All About Cisco Multicast MOH Configuration

Agenda

• Overview
• Configuration Check
• Troubleshooting & Common Problems

Overview

Configuration Check

Make sure that you have the IP Voice Media Streaming App turned “On” in order for your server to start streaming the Multicast packets outbound toward the gateway.

Make sure that you have your MOH file loaded in to each and every CUCM server that you are using in the cluster. This is a bit counterintuitive because you think you are configuring the server to play the MOH file that you are loading. Instead we do this simply to be able to select the MOH file to play whenever the phone is configured.

Here we verify how long our MOH file is as well as verifying its “In Use”

This page allows us to make the configuration change for Multicasting as well as verify what codecs are supported with the stream that you’ve installed.

This page shows us how many MOH servers we can configure as well as where exactly they are registered to. Many times customers don’t know that these must show up as “Registered with …” in order to work properly. Be sure to check this and then reset these as needed.

MRG setup as well as the Multicast checkbox that you must enable.

MRGL setup that allows us to place our MRG inside the selected resource groups in order for us to be able to access our MOH server and file correctly.

This is the phone configuration page and the locations that you must configure if you want to access an MOH server/file. You don’t need an MRGL here if its taken care of on the Device Pool.

This is the line configuration page and the locations that you could possibly configure if you want to access an MOH

This is the Device Pool where I’ve configured an MRGL (optional), but only if its not taken care of at the Phone Configuration page.

This is the MOH server configuration where I enable Multicasting and then define how I will configure the multicast IP on the gateway as well as the port number.

This is the chart that shows you how the IP’s and ports change depending on the previous Slides configuration.

This is the gateway configuration that I’ve done, and you see where I’ve added the “Pim sparse-dense-mode” command that is needed.

Below is the configuration setup for multicast routing that you must enable throughout the entire network.

You will need to place this command on the gateway in order for the MOH to begin streaming outbound from the gateway to the PSTN/Outbound Interfaces as desired.

Troubleshooting &Common Problems Common Problems

• I hear TOH (Tone-On-Hold) and not able to hear my MOH file that I expect
• Verify Audio Source and Multicast Flag are set correctly on the traces, if they are then this is most likely a gateway issue.
• I just hear silence and my file isn’t playing
• Verify Audio Source and Multicast Flag are set correctly on the traces, if they are then this is most likely a gateway issue.
• Verify Regions and Codecs being used, if H.323 remember that Dial-Peer 0 uses G.729 automatically so be sure to specify the correct codec if needed.

Below is the command that you can run from the gateway that will show you the MOH file that is configured to play which must match up to the file that is expected to be streaming. You can also see the Multicast IP address involved with the command listed. The 192.168.2.1 IP address is the Loopback address. You can use either the loopback or a physical interface for your setup.

This is the command that you run from the SSH session on the CUCM servers. The Following command will spit the output of the Multicast MOH servers that are configured and what their port/IP address is. We are incrementing on the IP address for my setup which means that the IP addresses will Increment here as well. For each different IP address you involve a different codec negotiated.

The following command will be input on the MOH gateway that we’ve involved. The output of this command will display the active MOH sessions on that particular GW as desired. From this command we can see the Multicast IP address, RTP Port, Packet count (which should be incrementing), call ID, Codec negotiated, and Incoming interface being used

The command ran on the gateway here is “debug MGCP Packets”and from that output we can see where the multicast IP address is detected and then used to stream all relative information as needed.

 

 

Troubleshooting

• Verify through the CUCM traces first that you have your AudioSource ID and Multicast Flag enabled.
• Proceed to the gateway, verify the codec information and gateway configuration commands are set correctly. If you are receiving silence try using another file you’ve verified to work or speak with the MS team.
• Traces to obtain:CM traces set to “Detailed” and pull after making a test callI PVMS traces set to detailed to confirm that its working correctly Debug MGCP packets (if MGCP)Debug voip CCAPI inout Show ccm-manager music-on-hold (whenever you enable the call)

#moh-server, #multicast-ip-address, #multicast-moh

How to take Cisco Unity Connection Express backup

Configuring the Backup Server

Before you begin the backup process from the Administration Backup/Restore Start Backup window, you must first set the parameters in this window.

Use this procedure to configure the backup server.

1. Choose Administration > Backup/Restore > Configuration.
2. Enter the information shown in the following fields:
3. Server URL—The URL of the server on the network where backup files are stored. The format should be ftp://server/directory/ where server is the IP address or hostname of the server.
4. User ID—The account name or user ID on the backup server. You must have an account on the system to which you are backing up your data. Do not use an anonymous user ID.
5. Password—The password for the account name or user ID on the backup server.
6. Confirm Password—The password entered again.
7. Maximum Revisions—The maximum number of revisions of the backup data that you want to keep on the server. The maximum number is 50. The default value is 5.
8. Click Apply to save the information.

Starting a Backup

You must do the following before starting a backup:

• Configure the server used to back up the data. See Configuring the Backup Server.
• Save your configuration. See Saving or Reloading Your Configuration.

Caution : Performing a backup for the system data and configuration requires taking the system offline. Active voice-mail calls at that time are dropped, and callers reaching voice mail during the backup receive a message that the voice-mail system is unavailable. Active calls to the autoattendant are not dropped and the autoattendant continues to receive and process calls during the backup.

Use this procedure to begin the data backup process.

1. Click Administration > Backup/Restore > Start Backup. The Start Backup window appears and the system automatically generates a backup ID. The backup ID number increases by 1 every time you back up the server.
2. Enter a description of the backup file; for example, “backupdata6-2-04.”
3. Select the category of backup, or type of data that you want to save:
4. Configuration—Saves the configurations of the system and applications.
5. Data—Saves your voice-mail messages.
6. Historical Reporting Data—Saves your historical reporting information.
7. Click Start Backup.

#ccie-voice, #unity

Cisco UCM User Licensing

Bsoft Bangalore

Agenda 

• UCM Licensing High Level design
• Phone classification (a subset)
• License Tier classification
• Screen shots of the Licensing UI pages
• Troubleshooting tips
• Feature documentation

UCM Licensing High Level Design

Phone Classification

• Tin: analog, Cisco 3905, Cisco VGC phone, Cisco VGC Virtual phone
• Copper: Cisco 6901, Cisco 6911, Cisco 6921, CUC-RTX
• Bronze: Most phones
• Silver: Cisco IP Communicator, Cisco IP Personal Communicator, IMS integrated mobile, Unified Client Services Framework
• Gold: Cisco Dual Mode for Android, Cisco Dual Mode for iPhone, Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator,
• Telepresence: Carrier-Integrated Mobile

License Tiers

Essential	Basic	Enhanced	Standard	Premium	Professional	Telepresence
Features
EM	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
SNR	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Phones (number)	1	1	1	2	6	10	1
Phone Type
Tin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Copper	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Bronze	Y	Y	Y	Y
Silver	Y	Y	Y
Gold	Y	Y
Tele-presence	Y

Licensing States on UCM

View original post 466 more words

Cisco UCM User Licensing

Agenda 

• UCM Licensing High Level design
• Phone classification (a subset)
• License Tier classification
• Screen shots of the Licensing UI pages
• Troubleshooting tips
• Feature documentation

UCM Licensing High Level Design

Phone Classification

• Tin: analog, Cisco 3905, Cisco VGC phone, Cisco VGC Virtual phone
• Copper: Cisco 6901, Cisco 6911, Cisco 6921, CUC-RTX
• Bronze: Most phones
• Silver: Cisco IP Communicator, Cisco IP Personal Communicator, IMS integrated mobile, Unified Client Services Framework
• Gold: Cisco Dual Mode for Android, Cisco Dual Mode for iPhone, Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator,
• Telepresence: Carrier-Integrated Mobile

License Tiers

	Essential	Basic	Enhanced	Standard	Premium	Professional	Telepresence
Features
EM	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
SNR		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Phones (number)	1	1	1	2	6	10	1
Phone Type
Tin	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Copper		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Bronze			Y	Y	Y	Y
Silver				Y	Y	Y
Gold					Y	Y
Tele-presence							Y

Licensing States on UCM

Demo

Warning displayed : The system is operating on demo licenses that will expire in <X> days. Add this system to an Enterprise License Manager and install sufficient licenses to cover its usage before expiration in order to avoid losing the ability to provision users and devices.

