Cisco Unity Express Installation and Upgrade

Last Updated on Sun, 06 Aug 2023 | Voice Config

As discussed in Chapter 9, Cisco Unity Express is a hardware module that is installed in a Cisco router. Unlike the Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CME) IOS-based operating system, the Cisco Unity Express operating system is Linux based. This means that Cisco Unified CME and Cisco Unity Express are two distinct systems. Because of this separation, Cisco Unity Express software must be loaded and configured on the Cisco Unity Express module before it can provide voice-mail, auto-attendant, and other functions to Cisco Unified CME or Cisco Unified Communications Manager. This section examines what is needed to load Cisco Unity Express software on the Cisco Unity Express module.

Installing the Cisco Unity Express Module

The AIM-CUE module is the only Cisco Unity Express module that is installed inside a Cisco router. The NM-CUE, NM-CUE-EC, and NME-CUE modules are external hardware modules that are inserted into an external network module slot on a Cisco router.

Note Refer to Chapter 9 for detailed information on router and IOS support for the different Cisco Unity Express modules as well as notes about hot swapping and slot placement.

Once the Cisco Unity Express module has been successfully installed in the router and power is applied, a service interface will appear. Example 10.1 shows abbreviated output from the show run command that illustrates the new interface.

Example 10.1 Interface Service-Engine CME# show run

! Output omitted for brevity interface Loopback0

interface FastEthernet0/1 ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface Service-Engine1/0

In this example, the Cisco Unity Express module, a NM-CUE, is installed in slot 1, unit 0, creating the interface service-engine 1/0. Note that the slot number is dependant upon the physical network module slot that Cisco Unity Express is installed in. If Cisco Unity Express had been installed in slot 2 of a Cisco 2821, the service-engine would be assigned slot 2, unit 0. The AIM-CUE module, which is installed inside the Cisco router, not in a network module slot, is always assigned a service-engine of slot 0, unit 1.

First, the service-engine must be assigned an IP address. This can be accomplished using the ip address command on the service-engine interface; however, this approach requires the use of a new IP subnet that must be propagated to all routers in the network. The best practice is to assign an IP address to the service-engine using the ip unnumbered command, as shown in Example 10.2.

Example 10.2 ip unnumbered Command CME# show run

! Output omitted for brevity interface Loopback0

interface FastEthernet0/0 ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface Service-Engine1/0 ip unnumbered Loopback0

The ip unnumbered command allows the service-engine to share the IP address of another interface, avoiding the issue of dedicating an IP subnet to the service-engine. In this example, the service engine is sharing an IP address with interface Loopback 0, which is configured to use 10.100.1.1. A loopback interface was chosen because this address is always in an up state even if other interfaces on the router are down because of circuit failures. This means that the service-engine will also remain in an up state. For this reason, using ip unnumbered and specifying a loopback interface is best practice.

Next, the service-module must be assigned an IP address and a default gateway. You can think of the service-module as the internal interface of Cisco Unity Express, while the service-engine is the external interface of Cisco Unity Express. Traffic from Cisco Unity Express to an endpoint, such as an IP phone, will originate from the service-module, pass to the service-engine, and then route to the endpoint. Traffic from the endpoint will be forwarded to the service-engine, pass to the service-module, and then route to the Cisco Unity Express application.

Example 10.3 shows abbreviated output from the show run command that illustrates the service-module configuration.

Chapter 10: Cisco Unity Express Configuration 363 Example 10.3 Displaying the Service Module Configuration

CME# show run

! Output omitted for brevity interface Loopback0

ip address 10.100.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface FastEthernet0/0 ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface Service-Engine1/0

ip unnumbered Loopback0 service-module ip address 10.100.1.10 255.255.255.0 service-module ip default-gateway 10.100.1.1

In this example, the service-module is assigned an IP address of 10.100.1.10 using the service-module ip address command. Notice that the service-module is on the same IP subnet as the IP address of the service-engine, which is Loopback 0 because the ip unnumbered command was used.

Next, the default gateway is configured using the service-module ip default-gateway command. The default gateway is the IP address configured for the service-engine, or 10.100.1.1 in this example. Remember that traffic from Cisco Unity Express uses the service-module as an originating point. There needs to be a way for this traffic to be passed to the service-engine in order for the traffic to be routed out to the endpoint. The way this is accomplished is by assigning the IP address of the service-engine as the default gateway to the service-module.

