Getting Started

This chapter describes how to set up the Cisco Unified Application Environment by accessing the management console, performing basic configuration tasks, and installing applications. It also describes how to configure an example deployment and how to plan for redundancy and load balancing.

Before You Begin

Before you begin setting up the Cisco Unified Application Environment, you must do the following:

Download the license key files for any media firmware or text-to-speech licenses that have been purchased by your company or organization by going to cume-license-support@cisco.com. These licenses are required for applications that have media or text-to-speech capabilities. For more information, see "Configuring the Cisco Unified Media Engine."

Note This guide is intended for system administrators who are familiar with the Windows operating system, have a basic understanding of IP telephony, and have full knowledge of Cisco Unified CallManager and the installed IP telephone environment. For information on Cisco Unified CallManager, go to http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/voicesw/ps556/tsd_products_support_series_home.html

Setting Up the Cisco Unified Application Environment

To set up the Cisco Unified Application Environment, you must first perform these installation and configuration tasks:

Task 1: Log into the Management Console

In this task, you must log into the management console to access the Main Control Panel, which you will use to perform various tasks related to the environment, system, components, and logs.

Step 2

The system response depends upon whether this is a new or existing Cisco Unified Application Environment installation.

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If it is a new installation and the first time a user has accessed the management console, the password wizard opens. Enter and verify a password for the administrator account, and click Log In.

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If the management console has been accessed previously, the Management Console Login Screen opens ( Figure 2-2). Enter the username and password. Click Log In.

Note While you are logged in to the management console, you can return to the Main Control Panel at any time by clicking the Main Control Panel link near the top of the screen.

Now that you are logged into the management console, you can perform the required set-up tasks from the console.

Task 2: Enter License Keys

In this task, you use the management console to upload license files for media firmware and text-to-speech applications. Each license file contains a key that is required to activate a feature. Applications that use media capabilities require a media firmware license, and applications that use text-to-speech capabilities require a text-to-speech license.

Task 3: Assign Media Engines to the Application Server

In this task, it is assumed that the Cisco Unified Application Server will be hosting applications that use media capabilities. Therefore, you must identify the Cisco Unified Application Environment servers that have media engine software activated. When this is completed, you can add the media engines to collections of media engines (media resource groups) and configure an application and associate each partition of the application with a media resource group. This enables the application server to automatically use the available media engines and apply load balancing as needed.

Note It is necessary to add a media server to support media applications even if the application server and media server are on the same hardware platform.

Step 5

Enter the password required for access to the media server, and re-enter the password to verify.

Note

The Add to Group field lists the available media resource groups. For information on adding and assigning additional media resource groups, see the "Applications" section.

Task 4: Configure Cisco Unified CallManager Clusters to Integrate with the Cisco Unified Application Server

In this task, it is assumed that you plan to use applications that perform telephony operations. Therefore, you must configure one or more telephony servers to serve as endpoints for making and receiving calls to and from the application server.

However, the specific configuration steps are dependent upon the specific telephony protocol that the application uses. The Cisco Unified Application Environment supports the following telephony protocols:

Task 5: Install Applications

In this task, you must install the sample MakeCall and AnswerCall applications that were developed using the Cisco Unified Application Designer.

Note The steps required to configure a standard or custom application are specific to the application and are beyond the scope of this guide. See the "Task 4: Install, Configure, and Test Sample Applications" section for instructions on installing and configuring sample applications.

After completing tasks 1-5, you are now ready to use the Cisco Unified Application Environment to create, deploy, and execute converged voice and data applications. The specific procedures for these tasks differ according to your network infrastructure and application type. The next section, Configuring an Example Environment, describes how to configure Cisco Unified Application Environment to support two sample applications, load the applications, and then execute them.

Configuring an Example Environment

This section provides an example deployment scenario for setting up and configuring a Cisco Unified Application Environment. The specific tasks required for setting up the Cisco Unified Application Environment will vary depending on the integration requirements of each application.

Assumptions About the Example Environment

The required tasks for setting up the Cisco Unified Application Environment will vary according to specific protocols and applications such as these:

To show how the set-up process is typically performed, this section describes how to set up and configure an example environment having these properties:

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One Cisco Unified Application Server and one Cisco Unified Media Engine co-located on the same physical server, called the UAE Server

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One Cisco Unified CallManager cluster consisting of a publisher and a subscriber

Setting Up an Example Deployment and Performing Configuration Tasks

Note The required tasks will vary according to the protocols and applications that are used.

Task 1: Create an H.323 Gateway Telephony Server

In this task, you will use H.323 as the IP telephony protocol by first creating a single H.323 gateway telephony server corresponding to the subscriber IP address of the Cisco Unified CallManager cluster. You will place the gateway into an H.323 call route group (a collection of H.323 gateways). When you later configure an application, you can associate a call route group with each application partition.