No Provisioning

Warning displayed : The system is operating without any valid licenses. Configure licenses on the system in order to restore the ability to provision users and devices.

Overage:

Warning displayed : The system is operating with an insufficient number of licenses. If additional licenses to cover the shortage are not configured in your Enterprise License Manager within <X> days, you will no longer be able to provision users and devices.

Lost connection to ELM

Warning displayed: The system has not synchronized successfully with Enterprise License Manager for <X> days. If successful synchronization does not occur within the next <60-X> days, you will no longer be able to provision users and devices.

Security mismatch with ELM

Warning displayed: Due to a certificate mismatch, the system has not synchronized successfully with Enterprise License Manager for <X> days. If successful synchronization does not occur within the next <60-X> days, you will no longer be unable to provision users and devices.

Grace

Warning displayed: The system is operating under a licensing grace period that will expire in 1 day. Install sufficient licenses in the Enterprise License Manager for this system to cover its usage in order to avoid losing the ability to provision users and devices. If licenses for this system are not already being managed by an Enterprise License Manager server, the system must first be added to one.

Warnings on Landing Page

Licensing UI 

License Usage Report (System -> Licensing->License Usage Report)

A high level view of all the license usage on the UCM cluster.

User details (System -> Licensing->License Usage Report -> Users)

Details regarding users and features enabled with respect to licensing.

Device details for each user: (System -> Licensing->License Usage Report -> Users -> View Details)

Details regarding the devices associated with each user.

Unassigned device details (System -> Licensing->License Usage Report -> Unassigned devices)

Details regarding devices provisioned which have not been associated with any user.

License Usage Report (System->Licensing)

User Details

Device details for each user

Unassigned device details

Troubleshooting tips

• License Manager logs are located at

/var/log/active/cm/trace/userlicensing/log4j

• Product servlet logs are located at

/usr/local/thirdparty/apache-tomcat-7.0.20/logs/elm-client/log4j

• Certificates used to validate communications with the ELM

/usr/local/platform/.security/userlicensing/trust_certs

Cisco_Root_CA_M1.pem (default) , ELM.pem and SubCa.pem (after ELM registration)

These certificates can be viewed from OS Admin->Security->Certificate Management

• License Manager alarms can be seen in Syslog and through RTMT. An example of an alarm in Syslog:

Dec 7 16:00:07 vos-cm34 local7 3 : 0: vos-cm34.cisco.com: Dec 08 2011 00:00:07.803 UTC : %UC_JAVAAPPLICATIONS-3-CiscoElmNotConnected: %[Reason=CiscoElmNotConnected][AppID=Cisco License Manager][ClusterID=][NodeID=vos-cm34]: Enterprise License Manager Not Connected

#licensing

Collaboration update information videos

TP & VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNteelLjFOwBe Everywhere With Video Collaboration – YouTube

Cisco Collaboration launch March 2014 – new units – YouTube

Cisco Partner Summit 2014 Global General Session Demo: TelePresence SX10 – YouTube

Cisco Partner Summit 2014 Collaboration Breakout Demo: TelePresence MX700 – YouTube

Dynamic Video Meetings with SpeakerTrack 60 – YouTube

Collaboration Summit 2013 Keynote Demo: Cisco TelePresence MX300 G2 – YouTube

 

Telephony

Cisco BE6000 Overview – YouTube

Experience Ease-of-Use with Cisco Business Edition 6000 – YouTube

Fundamentals of the Unified Communications BE 6000 – YouTube

Cisco IP Phone 7800 Series – YouTube

Cisco DX650: User Experience – YouTube

 

Jabber

Cisco Jabber – IM Presence Voice and TelePresence on ANY DEVICE ANYWHERE! – YouTube

Cisco Jabber Guest Explained in Detail – YouTube

Jabber Specialist Training – Presentations and Recordings

Microsoft Competitive Material

#collaboration

CCIE Collaboration Lab

Lab Equipment:

• Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) C460 Rack Server
• Cisco 3925 Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2)
• Cisco 2921 Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2)
• ISR G2 Modules and Interface Cards
  • – 1-Port 3rd Gen Multiflex Trunk Voice/WAN Int. Cards – T1/E1
  • – Cisco High-Density Packet Voice Digital Signal Processor Modules (PVDM3)
  • – Cisco Service Ready Module 710 Service Module with Cisco Unity Express
  • – 4-port Cisco Gigabit EtherSwitch 10/100/1000BASE-TX autosensing EHWIC with POE
• Cisco Catalyst 3750-X Series Switch
• Cisco Unified IP Phones 7965 and 9971
• Cisco Jabber for Windows
• Cisco Jabber Video for Cisco Telepresence*

*In backbone, no candidate configuration required

Software Versions
Any major software release which has been generally available for six months is eligible for testing in the CCIE Collaboration Lab Exam.

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager 9.1
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express 9.1
• Cisco Unified Contact Center Express 9.0
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence 9.1
• Cisco Unity Connection 9.1
• Cisco Unity Express 8.6
• All routers use IOS version 15.2(4) M Train
• Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches uses 15.0(2) Main Train

Network Interfaces

• Fast Ethernet
• Frame Relay

Telephony Interfaces

• T1/E1

Cisco Press Resources

 CCIE Collaboration Reading List:

     Cisco IP Telephony (CIPT) (Authorized Self-Study Guide), 2nd Edition

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/cisco-ip-telephony-cipt-authorized-self-study-guide-9781587054099

     Cisco Voice Gateways and Gatekeepers

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/cisco-voice-gateways-and-gatekeepers-9781587052583

     Fax, Modem, and Text for IP Telephony

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/fax-modem-and-text-for-ip-telephony-9781587052699

     SIP Trunking

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/sip-trunking-9781587059445

     Cisco Unified Presence Fundamentals

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/cisco-unified-presence-fundamentals-9781587140440

     Cisco Unity Connection

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/cisco-unity-connection-9781587142819

     Securing Cisco IP Telephony Networks

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/securing-cisco-ip-telephony-networks-9781587142956

     Troubleshooting Cisco IP Telephony

http://www.ciscopress.com/store/troubleshooting-cisco-ip-telephony-paperback-9781587143021

Cisco Solutions Reference Network Design (SRND) and Design Guides

     Cisco Unified Communications System 9.x SRND

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/srnd/9x/uc9x.html

     Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Solution Reference Network Design Release 9.0(1)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/voice_ip_comm/cust_contact/contact_center/crs/express_9_0/design/UCCX_BK_UD5B347F_00_uccx-solution-reference-network-design.html

     Design Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 9.x

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/9x/design/guide/9xcucdgx.html

     Cisco Unified CallManager Express Solution Reference Network Design Guide

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucme/srnd/design/guide/cmesrnd.html

Administration and Deployment Guides

     Cisco Unified Communications Manager Documentation Guide, Release 9.0(1)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/docguide/9_0_1/CUCM_BK_CEDBAA6F_00_cucm-documentation-guide-90.html

     Cisco Unified CCX Administration Guide, Release 9.0(1)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/docs/voice_ip_comm/cust_contact/contact_center/crs/express_9_0/configuration/guide/UCCX_BK_U767AC77_00_uccx-admin-guide.html

     System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 9.x

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/connection/9x/administration/guide/9xcucsagx.html

     Deployment Guide for IM and Presence Service on Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 9.0(1)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/im_presence/deployment/9_0_1/CUP0_BK_D41159BD_00_deployment-guide-for-imp-90.html

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express System Administrator Guide

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucme/admin/configuration/guide/cmeadm.html

