Release Notes for Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX), Release 10.3.0 and Later

Release Notes for Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x

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First Published: April 1, 2017
Last Modified: August 22, 2018

This document describes what is new and important in Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (Cisco CMX) Release 10.3.0 and later, and provides the system requirements and caveats. Unless otherwise noted, Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences is referred to as Cisco CMX in this document.

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Contents

• Introduction to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x
• What’s New
• Supported Platforms
• Requirements
• Upgrading Information
• Licensing Information
• Important Notes
• Caveats
• Troubleshooting
• Related Documentation
• Communications, Services, and Additional Information

Introduction to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x

Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x is a high-performing scalable software solution that addresses the mobility services requirements of high-density Wi-Fi deployments.

This release is suitable for deployments where the following features are required:

• Detect & Locate
• Analytics
• Presence Analytics
• Connect
• Hyperlocation (available in Cisco CMX Release 10.2.1 and later)
• FastLocate (available in Cisco CMX Release 10.2.1 and later)

This release is not suitable for deployments where the following are required:

• Cisco Adaptive Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (aWIPS) feature
• Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) FIPS deployment
• Cisco Prime 3.0 Infrastructure integration, specifically the ability to see Wi-Fi clients and other devices and Cisco CleanAir information in Cisco Prime 3.0. Ability to view clients will require Prime 3.2 or later

What’s New

 

 

Supported Platforms

Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x can be installed on these platforms:

• Cisco MSE 3365
• Cisco MSE 3355

Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x can be installed as a Virtual Cisco MSE appliance, which requires either VMware ESXi 5.1 to ESXi 6.5 versions, or Microsoft Hyper-V. For information about installing a Cisco MSE Virtual Appliance, see the Cisco MSE Virtual Appliance Installation Guide at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/mobility-services-engine/products-installation-guides-list.html

Table 3 lists the Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x hardware guidelines for a virtual Cisco MSE appliance, such as VMWare or Microsoft Hyper-V. For complete requirements, see the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Data Sheet at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise-networks/connected-mobile-experiences/white-paper-listing.html

 

Requirements

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Note ● Before you deploy Cisco CMX, we strongly recommend that you refer to the VM sizing guidelines described in the Cisco CMX Dimensioning Calculator at: http://calculator.cmxcisco.com/aspnet_client/system_web/2_0_50727/CMX_calculator_v2.07/CMX_calculator_v2.07.aspx

• For information about system scaling, see the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Data Sheet at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise-networks/connected-mobile-experiences/white-paper-listing.html

 

• Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x (which includes Cisco CMX Location, Connect, and Configuration APIs) has been tested using Google Chrome 50 to 56.
• Cisco CMX supports input and output only in English.
• For compatibility information, see the “Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) Compatibility Matrix” section in the Cisco Wireless Solutions Software Compatibility Matrix at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

Upgrading Information

• Downgrading from Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x to any release is not supported.
• Anticipate an increase in the client count if you upgrade from Cisco CMX Release 10.2.1 to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0 (CSCux31137) or if you upgrade from Cisco CMX Release 10.2.3 to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0 (CSCvd15253). This is due to the way Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0 counts visits to different areas. For more details, see the Analytics Documentation that is available from the UI on Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0.
• (CSCvd22768) There are three options to upgrade from Cisco CMX Release 10.x to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x:

– Option 1: Copy the Cisco CMX image to the Cisco CMX node, and then use the cmxos upgrade < cmx-file > command from the command line to perform the upgrade.

– Option 2: Use the web installer on port 1984, and choose Remote File to download the Cisco CMX image from a hosted site, for example, the Cisco CMX image could be placed on an internal web server for the download.

– Option 3: Use the web installer on port 1984, and choose Local File to upload the Cisco CMX image from your local machine through the web browser.

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Note We recommend that you use Option 1.

With Option 3, the upload of the Cisco CMX image might fail. This is due to a memory leak in a third-party library used in the installer. However, this library is fixed in subsequent versions of the installer.

However, if you chose Option 3 and the upload fails, restart the installer program by using the cmxos adminui stop command and then the cmxos adminui start command. Option 3 might succeed after several tries.

• For information about upgrading from Cisco CMX Release 10.1.x or 10.2.x to Release 10.3.x, see: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/mse/10-2/installation/guide/installation_guide/MSE_Installation_Using_Vsphere_Client.html#task_413940464985966387297944482511331
• For information about upgrading from Cisco MSE Release 8.x to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x, see: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/mse/8-0/MSE_CMX/8_0_MSE_CAS/8_0_MSE_CAS_chapter_010010.html

– We recommend that you run Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x in parallel with the existing Cisco MSE 8.0 or earlier, and utilize the evaluation license for 120 days. After the evaluation period, the older Cisco MSE release can be decommissioned.

