Cisco Cisco TelePresence Video Communication Server Expressway

Create a new cluster of Cisco VCS X5 peers 

This process creates a new cluster from a set of X5.x Cisco VCSs. Do not use this process if the 
cluster already exists; instead, follow the instructions in “Add an X5 Cisco VCS to a Cisco VCS X5 
cluster”. 

Note: If Device Provisioning or FindMe is to be used with an X5 Cisco VCS cluster, then use of Cisco 
TMS is essential. If neither Device Provisioning nor FindMe is to be used, then use of Cisco TMS is 
optional but recommended. 

If Cisco TMS is to be used with this Cisco VCS cluster, ensure that it is running version 12.6 
– if an upgrade to Cisco TMS is required, see the process documented in “Upgrade a Cisco VCS X3 / 
X4 cluster to an X5 cluster”. 

 

the Cisco VCSs to be included in the cluster must all be running the same version of software, 
and that version of software must be X5 or later 
- if any of the cluster peers have had their VCS Database and Device provisioning components 
upgraded, then all Cisco VCSs to be included in the cluster must have those components 
upgraded. 

 

if Device Provisioning and FindMe are configured, they have already been proven to be 
operational on the master Cisco VCS after its upgrade to X5 

 

if Cisco TMS is being used it is configured as specified in “Upgrade a Cisco VCS X3 / X4 cluster 
to an X5 cluster” 

1.  Determine which Cisco VCS will be the Master. 

Note: 

 

The Master Cisco VCS will be the source of the configuration information for all Cisco VCS peers 
in the cluster. Non-master Cisco VCS peers will have their configuration deleted and replaced by 
that from the Master. 

 

During this upgrade process there will be the opportunity to merge each Cisco VCS’s FindMe 
accounts into the FindMe database for this cluster, provided that the Cisco VCS is already 
replicating its FindMe information with Cisco TMS. 

 

FindMe information can only be kept if the relevant Cisco VCS is already configured to operate 
with Cisco TMS and is configured with Enable TMS Agent Data Replication. (FindMe 
information is deleted and overwritten by the information from Cisco TMS when Enable TMS 
Agent Data Replication is first enabled.) 

For every Cisco VCS to be added to the cluster (including the Master Cisco VCS): 
2.  Check that no other Cisco VCS (anywhere) has any of these Cisco VCSs’ IP addresses in its 

Alternates or Clustering Peers list. 

On neighbor Gatekeepers (GKs) and Border Controllers (BCs): 
3.  If the Master Cisco VCS has a traversal zone configured to connect with any GK or BC, upgrade 

these systems to N6.1 or Q6.1 or later code. 

For every Cisco VCS to be added to the cluster (including the Master Cisco VCS): 
4.  Check that the Cisco VCS is running X5 (or later) software. 

5.  Backup the Cisco VCS (See Appendix 1 for details). 

Cisco VCS Deployment Guide: Cluster creation and maintenance (Cisco VCS X5) 

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