Deployment Requirements

Please make sure you have covered all the prerequisites before you start the configuration.

1

Virtual Machine requirements

In order to connect your wireless network with Cisco Spaces, Cisco Spaces Connector should be installed on a virtual machine. The Spaces Connector supports VMware ESXi 6.5 or above versions, as well as AMI and HyperV

The connector supports Standard/Advanced 1/Advanced 2 configurations with the VM requirements as follows:

Standard/Advanced 1/Advanced 2
vCPU 2/4/8
RAM 4/8/16 GB
Hard Disk 60GB

Note: Standard configuration is adequate in most cases unless Cisco Spaces team specifically recommends Med/High configuration for your deployment.

Tested VMware Environments

  • VMware ESXi: 6.5.0 Update 2 (Build 13004031), 6.7.0 Update 2 (Build 13006603)
  • VMware vSphere Client Version 6.7.0
  • VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.7.0
2

Spaces Connector and Cisco Spaces endpoints

The Cisco Spaces Connector should be able to reach out to the Cisco Spaces endpoints for establishing data connectivity with Cisco Spaces.)

For Global Setup

The Cisco Spaces Connector must be able to reach out to https://connector.dnaspaces.io/

Primary IP Address 52.20.144.155, 34.231.154.95
Disaster Recovery 54.176.92.81, 54.183.58.225

For EU Setup

The Cisco Spaces Connector must be able to reach out to https://connector.dnaspaces.eu/

Primary IP Address 63.33.127.190, 63.33.175.64
Disaster Recovery 3.122.15.26, 3.122.15.7

For Singapore Setup

The Cisco Spaces Connector must be able to reach out to https://connector.ciscospaces.sg/

Primary IP Address 13.228.159.49, 54.179.105.241
Disaster Recovery 13.214.251.223, 54.255.57.46
3

The Cisco Spaces Connector must be able to communicate to the WLC on ports:
– 16113 TCP (NMSP)
– 161/162 UDP (SNMP) – only for AirOS
– 830 TCP (NETCONF) – only for Catalyst Controllers
– 22 TCP (SSH)Ed
– Information about Open Ports: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/spaces/connector/2-x/config/b_connector/m_open-ports.html

4

Ensure that the CMX Cloud Services are disabled on the WLC. Execute the following command to disable your CMX Cloud Services: config cloud-services cmx disable

5

Ensure that https://www.cisco.com and cisco.com domains are white-listed.

The following connector specific control/data channels need to be whitelisted
connector.dnaspaces.io
connector.dnaspaces.eu
connector.ciscospaces.sg

6

SNMP Read/Write permissions are needed for AireOS based controllers and not needed for IOS-XE based controllers.

7

The WLC Controller IP you configure in the Cisco Spaces dashboard must be able to reach out to the Cisco Spaces Connector. Refer to Step 3 above.

Note: The Cisco Spaces Connector is tested to operate on the internet links with less than 0.1% packet loss.

Download and Deploy the Cisco Spaces Connector OVA

  • STEP 1

    Download the Cisco Spaces Connector OVA from here: Cisco Spaces OVA

  • STEP 2

    Deploy the downloaded Cisco Spaces OVA file on your virtual machine.

  • STEP 3

    Once the OVA is deployed, you can log into the VMware console using the default username and password provided in the console, username: root Password:root

  • STEP 4

    Enter the network settings.

  • STEP 5

    Enter NTP settings or leave it blank.

  • STEP 6

    Set the password for spacesadmin user

    • The connector is operating in restricted mode, if they want root access in CLI that will be restricted. For security reasons the root access is disabled.

  • STEP 7

    When prompted, reboot the device and open the WebUI using the address provided.