– No database migration or inline upgrade is supported from Cisco MSE 8.0 or earlier to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x.

Licensing Information

• The Cisco CMX Evaluation License provides full functionality for a period of 120 days. The countdown starts when you start Cisco CMX and enable a service.

Two weeks before the evaluation license expires, you will receive a daily alert to obtain a permanent license. If the evaluation license expires, you will not be able to access the Cisco CMX GUI or APIs. Cisco CMX will continue to run in the background and collect data until you add a permanent license and regain access to it.

• The High-Availability feature on Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x is part of the Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x “CMX Base” license, which you would install on the primary HA server. The secondary HA server automatically receives a copy of the Cisco CMX license during sync up. There is no HA-specific license to install.
• You can add any license file from Cisco CMX Release 10.0 or later to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x.
• For information about procuring Cisco CMX licenses, see the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) Version 10 Ordering and Licensing Guide
• For information about adding and deleting licenses, see the “Managing Licenses” section in the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Configuration Guide for this release at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html

Important Notes

• Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x supports the Cisco Mobility Express wireless network solution.
• Cisco CMX requires interaction with Cisco Prime Infrastructure only during the initial installation stage. After the maps and controllers are imported, Cisco CMX and Cisco Prime Infrastructure do not have any run-time dependencies.
• Do not use Internet Explorer 8.0 to edit the Cisco Wireless Controller's (WLC) SNMPv3 credentials. Use Google Chrome 50 to 56.
• The Cisco FlexConnect feature does not support DNS ACL and as such you cannot use DNS ACLs when configuring Cisco CMX Connect and Engage.
• The SSL mode is enabled by default.

– To use the Cisco CMX Connect portal page in HTTP, disable the SSL mode by entering the cmxctl node sslmode disable command.

– If SSL is enabled and you enable HTTPS for Cisco CMX Analytics (generally, Cisco CMX as a whole), make sure that a valid SSL certificate is installed. Otherwise, slower UI performance will occur.

If you do not have a valid SSL certificate to install, you need a self-signed certificate.

If neither a valid SSL certificate nor a self-signed certificate is present, Cisco CMX Analytics might not work as expected.

For information on installing a certificate, see the “Importing Certificates” section in the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Configuration Guide for this release at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html

• Observe disk space utilization by going to the Overall Disk Usage section in Metrics from the Systems tab. For information about increasing hard disk space, see the “Increasing the Hard Disk Space” section in the “Performing Administrative Tasks” chapter in the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Configuration Guide for this release at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html
• When more than 85 percent of the disk space is consumed, all the Cisco CMX services shut down. For information about how to care of this issue, see the “Troubleshooting Cisco CMX Server Shutdown Problems” section in the “Performing Administrative Tasks” chapter in the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Configuration Guide for this release at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html
• We recommend not changing the Cisco CMX time zone setting after configuring it at initial setup. Changing the time zone setting causes gaps in the analytics data. Therefore, make sure to set the correct time zone at initial setup.

If you must change the time zone setting—for example, it was incorrectly set or the Cisco CMX server is moved to a location in another time zone or is used to manage a new location in a different time zone—know that you will not be able to accurately view analytics data from the previous time zone. Therefore, change the time zone if you also do not need the previous analytics data.

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Note We strongly recommend using the Cisco CMX CLI, not Linux commands, to change the time zone setting.

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Note Do not change the time zone setting while Cisco CMX services are running. Shut down the Cisco CMX services before changing the setting.

To change the time zone setting from the Cisco CMX CLI:

1. Enter the cmxctl stop –a command to shutdown the Cisco CMX services.

2. Enter the su command to become root user.

3. Enter the /opt/cmx/bin/tzselect command, and then follow the prompts to set the new time zone.

4. Enter the exit command to exit root user mode, and then enter the exit command again to exit cmxadmin mode.

5. Log back in to the Cisco CMX CLI, and enter the date command to display the new time zone setting.

6. Enter the cmxctl start command to restart the services.

• (CSCuw73675) For security reasons, Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0 blocks a list of ports, such as port 5555.
• (CSCuz66192) The Cisco CMX Release 10.3.1 provides an ftp command to transfer files to and from a Cisco CMX server.
• (CSCvc36715) We recommend that you monitor your northbound notifications by clicking Details from the Notifications window. Make sure that the value in the Send Rate (per sec) column does not exceed 500. This value represents the number of notifications sent per second.

