) support in the Cisco UCS Servers, is available at the following URL:
This procedure describes how to install Emergency Responder as a new installation.
You enter Emergency Responder group configuration through the Emergency Responder Administration web interface based on Publisher (primary) and Subscriber (secondary) server pairs as described in the following sections.
To install Emergency Responder, you install the Publisher (primary) first, then you install the Subscriber (backup) on a separate server. You must install Emergency Responder on separate servers from CiscoUnifiedCommunicationsManager or any Cisco Unified Communications applications.
Allow approximately 1 hour to perform a new installation.
On the Platform Configuration Wizard page, click Proceed to continue with the platform installation.
If you click Skip, the system installs both the platform and Emergency Responder software without prompting you to provide information during the installation. After the installation is completed and the system reboots, you are prompted to enter the required configuration details.
Note |
For version 8.6 and earlier, the Cisco Emergency Responder Subscriber may fail to install with unrecoverable internal error indicated in the logs. If this happens, do a Skip install by skipping the configurations step initially, proceed with the installation, and then key in the configuration details when prompted at the end of the procedure. |
On the DNS Client Configuration page, you are asked if you want to configure the Domain Name System (DNS) client.
Note |
Click the Help button for details about configuring DNS. |
If you select Yes, a second DNS Client Configuration page appears.
If you select No, the Administration Login Configuration page appears. Skip to Step 14.
On the Network Time Protocol Client Configuration page, you are asked if you want to set up external Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers.
Note |
We strongly recommend that you use external NTP servers to ensure that the system time is kept accurate. |
 Caution |
For Emergency Responder install on UCS servers, it is mandatory to configure NTP server. |
If you click Yes, the system displays a second Network Time Protocol Client Configuration page. In the fields provided, enter the IP address or hostname of the external NTP servers, then click OK. The Database Access Security Configuration page appears. Skip to Step 18.
If you click No, the Hardware Clock Configuration page appears. Enter the following information:
When you finish entering this information, click OK. The Database Access Security Configuration page appears.
On the Database Access Security Configuration page, enter the security password and then confirm the password in the fields provided.
Note |
The security password must be at least six characters long and can contain alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. It must start with an alphanumeric character. The security password is used for secure communications between Emergency Responder server groups when performing the installation or upgrade, DRS backup or restore, and "Point to a new Publisher" operations. |
Click Help to display guidelines. When you finish, click OK. The SMTP Host Configuration page appears.
On the Platform Configuration Confirmation page, do one of the following:
Note |
After you select OK, you cannot modify the platform configuration information. |
On the Cisco Emergency Responder Configuration Confirmation page, do one of the following:
Caution |
After you select OK, you can not modify the Cisco Emergency Responder configuration information. |
After the system reboots, it checks the status of various system components. If the system finds any problems, you are prompted to correct the problem.
If the system does not find any problems, the installation process continues. The system ejects the installation DVD, reboot, and then finishes the installation. When the installation is complete, a CLI prompt appears.
Note |
During this process, the system displays the MAC address of the Publisher. Write down the MAC address when it displays; you use the MAC address later to acquire Emergency Responder licenses. If you are not able to capture the MAC address during installation, you can look it up later. See the Server Licenses section for information about looking up the server MAC address. |
To bring up the Emergency Responder websites, go to any Windows system on the network, start a supported web browser, and enter the following URL:
http://your Emergency Responder hostname/
or
http://your Emergency Responder IP address/
Note |
Make sure that the Emergency Responder is configured with DNS so that hostname is resolved to the IP address. |
You must install Subscriber only after you have installed the Publisher. You must install the Subscriber on a separate server from the Emergency Responder Publisher.
Caution |
You must complete the installation of the Publisher, which includes a system reboot, before you start to install the Subscriber. |
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Step 1 |
On the Publisher server, add the details about the Subscriber server by doing the following:
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Step 2 |
Follow Steps 1 through 15 in the Installation on a New System section. After you complete Step 15, the Publisher Configuration page appears. |
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Step 3 |
On the Publisher Configuration page, select No to indicate that you are installing a Subscriber, not a Publisher. The system displays a warning saying that if this is not the Publisher, you must first configure this server using the Publisher Administration web interface before you can proceed (see Step 1 of this procedure for more information). Also, this server being added must have network access to the Publisher, which must be in service for the installation to complete successfully. Click OK to close the warning. |
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Step 4 |
The Network Connectivity Test Configuration page appears. The system attempts to verify system connectivity. Click No to continue the installation. |
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Step 5 |
The Publisher Access Configuration page appears. Enter the following:
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Step 6 |
Verify that the Publisher information is correct and click OK. |
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Step 7 |
The SMTP Host Configuration page appears. Choose Yes if you want to configure the SMTP Host. |
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Step 8 |
The Platform Configuration Complete page appears. Select one of the following options:
The installation of the Emergency Responder Subscriber begins and takes an additional 20 to 30 minutes to complete. |
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Step 9 |
When the installation completes, go to the Emergency Responder Administration website on the Subscriber to verify that the Subscriber was installed successfully. If the installation succeeded, a message saying "Primary Cisco Emergency Responder is active" appears. This message indicates that the Subscriber was installed successfully.
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To upgrade Cisco Emergency Responder to the most recent version, use the Cisco Unified OS Administration web interface or Command Line Interface (CLI). See Software Upgrades section for information about performing upgrades.
See "Performing Software Upgrades" section of the respective Cisco Emergency Responder Administration Guide for Emergency Responder for information about performing upgrades to Emergency Responder.
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