Lab setup for Cisco DNA Center

[Tiebevn]

I'm having trouble setting up a lab environment for Cisco DNA Center. We have the .iso file, but whenever we try to install it, even though the UI gets installed, a bunch of packages, like netwwork-visibility and most of the NDP-packages, as well as all of their dependencies, give a time-out during their installation. It should be noted we are not doing this install on a hardware appliance from Cisco, but we tried it on a bunch of our own servers, as well as on virtual machines, and all seem to have the same issue. I have seen people install Cisco DNA Center on virtual machines, and we would like to do the same for a lab environment.

[Tobias Heisele]

DNA Center is only supported on the corresponding hardware applicance DN1-HW-APL or its successors.

[Tiebevn]

Is it not possible to install this in a lab environment for testing purposes? Isn't there an option to have a testing setup for evaluation without having to go out and buy the appliance from Cisco?

[jeanminasian]

There is a hardware compatibility list if you google it -  https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/cloud-systems-management/dna-center/products-device-support-tables-list.html 

[jalejand]

DNAC is not supported to be installed on virtualized appliances neither as barebone on any other hardware appliance other than DN1-HW-APL, there are some ways to deploy it on an ESXi host, however, such deployment is not supported and compatibility might be very limited.

In addition, take in consideration that the DNA appliance hardware resources are 44C/88T and 256GB of RAM.

[anantsiv]

Hi the DNA center installation can be done having a physical hardware at the site . Virtual or custom servers are not supported

Regards

Ananth

[Jurgens L]

If Cisco wants a fast adoption for DNAC and engineers capable of deploying this solution in the wild, having a lab version available is essential for engineers to simulate and test scenarios specific to the client's requirements.

Sure dCloud is an option however you have a limited time window to run your tests and lose all your setup config once that has expired.

There is a massive demand to release a "DNAC Lite" version which doesn't require the resources of a production DNAC appliance. Something that can run on ESXi and allow lab scenarios to be simulated.

Otherwise, expect DNAC to have a slow adoption as only a select few will have experience deploying this solution. Don't forget about certification as well, since you will have to pay for lab racks in order to prepare for the release of the upcoming certifications in February 2020.

[David Anderson]

Agree 110%

[ChuckMcF]

I am aware of someone who did build DNAC on a VM running VMWare on a very impressive box. His VM has 128vCPUs, 512GB RAM and 1TB SSD. The DNAC install failed until he got the 1TB SSD due to throughput checks near the end of the installation process.

As mentioned in several earlier posts, this solution is NOT supported by Cisco. I'd also like to add that to get a box like he has it might be just as cheap to get the actual appliance. I also agree that Cisco needs a version built specifically for a lab. I've made this suggestion to the BU, we'll see if anything comes from it.

Hope this helps,

Chuck

[刘帅美]

Hello Tiebevn. We have also recently studied the installation of DNA Center on VMs. After reading a lot of relevant materials, successful results have been obtained from the case study, but I am suffering from the absence of the DNA Center's iso file, and I cannot carry out the next step of implementation. I want to ask you for an iso file to help us with the subsequent installation, and we will share the research results with you after our installation and deployment are complete. If you can allow it, please contact my email: 993009917@qq.com

[刘帅美]

Hi Tiebevn, I greeted you in a community post and never received your reply. I ’m sorry to bother you again, but in the community, you said that you own the DNA Center iso file. We ’re also working on this recently. We want to mount the DNA Center on our own server to ensure future exercises. Seek an iso file. After our successful test, we will share the success with you. If you see it, please reply to my email: 993009917@qq.com