A value that exceeds 500 can cause network latency and you might observe a drop in notifications. To reduce this value, configure the notification to send fewer updates (for example, send updates for only specific floors) or use a movement notification that only sends updates when a device moves a certain distance.

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Note (CSCvi48997) Make sure to enable TCP acknowledgments (ACKs) on the receiving end for northbound notifications.

• (CSCva36827) Instead of the /api/location/v2/clients API or /api/location/v2/clients/ API, use the /api/location/v1/clients API to get a report on the number of active clients.
• (CSCvc44074) Cisco CMX tracks up to 100,000 devices. Tracking beyond this recommended limit can cause an outage of the Cisco CMX Analytics service. If this occurs, restart Cisco CMX after the number of tracked devices decrease to less than 100,000 devices.
• (CSCvc89944) If the hostname of Cisco CMX is changed using the cmxos reconfigure command, and then changed back to localhost.localdomain, the following error is displayed:

This is because the Cisco CMX agent cannot start the Matlab package. Use the following commands to resolve this:

cmxctl stop -a

cmxctl agent start

cmxctl start

• (CSCvc94895) Cisco CMX supports Google Earth coordinates on imported maps from Cisco Prime Infrastructure. Use the Cisco CMX /api/config/v1/maps/ REST API to verify the GPS coordinates on Cisco CMX floor maps, and then use the Cisco CMX /api/location/v2/clients REST API to check that the GPS coordinates are available for the devices. For information about adding GPS markers, see the Cisco Prime Infrastructure documentation.
• (CSCvd17090) In Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0, the dwell-time calculation is improved to provide a more accurate total duration value. The dwell time is now based on the median values of the different types of visits (repeat or new, and associated or probing). For more information, see the Analytics Documentation and Definitions Online Help available in the Cisco CMX user interface. Choose Documentation from the admin drop-down list, and then click Analytics Documentation and Definitions.
• (CSCvd17114) Cisco CMX uses the Apache Cassandra database to store location history, raw visits for the Analytics service, and user statistics for the Connect service. Cassandra provides fast read and write performance by writing its data to a memcache, which is periodically written to disk. When the memtable contents exceed a configurable threshold, the memtable data, which includes indexes, is put in a queue to be flushed to disk. If the data to be flushed exceeds the queue size, Cassandra blocks writes until the next flush succeeds. Note that the timing of such memtable flushes would vary from installation to installation.

Blocked writes to the Cassandra database can result in errors in Cisco CMX, such as this analytics error message: 2017-02-14T20:27:26,258 [Thread-57] ERROR com.cisco.mse.analytics.aggregation.processing.AggregationProcessor - AP-009: Error updating visits: RVP-005: Could not merge redis + db data: Error while accessing database....

You can prevent untimely memtable flushes by scheduling the flush during off-peak hours and running the /opt/apache-cassandra-2.1.13/bin/nodetool flush command.

• (CSCvd21695) Image tiling can take a few seconds to complete if images need to first be converted to RGB. Once the tiling completes, the image properly displays on the user interface.

If an imported floor map image is not an RGB/Truecolor image, Cisco CMX might take longer to prepare its image tiles, causing the floor map image to not display immediately after being imported. While the tiling process is in progress, the Detect and Locate window displays this warning message: This image is currently being processed, it will be ready for viewing shortly.

• (CSCvd29399) In Cisco CMX Release 10.3.1, the Compare Data to and the Hourly Trend views shown on Analytics > Realtime were removed.
• (CSCvd31309) If you have the High Availability feature configured on Cisco CMX Release 10.3.x and you initiate a failback, the following message is displayed in the Cisco CMX Location service /opt/cmx/var/log/location/error.log file:

This message is non-fatal and correlates to the period of time when Cisco CMX is configuring the primary server to take control again.

• Initial HA configuration is dependent on data size. For example, for 5 GB of data, initial configuration could take up to 1 hour to complete.

The average time for a failover condition is 7 minutes, depending on your systems.

The failback time is dependent on the amount of data to resynchronize. For example, for 5 GB of data, the expected time for failback to complete is 1.5 hours.

• (CSCvd35578) When you import a new or existing map containing zones from Cisco Prime Infrastructure to Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0, make sure that you check the Delete & replace existing zones check box. Even if you are updating a map that was previously imported, check the Delete & replace existing zones check box.
• (CSCvd41641) Data loss will occur with the Cassandra database when restoring data with Cisco CMX Release 10.2.3 and earlier. We recommend upgrading to and using Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0 to successfully restore data from a previously made backup.

