First Time Setup

When you first log in to your new Nexus Dashboard cluster, you will be able to configure basic settings from the first time setup wizard.

  1. In the What’s New screen, click Begin Setup.

  2. Add sites and configure proxy as described in one of the following two sections.

If at any time you exit out of the first time setup wizard, you can return to it using the intent menu in your Nexus Dashboard’s Admin Console:

503653.jpg

If you have already finished the first time setup wizard, you can skip the next two sections.

Otherwise, you will be prompted for the following two things:

  • Configure proxy — allows you to provide a proxy server, which can be used to connect to the Internet.

    This may be required when adding sites managed by Cloud Network Controller, in which case it must be configured prior to onboarding those sites.

  • Add sites — allows you to onboard one or more fabrics, which you will use with the services running in your cluster.

Configuring Proxy

In certain deployment scenarios, such as with a combination of on-premises and cloud sites and the Nexus Dashboard cluster deployed inside a corporate network, you may have to access the internet and the cloud sites through a proxy.

note.gif

Note blank.gif This release supports adding a single proxy server.

To add a proxy server:

  1. In the Proxy Configuration tile, click Begin.

  2. In the Setup - Proxy Configuration page, click +Add Server.

    1. From the Type dropdown, select the type of traffic that you want to be proxied.

    2. In the Server field, provide the full address for the proxy server.

      You can also choose to provide the port, for example http://proxy.company.com:80.

    3. If the server requires login credentials, provide the Username and Password.

  3. (Optional) Click Add Ignore Host to provide any hosts that will ignore the proxy.

    You can add one or more hosts with which the cluster will communicate directly bypassing the proxy.

Adding Sites

Before you begin

  • Fabric connectivity must be already configured.

  • If adding a Cisco APIC or Cloud Network Controller site, the site must be running Release 4.2(4) or later.

  • If adding a Cisco APIC site, EPG/L3Out for Cisco Nexus Dashboard data network IP connectivity must be pre-configured.

    Refer to Fabric Connectivity for more information.

  • If adding a Cisco APIC site and planning to deploy Cisco NIR application:

    • IP connectivity from Cisco Nexus Dashboard to Cisco APIC Inband IP over data network must be configured.

    • IP connectivity from Cisco Nexus Dashboard to the leaf nodes and spine nodes in-band IPs must be configured.

  • If adding a Cisco NDFC site:

    • The site must be running Release 11.5(1) or later.

    • You must configure Layer 3 connectivity to the fabric and switches.

    • If you cluster is deployed in AWS or Azure, you must configure inbound rules on the data interface.

      This is typically done during initial cluster deployment and described in detail in the Cisco Nexus Dashboard Deployment Guide.

To add a site:

  1. In the Add Sites tile, click Begin.

  2. In the Setup - Add Sites page, click Add Site.

  3. Select the type of site you want to add.

    note.gif

    Note blank.gif While Cisco Nexus Dashboard supports on-boarding all three types of fabrics, for specific fabric types and versions compatible with your services, see the Services Compatibility Matrix.

    • ACI — for on-premises ACI sites managed by Cisco APIC

    • Cloud Network Controller — for cloud sites managed by Cisco Cloud Network Controller

    • NDFC — for on-premises sites managed by Cisco NDFC

  4. Provide the site’s information.

    1. If adding an ACI site, provide the following:

      • Site Name — used throughout the Nexus Dashboard GUI when referring to this site.

      • Host Name/IP Address — used to communicate with the Cisco APIC.

        If you will use the site with Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator service only, you can provide either the in-band or out-of-band IP address of the APIC. If you will use the site with Nexus Dashboard Insights as well, you must provide the in-band IP address.

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif When providing the address, do not include the protocol (http:// or https://) as part of the URL string or site addition will fail.

      • User Name and Password — login credentials for a user with admin privileges on the site you are adding.

      • (Optional) Login Domain — if you leave this field empty, the site’s local login is used.