Finally, a path needs to be added for traffic sent to Cisco Unity Express. Because the service-module is the internal interface of Cisco Unity Express, endpoint traffic destined for Cisco Unity Express cannot access this interface directly without passing through the external interface, the service-engine. This requires that a static IP route be configured in the router to redirect all traffic destined for the service-module to the service-engine interface. Example 10.4 adds the IP route statement and shows all IOS configurations needed to provide IP connectivity to the Cisco Unity Express module.

Example 10.4 Complete Cisco Unified CME Configuration for Cisco Unity Express IP

Connectivity f Key

\ Topic

CME# show run

Output omitted for brevity interface Loopback0

Example 10.4 Complete Cisco Unified CME Configuration for Cisco Unity Express IP Connectivity continued ip address 10.100.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface FastEthernet0/0 ip address 10.1.1.1 255.255.255.0

interface Service-Engine1/0 ip unnumbered Loopback0

service-module ip address 10.100.1.10 255.255.255.0 service-module ip default-gateway 10.100.1.1

ip route 10.100.1.10 255.255.255.255 Service-Engine1/0

Notice that this static route is a host route, because the subnet mask is 255.25.255.255. This means that packets destined for 10.100.1.10 alone are routed to the service-engine; no other addresses in this subnet will be routed to the service-engine.

At this point the Cisco Unity Express module has been installed and has IP connectivity.

To connect to the command-line interface (CLI) of the Cisco Unity Express module, use the session option on the service-module service-engine command. Example 10.5 shows the command syntax used to connect to the CLI of a Cisco Unity Express module installed in slot 1/0.

.■••'" " Example 10.5 Connecting to the Cisco Unity Express CLI Key Topic

CME# service-module service-Engine 1/0 session

CUE>

Note After issuing this command, the session may appear to hang or freeze and not return the CLI prompt. Press the Enter key to access the CLI prompt.

Installing and Upgrading the Cisco Unity Express Software

After you have installed the service-engine in the Cisco router, configured it for IP connectivity, and made a CLI connection, you can load the Cisco Unity Express software on the hardware module.

Table 10.2 lists the files that make up the Cisco Unity Express voice-mail and auto-attendant software.

Table 10.2 Cisco Unity Express Voice-Mail and Auto-Attendant Software

Filename

Description

cue-vm-k9.nm-aim.3.1.x.pkg

The main software package file

cue-installer.nm-aim.3.1.x

Installer image (also known as the Helper image)

cue-vm-installer-k9.nm-aim.3.1.x.prt1

Installer payload file

cue-vm-full-k9.nm-aim.3.1.x.prt1

Voice-mail application

cue-vm-upgrade-k9.nm-aim.2.3.4 3.1.x.prt1

Package file to upgrade from version 2.3.4

cue-vm-langpack.nm-aim.3.1.x.pkg1

Language package file

cue-vm-en_US-langpack.nm-aim.3.1.x.prt1

English (U.S.) language package

Note Refer to Chapter 9 for more information about the Cisco Unity Express software files.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is used to load the Cisco Unity Express software on the Cisco Unity Express hardware platform. This means that you will need to copy the files to an FTP server that Cisco Unity Express can access. There are several freeware and shareware FTP server applications that can be used for this process.

Cisco Unity Express software can be loaded as an upgrade from version 2.3.4 to version 3.1. In an upgrade, messages and Cisco Unity Express configurations are retained; however, a full backup of Cisco Unity Express is recommended before the upgrade. To upgrade from any other versions of Cisco Unity Express to version 3.1, a clean install is required. A clean install will delete messages and Cisco Unity Express configuration, so a full backup is required prior to the clean install.

Once the Cisco Unity Express software files have been copied to an FTP server, you have two options for installing or upgrading Cisco Unity Express:

■ Copy the software to the Cisco Unity Express hardware platform and run it locally

■ Run the software from the FTP server

The software download command is used to copy the Cisco Unity Express files to the Cisco Unity Express hardware platform without performing a clean install or an upgrade. Table 10.3 lists the options of the software download [{server} | {clean} | {upgrade} | {status} | {abort}] command.

Table 10.3 software download Command

Option

Explanation

software download server url

server-ip-address[/dir] refers to the IP address and the

ftp://server-ip-address[/dir]

directory of the FTP server.

[username username password

password]

software download clean

package-file-name refers to the name of the file to be

{package-file-name |

downloaded, while ftp-server-ip-address refers to the

url ftp://ftp-server-ip-address/

IP address of the FTP server that contains the file to

package-file-name}

be loaded.

