Configuring Cisco ACI with Ansible AWX running in Docker

February 22, 2022

Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction Requirements AWX Install Options AWX Install for AWS/EC2 based install with Terraform AWX VM Preperation for vSphere based install Administering AWX GUI References Introduction We are looking into an APIC integration with a security product and it requires an AWX Ansible server to push configuration changes to our … More Configuring Cisco ACI with Ansible AWX running in Docker

Cloud ACI 25.0.2 AWS Brownfield Integration to Cloud ACI Fabric on AWS (with Proof Of Concept)

February 11, 2022

Table of Contents: Credits Introduction Considerations Cloud APIC relationship to Brownfield VPC Implementation Steps overview Ensure that Contract Based Routing Is Turned on ⚠️ Proof of Concept a. POC Topology     a.1. Explanation of POC Topology     a.2. Releases used in this POC b. Terraform: Spin up ACI Tenant using Terraform c. Terraform: … More Cloud ACI 25.0.2 AWS Brownfield Integration to Cloud ACI Fabric on AWS (with Proof Of Concept)

Part 2 – Cisco ACI 5.2 and Kubernetes 1.21 CNI Feature Highlights

February 11, 2022

Table of contents Table of contents Introduction Network Diagram Visability into your Kubernetes Cluster EPG Visability of Containers and Nodes Easily Secure Kubernetes Applications and Cluster through ACI Contracts L4-L7 Load Balancing Integration Path of the packet and a Little PBR References Introduction In this article we examine our Cisco ACI integration with Kubernetes and … More Part 2 – Cisco ACI 5.2 and Kubernetes 1.21 CNI Feature Highlights

Cisco Cloud ACI Generic External Connectivity

January 20, 2022

Table of Contents: Credits Introduction Solution Requirements Basic Concept Implementation Steps overview Proof of Concept a. Initial Tenant & External Infrastructure bringup b. spin up csr for physical infrastructure c. initial config of csr on physical infrastructure d. changing ec2s for password authentication e. Workflow For Configuring from NDO     e.1. Create ext VRF … More Cisco Cloud ACI Generic External Connectivity

Part 1 – Cisco ACI 5.2 and Kubernetes 1.21 CNI Integration

December 20, 2021

Table of contents Table of contents Introduction Network Diagram Lab Requirements My Kubernetes Installation Method – Ansible + kubeadm Creating a VM template Ansible Server Configuration Ansible Host Software Setup Configure Ansible Playbook ACI Fabric Pre-Requisites VMM Tenant(s), VRF and L3OUT Deploy The K8 Cluster Basic K8 Host Network Configuration Verifying you have a Successful … More Part 1 – Cisco ACI 5.2 and Kubernetes 1.21 CNI Integration

Terraform with Cisco Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator for building Hybrid Cloud and end to end services

December 20, 2021

Table of contents Introduction What We Will Demo in this Article A Brief Introduction to Terraform Characteristics of Terraform Important Pointers of Terraform Terraform Providers Terraform HCL code structure What Order are Resources built Terraform Backends Provisioners Executing The HCL Code Types of IAC Tools Terraform Commands Items to Remember for Terraform Security Considerations when … More Terraform with Cisco Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator for building Hybrid Cloud and end to end services

Ansible Automation for Nexus Dashboard/Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator

November 30, 2021

I am writing this article to make you aware of Ansible usage with Cisco Nexus Dashboard/Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator.  I will write one for Terraform with NDO soon. Previously, I had written an article  Getting Started: Cisco MSO with Ansible which is still valid for the most part. However, a few things changed from then to … More Ansible Automation for Nexus Dashboard/Nexus Dashboard Orchestrator

Part 3 – Monitoring Apps deployed on K8s cluster on ACI Fabric Using AppDynamics/NDI

December 9, 2021

Introduction In this article we will focus on monitoring an application running within a Kubernetes cluster. This Kubernetes cluster has been integrated with Cisco ACI CNI, however that is not a requirement for the integration or monitoring to work. If you have read the previous articles you will remember that we were previously installing each … More Part 3 – Monitoring Apps deployed on K8s cluster on ACI Fabric Using AppDynamics/NDI