Coming soon in Bsoft Bangalore 

#30, 1st floor,1st Main,BTM 2nd stage
Bennergetta Road,Bangalore,India

Mobile: 09886623909
Phone : 080 4146 5262

CCIE Collaboration | 400-051

Cisco Collaboration Infrastructure

• UC Deployment Models
• User Management
• IP Routing in Cisco Collaboration Solutions
• Virtualization in Cisco Collaboration Solutions
  • UCS
  • VMware
  • Answer Files
• Wireless in Cisco Collaboration Solutions
• Network Services
  • DNS
  • DHCP
  • TFTP
  • NTP
  • CDP/LLDP
• Power over Ethernet
• Voice and Data VLAN
• IP Multicast
• IPv6

Telephony Standards and Protocols

• SCCP
  • Call Flows
  • Call States
  • Endpoints types
• MGCP
  • Call Flows
  • Call States
  • Endpoints types
• SIP
  • Call Flows
  • Call States
  • SDP
  • BFCP
• H323 and RAS
  • Call Flows
  • Call States
  • Gatekeeper
  • H.239
• Voice and Video CODECs
  • H.264
  • ILBC
  • ISAC
  • LATM
  • G.722
  • Wide band
• RTP, RTCP, sRTP

Cisco Unified Communications Manager

• Device Registration and Redundancy
• Device Settings
• Codec Selection
• Call Features
  • Call Park
  • Call Pickup
  • BLF Speed Dials
  • Native Call Queuing
  • Call Hunting
  • Meet-Me
• Dial Plan
  • Globalized Call Routing
  • Local Route Group
  • Time of Day Routing
  • Application Dial Rules
  • Digit Manipulations
• Media Resources
  • TRP
  • MoH
  • CFB
  • Transcoder/MTP
  • Annunciator
  • MRG/MRGL
• CUCM Mobility
  • EM/EMCC
  • Device Mobility
  • Mobile Connect
  • MVA
• CUCM Serviceability and OS Administration
  • Database Replication
  • CDR
  • Service Activation
  • CMR
• CUCM Disaster Recovery
• ILS/URI Dialing
  • Directory URI
  • ISL Topology
  • Blended Addressing
• Call Admission Control
  • CAC/ELCAC
  • RSVP
  • SIP Pre-conditions
• SIP and H323 Trunks
  • SIP Trunks
  • H.323 Trunks
  • Number Presentation and Manipulation
• SAF and CCD
• Call Recording and Silent Monitoring

Cisco IOS UC Applications and Features

• CUCME
  • SCCP Phones Registration
  • SIP Phones Registration
  • SNR
• SRST
  • CME-as-SRST
  • MGCP Fallback
  • MMOH in SRST
• CUE
  • AA
  • Scripting
  • Voiceview
  • Web Inbox
  • MWI
  • VPIM
• IOS Based Call Queuing
  • B-ACD
  • Voice huntgroups
  • Call Blast
• IOS Media Resources
  • Conferencing
  • Transcoding
  • DSP Management
• CUBE
  • Mid-call signaling
  • SIP profiles
  • Early/Delayed offer
  • DTMF interworking
  • Box-to-Box Failover/Redundancy
• Fax and Modem Protocols
• Analog Telephony Signaling
  • Analog Telephony Signaling Theories (FXS/FXO)
  • Caller ID
  • Line Voltage Detection
  • THL Sweep
  • FXO Disconnect
  • Echo
• Digital Telephony Signaling
  • Digital Telephony Signaling Theories (T1/E1, BRI/PRI/CAS)
  • Q.921 and Q.931
  • QSIG
  • Caller ID
  • R2
  • NFAS
• IOS Dial-Plan
  • Translation Profile
  • Dial-peer matching logics
  • Test Commands
• SAF/CCD
• IOS CAC
• IOS Accounting

Quality of Service and Security in Cisco Collaboration Solutions

• QoS: Link Efficiency (e.g. LFI, MLPPP, FRF.12, cRTP, VAD)
• QoS: Classification and Marking
  • Voice vs Video Classification
  • Soft Clients vs Hard Clients
  • Trust Boundaries
• QoS: Congestion Management
  • Layer 2 Priorities
  • Low Latency Queue
  • Traffic Policing and Shaping
• QoS: Medianet
• QoS: Wiress QoS
• Security: Mixed Mode Cluster
• Security: Secured Phone Connectivity
  • VPN Phones
  • Phone Proxy
  • TLS Proxy
  • 802.1x
• Security: Default Security Features
• Security: Firewall Traversal
• Security: Toll Fraud

Cisco Unity Connection

• CUCM and CUCME Integration
• Single Inbox
• MWI
• Call Handlers
• CUC Dial-plan
• Directory Handlers
• CUC Features
  • High Availability
  • Visual Voicemail
  • Voicemail for Jabber
• Voicemail Networking

Cisco Unified Contact Center Express (UCCX)

• UCCX CTI Integration
• ICD Functions
• UCCX Scripting Components

Cisco Unified IM Presence

• Cisco Unified IM Presence Components
• CUCM Integration
• Cisco Jabber
• Federation
• Presence Cloud Solutions
• Group chat and Compliance

Cisco Press Resources

• Cisco IP Telephony (CIPT) (Authorized Self-Study Guide), 2nd Edition
• Cisco Voice Gateways and Gatekeepers
• Fax, Modem, and Text for IP Telephony
• SIP Trunking
• Cisco Unified Presence Fundamentals
• Cisco Unity Connection
• Securing Cisco IP Telephony Networks
• Troubleshooting Cisco IP Telephony

Cisco Solutions Reference Network Design (SRND) and Design Guides

• Cisco Unified Communications System 9.x SRND
• Cisco Unified Contact Center Express Solution Reference Network Design Release 9.0(1)
• Design Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 9.x
• Cisco Unified CallManager Express Solution Reference Network Design Guide

Administration and Deployment Guides

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager Documentation Guide, Release 9.0(1)
• Cisco Unified CCX Administration Guide, Release 9.0(1)
• System Administration Guide for Cisco Unity Connection Release 9.x
• Deployment Guide for IM and Presence Service on Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Release 9.0(1)
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express System Administrator Guide

 

VMware Requirements in UC

Introduction: Mandatory VMware Products and Services

Note: This page only covers VMware product/version/feature support.

• It does not cover compute/network/storage hardware support policy for UC virtualization.
• It does not cover application co-residency support policy for UC virtualizatoin.
• See other links at http://www.cisco.com/go/uc-virtualized for these details.

 

VMware vSphere ESXi is mandatory for UC virtualization and UC on UCS.

• UC is only supported on UCS servers with VMware vSphere ESXi.
• See rest of this page for other details on VMware product, version and feature support.
• Nonvirtualized, physical, or bare-metal installations are not supported for UC on UCS.

 

VMware vCenter is:

• Mandatory for all Specs-based deployments
• Optional for Tested Reference Configuration deployments.

 

For UC on UCS, VMware vSphere ESXi and vCenter may be purchased from Cisco or customer provided. For specs-based with HP/IBM, all VMware software must be customer-provided. SeeBefore You Buy or Deploy – Considerations for Design and Procurement for information on VMware purchase options.

Compatibility of UC apps/versions with VMware vSphere ESXi versions varies by UC app and is outlined later in this document. See the following links for details on “legacy” virtualization support (i.e. 7.x of UC apps with VMware vSphere on limited 3rd-party servers):

• Cisco Unity Virtualization Design Guide
• Virtualization Guide for Cisco Unified ICM/Contact Center Enterprise & Hosted 7.5(3)

 

Note: in all cases, the customer is required to have a valid service contract (either with Cisco or with VMware, depending on what/how purchased) to be supported. See Services and Support Contracts for VMware are Required for how to ensure this is done for different Editions of Vmware vSphere ESXi.

Supported Virtualization Hypervisor Vendors

At this time, the only vendor supported for UC is VMware.