If the software download server

command has been previously

configured, the url ftp

option is not needed.

software download

package-file-name refers to the name of the file to be

upgrade {package-file-name |

downloaded, while ftp-server-ip-address refers to the

url ftp://ftp-server-ip-address/

IP address of the FTP server that contains the file to

package-file-name}

be loaded.

If the software download server command has been

previously configured, the url ftp option is not needed.

software download status

This command reports the status of a software down-

load currently in progress.

software download abort

This command is used to cancel a software download

that is currently in progress.

The following command syntax shows that 10.1.1.11 is the FTP server, cue-vm-k9.nm-aim.3.1.1.pkg is the main software package file, and the upgrade option is used, indicating that the current version of Cisco Unity Express is version 2.3.4 and Cisco Unity Express will be upgraded to version 3.1:

Key Topic

CUE#

CUE# software download upgrade url ftp://10.1.1.11/cue-vm-k9.nm-aim.3.1.1.pkg

The following syntax shows the same command using the clean option, indicating that this will be a fresh install of Cisco Unity Express version 3.1. If a previous version of ; Key Cisco Unity Express resides on the hardware platform, the existing messages and config- \ Topic uration must be backed up and restored if they need to be retained.

CUE#

CUE# software download clean url ftp://10.1.1.11/cue-vm-k9.nm-aim.3.1.1.pkg

Running the software download command is useful if your FTP server is not local to Cisco Unity Express or if you need to upgrade after hours and want to have the software local to Cisco Unity Express, ready to implement at the designated time.

The software download status command can be used to verify that the Cisco Unity Express software has been copied to the Cisco Unity Express hardware module. Example 10.6 illustrates a successful software load.

Example 10.6 software download status Command

CUE# software download status

Download request completed successfully. CUE#

The software install command is used to load or upgrade the Cisco Unity Express software. Similar to the software download command, the software install command can be used with the upgrade option to upgrade from version 2.3.4 to version 3.1, or with the clean option to perform a fresh install. Table 10.4 lists the options of the software install [{clean} | {upgrade}] command.

Table 10.4 software install Command

Command

Option and Function software install clean

{package-file-name |

url ftp://ftp-server-ip-address/

package-file-name}

package-file-name refers to the name of the file to be installed, while ftp-server-ip-address refers to the IP address of the FTP server that contains the file to be loaded.

If the software download server command has been previously configured, the url ftp option is not needed.

software install upgrade

{package-file-name |

url ftp://ftp-server-ip-address /

package-file-name}

package-file-name refers to the name of the file to be installed, while ftp-server-ip-address refers to the IP address of the FTP server that contains the file to be loaded.

If the software download server command has been previously configured, the url ftp option is not needed.

Example 10.7 shows the software install syntax using the clean option, where the Cisco Unity Express software is being installed directly from the FTP server.

•• Example 10.7 software install clean Command

CUE# software install clean url ftp://10.1.1.11/cue-vm-k9.nm-aim.3.1

1.pkg

WARNING::

This command will download the necessary software to

WARNING::

complete a clean install. It is recommended that a backup

be done

WARNING::

before installing software.

WARNING::

The system will briefly be brought to an offline state

WARNING::

This will terminate any active call and prevent new calls

WARNING::

from being processed.

Would you

like to continue? [n] y

Choosing yes at the prompt shown in Example 10.7 causes the Cisco Unity Express software to begin to load onto the hardware platform. The Cisco Unity Express files continue to be downloaded and validated until the installer is prompted to choose the appropriate language files. Example 10.8 shows the language file of U.S. English being installed.

Maximum 5 language add-ons allowed for this platform. Please select language(s) to install from the following list:

Language Installation Menu:

# Selected SKU Language Name (version)

1

ITA

CUE

Voicemail

Italian (3.0.0.0)

2

ESP

CUE

Voicemail

European Spanish (3.0.0.0)

3

ENU

CUE

Voicemail

US English (3.0.0.0)

4

FRA

CUE

Voicemail

European French (3.0.0.0)

5

ESO

CUE

Voicemail

Latin American Spanish (3.0.0.0)

6

ESM

CUE

Voicemail

Mexican Spanish (3.0.0.0)

7

NLD

CUE

Voicemail

Dutch (3.0.0.19)

8

SVE

CUE

Voicemail

Swedish (3.0.0.19)

9

FRC

CUE

Voicemail

Canadian French (3.0.0.0)

10

ENG

CUE

Voicemail

UK English (3.0.0.0)

11

DEU

CUE

Voicemail

German (3.0.0.0)

12

DAN

CUE

Voicemail

Danish (3.0.0.0)

13

PTB

CUE

Voicemail

Brazilian Portuguese (3.0.0.0)

