500GB Datastore requirement to install ACS5.3 on ESX5.0???

[kerim mohammed]

Hi,

am wondering why ACS5.3 requires 500GB datastore? what for? do we still need this when we use external database? am in the process of migrating from ACS4.2 to 5.3 and swift reply will be appreciated.

Thanks

[Tarik Admani]

This is for the amount of logs that are kept over time. This is what Cisco stands by for a production deployment.

thanks,

Tarik Admani

[kerim mohammed]

hi Tarik,

if that is the case currently we are running ACS4.2 and all reports are configured in CSV form which i believe is stored locally. but we are running this version on windows machine with 15GB hard disk. am i missing something?

Thanks,

Kerim

[Tarik Admani]

From my understanding the log retention was not a requirement in acs 4.2 so once the logs files filled up to a certain point the would roll over and not exceed the file space it detected. In ACS 5 there is a sql database that is set once installed and its the hard disk that must be built in order to fit the tables that come with the software.

Thanks,

Tarik Admani

[kerim mohammed]

Yes, we have the option to keep filesfor number of days or just to keep the X number of files last files. in my case it is configured to keep only the last 100 files. So it made sense to to use 15GB.

If i undestand correctly as stated in the documentation, if i don't provide with 500GB it will fall back to 60GB. so will it roll back per your configuration or will it overflow the log files in case of 5.3. do we have the option to set for how long we want to keep the log files like 4.2? what if i use just 60GB ? what is the downside?

[Tarik Admani]

60GB is only for demo purposes and there arent options for purging logs after a certain amount of days. That is one major change between the two versions also that can easily get overlooked.

I have a customers that configured 60G walked away and a few weeks later couldnt figure out why their box went down. Also per TAC policy if your deployment doesnt meet this criteria it is considered unsupported which can put you in a tough position.

Thanks,

Tarik admani

[kerim mohammed]

Thanks TariK!

[Tarik Admani]

You are welcome, please dont forget to mark this resolved and please rate any posts that were helpful!

[kerim mohammed]

Tarik,

just one more thing, so how do the ACS5.3 manages log file purging once say the 500GB is full. per the documentation i read, the ACS5.3 is never going to use anything more than the 500GB even if more is made available to it. what is the mechanism for log purging? there got to be something?

Thanks,

Kerim

[kerim mohammed]

Tarik,

just one more thing, so how do the ACS5.3 manages log file purging once say the 500GB is full. per the documentation i read, the ACS5.3 is never going to use anything more than the 500GB even if more is made available to it. what is the mechanism for log purging? there got to be something?

Thanks,

Kerim

[Tarik Admani · Accepted solution]

You are correct, so you can throw 1TB of hard disk at this vm but it will never be used all the way. For the ACS to purge you have to setup incremental backups for the view database (what is referred to monitoring database) and database purging. Your best bet is to use an nfs server that the ACS can mount a purging drive. Here is some more documentaiton that will cover more about the purging cycles and etc:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/net_mgmt/cisco_secure_access_control_system/5.3/user/guide/viewer_sys_ops.html#wp1068157

Thanks,

Tarik Admani

[kerim mohammed]

Hi Tarik,

am back again, was trying to install ACS5.3 on a VM. i couldn't even locate the iso file. all i can see are three foders: CentOS Documentation and isolinux and none of them contain a .iso file. am i missing something?

thanks,

Kerim

[Tarik Admani]

If you are trying to install this on a virtual machine, you download the iso from the Cisco website, then set the cd rom settings so it points to the iso file. Once you power it up it should be there.

thanks,

Tarik Admani
*Please rate helpful posts*

[kerim mohammed]

i tried to download the software, but it requires service contract number. we already have contract but my cisco.com profile do not reflect that since we just purchased the contract. how do i go about downloading the software?

[kerim mohammed]

so do i have to have Service contract with Cisco to download the iso image? please let me know.