Other vendors/products – such as Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix Xen, Red Hat KVM – are not supported for Cisco UC virtualization.

Supported VMware Products

VMware vSphere ESXi is required for Cisco UC virtualization.

• ESX and ESXi are architecture options for VMware vSphere (click here for a comparison). UC only supports ESXi. Recall that vSphere 3.x and 4.x offered both options, but 5.0+ only offers ESXi.
• VMware vSphere ESX, regardless of version, is not supported for UC. This is due to technical reasons and VMware’s direction to transition from ESX to ESXi. Note a VMware ESX cluster can contain VMware ESXi servers running Cisco Unified Communications.
• No other VMware server virtualization products are supported.

 

Supported Versions of VMware vSphere ESXi

The minimum version for VMware vSphere ESXi is 4.0. But note a higher minimum version may be required depending on what UC apps/versions you run (see tables below) and what hardware you select.

• Note that use of VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1 requires disabling the “LRO” setting as described here.
• Versions of VMware vSphere ESXi prior to 4.0 are not supported due to technical reasons.
• Each UC app/version will specify the required compatible Major Releases and Minor Releases of VMware vSphere ESXi (e.g. 4.0 or 4.1) in the tables below.
  • Unlisted Major/Minor versions are not supported.
  • Unless otherwise indicated, the base Major/Minor version shown is the minimum required.
  • Some UC apps will also require a minimum Maintenance Release and will indicate if this is the case. Otherwise UC does not specify or recommend patches, updates or Maintenance Releases (e.g. 4.0 U1) for a required Major/Minor Release of vSphere ESXi. Follow recommendations of the server vendor and VMware for what you should use. Unless otherwise indicated by a UC app, UC supports all VMware vSphere ESXi patches, updates and Maintenance Releases for a supported Major/Minor Release at time of VMware launch as long as the server vendor supports them.

 

VMware vSphere ESXi Version Support for Call Processing and System Management Applications

Application	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.0	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1 Cisco UC Virt. Foundation 4.1*	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0 Cisco UC Virt. Foundation 5.0*	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1 Cisco UC Virt. Foundation 5.1*
Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM)	8.0(2+), 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(1), 9.1(x)	8.0(2+), 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(1), 9.1(x)	8.0(2+), 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(1), 9.1(x)	8.0(2+), 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(1), 9.1(x)
Cisco Paging Server for Unified CM	8.3+	8.3+	8.3+	Not supported
Unified CM IM & Presence Service	Not supported	9.0(x), 9.1(x)	9.0(x), 9.1(x)	9.0(x), 9.1(x)
Cisco Business Edition 6000	Click here for details
Cisco Emergency Responder (CER)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 8.7(x), 9.0(x)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 8.7(x), 9.0(x)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 8.7(x), 9.0(x)	8.7(x), 9.0(x)
Session Manager Edition (SME)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)	8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)
Unified Attendant Consoles	8.0(3+), 8.5(x)	8.6(x)	8.6(x)	8.6(x)
Cisco Intercompany Media Engine (CIME)	Not supported	8.6(2+), 9.0(x)	8.6(2+), 9.0(x)	8.6(2+), 9.0(x)
Cisco UC Management Suite (Cisco UPM, UOM, USM, USSM) Cisco Prime UC Management Suite (Prime UPM, Prime UOM, Prime USM)	8.0 and later	8.0 and later	8.6 and later	UPM: 8.6 and later UOM/USM/USSM:Not supported
Prime Collaboration Manager	Not supported	Not supported	1.2 and later	Not supported
Prime Collaboration Provisioning (PCP) Prime Collaboration Assurance (PCA)	9.x	9.x	9.x	9.x

• For applications that are allowed “on-box” with Cisco Business Edition 6000, this also includes version compatibility with Cisco UC Virtualization Hypervisor which is only supported for use with Cisco Business Edition 6000.

VMware vSphere ESXi Version Support for Messaging and Presence Applications

Application	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.0	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1 Cisco UC Virtualization Foundation 4.1*	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0 Cisco UC Virtualization Foundation 5.0*	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1 Cisco UC Virtualization Foundation 5.1*
Cisco Unity Connection	8.0(2)+, 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)	8.0(2)+, 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)	8.0(2)+, 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)	8.0(2)+, 8.5(x), 8.6(x), 9.0(x), 9.1(x)
Cisco Unity	7.x and later	7.x and later	7.x and later	7.x and later
Cisco Unified Presence	8.0(2)+	8.0(2)+	8.6(1)+	8.6(4)+

• For applications that are allowed “on-box” with Cisco Business Edition 6000, this also includes version compatibility with Cisco UC Virtualization Hypervisor which is only supported for use with Cisco Business Edition 6000.

VMware vSphere ESXi Version Support for Contact Center Applications

Note:

For Virtual Machines that need more than 4 vCPUs, the VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1 Enterprise Plus licensing is required (8 way virtual SMP capability and applicable to ESXi 4.x only). The VMware vSphere 4.1 Enterprise Plus license can be procured from the Cisco build-to-order or directly from the VMware (see VMware Purchasing section above.)

 

Notation Convention. The 8.0(1+) means 8.0(x) (x=1 and later 2,3,etc.) The 8.0(x) SU1+ means 8.0(x) and thereafter SU such as SU1, SU2, SU3, etc. in the 8.0(x). The 8.0(1)+ means 8.0(1) and thereafter releases like 8.0(1), 8.0(2) or 8.5(1), etc. The 8.x means any releases in that train: 8.0, 8.1, etc. The same is for other major releases (9, 10, etc.) using the + or x convention.

Application	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.0 and 4.0 Updates	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1  and 4.1 Updates	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0  and 5.0 Updates	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1 and 5.1 Updates
Unified Contact Center Express / IP IVR	8.0(2+), 8.5(1+), 9.x	8.0(2) SU2+, 8.5(1+), 9.x	8.0(2) SU4+, 8.5(1) SU2+, 9.x	8.5(1)SU4+, 9.0(2)+
Cisco Unified Work Force Optimization (WFO), Quality Management (QM), and Work Force Management (WFM)	8.5(1)	8.5(2+), 9.x	8.5(2+), 9.x	Not supported
Unified Contact Center Enterprise	ESXi 4.0 Update 1 (minimum required). See below	See below	See below	Not supported
– Router, Logger, Rogger, Agent PG, MR PG, VRU PG, Administration and Data Server (AW, AW-CONFIG, AW-HDS, AW-HDS-DDS, HDS-DDS), Administration Client, Outbound Option with SIP Dialer, Support Tools (not supported in 8.5x and later)	8.0(2+), 8.5(1+)	8.0(2+), 8.5(1+)	8.5(1+), 9.x	Not supported
Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise	Not supported	Not supported	9.x	Not supported
Cisco Unified Intelligence Center	8.0(3), 8.0(4)	8.5(2), 8.5(3), 8.5(4)	8.5(4+), 9.x	Not supported
Unified Contact Center Management Portal	8.0(2+), 8.5(1+)	8.0(2+), 8.5(1+)	8.5(1+), 9.x	Not supported
Unified Customer Voice Portal (all components)	8.0(1+) or 8.5(1+)	8.0(1+) or 8.5(1+)	8.5(1+), 9.x	Not supported
Cisco MediaSense	8.5(1)	8.5(2+)	8.5(4+), 9.x	Not supported
Cisco SocialMiner	8.5(1+)	8.5(1+)	8.5(3+), 9.x	Not supported
Unified Email Interaction Manager and Web Interaction Manager	4.3(2+)	4.3(2+), 4.4(1+)	4.4(1+), 9.x	Not supported
Cisco Finesse	Not supported	8.5(3+)	8.5(3+), 9.x	Not supported

VMware vSphere ESXi Version Support for TelePresence Applications

Application	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.0	VMware vSphere ESXi 4.1	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0	VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
Cisco TelePresence Manager	1.8.x, 1.9.0	1.8.x, 1.9.0	1.8.x, 1.9.0	Not currently supported
Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch	1.8.x, 1.9.0	1.8.x, 1.9.0	1.8.x, 1.9.0	Not currently supported
Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server	Not supported	X7.1 and later	X7.1 and later with ESXi 5.0 Update 1	X7.1 and later
Cisco TelePresence Conductor	Not supported	XC1.2 and later	XC1.2 and later with ESXi 5.0 Update 1	XC1.2 and later

Support of Cisco VN-Link and Cisco Nexus 1000V

Note that Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise does NOT support this – see UCS Network Configuration for Unified CCE.

