Release Notes for Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
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Table Of Contents
Release Notes for Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
System Recommendations and Platform Support
New Features and Enhancements in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
Radio Access Network (RAN) Backhaul Services
Additional Information Attribute
Resource Pool for Second NPE in Dual-Homed Ring
Locally Significant VLAN ID Pool - Service Instance Based EVC Provisioning
Traffic Engineering Management New Features
RAN Backhaul (IP RAN) Provisioning API
Restructuring of the Documentation Set
Issue with Importing Template Data Using the importExportTemplateDB.sh Script
Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 Resolved and Open Caveats
Finding Known Problems in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
Release Notes for Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
March 15, 2012OL-25456-01
All documentation, including this Release Notes for Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 document and any or all parts of the Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 documentation set, might be upgraded over time. Therefore, we recommend you access Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 documentation set online at:
http://www. cisco.com/go/fulfillment
You can also navigate to this documentation set by clicking Help on the Home Page of the Prime Fulfillment 6.2 product.
The information in this release note provides an overview of this release and helps you understand it at a high level. After reading the Cisco Prime Fulfillment Getting Started and Documentation Guide 6.2, please read this release note prior to reading any other documentation for Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2.
URLs for base information about Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2, a product overview, and suggested reading order of these documents is given in Related Documentation.
Contents
This document includes the following sections:
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System Recommendations and Platform Support
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Introduction
Cisco Prime Fulfillment is a management solution for network fulfillment and diagnostics that enables the automation and scaling of complex, policy-driven network provisioning tasks to produce consistent and reliable service deployments. Prime Fulfillment does this by planning, provisioning, and auditing services across core, aggregation, access, and consumer premises equipment devices.
Cisco Prime Fulfillment enables fast deployment and time-to-market of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Carrier Ethernet technologies. In addition, the Prime Fulfillment Traffic Engineering Management (TEM) module is Cisco's exclusive planning and provisioning tool for Cisco MPLS Traffic Engineering-enabled routers. For Diagnostics, use Cisco Prime Diagnostics, which is an automated, decision-tree analysis-based network management module that troubleshoots and diagnoses a wide range of problems in MPLS VPNs.
The Cisco Prime Fulfillment solution has management capabilities for MPLS VPN, L2VPN and Carrier Ethernet, MPLS Diagnostics and MPLS Traffic Engineering. These capabilities that comprise Cisco Prime Fulfillment can be used in a stand-alone or integrated manner.
New and Changed Information
The following table describes information that has been added or changed since the initial release of the Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 Release Notes.
System Recommendations and Platform Support
The system recommendations and requirements are listed in Cisco Prime Fulfillment Supported Devices 6.2. It includes the network devices and related software supported with Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2. We recommend that you thoroughly review that list before even planning your installation, to be sure you have all the hardware and software needed for a successful installation. We also recommend that you review the section Important Notes, in this release note in order to be aware of any known system, installation, or other issues in the current release.
New Features and Enhancements in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 is based on Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.1 with the addition of new and changed information that was introduced in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.1.1.
See Release Notes for Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.1.1 for more information on the Prime Fulfillment 6.1.1 release. With the addition of new features, information from the previous release notes has been included in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 documentation set.
Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 includes problems fixed since Prime Fulfillment 6.1.1. See Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 Resolved and Open Caveats.
Note
Items specific to Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 include the new and changed information as documented in the following sections:
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Highlighted New Features
All the new features introduced in this release are explained in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment User Guide 6.2.
This section includes new features for multiple components that were added in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2:
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MPLS-TP Provisioning
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Radio Access Network (RAN) Backhaul Services
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Additional Information Attribute
User-defined attributes can now be added to MPLS, L2VPN, VPLS, and EVC policies and service requests. A new window, Additional Information, is added in the policy workflow, in which users can specify an XML definition file in order to add new attributes and fields into the policy and service requests based on the policy. Template variables can be mapped to the additional information attributes when you associate a template/template data file with the policy or service request. Additional information attributes are added to the XML document passed to the xDE provisioning engine, and can be accessed by any of the xDE procedures. A new appendix in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment User Guide 6.2 describes how to implement this feature.
