ACS 5.3 is supported on a hardware appliance,
VMWare ESX and VMWare Server. Even though not supported, it works without modification
in VMWare Player. None of the above helps us if we want to test it with switches
or routers in GNS3. While version 5.2 could be installed in VirtualBox, v5.3
consistently failed installation with “Unsupported hardware” error message. After
trying all possible combinations of virtual hardware in VBox it still refused
to install. After some hacking I eventually managed to get working.
Installation requires modification of the ISO
image provided by Cisco and a bit of cheating in the kickstart file and pre-creation
of partitions in the VM. We will need ISO editor (ISOpen or MagicISO), text
editor (such as Notepad++) and a Linux live CD of your choice.
VBox hardware configuration:
OS Type: RedHat
RAM: 1024
CPU: PAE/NX enabled, VT-x/AMD-V disabled
Floppy: Disabled
Storage: Disk 70GB (I used dynamically expanded),
Controller SCSI, SCSI Port 0
Audio: disabled
Network: Adapter Intel PRO/1000 MT
Serial Ports & USB: Disabled
All remaining settings stay at defaults.
Now we need to modify the kickstart file – ks.cfg –
found in the root of the installation disk.
Red color shows old values and blue new ones.
Change 0 to 1 on line 36
36: VM_APPLIANCE=01
Delete line 54
Set variable “ret” to 0
56: ret="$?"0
Delete lines 57 to 61 inclusive
Delete –all from line 104
104: echo "#clearpart --all --initlabel";
Delete lines 186 to 195 inlcusive
186: else
Save the file, and replace the existing ks.cfg in
the ISO image. When saving the edited
ISO make sure the it is still bootable (ISOopen shows if the disk is bootable
in the main UI).
Edited ks.cfg file can be downloaded here: http://www.filefactory.com/file/a322ga9ez05/n/ks.cfg
If we try the installation with our edited ISO we’ll get
further than before, the install will still fail though.
Now we need to create partitions on the disk we’ll be installing
ACS to.
Boot the VM to a Live Linux distro of your choice, create
2GB partition /sda1 and format it as ext3.
Now we should be able to install ACS. Simply boot the edited
installation disk and follow the prompts.
When booting ACS sits on "ip_contract" for a few minutes so be patient it will eventually boot.
When booting ACS sits on "ip_contract" for a few minutes so be patient it will eventually boot.
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