For backup and restore information, see the “Performing Administrative Tasks” chapter in the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Configuration Guide for this release at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html

• (CSCvd53632) Restoring Cisco CMX data must be done on a device that has the same local time as the device from which the data is collected. Otherwise, you will not be able to correctly access the analytics data. In addition, the data will result in errors or zero values on reports.
• (CSCvd70133) To turn off Analytics SSID filtering from the SSID Filter window (Analytics > Settings > SSID Filter), make sure no SSIDs are in the Excluded SSID list.
• (CSCvd73907) In certain situations, such as high traffic for the day, all visitors for that day, including new ones, are added to the collection of repeat visitors before the data for that day has been aggregated completely. This results in the visitor count showing 100% repeat visitors for that day.
• (CSCvd78913) Starting from Cisco CMX Release 10.3.1, you can use the Tab key to auto complete any Cisco CMX command in the command line interface. For example, if you enter cmxos and then click the Tab key, the CLI displays the available keywords. If you enter a partial string and then click the Tab key, the CLI then displays the complete string.
• (CSCvd80519) Starting from Cisco CMX Release 10.3.1, you can use the cmxctl config analytics setNumMonthsRepeatHistory < number > command to change the number of months of repeat history used and maintained by the Cisco CMX Analytics service. You do not need to restart Cisco CMX for the change to take effect.

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Note If you change the repeat history setting, existing history will be deleted.

• (CSCve05677) Cisco CMX uses the default Cisco 3365 Mobility Services Engine (MSE) power and fan settings displayed from the Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) interface.The default power and fan settings can vary, based on the installed Cisco MSE firmware. The current firmware version has these default power and fan settings:

– Power setting is Power On

– Fan setting is Balanced

• (CSCve09739) The time ranges used as parameters with Analytics REST APIs must be from the list of predefined values displayed from Analytics > Settings > Global TimeRanges. Time ranges use the 24-hour format (HH:mm-HH:mm).
• (CSCve13731) Use the System > Presence Metrics window and the System > Metrics > System Summary window to understand the overall Cisco CMX system health. Changes in normal patterns, such as unusual spikes, could indicate network issues.

– The P resence Metrics window displays the number of clients being tracked and the number of clients reported with locally administered MAC addresses.

– The System Summary window displays metrics that mainly describe the incoming message rate, data persistence rate, and so on.

• (CSCve15152) If the Analytics report uses the Summary view with the This Week time frame option, the Daily Trend chart will only show data points for the days of the week that have been completed. For example, on Monday, no data points will appear on the Daily Trend chart because Monday is considered the first day of the week and the day has not yet completed. If you want to display a breakdown of the data for the day, use the Chart or Table view to display details by a different granularity.
• (CSCve19090) If you perform an online backup of a Cisco CMX server, the backup might fail if a change to the system occurs during the backup. If a backup fails, try again during an off-peak period when there is low activity on the server. If the backup still fails, turn off the Cisco CMX services and then perform the backup offline.

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Note If HA is configured, first disable HA and then turn off the Cisco CMX services.

• (CSCve24919) When generating a map report, we recommend that the number of floors that you select not exceed 100. Use tags to restrict the data gathered by the report. If you exceed the recommended amount, the report might not generate and an error message might be displayed.
• (CSCve28851) Ignore this error message:

The heatmaps are correctly generated and stored.

This error occurs because MATLAB only counts heavy walls for location calculation, while Java counts all obstacles on the floor map.

• (CSCve30747) We recommend not using the BLE Beacon Management (MANAGE > BLE Beacons) feature. This feature will be deprecated in a future release.
• (CSCve35205) Cisco CMX continuously updates the client count; therefore each time you call the /api/location/v2/clients/count GET REST API, the API returns a different result.
• (CSCve37513) Cisco CMX detects the same sources of interferences as the Cisco CleanAir system. For more information, see the “Configuring Cisco CleanAir on the Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (GUI)” section in the “Wireless Quality of Service” chapter of the Cisco Wireless Controller Configuration Guide, Release 8.4.

