Overview

Cisco DCNM Release 11.3(1) added support for installing Cisco DCNM standalone compute nodes on Cisco Application Services Engine (ASE). Installing compute nodes enables you to scale Cisco DCNM by sharing the application nodes across all the compute nodes.

Cisco DCNM Release 11.5(x) allows you to deploy for Cisco DCNM LAN Fabric, SAN only, and Media Controller deployment. You can deploy the LAN Fabric and Media Controller on Cisco ASE in standalone or native high availability (HA) mode. Native HA mode enables you to deploy two Cisco DCNM appliances: one as active and one as standby. Both the active and standby have embedded databases that are synchronized in real time. This enables the standby to take over with the same database data and to resume the operation when the active is not functioning.

Installing Cisco DCNM on Cisco ASE

This section describes how to install Cisco DCNM on Cisco ASE.

Before you begin

Procedure

Step 1

Power on the hardware and open the CIMC KVM console. A welcome message appears.

Step 2

Press Enter to continue.

Step 3

At the prompt, enter the following:

  1. The Management Network IPv4 address.

  2. The Management Network Subnet Mask.

  3. The Management Network Gateway.

Step 4

Review to confirm the values then enter y to confirm.

The provided IP addresses are used to configure the management network interface (eth0). The system will now be reachable over the network.

Step 5

Open the URL displayed on the console.

Step 6

Press Enter. The Welcome to Cisco DCNM message appears.

The remaining steps depend on what you want to install. For more information, refer to the appropriate Cisco DCNM installation guide:

Note 

Some of the 11.5(x) releases support a subset of available deployment options. Consult the DCNM Release Notes for details.

Installation

Cisco DCNM Installation Guide

Section Title

LAN Fabric

Cisco DCNM Installation and Upgrade Guide for LAN Fabric Deployment.

  • Installing the Cisco DCNM OVA in Standalone Mode

  • Installing the Cisco DCNM OVA in Native HA Mode

SAN only

Cisco DCNM Installation and Upgrade Guide for SAN Deployment

Installing the Cisco DCNM OVA in Standalone Mode

Media Controller

Cisco DCNM Installation and Upgrade Guide for Media Controller Deployment

  • Installing the Cisco DCNM OVA in Standalone Mode

  • Installing the Cisco DCNM OVA in Native HA Mode

Compute

Cisco DCNM Installation and Upgrade Guide for LAN Fabric Deployment.

Installing Cisco DCNM Compute Node

Performing an Inline Upgrade for Cisco DCNM Compute Nodes

You can upgrade the DCNM compute nodes to Release 11.5(x) using the inline upgrade. Inline upgrade allows you to upgrade the compute node by imposing the new DCNM version to the existing compute node.

Perform the following task to upgrade the DCNM compute node in both Standalone and Native HA modes.

Before you begin

Cisco DCNM Servers in either Standalone node or Native HA mode must be upgraded to Release 11.5(x), before upgrading the DCNM compute nodes.

Procedure

Step 1

Log on to the Cisco DCNM Compute console.

Caution 
Do not perform an Inline Upgrade from an SSH Session. The session may timeout and result in an incomplete upgrade.

OR

Run the following command to create a screen session on the compute node.

dcnm-compute# screen

This creates a session which allows you to execute the commands. The commands continue to run even when the window isn’t visible or if you get disconnected.

Step 2

Unzip the dcnm-appliance.11.5.x.iso.zip file and upload the DCNM 11.5(x) ISO file to the /root/ folder in all the compute nodes.

Step 3

Create folder that is named iso using the mkdir /mnt/iso command, on all the computes. 

dcnm-compute# mkdir /mnt/iso
Step 4

Mount the DCNM 11.5(x) ISO file on the compute node in the /mnt/iso folder.

mount -o loop <DCNM 11.5(x) image> /mnt/iso 
dcnm-compute# mount -o loop dcnm-appliance.11.5.x.iso /mnt/iso

Mount the ISO on all the compute nodes.
Step 5

Navigate to /mnt/iso/packaged-files/scripts/ and run the ./inline-upgrade.sh script. 

dcnm-compute# cd /mnt/iso/packaged-files/scripts/
dcnm-compute# ./inline-upgrade.sh
Do you want to continue and perform the inline upgrade to 11.5(x)? [y/n]: y
Note 
If some services are still running, a prompt to stop the services appears. When prompted, press y to continue.
Step 6

Verify that you have successfully upgraded to Cisco DCNM Release 11.5(x), using the appmgr show version command. 

dcnm-compute# appmgr show version 

Cisco Data Center Network Manager
Version: 11.5(x)
Install mode: Compute

What to do next

You must upgrade all the three compute nodes in the cluster.

After the Upgrade process is complete, each compute node will reboot and join the cluster automatically. On the Cisco DCNM Web UI, choose Applications > Compute to verify if the compute node appears as Joined.

Reinstalling Cisco DCNM Software

Cisco DCNM Service Engine appliance is pre-installed by the Cisco manufacturing and needs to be installed again. These steps are for a re-installing the software only.

Procedure

Step 1

Download Cisco DCNM compute image from https://software.cisco.com/download/home/281722751/type/282088134.

Select the 11.5(x) release you want to deploy and download the dcnm-appliance.11.5.1.iso.zip image.

Step 2

Unzip and mount the dcnm-appliance.11.5.1.iso.zip image in KVM/CIMC console.

Step 3

Installation can be monitored either from Serial over LAN or the KVM Console. Refer to Managing Serial over LAN for more information on enabling Serial over LAN.

Step 4

Boot the server in UEFI mode (default mode). The server can be booted in legacy BIOS mode as well.

Step 5

In the boot menu, boot from virtual CD/DVD.

Attention 

All the disks will be wiped out.
Step 6

Monitor the installation through virtual serial console. System will shutdown after OS is installed.