Cisco 7800 Series Media Convergence Servers

Document ID: 13931

Contents

Introduction
Prerequisites
      Requirements
      Components Used
      Conventions
DNS Problems with Cisco CallManager 3.0(1)
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Related Information

Introduction

Cisco CallManager release 3.0(1) has several known caveats related to the Domain Name System (DNS) configuration on the server on which Cisco CallManager is installed. DNS is required for a successful installation of Cisco CallManager because of the Structured Query Language (SQL) dependency on DNS during the installation process. However, after installation is complete, Cisco CallManager can run without DNS as long as specific criteria are met. Also, when you run with DNS, you must use caution in order to ensure that all known caveats are circumvented.

Prerequisites

Requirements

There are no specific requirements for this document.

Components Used

The information in this document is based on Cisco CallManager 3.0(1).

The information in this document was created from the devices in a specific lab environment. All of the devices used in this document started with a cleared (default) configuration. If your network is live, make sure that you understand the potential impact of any command.

Conventions

Refer to Cisco Technical Tips Conventions for more information on document conventions.

DNS Problems with Cisco CallManager 3.0(1)

This is a list of known DNS problems with Cisco CallManager 3.0(1):

• CSCdr64159 ( registered customers only) - CM does not start if DNS suffix is conf in Network Ident tab

• CSCdr43467 ( registered customers only) - Intracluster calls fail because CM relies on reverse-DNS entries

• CSCdr66639 ( registered customers only) - CallManager does not work with fully qualified domain names

As well as these installer bugs:

• CSCdr46034 ( registered customers only) - Can not use - or _ in Spirian install for workgroup & Serv.name

• CSCdr65911 ( registered customers only) - Spirian CD does not install Compaq Utilities correctly on MCS-7830

• CSCdr65502 ( registered customers only) - Spirian install may require reboot after reprogramming firmware

• CSCdr66413 ( registered customers only) - Spirian CD does not install CallManager to a functional state

This section describes how to workaround these caveats.

Install the entire OS CD (Disc 1) and keep this in mind. You can run into Cisco bug ID CSCdr65502 ( registered customers only) during the installation process. If the screen hangs for more than 10 minutes at this screen, go ahead and reboot the machine and the installation continues normally. This problem is attributed to machines with older versions of BIOS.

: Running array F/W Update

: COMPAQ H/W Upgrade Utlility 4.0.1A (R)

: Reprogramming Firmware

DO NOT RE-BOOT OR POWER CYCLE MACHINE!!!

Note: The CD does not allow you to use hyphens or underscores in the host name during the Disc 1 installation because of Cisco bug ID CSCdr46034 ( registered customers only) . If a change is required, it is done as part of this workaround later in the installation process. For now, enter the name without the hyphens or underscores.

After you install the first CD, you already entered the IP address information, as well as DNS server information and DNS suffix. Before you insert the Second install CD (which contains SQL, DC Directory, and Cisco CallManager) complete these steps:

1. Right-click My Computer on the desktop and choose Properties. This dialog box appears:

   

2. Click the Properties button. In this box your "Computer name" must match what is configured in DNS as the hostname for this machine. If you entered a machine name without a hyphen or underscore, but you want your machine name to have a hyphen or underscore, change it in this box.

   

3. Click the More button. In the dialogthat appears, make sure the Primary DNS suffix of this computer is blank and the Change primary DNS suffix when domain membership changes is unchecked. The Spirian install CD fills this out so it is important that it looks like this:

   

   If any changes are made to the computer name or the dialog, the computer must be restarted. You are prompted to restart after you say OK to all the dialogs.

4. On the DNS server that has the hostname for the Cisco CallManager in question, ensure that it contains both a host entry and a PTR record for the reverse-DNS entry as well. Without this reverse DNS entry, Cisco CallManager clustering does not work.

If DNS is not used, ensure that all the DNS configuration dialog boxes are empty so that the server does not have any DNS servers configured at all. If it does, even if IP addresses are used as Cisco CallManager names, it still relies on reverse-DNS.

If you do not have a DNS server at all, you must edit the LMHOSTS file and manually put in IP address to hostname mappings for the computer and any other computers in the cluster. The LMHOSTS file can be found in the C:\WINNT\system32\drivers\etc directory. Instructions on the format of this file are included in the file itself.

Once these workarounds are implemented, install the second Disc and manually run the Cisco CallManager installer on the CD.

After you install Cisco CallManager, you must work around the Compaq Partition Utilities problem documented in Cisco bug ID CSCdr65911 ( registered customers only) . There is no way to make the F10 key work again unless you wipe the machine clean and reinstall with the 3.0(2) CD when it becomes available. In the meantime, the utilities can be run from a floppy disk, if necessary. The utilities can be downloaded from the Compaq website here:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c00280248/c00280248.pdf?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

You must then create four floppy disks based on the instructions in the read me file and boot from the first floppy disk.

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