Unless otherwise indicated above, Cisco VN-Link, Cisco Nexus 1000V, Cisco Nexus 1010, and VM-FEX are supported by UC applications that support the VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch (see Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client).

Cisco VN-Link, Cisco Nexus® 1000V, Cisco Nexus 1010, VM-FEX and VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch all require VMware ESXi Enterprise Plus Edition (see Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client). Other editions do not support these capabilities.

For UC on UCS B-series, Cisco UCS 6100 does not currently support Layer 3 to Layer 2 COS markings. Additionally, the UC applications and operating systems cannot set the Layer 2 COS markings. Use of Cisco Nexus® 1000V is therefore strongly recommended as this is the only way to manage traffic congestion through the current UCS 6100. Please recall that traffic congestion risk will vary and is dependent on many factors such as UC vs. non-UC virtual machine count and their traffic characteristics across all blades, chassis and fabric extenders connected to the same UCS 6100.

For UC on UCS C-series, Cisco Nexus® 1000V is recommended but not mandatory as there is no intermediate UCS 6100 to design around.

For more information on Cisco VN-Link, Cisco Nexus 1000V and VM-FEX, see the following:

• http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns517/ns224/ns892/ns894/white_paper_c11-525307.html
• http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9902/index.html
• http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns1124/index.html

Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client

VMware vSphere Client (formerly branded VI Client) and VMware vCenter are management consoles for VMware vSphere hosts.

• vSphere Client is free but only has basic management capabilities.
• vCenter is not free as it has advanced management capabilities, but note UC may not support every feature in vCenter. vCenter is mandatory for any specs-based deployment.

 

VMware vSphere ESXi is sold in several Editions with different levels of feature support.

• Click here for a comparison of VMware vSphere ESXi feature Editions on vmware.com.

• Click here for a clarification of “free ESXi 4.1” vs. “vSphere ESXi 4.1 Hypervisor Edition” (formerly branded as “VMware ESXi Single Server Edition” or “free ESXi”).
• For details on supported features for 4.x versions of other vSphere ESXi Editions, see your VMware account team. VMware on their web site provides a “best effort” comparison here.

• If buying VMware vSphere ESXi direct from VMware:

• Click here for VMware’s Purchase Advisor for vSphere on vmware.com.
• Click here for an overview of VMware vSphere ESXi pricing on vmware.com.

 

There are no UC-specific restrictions on what VMware vSphere ESXi feature Edition you “can” use, but the Edition you “should” use will be determined by VMware licensing rules based on aspects of the UC deployment. The customer is responsible for selecting the correct VMware vSphere ESXi Edition based on their feature and UC application requirements. The following non-exhaustive list is provided for convenience only as examples of what must be considered under VMware’s current licensing rules, which are subject to change:

• If you want to use Cisco Nexus 1000V with UC, that requires the VMware vSphere ESXi feature “Distributed Switch” which is only available in Enterprise Plus Edition.
• If you want to use a UC virtual machine OVA template with a large quantity of vCPU, verify the VMware vSphere ESXi Edition supports sufficient “vCPU Entitlement” for that OVA’s vCPU count.

• E.g. the Unity Connection 20K user OVA that requires 7 vCPU per VM.

• Verify all the UC-supported VMware vSphere ESXi features you want to use are supported by the Edition you pick.
• The “Cisco UC Virtualization Hypervisor” is only supported for use with Business Edition 6000 and has the following restrictions:

• It is not available or transferable for use with any other hardware or software.
• Server Hardware restricted to UCS C200 M2 TRC#1
• Max total vRAM across all VMs is 16 GB (of which 14 GB are available to UC apps)
• Max vCPU per VM is 8
• Does not support VMware vCenter management. Does not offer any advanced operational features like other Editions.

• The “Cisco UC Virtualization Foundation” is only supported for use with Business Edition 6000 and UC on UCS.

• Not available direct from VMware, only sold as part of BE6K or UC on UCS. It is not available or transferable for use with non-UCS hardware or non-UC software.
• Server Hardware restricted to 2-socket UCS B-Series models and 2-socket UCS C-Series models.
• Max total vRAM across all VMs is 32 GB (of which 30 GB are available to UC apps)
• Max vCPU per VM is 8
• Supports VMware vCenter management (purchased separately). UC-supported advanced operational features limited to vStorage APIs. All other UC-supported features (including but not limited to VMware High Availability, Data Recovery, vMotion, Distributed Switch, etc.) are not offered.

 

Finally, note that UC may not support all of the features that are included in the VMware vSphere ESXi Edition you pick. This may be because the feature is N/A for a UC deployment, or it has not been sufficiently tested before UC will support, or it requires application enhancements before UC can support.

The table below lists VMware feature support by UC app/version. If the feature is supported, click on its name in the table to view UC caveats and best practices. Feature support may vary by UC app. This site will be updated as new support becomes available.

Note:

feature support for Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise varies by component (e.g. Peripheral Gateway) and deployment model (e.g. “Rogger”) – this section will give a summary support position, but for individual components see Support for Virtualization on the ESXi/UCS Platform.

 

Legend for Feature Support Tables

• Y(C) = Supported with Caveats – see Best Practices for details
• Y(P) = Partial (limited) support only – see Best Practices for details
• No = the feature is not supported at this time – see Best Practices for alternatives, if any.

VMware Feature Support for Call Processing and System Management 8.0(2) through 9.0(1)

Feature	Unified CM	CER	SME	Unified Attendant Consoles	PCP	PCA	UPM	UOM, USM, USSM	CIME
vSphere ESXi 4.0 Features
VM Templates (OVAs)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y(C)
Copy Virtual Machine	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	no	Y(C)	No	Y(C)
Restart Virtual Machine on Different ESXi Host	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
Resize Virtual Machine	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware Hot Add	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Multiple Physical NICs and vNICs	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Yes	Y(P)	Yes	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware High Availability (HA)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)
VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)
VMware vMotion	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Dynamic Power Management	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Long Distance vMotion	No	No	No	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	No
VMware Storage vMotion	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
VMware Update Manager (VUM)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Data Recovery (DR, VDR)	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
VMware Snapshots	No	No	No	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	No
VMware Fault Tolerance (FT)	No	No	No	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	No
VMware vCenter Converter	No	No	No	No	No	No	Y(C)	No	No
VMsafe	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware vShield	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Virtual Appliance Packaging of UC apps	No	No	No	No	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Backup Tools (e.g. Veeam, Viziocore, esXpress)	No	No	No	No					No
3rd-Party VM-based Deployment Tools (e.g. rPath, Platespin)	No	No	No	No					No
3rd-Party Physical To Virtual (P2V) Migration Tools	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
All others not listed	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features
VMware Boot from SAN	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
All other vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
vSphere ESXi 5.0 Features
Same EXSi 4.1 features supported in ESXi 5.0					Y	Y	Y	Y
Same EXSi 5.0 features supported in ESXi 5.1					Y	Y	Y	Y
All vSphere ESXi 5.0 Features	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
All vSphere ESXi 5.1 Features					No	No	No	Nn

Notes:

1. PCP =Cisco Prime Collaboration Provisioning. PCA = Cisco Prime Collaboration Assurance.
2. Blanks indicate not tested or info is not available at this time.