Device Creation on GUI
Following options are made available from GUI:
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Role Assignment
The device creation and edit screens have been updated to allow role assignment. In previous releases, this required the creation of the physical device, followed by the creation of a second Provider or Customer device. This can now be done in one step. When creating the physical device, the user is provided with an option to assign the device as being either a Provider or Customer device. Based on this selection, the user can also specify the role, provider and customer assigned to this device.
Provider/Customer
You can enter the name of the provider or customer for whom the Interface Access Domain is created.
Actions - Quick Launch for Common Tasks
The deployment of common tasks has been simplified using new Actions menus. An action menu contains short-cuts for launching tasks such as Collect Configuration, Ring Discovery, MPLS-TP Discovery and MPLS Label Sync. Action menus are provided on the devices table within Inventory, the Inventory Manager and on the device creation and edit screens. Whenever an action is selected, the chosen task will be launched immediately. If a user wishes to schedule the task for a later date then they should use the Task Manager.
NPCs Automatically Populating From Ring
NPCs can be created directly from the Physical Ring page. The user can select the ring for which NPC's has to be created and then click on the NPC button. This would auto-populate the NPC's on the NPC screen.
Customer Creation from VPN Screen
Workflow for Customer Creation under Prime Fulfillment has been simplified which would allow the creation of customers even while creating Virtual Private Network (VPN) through Logical Inventory. You can perform this by accessing the Customer button in the Create New VPN window.
Prime Network Device Import
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Device Based Ring Discovery
A new ring discovery task is introduced to automate ring creation. This task is used to discover rings which have been configured using Resilient Ethernet Protocol (REP). Any rings which are discovered and which are not already known to Prime Fulfillment are added to inventory. Topology changes are identified and existing rings edited. Any ring which no longer exists on the network will be deleted from inventory. Ring discovery will always create closed rings as is required by Prime Fulfillment. Where the REP configuration does not specify a closed ring, the following actions are taken:
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Rings which are not REP enabled or which do not follow the rules above can be created or edited manually.
Two-Node Ring Support
Prime Fulfillment has the capability to create a 2-node ring. You can create a ring with minimum of two devices. Rings with two devices have the option to add more devices to the same ring through add or edit.
Customizable Ring Names
All ring can be given a user-specified name. When manually creating a ring, a text box is provided to enter the new ring name. Rings which are created via discovery are given an auto-generated name. Any existing ring can be renamed if required. Renaming a ring does not affect any services which use that ring.
Service Request Management
A new deployment option is added to simulate the deployment task without actually downloading configlets to the device and without setting the echo mode globally. This feature is supported by a new selection, Simulate Deploy, in the Deploy drop-down list of the Service Requests Manager window. To use this feature, you must first set the DCPL property Services\Common\allowSimulateDeploy to true.
Service Requests can now be saved in a draft state. The incomplete SRs can be saved to the draft state and completed at a later date.
Template Variables
A new template variable, EVC_UNI_DEVICE_ID, has been added to support the configuration of a unique MPID value on a per-link basis. This is used for CFM, IP SAL, and Ethernet OAM support.
MPLS VPN New Features
All MPLS features are explained in detail in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment User Guide 6.2.
L2VPN New Features
L2VPN Frame Relay over MPLS (FRoMLPS) services now support IOS XR devices. All L2VPN features are explained in detail in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment User Guide 6.2.
This section includes new features for L2VPN that were added in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2:
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Resource Pool for Second NPE in Dual-Homed Ring
EVC outer VLAN resource pools have been added to support autopicking of outer VLAN IDs in EVC services. To support this feature, support is also added to create interface-based access domains. The Interface Access Domain is a logical element that groups the physical ports of an N-PE device. Both of these logical structures are created through the Inventory > Logical Inventory tab in the Prime Fulfillment GUI. This feature is supported in EVC policy and service request workflows by the addition of the attribute AutoPick Outer VLAN, which is a check box that can be checked to have the outer VLAN ID be autopicked from a previously created pool of values.