14

KOR

CUE

Voicemail

Korean (3.0.0.0)

15

CHS

CUE

Voicemail

Mandarin Chinese (3.0.0.0)

16

JPN

CUE

Voicemail

Japanese (3.0.0.0)

Available commands are:

# - enter the number for the language to select one r # - remove the language for given # i # - more information about the language for given # x - Done with language selection

Enter Command:3

Language Installation Menu:

# Selected SKU Language Name (version)

1 ITA CUE Voicemail Italian (3.0.0.0)

2 ESP CUE Voicemail European Spanish (3.0.0.0)

3 * ENU CUE Voicemail US English (3.0.0.0)

4 FRA CUE Voicemail European French (3.0.0.0)

5 ESO CUE Voicemail Latin American Spanish (3.0.0.0)

6 ESM CUE Voicemail Mexican Spanish (3.0.0.0)

7 NLD CUE Voicemail Dutch (3.0.0.19)

8 SVE CUE Voicemail Swedish (3.0.0.19)

9 FRC CUE Voicemail Canadian French (3.0.0.0)

10 ENG CUE Voicemail UK English (3.0.0.0)

11 DEU CUE Voicemail German (3.0.0.0)

12 DAN CUE Voicemail Danish (3.0.0.0)

13 PTB CUE Voicemail Brazilian Portuguese (3.0.0.0)

14 KOR CUE Voicemail Korean (3.0.0.0)

15 CHS CUE Voicemail Mandarin Chinese (3.0.0.0)

16 JPN CUE Voicemail Japanese (3.0.0.0)

Available commands are:

# - enter the number for the language to select one r # - remove the language for given # i # - more information about the language for given # x - Done with language selection

Enter Command:x ui_install scripts executed successfully. CUE#

Although U.S. English was the only language chosen in this example, the NM-CUE module used in the example supports up to five languages.

Note Refer to Chapter 9 for the number of languages supported by each Cisco Unity Express hardware platform.

After you choose languages, enter an x to instruct Cisco Unity Express that all desired languages have been selected and to proceed with the installation.

At this point the system will be put back into an offline state as the Cisco Unity Express language files are installed. Upon completion of the installation, Cisco Unity Express will perform a cleanup of the downloaded installation files and automatically reboot the Cisco Unity Express module to bring the system into an online state, using the upgraded version.

Adding and Verifying Cisco Unity Express Licenses

The license file dictates the following options for Cisco Unity Express:

■ Support for either Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unified CME

■ Number of general delivery mailboxes (GDM) supported

■ Number of subscriber mailboxes supported

■ Number of IVR ports supported

Note As discussed in Chapter 9, the hardware platform that Cisco Unity Express resides on places a constraint of maximum supported ports and mailboxes as well. Therefore, the license file cannot exceed the limits of the hardware platform.

Installing a Cisco Unity Express license follows the same process as installing the Cisco Unity Express software. Example 10.9 shows a Cisco Unity Express license file being loaded on an FTP server. This license file enables support for CME and 100 mailboxes.

Example 10.9 Installing Cisco Unity Express Licenses CUE# software install clean url ftp://10.1.1.11/cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg

WARNING WARNING WARNING

This command will install the necessary software to complete a clean install. It is recommended that a backup be done before installing software.

WARNING WARNING WARNING

The system will briefly be brought to an offline state This will terminate any active call and prevent new calls from being processed.

Would you like to continue? [n] y

Downloading ftp cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg Bytes downloaded : 5342

Validating package signature ... done compatibility mode

- Parsing package manifest files... complete. Validating installed manifests complete.

- Checking Package dependencies... complete.

- Checking Manifest dependencies for subsystems in the install candidate list.. complete

The system will be brought to offline state for a brief period and will be brought back to online state automatically

No work order produced.

The system is back in online state

Performing Hot install ...starting_phase:

install-files.sh /dwnld/.hot_work_order install_file /dwnld/pkgdata/cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg 2 _LICENSE_ none voicemail_lic.sig Size of buff is: 65536 65536 bytes written 55296+0 records in 108+0 records out 901

Reading 901 from input stream ...

Check license policies:

max_mailboxes=100

max_ivr_ports=

ivr_incremental=

mailbox_incremental=

add_file /dwnld/pkgdata/cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg 1 / /sw/installed/ manifest/lmanifest.signed none

Remove //dwnld/pkgdata/cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg

Remove //dwnld/.install_started

Size of buff is: 65536

65536 bytes written

Reading License... Parsing...