– Bluetooth Paging Inquiry—A Bluetooth discovery (802.11b/g/n only)

– Bluetooth Sco Acl—A Bluetooth link (802.11b/g/n only)

– Generic DECT—A digital enhanced cordless communication (DECT)-compatible phone

– Generic TDD—A time division duplex (TDD) transmitter

– Generic Waveform—A continuous transmitter

– Jammer—A jamming device

– Microwave—A microwave oven (802.11b/g/n only)

– Canopy—A canopy bridge device

– Spectrum 802.11 FH—An 802.11 frequency-hopping device (802.11b/g/n only)

– Spectrum 802.11 inverted—A device using spectrally inverted Wi-Fi signals

– Spectrum 802.11 non std channel—A device using nonstandard Wi-Fi channels

– Spectrum 802.11 SuperG—An 802.11 SuperAG device

– Spectrum 802.15.4—An 802.15.4 device (802.11b/g/n only)

– Video Camera—An analog video camera

– WiMAX Fixed—A WiMAX fixed device (802.11a/n/ac only)

– WiMAX Mobile—A WiMAX mobile device (802.11a/n/ac only)

– XBox—A Microsoft Xbox (802.11b/g/n only)

• (CSCve39234) Use the cmxos sysproxy command to configure proxy settings so that the settings are retained when you upgrade Cisco CMX. Do not manually edit the /etc/profile.d/cmxprof.sh file to configure proxy settings. Any changes made to the file /etc/profile.d/cmxprof.sh are not retained when you upgrade Cisco CMX.
• (CSCve47829) On Cisco CMX, Redis memory is allocated based on system memory. If you try to restore data from a 64 GB machine onto a low-end 24 GB machine, downstream failures might occur.

 

 

• (CSCve51867) The Dwell Threshold setting affects the Visitors widget but does not affect the Dwell Time Breakdown widget. The Dwell Time Breakdown widget always uses the 0 Minutes To 24 Hours setting, and always includes stationary devices regardless of the report settings. Thus, the data in Visitors widget and the Dwell Time Breakdown widget might not match.

For the data to match, set the Dwell Threshold filter either to 0 Minutes To 24 Hours or to No filter, and then check the Include stationary devices check box.

• (CSCve56353) End users using Android devices are unable to open the landing page URL (Success Page) configured from Connect & Engage > Connect Experiences. In addition, the Guest Portal might also close after the end user registers. This is a known 'Redirection to Success Page' Android bug from Google. For more information, see https://support.cmxcisco.com/hc/en-us/articles/115007357987.
• (CSCve73287) The default setting of Cisco CMX Connect allows for a maximum of approximately two clients per second continuously, a higher number can be achieved at peak (for example 4,000 HTTP connections can be made during a 5-minute window). In additional, special configuration changes can be made to increase this rate. Contact Cisco Technical Support for these recommendations.
• (CSCve85988) Minimum Physical APs Detection Filter. Cisco CMX detects devices through the use of probe signals. Information sent to Cisco CMX might contain RSSI measurements from a collection of Cisco access points (APs) detecting the device. An AP is defined by a MAC address. The Minimum Physical APs Detection Filter enforces a constraint on the number of unique APs, which must detect the device with an RSSI value greater than the RSSI cutoff value. If the constraint is met, Cisco CMX considers the device detected. The default setting for the filter is 1.

This is an example for setting the AP detection minimum to 4:

• (CSCve86596) Cisco CMX 10.3.x does not support certificates with passphrases. If your certificate has a passphrase, use the openssl rsa -in < original key file > -out < new key file > command to remove the passphrase from the key file. Use this new key file in the procedure described in the “Importing Certificates” section in the Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences Configuration Guide for this release at: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/products-installation-and-configuration-guides-list.html
• (CSCvh13119) On Apple MacBook Pro laptops: After accepting the terms and conditions and clicking Submit, the Cisco CMX Portal page with the Facebook icon keeps redisplaying and does not connect to the Internet. Opening a separate browser session results in connecting to the Internet but bypasses portal authentication.

On Apple iPads, The custom portal page appears twice before authentication is successful.

Caveats

• Cisco Bug Search Tool
• Open Caveats
• Resolved Caveats in Cisco CMX Release 10.3.1
• Resolved Caveats in Cisco CMX Release 10.3.0

Troubleshooting

For the most up-to-date, detailed troubleshooting information, see the Cisco TAC website: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/support/index.html.

1. Choose Product Support > Wireless.

2. Select your product.

3. Click Troubleshoot and Alerts to find information about the problem you are experiencing.

Related Documentation

For additional information on Cisco CMX, see:

• http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/enterprise-networks/connected-mobile-experiences/index.html
• http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/connected-mobile-experiences/tsd-products-support-series-home.html
• http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/wireless/mobility-services-engine/tsd-products-support-series-home.html
• Cisco CMX documentation embedded in the product. From the Cisco CMX user interface, choose admin > Documentation.