Locally Significant VLAN ID Pool - Service Instance Based EVC Provisioning
A Resource Pool mechanism has been added for the Outer VLAN ID in FlexUNI EVC services. You can manually assign the Outer VLAN IDs for every FlexUNI service being provisioned. Mapping this to a Resource Pool will ease the operator's work on allocating and tracking different outer VLAN IDs for EVC services. This will be different from the legacy VLAN resource pool which is currently present in PRIME. The scope of this new resource pool is lifted upto interface level.
A new inventory for Interface based Access Domains has been added which is mapped with the Outer VLAN resource pool.
VFI Name
A new attribute, AutoPick VFI Name, has been added in the EVC service request. This allows users to provide a VFI name for EVC VPLS services. When this option is selected, the VFI name is automatically generated in the format: <VPN name>-<VC id>. When this option is not selected, the user can type in a VFI name of their own. The AutoPick VFI option can be enabled or disabled at the policy level.
EVC Services
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Traffic Engineering Management New Features
All Traffic Engineering Management (TEM) features are explained in detail in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment User Guide 6.2.
The new features introduced in the current release include TEM Support on Linux.
TEM Support on Linux
Support for the Linux platform in TEM has been added in this release.
The whole of the TEM module including the RG component has been ported to RHEL Linux.
Diagnostics New Features
All Prime Diagnostics features are explained in detail in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment User Guide 6.2.
In this release, the name of the MPLS Diagnostics Expert (MDE) component has been changed to Prime Diagnostics.
API New Features
All API features are explained in detail in the Cisco Prime Fulfillment API Programmer Guide 6.2 and the accompanying Cisco Prime Fulfillment API Programmer Reference 6.2.
New features added in Prime Fulfillment are generally available via both the GUI and APIs. See the respective sections in this document for a description of new features under each service. API support for TE Parallel Discovery has been added in this release.
The following API enhancements were added in Prime Fulfillment 6.2:
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MPLS-TP API
MPLS-TP API features include:
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The path calculated for the MPLS-TP can be reviewed when you create MPLS-TP SR through the GUI. It can be recalculated by giving additional path constraints. Whereas, the path cannot be reviewed in API even though the existing path is used for tunnel and a SR is created. The tunnel can be manually defined through the API but this is not available in the GUI.
RAN Backhaul (IP RAN) Provisioning API
RAN Backhaul (IP RAN) Provisioning features include:
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The above-mentioned new APIs allow you to create TDM-CEM and ATM Pseudowire services under EVC Service blade. CEM TDM feature supports provisioning of SAToP PW3 and CESoPSPN PWE3 services whereas ATM feature supports provisioning of ATM IMA VCC PWE3 and ATM IMA PVP PWE3 services.
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CEM class is added to create a logical grouping of CEM attributes, such as dejitter buffer, payload size, and idle pattern. The CEM class allows configuring the same attribute values on every node where it is provisioned.
For more information on these features, see Radio Access Network (RAN) Backhaul Services.
Restructuring of the Documentation Set
The Prime Fulfillment documentation set updated for this release is as follows:
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Important Notes
This section lists known caveats and issues to be aware of in this release. These are listed in the following categories:
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Installation Notes
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http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/isc
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For information about the installation process, see the Cisco Prime Fulfillment Installation Guide 6.2.
Web Browser Support
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To view fonts and colors correctly, the system display must be set to use a color quality of at least 32-bits.
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Workaround: Try selecting individual subsections (broken, working, or to be deployed).
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Workaround: Increase the browser timeout value.
Issue with Importing Template Data Using the importExportTemplateDB.sh Script
Template data imported by using the importExportTemplateDB.sh script only shows up in the Template Manager GUI after the HTTPD or Prime Fulfillment processes are restarted.
One workaround is to manually create a template. Then all the previously imported templates and data files show up. With this workaround, there is no need to restart the HTTPD or Prime Fulfillment processes.