100 MAILBOX LICENSE

/tmp/license/voicemail_lic.sig done complete.

Important:: A Reload is required in order for the new License to take effect.

Notice that the name of the license file in Example 10.9 is cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg. From this name you can deduce the number of mailboxes supported (100) and the type of IP PBX (Cisco Unified CME) supported. This means that Cisco Unity Express will support a CME installation with up to 100 mailboxes. If Cisco Unity Express needed to support 100 mailboxes on a Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation, the cue-vm-license_100mbx_ccm_3.1.1.pkg license file would have been installed. The two licenses are mutually exclusive, meaning that a single Cisco Unity Express cannot support both a Cisco Unified CME installation and a Cisco Unified Communications Manager installation simultaneously.

Note After the Cisco Unity Express Initialization Wizard has been completed (as described later in this chapter), the license cannot be changed between CME and CCM support without a fresh install of the Cisco Unity Express software.

Once the license file has been installed on Cisco Unity Express, you can use the show software command to verify the number of licensed mailboxes and the IP PBX supported. Table 10.5 lists the options of the show software command.

Table 10.5 show software Command

Related Posts

Readers' Questions

  • Zula
    How to upgrade cisco unity?
    1 year ago
    • Cisco Unity is a unified communications platform which enables collaboration between users and devices. It is designed for small to medium sized businesses and provides features such as voicemail, unified messaging, auto-attendant, call routing, and call handling. In order to upgrade your Cisco Unity server, you need to follow the steps below:
    1. Download the latest Cisco Unity software version from the Cisco website.
    2. Install the software on the server.
    3. Update the server's database by running the database upgrade utility.
    4. Update the server's operating system (if required).
    5. Validate the upgrade process by running tests and verifying that all components are functioning properly.
    6. Run the conversion utility to update existing users to the new version.
    7. Update the Cisco Unity endpoints (if required).
    8. Update the server's hardware (if required).
    9. Update the server's firmware (if required).
    10. Reboot the server and verify that the upgrade was successful.

    Command

    Option and Function

    show software {directory |

    The directory option lists the contents of the software

    download server | licenses |

    directory.

    packages | versions}

    The download server option displays the IP address of the

    download server if configured.

    The licenses option displays the installed license files.

    The packages option lists the configured Cisco Unity

    Express application packages.

    The versions option displays the current versions of all

    configured Cisco Unity Express applications.

    Example 10.10 shows the output from the show software license command after the cue-vm-license_100mbx_cme_3.1.1.pkg license file has been loaded on an NM-CUE module.

    Notice that Cisco Unity Express now has the capability of hosting 100 mailboxes and can be configured to support Cisco Unified CME. By default, an additional 20 mailboxes can be configured as GDMs. As discussed in Chapter 9, the NM-CUE module supports eight system ports, 100 hours of recording time, and five languages.

    Example 10.11 shows the output from the show software license command after the cue-vm-license_100mbx_ccm_3.1.1.pkg license file has been loaded on an NM-CUE module.

    Example 10.11 Verifying Cisco Unified Communications Manager Support CUE# show software license Installed license files:

    - voicemail_lic.sig : 100 MAILBOX LICENSE

    Core:

    - Application mode: CCM

    - Total usable system ports: 8

    Voicemail/Auto Attendant:

    - Max system mailbox capacity time: 6000

    - Default # of general delivery mailboxes: 20

    - Default # of personal mailboxes: 100

    Example 10.10 Verifying Cisco Unified CME Support CUE# show software license Installed license files:

    - voicemail_lic.sig : 100 MAILBOX LICENSE

    Core:

    - Application mode: CCME

    - Total usable system ports: 8

    Voicemail/Auto Attendant:

    - Max system mailbox capacity time: 6000

    - Default # of general delivery mailboxes: 20

    - Default # of personal mailboxes: 100

    - Max # of configurable mailboxes: 120

    Interactive Voice Response:

    - Max # of IVR ports: Not Available

    Languages:

    - Max installed languages: 5

    - Max enabled languages: 5 CUE#

    Key Topic

    Example 10.11 Verifying Cisco Unified Communications Manager Support continued

    - Max # of configurable mailboxes: 120

    Interactive Voice Response:

    - Max # of IVR ports: Not Available

    Languages:

    - Max installed languages: 5

    - Max enabled languages: 5 CUE#

    Notice that the only difference between Example 10.10 and 10.11 is the IP PBX that Cisco Unity Express will support. In Example 10.11, Cisco Unity Express will be configured to support Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

    Continue reading here: Cisco Unity Express Configuration

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