      • (Optional) Validate Peer Certificate — allows Nexus Dashboard to verify that the certificates of hosts to which it connects (such as site controllers) are valid and are signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif You must have the certificate for this site already imported into your Nexus Dashboard before you can add a site using this option. If you have not yet added the certificates, cancel the Add Site wizard and follow the instructions described in Validating Peer Certificates first; then after you have imported the certificates, add the site as described here.
        If you enable the Verify Peer Certificate option but don’t import the valid certificate, site onboarding will fail.

      • (Optional) In-Band EPG — required when connecting to an ACI fabric via an EPG and bridge domain. For more information on fabric connectivity, see Fabric Connectivity.

        If you plan to use this site with the Nexus Dashboard Insights service, you must provide the node management In-Band EPG.

    2. If adding a Cloud Network Controller site, provide the following:

      • Site Name — used throughout the Nexus Dashboard GUI when referring to this site.

      • Host Name/IP Address — used to communicate with the Cloud Network Controller.

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif When providing the address, do not include the protocol (http:// or https://) as part of the URL string or site addition will fail.

      • User Name and Password — login credentials for a user with admin privileges on the site you are adding.

      • (Optional) Login Domain — if you leave this field empty, the site’s local login is used.

      • (Optional) Validate Peer Certificate — allows Nexus Dashboard to verify that the certificates of hosts to which it connects (such as site controllers) are valid and are signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif You must have the certificate for this site already imported into your Nexus Dashboard before you can add a site using this option. If you have not yet added the certificates, cancel the Add Site wizard and follow the instructions described in Validating Peer Certificates first; then after you have imported the certificates, add the site as described here.
        If you enable the Verify Peer Certificate option but don’t import the valid certificate, site onboarding will fail.

      • (Optional) Enable Proxy — enable this setting if your cloud site is reachable via a proxy.

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif Proxy must be already configured in your Nexus Dashboard’s cluster settings. For more information, see Configuring Proxy.

    3. If adding an NDFC site, provide the following:

      • Host Name/IP Address — used to communicate with the Cisco NDFC.

        This must be the in-band IP address of NDFC.

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif When providing the address, do not include the protocol (http:// or https://) as part of the URL string or site addition will fail.

      • User Name and Password — login credentials for a user with admin privileges on the site you are adding.

      • (Optional) Login Domain — if you leave this field empty, the site’s local login is used.

      • (Optional) Validate Peer Certificate — allows Nexus Dashboard to verify that the certificates of hosts to which it connects (such as site controllers) are valid and are signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).

        note.gif

        Note blank.gif You must have the certificate for this site already imported into your Nexus Dashboard before you can add a site using this option. If you have not yet added the certificates, cancel the Add Site wizard and follow the instructions described in Validating Peer Certificates first; then after you have imported the certificates, add the site as described here.
        If you enable the Verify Peer Certificate option but don’t import the valid certificate, site onboarding will fail.

      • Sites — click Select Sites to select the NDFC fabrics managed by the controller you provided.

  5. Click Add to finish adding the site.

  6. (Optional) Click on the Geographical Location map to specify where the site is located.

  7. (Optional) Repeat these steps for any additional sites.

Configuring Network Scale

Starting with Release 2.2(1), you can configure the target scale for your services and the Nexus Dashboard cluster will automatically allocate the appropriate amount of resources and limits.

To configure network scale:

  1. In the Network Scale tile, click Begin.

  2. In the Setup - Network Scale page, provide the required information.

    note.gif

    Note blank.gif Modifying the network scale requires a restart of your services for the changes to be applied.

    1. In the Number of Sites field, provide the target number of sites for your deployment that this Nexus Dashboard cluster will manage.

      By default, network scale is set to 10 sites.

    2. In the Number of Fabric Nodes field, provide the target number of switch nodes for your deployment

    3. From the Flows per second drop-down menu, select the target number of flows for your Nexus Dashboard Insights service.

← Previous: New and Changed Information 
↑ Up: Cisco Nexus Dashboard User Guide, Release 2.3.x 
Next: Platform Overview →