CUCM on VMware

sendalot

Finally got a hold of CUCM iso(s). I attempted an install to verify the iso.

Install failed with hardware complaint.

I'll try again after looking at Cisco's website on required RAM and HDD space.
Would this solve the issue?

It works on VMware workstations, correct? I mean from the point of VM, can it tell whether it's VMware workstation or an ESXi? I hope I don't need a whole vCenter server here.

Thanks.

shodown

What version are you running? If you are running 9x or higher its gets picky if you don't have the OVA file

JeanM

I got CUCM linux based working in VMWare workstation before. What version are you working with, as shodown asked as well?

ande0255

I got mine running on workstation 10 with 2GB RAM, 80GB Disk space, and I want to say 2 processors with 2 cpu cycles per processor. I'd have to check my work computer to verify that, I didn't bother building it outside of workspace, as it was way too much hassle than I was interested in.

sendalot

ande0255 wrote: »

I got mine running on workstation 10 with 2GB RAM, 80GB Disk space, and I want to say 2 processors with 2 cpu cycles per processor. I'd have to check my work computer to verify that, I didn't bother building it outside of workspace, as it was way too much hassle than I was interested in.

Could you verify and let me know? Thank you.

sendalot

shodown wrote: »

What version are you running? If you are running 9x or higher its gets picky if you don't have the OVA file

I got 9 and have OVAs as well.
Thanks.

draught

So you're using VMware workstation and version 9 of CUCM? Also what are the hardware settings you have on the VM?

sendalot

2 GBs of RAM and not much HDD allocation. Would this cause a problem?

sendalot

I rebuilt the VM and now CUCM installs. But I wonder why "Cisco Unitiy Connection" is under "Not Supported on Current Hardware" list during install?



Thanks.

shodown

if your not under ucs or supported HP or IBM servers's that pop's up

sendalot

Now I need a NTP server for the CUCM setup to go through.

Can a IOS device be a NTP server? A Router?

Thanks.

shodown

Yes thats what most of us do.

sendalot

shodown wrote: »

Yes thats what most of us do.

Does only certain IOS routers support acting as NTP? I looked up commands and "feature ntp" isn't working.

pitviper

"Ntp master" followed by the stratum number is what you are looking for.

sendalot

pitviper wrote: »

"Ntp master" followed by the stratum number is what you are looking for.

What's stratum and what is a recommended value for stratum?

shodown

Network Time Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Depending on what app they have different recommendations for which stratum to choose. Check out the cisco srnd for your version of CUCM

sendalot

shodown wrote: »

Network Time Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Depending on what app they have different recommendations for which stratum to choose. Check out the cisco srnd for your version of CUCM

I really have no idea. What would be the basic? What's SRND?

shodown

SRND

This is a must read if you are dealing with call manager. It gives you the breakdown the features of the version you are running and countless best practices of how to design your system. Its not perfect, but I always reference it when doing a new design.

Cisco Unified Communications System 9.0 SRND - Preface [Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CallManager)] - Cisco


When you are using NTP. The stratum is into reference how accurate the clock is with the lower number being better. Depending on the app you are running it may require a lower version than another app. For example Unity Connection can usually get buy with a higher staturm number than call manager, but you need to check the SRND for your version to find the acceptable range. Regardless you will be making your router the master so it will have a 1 and the other devices will fall in behind.

sendalot

shodown wrote: »

SRND

This is a must read if you are dealing with call manager. It gives you the breakdown the features of the version you are running and countless best practices of how to design your system. Its not perfect, but I always reference it when doing a new design.

Cisco Unified Communications System 9.0 SRND - Preface [Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CallManager)] - Cisco


When you are using NTP. The stratum is into reference how accurate the clock is with the lower number being better. Depending on the app you are running it may require a lower version than another app. For example Unity Connection can usually get buy with a higher staturm number than call manager, but you need to check the SRND for your version to find the acceptable range. Regardless you will be making your router the master so it will have a 1 and the other devices will fall in behind.

Thank you very much for this.

sendalot

I would need a strartum of 3 or less. Is "ntp master ?" all that's necessary to have the router be a NTP server?

Seems CUCM can't reach it somehow.

Hmm.

Thanks.

sendalot

did000 wrote: »

The different level of stratum determines how accurate the clock is. Stratum 0 is the most accurate time source - these are atomic clocks, GPS clocks and so on. It is extremely expensive to have such device and there are some security regulations that you will not provide this timesource to third parties in example. Stratum 1 means a computer which is synchronizing its clock each few seconds to Stratum 0. Stratum 2 is synchronizing to Stratum 1 sources and so on. In general - Stratum 3 is almost every host, which has a synchronized clock. One good NTP source is pool.ntp.org - publicly available Stratum 1 and Stratum 2 servers. I'm synchronizing my Lab environment with them.

If I typed "ntp master 1" on my DHCP IOS router, do I simple type the ip address of the router/gateway on NTP server list during installation?

Thanks.

sacredboy

Guys, a couple of questions pertaining CUCM server.

1. I don't have one of the servers which are supported by Cisco for CUCM and going to use self-configured workstation. Will it work?
2. Will this configuration be enough to run CUCM, CUC and CUP: Core-i7 4770, 16GB RAM, 250 HDD?
3. At the moment I have the folowing scheme:



What subnet should CUCM server be located in?

JeanM

You may run short of hdd space, throw a 1tb drive in there they are cheap.

Ram should be enough to run a few machines at once.

sacredboy

JeanM wrote: »

You may run short of hdd space, throw a 1tb drive in there they are cheap.

Ram should be enough to run a few machines at once.

And going back to a server itself, it's not obligatory to use one of them supported by Cisco, is it?

pitviper

sacredboy wrote: »

And going back to a server itself, it's not obligatory to use one of them supported by Cisco, is it?

Server doesn't matter if you are running virtual guests. What hypervisior will you be using?

sacredboy

pitviper wrote: »

Server doesn't matter if you are running virtual guests. What hypervisior will you be using?

I believe it will be VMware.

sacredboy

Guys, I've successfully installed RHEL 6.5. After that I tried to install Cisco Unified Communications Manager 8.6.1 bootable, but installation is not running, just Linux is loaded. Is it something that should be configured in Linux or something wrong with CUCM image?

azaghul

There is no need to install RHEL first, the CUCM installation contains both cut down/hardened/customised version of RHEL and the CUCM application. Make sure VMware is set to boot from the ISO first (the number of times I've been caught...)

sacredboy

OMG, I didn't know that. But how do I know what exactly Linux and which version will be installed with CUCM? I ask that because it is required to specify type of Linux and version before installing guest machine.

pitviper

Here are the settings from the Cisco OVA Template:

2 vCPUs
6GB RAM
RHEL 5 (not x64)
HDD1 80GB (SCSI)
HDD2 80GB (SCSI)

You can skimp on the provisioned hardware - but if the install balks you'll need to up the RAM, and lower after setup is complete

azaghul

Just trying to remember where I last saw it...

Unified Communications Virtualization Downloads (including OVA/OVF Templates) - DocWiki

it has the VMware sizing details for most Unified Communications deployments...you can usually down-size the vRAM to some extent later...

I found that doing a pre-deployment of CUCM (skips configuration, just copies all files to the vHDD), shutting down the VM and then exporting an ova/ovf file makes later lab deployments so much easier....pre-deploy once, build many...