Cisco ACI Demo 101 With vCenter Integration

Cisco ACI Demo 101 With vCenter Integration

(1) Initialization

0. Network Topology (Figure 1)

• 3 APICs, 2 Spines, 2 Leaves

1. Preparation (Figure 2)
   • Routable IP addresses for OOB management
     • 7 IP addresses (OOB Mgmt) : 3 APICs, 2 Spines, 2 Leaves
     • 3 IP addresses (CIMC) : 3 APICs
   • Rack Diagram
     • Device hostname
     • Serial number: at least for 2 Spines, 2 Leaves
   • Network services
     • NTP server(s), DNS server(s)
     • vCenter IP address and credentials
     • BGP AS Number
   • Optional
     • SCP/FTP/HTTP server for storing backup config and software images
     • Console/serial server
2. Initial connection for management
   • Perform this to all APICs
   • Serial connection to apic1 (UCS C-series)
     • Initial boot menu > Press F8 (CIMC Config) (Figure 3)
     • CIMC Configuration Utility (Figure 4)
       • Set CIMC IPv4
       • Set password (Default User = admin:Cisco1234)
   • HTTPS connection to apic1 CIMC IP
     • Admin > SSH Enabled
   • SSH connection to apic1 CIMC IP (make Serial-over-Lan connection)
     • # scope sol
     • # set enabled yes
     • # set baud-rate 115200
     • # commit
     • # show
     • # connect host
3. Initial setup utility (apic1 only) (Figure 5)
   • Cluster configuration
   • Out-of-band management configuration
   • Admin user configuration
   • Apic1 parameters (Figure 6)
4. First time setup wizard (Figure 7)
   • Fabric Membership (discover and register) (Figure 8-10)
     
     • Apic1 discover first Leaf (can be Leaf1 or Leaf2)
       
       • > For example, Leaf1 discovered
     • Apic1 register Leaf1
       • > Leaf1 registered
     • Apic1 discover all Spines
       • > Spine1 and Spine2 discovered
     • Apic1 register Spine1 and Spine2
       • > Spine1 and Spine2 registered
     • Apic1 discover the rest of the Leaf
       • Leaf2 discovered
     • Apic1 register Leaf2
       • > Leaf2 registered
   • Fabric Nodes parameters (Figure 11)
   • BGP, OOB Mgmt, DNS, NTP (Figure 12)
   • Global Configurations (Figure 13,14)
     • Review and configure if necessary
   • SNMP, Syslog (Figure 15,16)
     • Proceed to Summary > Summary > You Might Want To…
   • Static OOB Mgmt (Figure 17)
     • Tenants > mgmt > Node Management Addresses > Static Node Management Addresses
5. Initial setup utility (the rest of the Apic)
   • Apic2, Apic3 parameters (Figure 18)

(2) VPC access ports and VMM integration

0. Topology

• OOB management topology (Figure 1)
• Physical access topology (Figure 2)

1. Configure interface port-channel and vCenter integration
   • UCS Mini (Cisco UCS Manager)
     • LAN > Lan Cloud > Fabric A > Port Channels > Port-Channel 1 ACI
       • > Eth Interface 1/1
       • > Eth Interface 1/2
     • LAN > Lan Cloud > Fabric B > Port Channels > Port-Channel 1 ACI
       • > Eth Interface 1/1
       • > Eth Interface 1/2
   • VMware vCenter
     • Data Center: POD12
     • ESXi Host: 10.48.22.66
       • > VM: VM101, VM102
   • APIC
     • Fabric > Access Policies > Quick Start > Configure an interface PC and VPC (Figure 3)
     • VPC Switch Pairs > Create (Figure 4)
       • > VPC Domain Id, Switch 1, Switch 2
     • Create Switch Interface (FI-A) (Figure 4-6)
       • > Switches, Switch Profile Name
       • > Interfaces, Interface Selector Name
       • > Interface Policy Group, Interface Policies (CDP, LLDP, Port Channel)
       • > Attached Device Type, Domain, VLAN
       • > vCenter: bdsol-aci12-vc, 10.48.22.68, DVS version 5.5, stats collection disabled, POD12 (Data Center)
       • > Port Channel Mode, vSwitch Policy
     • Create Switch Interface (FI-B) (Figure 7,8)
       • > Re-use the previously created Switch Profile
   • Result
     • UCS Mini
       • FI-A Port-Channel 1 is UP
       • FI-B Port-Channel 1 is UP
     • VMware vCenter
       • > VDS named “VMware” has been created in POD12 DC.
       • > Add Hosts 10.48.22.66 to VDS
       • > Assign uplink: vmnic2, vmnic3
     • VMM Domains Topology (Figure 9)
       • > Virtual Networking >  VMM Domains > VMware > VMware > Controllers > bdsol-aci12-vc > Hypervisors > 10.48.22.66

(3) Tenant, EPG, and Contract

0. Topology

• Fabric access topology (Figure 1,2)
• VMM domain (Figure 2)
• Tenant topology (Figure 3)

1. Configure tenant
   • Create Tenant “Tenant01” (Figure 4)
     • Tenant > Add Tenant
       • > Name, VRF Name
   • Create Application Profiles “Billing” (Figure 5)
     • Tenant > Tenant01 > Application Profiles > Create
       • > Name
   • Create EPG “App” (Figure 6)
     • Tenant > Tenant01 > Application Profiles > Billing > Application EPGs > Create
       • > Name, Bridge Domain
       • > *Choose Create Bridge Domain
   • Create Bridge Domain “BD01” (Figure 7-9)
     • Step 1 > Main
       • > Name, VRF
     • Step 2 > L3 Configurations
       • > Subnets (Gateway Address)
     • Step 3 > Advanced/Troubleshooting
       • > Finish
   • Create EPG “Web” (Figure 10)
     • Tenant > Tenant01 > Application Profiles > Billing > Application EPGs > Create
       • > Name, Bridge Domain
   • Associate VMM Domain to EPG (Figure 11)
     • Tenant > Tenant01 > Application Profiles > Billing > Application EPGs > “App” and “Web”
       • > Add VMM Domain Association
     • *Notice the VLAN Mode is set to dynamic
   • Associate the port to VMware vCenter
     • Distributed Port Group has been added
     • VM01 > Edit Settings > Network Adapter
     • Select Network:
       • > Name: Tenant01BillingApp | Distributed Switch: VMware (for VM01)
       • > Name: Tenant01BillingWeb | Distributed Switch: VMware (for VM02)
     • VLAN ID: 1001 (Auto assigned from VLAN pool)
     • VM01 & VM02 will be able to reach gateway
     • EPG Web, Client End-Points (Figure 12)
       • > Tenant > Tenant01 > Application Profiles > Billing > Application EPGs > Web > Operational > Client End-Points
       • > ACI operational tool: Enhanced EP tracker application, can be installed directly on the APIC as an ACI app or deployed as a standalone app.
   • Create and assign Contract
     • Tenant > Tenant01 > Application Profiles > Billing > Topology
       • > Drag and drop the “Contract” icon (Figure 13)
       • > Configure and create contract (Figure 14)
       • > Contract configured (Figure 15)
     • VM01 will be able to communicate with VM02