VMware Feature Support for Messaging and Presence 8.0(2) through 9.x

‘

Feature	Unity Connection	Unity	Unified Presence, Unified CM IM&Presence
vSphere ESXi 4.0 Features
VM Templates (OVAs)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
Copy Virtual Machine	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
Restart Virtual Machine on Different ESXi Host	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
Resize Virtual Machine	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(PP
VMware Hot Add	No	No	No
Multiple Physical NICs and vNICs	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware High Availability (HA)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)
VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
VMware vMotion	Y(P)	No	Y(P)
VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS)	No	No	No
VMware Dynamic Power Management	No	No	No
Long Distance vMotion	No	No	No
VMware Storage vMotion	No	No	No
VMware Update Manager (VUM)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)	No	Y(C)	No
VMware Data Recovery (DR, VDR)	No	No	No
VMware Snapshots	No	Y(C)	No
VMware Fault Tolerance (FT)	No	No	No
VMware vCenter Converter	No	No	No
VMsafe	No	No	No
VMware vShield	No	No	No
Virtual Appliance Packaging of UC apps	No	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Backup Tools (e.g. Veeam, Viziocore, esXpress)	No	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Deployment Tools (e.g. rPath, Platespin)	No	No	No
3rd-Party Physical To Virtual (P2V) Migration Tools	No	No	No
All others not listed	No	No	No
vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features
Identity	No	No	Y(C)
VMware Boot from SAN	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
All other vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features	No	No	No

 

VMware Feature Support for Contact Center 8.0(2) through 9.x

  Notation: Y: regular Yes

Feature	Unified CCX	Cisco WFO, QM, and WFM	Unified CCE, CVP	Unified IC	Cisco MediaSense	SocialMiner	Unfied EIM-WIM	Cisco Finesse
vSphere ESXi 4.0 Features
VM Templates (OVAs)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)
Copy Virtual Machine	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	Y(C)	No
Restart Virtual Machine on Different ESXi Host	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	No	No
Resize Virtual Machine	Y(P)	Y(P)	No	Y(P)	No	No	No	No
VMware Hot Add	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Multiple Physical NICs and vNICs	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	Y(P)	No	No	No	No
VMware High Availability (HA)	No	No	No	No	No	No	Y(C)	No
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	No	No
VMware vMotion	Y(C)	Y(P)	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Dynamic Power Management	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Long Distance vMotion	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Storage vMotion	Y(C)	Y(C)	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Update Manager (VUM)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Data Recovery (DR, VDR)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Snapshots	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware Fault Tolerance (FT)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware vCenter Converter	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMsafe	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
VMware vShield	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Virtual Appliance Packaging of UC apps	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Backup Tools (e.g. Veeam, Viziocore, esXpress)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Deployment Tools (e.g. rPath, Platespin)	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
3rd-Party Physical To Virtual (P2V) Migration Tools	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
All others not listed	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features
VMware Boot from SAN	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	Y(C)	No
All other vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
vSphere ESXi 5.0 Features
Same EXSi 4.1 features supported in ESXi 5.0	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
All other vSphere ESXi 5.0 Features	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
vSphere ESXi 5.1 Features
Same EXSi 5.0 features supported in ESXi 5.1	Y	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
All other vSphere ESXi 5.1 Features	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No

 

VMware Feature Support for TelePresence Applications

Feature	Cisco TelePresence Manager	Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch
vSphere ESXi 4.0 Features
VM Templates (OVAs)	Y(C)	Y(C)
Copy Virtual Machine	Y(C)	Y(C)
Restart Virtual Machine on Different ESXi Host	Y(C)	Y(C)
Resize Virtual Machine	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware Hot Add	No	No
Multiple Physical NICs and vNICs	Y(P)	Y(P)
VMware High Availability (HA)	Y(C)	Y(C)
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)	Y(C)	Y(C)
VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch	Y(C)	Y(C)
VMware vMotion	No	No
VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS)	No	No
VMware Dynamic Power Management	No	No
Long Distance vMotion	No	No
VMware Storage vMotion	No	No
VMware Update Manager (VUM)	No	No
VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)	No	No
VMware Data Recovery (DR, VDR)	No	No
VMware Snapshots	No	No
VMware Fault Tolerance (FT)	No	No
VMware vCenter Converter	No	No
VMsafe	No	No
VMware vShield	No	No
Virtual Appliance Packaging of UC apps	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Backup Tools (e.g. Veeam, Viziocore, esXpress)	No	No
3rd-Party VM-based Deployment Tools (e.g. rPath, Platespin)	No	No
3rd-Party Physical To Virtual (P2V) Migration Tools	No	No
All others not listed	No	No
vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features
VMware Boot from SAN	No	No
All other vSphere ESXi 4.1 Features	No	No
vSphere ESXi 5.0 Features
All vSphere ESXi 5.0 Features	No	No

Best Practices

Virtual Machine Templates (OVA files)

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

See www.dmtf.org for details on the Open Virtualization Format, which describes an OVF Package (a directory of files describing a virtual machine’s configuration) and an OVA Package (single tar file containing an OVF Package).

“Template” in this context refers to an OVA file that defines the virtual server (but not the “workload”, i.e. the UC OS and application). Each virtualized UC product provides a set of predefined virtual machine templates (as OVA files) for supported Virtual Machine (VM) configurations. Customers must download and use these OVA template files for initial install, as they cover items such as supported capacity levels and any required OS/VM/SAN “alignment”. OVAs configured differently than the predefined templates are not supported at this time. To download the OVA files, refer to the Unified Communications Virtualization sizing guidelines.

Copy Virtual Machine

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

Copying a Virtual Machine (VM) copies both the virtual server configuration and the workload (UC OS and application) running on that virtual server to a file on networked shared storage. This allows VMs to be copied, then subsequently modified or shut down. This feature effectively provides a method to do full system backup/restore, take system images or revert changes to software versions, user data and configuration changes.

• Prior to copying, the VM must first be shutdown (which will shut down the virtual server, the UC OS and the UC application).
• If uploading a VM copy as a “whole system restore”, clustered UC applications such as CUCM will probably require their replication to be manually “fixed” via a CLI command.

Restart Virtual Machine on Different ESXi Host

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

A Virtual Machine (VM) file on network/shared storage can be booted on any physical server hosting ESXi that has access to that network shared storage. With multiple physical ESXi hosts connected to the same network shared storage, this can be used to perform:

• Fast manual server moves, e.g. moving VM from ESXi host A to ESXi host B in another chassis, closet, building, etc.
• Fast manual server recovery, e.g. moving VM from ESXi host A that has just had a server hardware or VMware failure to ESXi host B that is healthy. See also VMware High Availability and Site Recovery Manager.
• Setting up software at a staging location to be later moved or deployed elsewhere. For multi-site scenarios, this may instead require “exporting” the VM.

Resize Virtual Machine

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

Similar to adding/removing physical hardware to/from a physical server, you can add/remove virtual hardware (vCPU, vRAM, vDisk, vNIC, etc.) to/from a Virtual Machine (VM) via a software change in VMware’s configuration interfaces. Where supported, this provides the VM equivalent of migration to a more powerful or less powerful server.

• Any changes to a VM must align with the best practices in Virtual Machine Templates (OVA files). VM changes that result in an unsupported OVA configuration are not allowed. Even if you align with supported OVA configurations, desired VM changes may be prevented by one of the other caveats below.
• Support for adding virtual hardware resources (similar to moving from a less powerful server to a more powerful server, such as MCS 7825 ⇒ MCS 7845) depends on which resource, and which UC product:

• Adding vCPU is supported for all apps except Unity and Unity Connection, but requires VM to be shutdown first.
• Adding vRAM is supported but requires VM to be shutdown first.
• Adding vDisk is not supported as it would require re-partitioning by the application.