    NOTE:

    2.x will use dnasadmin
    3.x will use spacesadmin
    2.x and 3.x is selected when the customer selects the ova file download
    Connector Configuration guide: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/cisco-dna-spaces/connector/config/b_connector/m_ova.html

Adding a Connector in Cisco Spaces

  • STEP 1

    In the Cisco Spaces dashboard, click on “Setup” on the Menu

  • STEP 2

    Select “Wireless Networks” ​

  • STEP 3

    Click on “Get Started” button ​

  • STEP 4

    Select “Cisco AireOS/Catalyst”

  • STEP 5

    Select “via Spaces Connector”, then select “Continue Setup” button


  • STEP 6

    Under step 2 “Configure Spaces Connector”, click on “Create Connector”

  • STEP 7

    In the “Connector Name” field, enter a name for the connector and click on “Save”.

  • Setting up the Cisco Spaces Connector

    You now need to copy the Connector token from Cisco Spaces dashboard and configure it in Spaces Connector VM GUI. Follow these steps to copy the Token:

  • STEP 8

    On the Customized Setup page step 2 “Configure Spaces Connector”, click on “View Connectors”

  • STEP 9

    You will see the list of Connectors you’ve created. Select the desired Connector.

  • STEP 10

    Click on ‘Generate Token’

  • STEP 11

    Copy the token that appears on the following screen of the Cisco Spaces dashboard

  • STEP 12

    Launch the Cisco Spaces Connector using the HTTP address provided at the OVA deployment, https://< IP-address >/. In the Cisco Spaces Connector window that opens up, enter the username and password that was configured earlier.

  • STEP 13

    On “Configure connector” place the token, and click ‘save’
    You may need to wait a few minutes for Cisco Spaces connector to start as images may take some time to download. The wait time is dependent on the speed of your connection

  • STEP 14

    This is how the Connector Dashboard and Cisco Spaces Dashboard will look like once the connector is active

    CONNECTOR DASHBOARD


    • Control Channel: Health of connection between Cisco Spaces Connector and Cisco Spaces Cloud.
    • Data Channel: Health of connection between Cisco Spaces Connector and Cisco Spaces Cloud.

    CISCO SPACES DASHBOARD

Setup a Proxy

In the Cisco Spaces Connector window, you can also configure the HTTP Proxy and other Privacy settings.

Setup Proxy to connect the Cisco Spaces Connector to the Cisco Spaces Cloud.

  • STEP 1

    Add proxy server by clicking “Configure Proxy” under settings
    add proxy IP with port – http or https

    ex: https://< proxy server IP>:< port >

  • STEP 2

    Verify the proxy by seeing proxy status on the dashboard.

Setup Proxy

NOTE: Proxy Setup is required only if your virtual machine hosting the Cisco Spaces Connector is behind a proxy. Without this proxy configuration, the Cisco Spaces Connector is unable to communicate with the Cisco Spaces Cloud.

Adding a Controller in Cisco Spaces

  • STEP 1

    On the Customized Setup page step 3, click on “Add Controllers”

  • STEP 2

    Select the Connector you’ve just created from the drop-down

  • STEP 3

    Add the IP address of the Controller

  • STEP 4

    Add the name of the Controller

  • STEP 5

    Select Controller Type

  • STEP 6

    Add details based on your controller type.

    For WLC (AireOS) – Select Controller SNMP version depending on your controller’s SNMP version. Read/Write permissions are needed for V2C and V3

    • For V2C SNMP, provide SNMP Community.
    • For V3 SNMP, provide username, password, select authentication Protocol and enter Privacy password.

    For Catalyst WLC / Catalyst 9800 – Add the following credentials

    • Enter Netconf Username and Password.
    • Enter Enable password of the controller.
    • Verify the interface: NMSP will only be sent from the interface configured as the “wireless management interface”. Interfaces used as a service-port (e.g., gig0/0 for an appliance) cannot send NMSP traffic.
  • STEP 7

    Click on the test connectivity button.

  • STEP 8

    Click “Save & Add Next Controller” if you want to add another controller. If not, Click “Save & Close”.

THIS IS HOW THE DASHBOARD WILL LOOK LIKE ONCE THE CONNECTOR AND THE CONTROLLER ARE ACTIVE ON CISCO SPACES