The steps to do this are as follows:
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Refreshing the browser and logging out/in will not help.
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As soon as you save and click on Close, the Template Manager window gets all the data, and all the previously imported templates, data files now appear.
Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 Resolved and Open Caveats
The following caveats were resolved in Prime Fulfillment 6.2:
The following open caveats apply to Prime Fulfillment 6.2:
Transport profile service request stays in requested state if devices in the path are not assigned roles.
Change to the starting Static MPLS Label Range does not get updated in PF.
Modify MPLS-TP policy with NBI script is not working.
Path calculation does not work properly for protect path constraints.
NBI script should not contain Character Data (CDATA) tags.
TP Discovery not working for RBAC user.
TP path calculation throws error if specified link is in the reverse order.
TP Discovery fails with improper reason for no MPLS Label range configuration.
While making copy of MPLS-TP policy "Finish" button is disabled.
Clicking on "Calculate path" browser IE8 does not have SVG support.
Modifying node ID throwing error with NBI.
Path calculation is not working properly with NBI. The issue is with both exclude and include nodes.
After ForceDeletingSR, labels associated with that SR are not being released.
Auto to manual allocation tunnel number is not working during SR Modify.
Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) SR moves to lost state after shared VPN deployment.
MPLS SR goes to failed audit state with None Routing protocol.
Decommission of L3 SR removes the shared VPN instance from device.
Device rehome generates incorrect configlets for XR device.
NBI: Unable to modify MPLS SR with SOO enabled to disabled.
During upgrade, many of the predefined templates are missing in template manager.
Performance impact exists on suite mode Prime Fulfillment.
Server watchdog and its logs are not getting displayed.
There is no option to select the device in select device screen of Device console.
Issue with Importing Template Data Using the importExportTemplateDB.sh Script. For workaround suggestions, see Issue with Importing Template Data Using the importExportTemplateDB.sh Script.
Silent installer throws error while unzipping the upgrade tool.
L2-VPLS: Edit page hangs when trying to rehome device or interface.
EVC: SR cannot be created on any device in NBI with IP as hostname.
EVC: Removal of tunnel from SR on NGXP goes to failed_audit.
EVC - Modification of " VLAN Match" SR on NGXP generates wrong configlets.
L2VPN EWS SR is missing encapsulation dot1q command for 6509.
EVC: SR deletion/addition of new link goes to failed deploy in NBI.
Upgrade: TEM Discovery completed with errors in Sybase database.
Ethernet Relay Service (ERS) SR goes to Invalid state when new NPC is attached.
ERS/EWS: In absence of VLAN ID pool, VLAN picks "-1" value.
Finding Known Problems in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2
To find known problems in Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2, use the following URL:
http://tools.cisco.com/Support/BugToolKit
You must log into Cisco.com.
You can search for specific bugs or search for a range by product name. This tool enables you to query for keywords, severity, range, or version.
Use the following search criteria to locate bugs for Prime Fulfillment 6.2:
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The results display bug ID and title, found-in version, fixed-in version, and status. The bug ID is a hyperlink to detailed information for the bug ID's product, component, severity, first found-in, and release notes.
The results could be displayed in a feature matrix or spreadsheet.
Related Documentation
The entire documentation set for Cisco Prime Fulfillment, can be accessed at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11664/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
or at:
http://www. cisco.com/go/fulfillment
The following documents comprise the Cisco Prime Fulfillment 6.2 documentation set:
General Documentation (in suggested reading order)
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/roadmap/docguide.html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/release/notes/relnotes.html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/installation/guide/installation .html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/user/guide/prime_fulfill.html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/theory/operations/guide/theory .html
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API Documentation
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/developer/guide/apipg.html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/prime/fulfillment/6.2/developer/reference/xmlapi.zip
Other Cisco Prime Product Documentation
See also the documentation for the following Cisco Prime products:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11754/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11879/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11670/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
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http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps11715/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request
For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/whatsnew/whatsnew.html
Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service. Cisco currently supports RSS Version 2.0.
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.
© 2012 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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