• Adding vNIC is not supported unless the UC app supports multiple network connections with different IP addresses. See best practices for Multiple Physical NICs and vNICs.
• For all other changes, it is recommended to backup the application, reinstall application on a new OVA file, and restore the application.
• Removing virtual hardware resources (vCPU, vRAM, vDisk, etc.) is not supported (similar to moving from a more powerful server to a less powerful server, such as MCS 7845 ⇒ MCS 7825). These migrations require backing up the application, reinstalling on a new OVA file, and and restoring the application.
• Live runtime resizing via the VMware Hot Add feature is not supported.

VMware Hot Add

Not supported. See Resize Virtual Machine instead.

Multiple Physical NICs and vNICs

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

Some virtualized UCS servers are configured with multiple physical NICs (see UCS page at http://www.cisco.com/go/swonly). Network traffic is switched from physical NICs to “vNIC’s” of the Virtual Machines (VM) via either VMware vSwitch or Cisco Nexus 1000V. Customers can use these multiple NICs for VM network traffic, VMware console access, or management “back-doors” for administrative access, backups, software updates or other traffic that is desired to be segregated from the VM network traffic. All these uses are supported for UC but note that UC apps like CUCM and UCCX only support a single vNIC with a single IP address.

VMware High Availability (HA)

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

This feature automatically restarts a Virtual Machine (VM) on the same physical server or a different physical server. It can be used to supplement software redundancy as a means of fast, automated Failed-server recovery when a VM (but not the application) is hung or if there is a fault with the physical host server or VMware software.

• Failovers to other servers must not result in an unsupported deployment model (e.g. destination server must align with supported co-residency after failover occurs).
• Does not protect vs. faults with the SAN or network hardware.

VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

This feature provides an automated disaster recovery solution that works on a “site to site” basis, where a “site” comprises physical servers, VMware and SAN storage. Refer to the VMware documentation for requirements to use this feature. There are no special requirements to use this feature with UC apps that support it.

VMware Identity

The VMware identity feature allows you to copy an existing instance of a virtual Cisco Unified Presence, and change its identity. The identity of a system is made up of every setting that you usually configure during a fresh install (such as IP address, hostname, passwords).

You can then use this new identity for another instance of a Cisco Unified Presence on a virtual machine. This avoids you having to perform a complete installation each time you deploy a new Cisco Unified Presence.

VMware vNetwork Distributed Switch

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

Supporting apps in UC on UCS may either use this feature, or the Cisco VN-Link technology (such as Cisco Nexus 1000V).

 

VMware vMotion

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

This feature migrates a live, running Virtual Machine (VM) from one physical server to another.

The following applies to any use of vMotion with UC apps:

• VM must be installed on shared storage (SAN).
• Source and destination physical servers must be connected to same SAN.
• Destination physical server must not end up with over-subscribed hardware after the migration. Supported capacity and co-residency rules for UC must be followed before and after the migration.
• VMware “Long Distance vMotion” (site to site) is not supported.
• The only supported scenario is a manual move to a different server, e.g. for planned maintenance on the server or VMware software, or during troubleshooting to move software off of a physical server having issues.
• Use of vMotion for real-time load-balancing of live UC VMs is not supported, whether alone or in conjunction with VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS) or Dynamic Power Management (DPM).
• Moving a shut down VM during a maintenance window, i.e. a “cold migration” or “host to host migration”, is not vMotion and is supported.

If the UC app is listed as “Supported with Caveats”, then support is as described below:

• Migration of UC VMs that are live and processing live traffic is supported, but note that Cisco testing cannot cover every possible operational scenario. Testing has shown there is a slight risk of calls in progress being impacted for a few seconds as the migration occurs, with worst case result of the affected calls being dropped. If vMotion is suspected as the cause of dropped calls, customers should gather appropriate application logs as well as performance data from VMware vCenter and send to Cisco TAC for analysis.

If the UC app is listed as “Partial” support, then support is “maintenance mode only” as described below:

• “Maintenance mode only” – VMware vMotion by definition operates on live VMs, but the VM running the UC app must be “live but quiescent”. I.e. in a maintenance window, not in production, not processing live traffic. This is because during the vMotion cutover, the system is paused, which for real-time UC apps creates service interruption which degrade voice quality after the migration for calls in progress.

 

VMware Dynamic Resource Scheduler

Not supported. See vMotion for what is supported.

VMware Dynamic Power Management

Not supported. See vMotion for what is supported.

Long Distance vMotion

Not supported. See vMotion for what is supported. Long Distance vMotion is a joint Cisco and VMware validated architecture for using the vMotion feature across data centers. For more information, see http://blogs.cisco.com/datacenter/comments/cisco_and_vmware_validated_architecture_for_long_distance_vmotion/ andhttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns517/ns224/ns836/white_paper_c11-557822.pdf.

Storage vMotion

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

This “customer convenience” feature provides easy migration of a live system from one SAN to another SAN. For UC apps, an easier suggested alternative is to just perform manual VM shutdown and migration to the new SAN. However, if Storage vMotion must be used, it is only under the following conditions:

• Requires SAN storage.
• May only be done during a maintenance window with UC VMs shut down.

VMware Update Manager (VUM)

NOTE: Support varies by application and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client. For more details on Cisco Unity support, see http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/unity/virtualization_design/guide/cuvirtualdg010.html#wp82246.

This feature automates patching and updating of VMware vSphere hosts and Guest OS.

Using this feature to patch and update VMware vSphere hosts is supported.

However, using this feature to patch and update the guest OS is only supported by some applications and some versions, this is what is shown on this page when referring to VUM support. Note that Cisco Unified Communications applications upgrades, patches and updates can not be delivered through VMware Update Manager.

VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client. For more details on Cisco Unity support, see http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/unity/virtualization_design/guide/cuvirtualdg010.html#wp82246.

This feature provides integration with 3rd-party backup utilities so that they can non-disruptively backup the OS and application in a Virtual Machine (VM). See also VMware Data Recovery and Copy Virtual Machine.

Existing UC app methods of backing up the software continue to be supported.

VMware Data Recovery

Not supported. See VMware Consolidated Backup for what is supported.

VMware Snapshots

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client. For more details on Cisco Unity support, see http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/unity/virtualization_design/guide/cuvirtualdg010.html#wp82246.

Used to preserve the state of a VM without copying or creating additional VMs, effectively as a backup/restore or reversion technique. See also VMware Data Recovery and Copy Virtual Machine.

VMware Fault Tolerance

Not supported. See VMware High Availability for what is supported. Another alternative is manual Virtual Machine shutdown and migration.

VMware vCenter Converter

P2V tools are not supported. To migrate from bare-metal servers (e.g. Cisco 7800 Series Media Convergence Server) to UC on UCS, the supported procedure is:

• upgrade to 8.x software version on the bare-metal server
• take a software backup
• fresh install 8.x software on VMware / UC on UCS
• restore from backup

VMsafe

Not supported. See the documentation for the UC application software or UC appliance software to see what is supported.

VMware vShield

Not supported. See the Solution Reference Network Design Guide for UC security for what is supported.

Virtual Appliance Packaging of UC apps

Not supported. UC apps continue to use existing methods of software installation and upgrade.

3rd-Party VM-based Backup Tools

Not supported. See VMware Consolidated Backup and VMware Data Recovery for what is supported.

3rd-Party VM-based Deployment Tools

Not supported. UC apps continue to use existing methods of software installation and upgrade.

3rd-Party Physical To Virtual (P2V) Migration Tools

Not supported. See VMware vCenter Converter for what is supported.

VMware Boot from SAN

NOTE: support varies by app and version. Before reading the best practices below, verify support at Supported Editions and Features of VMware vSphere ESXi, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere Client.

VMware ESXi 4.1 is required for this feature. Even it works with 4.0, VMware’s official support is only for 4.1 and later. Requires use of a “diskless” server – see Supported Hardware for tested reference configurations. Both VMware ESXi and UC apps are installed on, and boot from, the fibre channel SAN. See UCS page at www.cisco.com/go/swonly for storage support policy.

Services and Support Contracts for VMware are Required

Customers deploying virtualized UC must have a valid support contract for the VMware software in order to be supported by Cisco.

Customers purchasing VMware software licenses from Cisco must also purchase a subscription services part number from Cisco (for part number examples, see the UC on UCS page at www.cisco.com/go/swonly).

Customers purchasing VMware software from a 3rd-party must purchase subscription services from that 3rd-party or from VMware.

Customers should note that for VMware vSphere Hypervisor (formerly called “ESXi Single Server Edition” or “free ESXi”), VMware does not offer the same services options and terms as they do for their Standard, Advanced, Enterprise or Enterprise Plus Editions. Customers should take this into account when planning and pricing their support strategy.

Cisco Field and Channel Partners may consult the User Connect Licensing Ordering Guide for more information.

Cisco TAC Support Expectations

The following table describes how TAC support works for VMware in a UC on UCS context, based on who VMware was purchased from.

Special case: when Cisco as a VMware reseller sells VMware Enterprise License Agreements, it is treated as a VMware direct sale for TAC support purposes based on how the maintenance contracts are structured.

 

	Buy from Cisco as Collaboration SKU	Buy from Cisco as Data Center SKU	Buy from 3rd-party, or enterprise/site license
Available VMware ESXi Editions	Standard	Advanced, Enterprise or Enterprise Plus	Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, Enterprise Plus or vSphere Hypervisor (formerly “Single Server Edition” or “free ESXi”
Mandatory Support Contracts	ISV1 from Cisco as Collaboration Service SKU	ISV1 from Cisco as Data Center Service SKU	“SnS” subscription from VMware
Who takes first call?	Cisco	Cisco	VMware

TAC Responsibility: Note that multi-vendor triage is the norm in virtualized deployments, where the storage, server, hypervisor, OS and application are potentially all from different vendors. Cisco Voice TAC responsibility is the UC application, demarcated at the Virtual Machine. Cisco Server Virtualization TAC responsibility is for VMware (via triage), Cisco UCS, Cisco storage access (or triage with customer and their vendor) and storage array (via triage with customer and their vendor). Escalation to VMware, the customer, or the customer’s storage vendors will be done as needed for solution components not produced by Cisco.

UCS C220 Hardware

Hardware Configuration

The following table describes UCS C220 Hardware configuration.

C220 M3S (SFF) TRC#2

Note:

This TRC is ONLY supported for use with Cisco Business Edition 6000, and it is quoted as UCSC-C220-M3SBE in CMBE6K-UCL-K9 or CMBE6K-UWL-K9. It has special rules for allowed VM OVA templates and allowed co-residency.

Quantity	Cisco Part Number	Description
1	UCSC-C220-M3S	UCS C220 M3 SFF w/o CPU, mem, HDD, PCIe, w/ rail kit
2	UCS-CPU-E5-2609	2.4 GHz E5-2609/80W 4C/10MB Cache/DDR3 1066MHz
4	UCS-MR-1X082RY-A	8GB DDR3-1600-MHz RDIMM/PC3-12800/dual rank/1.35v
4	A03-D500GC3	500GB 6Gb SATA 7.2K RPM SFF hot plug/drive sled mounted
1	UCS-RAID-9266	MegaRAID 9266-8i + battery backup for C240 and C220
		DVD drive not offered with C220 M3.
1	R2XX-RAID10	Enable RAID 10 Setting
1	UCSC-PSU-650W	650W power supply for C-series rack servers
1	UCSC-SD-16G-C220	16GB SD Card Module for C220 Servers
4	N20-BBLKD	Auto-included: UCS 2.5 inch HDD blanking panel
2	UCSC-HS-C220M3	Auto-included: Heat Sink for UCS C220 M3 Rack Server
1	UCSC-PSU-BLKP	Auto-included: Power supply blanking panel/filler (same as San Mateo)
1	UCSC-RAIL1	Auto-included: 2U Rail Kit for C220 servers
1	UCSC-PCIF-01F	Auto-included: Full height PCIe filler for C-Series

Related Hardware Documentation

Monitoring and Alarming for Cisco UCS

At this time on Cisco UCS, certain types of serviceability monitoring and alarming (such as hard drive failure) are only available via OS instrumentation. For UC on UCS this means alerts are generated by VMware in CIM format, and require VMware vCenter or equivalent CIM-compliant console. Refer to the UCS RAID Controller SMI-S Reference Guide for detailed information on this topic.

Bsoft |Bangalore|

#ucs

CMBE6k | Cisco Business Edition 6000

This site covers Cisco Business Edition 6000 (formerly Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition 6000) Release 8.5 and higher.

Cisco Business Edition 6000 is designed for organizations with upto 1000 employees. The solution offers premium voice, video, mobility, messaging, presence and contact center features on a single platform and provides core communication capabilities medium-sized businesses need for improved collaboration across the value chain. Enabled by virtualization technology, Cisco Business Edition 6000 consolidates multiple applications on single platform and therefore allows medium business to reduce their lower total cost of ownership and improve productivity of their employees. The high availability features supported by the solution make Cisco Business Edition 6000 ideally suited for companies that require mission critical voice, messaging and contact center capabilities.

Cisco Business Edition 6000 is a packaged solution optimized for medium sized business requirements. It is a specific combination of Cisco Unified Communications Applications on Cisco Unified Computing System that offers medium businesses, improved business agility and reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) through server consolidation, operational efficiency and scale, improved business continuity, and greater investment leverage.

BE 6000 consists of the following foundational elements:

• Cisco Unified Communications Manager
• IM & Presence
• Cisco Unity® Connection
• Cisco Prime Provisioning
• Cisco UC Virtualization Hypervisor
• Cisco Unified Computing System C200 M2/C220 M3 Rack-mount server.

Following applications can be optionally added to Cisco Business Edition 6000 solution.

• Cisco Unified Contact Center Express
• Cisco Unified Attendant Consoles
• Cisco Emergency Responder
• Cisco Telepresence Video Communication Server (Supported only with UCS C220 M3)
• Cisco Paging Server

Cisco Business Edition 6000 supports up to 4 UC applications plus 1 Cisco Prime Provisioning (from the list of applications above) running co-resident on single UCS C200 or UCS C220 hardware platform and supports full featured redundancy for all the core applications over a WAN or LAN environment.

In addition, Cisco Business Edition 6000 integrates with cloud based webex Software-as-a-service offerings including Webex connect IM and presence as well as webex web conferencing.
Here are some key differences between BE 6000 and generic Unified Communications deployment on Unified Computing system environment (“UC on UCS”).

Attributes	Cisco Business Edition 6000	“UC on UCS”/ Specs Based Support
Positioning	Packaged solution optimized for medium business requirements	Enterprise Deployments
	Max Capacity 1000 users	Megacluster 80K users
Platform/Application Choice	UCS C200 or C220 Hardware platform only	UCS-C Series, B-Series Platforms, 3rd party servers
	Core applications: Unified Communications Manager, IM and Presence,  Cisco Unity Connection, Contact Center Express, Cisco Unified Attendant Consoles, Cisco Prime Provisioning, Cisco Emergency Responder, Cisco Telepresence Video Communication server (UCS C220 only), Cisco Paging Server	Full suite of UC on UCS applications, Non UC and 3rd party applications
Installation and Configuration	Factory configured server, Pre-loaded applications (BE 6000 9.x release only), Unified provisioning through embedded Cisco Prime Provisioning	Provisioning through separate native management interface or purchase Cisco Unified Provisioning Manager
Support	Cisco for UCS, UC and Vitualization Hypervisor	Cisco for UC, UCS and UC virtualization hypervisor. VMware, 3rd party server vendors.
Ordering	Single top-level part number, Quoting through Quick Pricing Tool	Separate SKUs for hardware and software licenses
Pricing	Discounted Starter Bundles (25 users), embedded Prime Provisioning and VMware, with options to add Webex Meeting Center, Contact Center Express, Cisco Telepresence Video Communication Server bundles	Buy software and hardware separately.

Bsoft |Bangalore |

#cmbe6k