Step 2

Select H.323 Gateway from the Add a Telephony Server pull-down list.

Step 5

Enter the IP address for the gateway, which will be a Cisco Unified CallManager subscriber.

Step 6

Verify that the default call route group setting in the Add to Group field is Default H.323.

Task 2: Identify the H.323 Gateway in Cisco Unified CallManager

In this task, you must define an H.323 gateway using the Cisco Unified CallManager administrative interface. You must also verify that the H.323 gateway device name corresponds to the IP address or Domain Name Service (DNS) name of the primary IP address of the Cisco Unified Application Server.

To associate the H.323 gateway and identify the correct parameters, follow these steps:

Step 5

Enter the gateway configuration information. Table 2-1 lists key fields and suggested settings.

Table 2-1 Gateway Configuration Information
Field	Description/Recommendation
Device Pool	Choose a device pool with the understanding that the RTP streams for this H.323 gateway terminate at the media engines in the media resource group used by partitions with this H.323 gateway in their configured call route group.
Location	Choose a location for your deployment with the understanding that the RTP streams for this H.323 gateway terminate at the media engines in the media resource group used by partitions with this H.323 gateway in their configured call route group.
Calling Search Space	Choose the calling search space for your deployment with the understanding that the RTP streams for this H.323 gateway terminate at the media engines in the media resource group used by partitions with this H.323 gateway in their configured call route group.
Media Resource Group List	Choose a media resource group for your deployment with the understanding that the RTP streams for this H.323 gateway terminate at the media engines in the media resource group used by partitions with this H.323 gateway in their configured call route group. Choose the calling search space for your deployment with the understanding that the applications that have this H.323 gateway in their configured call route group will have outbound calls subject to the chosen calling search space.
Tunneled Protocol	Recommended setting: None
Signaling Port	Recommended setting: 1720
Media Termination Point	Recommended setting: Uncheck
Retry Video Call	Recommended setting: Audio
Wait for Far End H.245 Terminal Capability Set	Recommended setting: Uncheck
Outbound Calls section	Recommended setting: Use defaults

Task 3: Set Up a Route Pattern

In this task, you must set up a route pattern in Cisco Unified CallManager to provide a route to the H.323 gateway that you defined in Task 2.

Task 4: Install, Configure, and Test Sample Applications

After completing tasks 1-3, you can install, configure, and test these sample applications:

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MakeCall—Sample application, which generates a call to a configured directory number (DN).

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AnswerCall—Sample application, which answers an incoming call to the Cisco Unified Application Server.

Test outbound dialing from the application server to Cisco Unified CallManager.

Make a call from the Cisco Unified Application Server to Cisco Unified CallManager to verify that you have successfully integrated outbound calling using H.323 and the Cisco Unified Application Environment.

Answer a call routed to the Cisco Unified Application Server to verify that you have successfully integrated inbound calling using H.323 and the Cisco Unified Application Environment.

MakeCall Application

The MakeCall application tests outbound dialing from the Cisco Unified Application Server to Cisco Unified CallManager as follows:

A successful outbound call indicates that the Cisco Unified CallManager cluster interprets the call as originating from the H.323 gateway that represents the Cisco Unified Application Server.

Figure 2-3 shows the call flow in which the MakeCall application makes a call to an internal IP phone.

The Cisco Unified Application Server makes an H.323 call to Cisco Unified CallManager.

Cisco Unified CallManager makes a call using SCCP to the IP phone as a result of the call from the Cisco Unified Application Server.

When the call is answered by the Cisco Unified Application Server, RTP streams are established between the IP phone and the media engine.

Figure 2-4 shows the call flow in which the MakeCall application makes a call to a phone on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).

Cisco Unified CallManager makes a call using H.323 or MGCP to the gateway as a result of the call from the application server.

The gateway makes a call to the PSTN as a result of the call from Cisco Unified CallManager.

When the call is answered by the phone on the PSTN, RTP streams are established between the gateway and the media engine.

Note Each application must execute in the context of a partition. For the MakeCall example, the application is running in the default partition. If you click the Edit button for the Default partition on the MakeCall page, you will see that the default call route group and media resource group are automatically selected and that the dialed number you configured is included. See the "Partitions" section for information on configuring partitions.

The MakeCall application incorporates the HandleMakeCall script, which triggers, or initiates, when an HTTP request is received over port 8000 on the application server. Because multiple HTTP-triggered scripts can be installed on the application server, you must verify that the HandleMakeCall script uses a unique trigger parameter.

To verify the trigger parameters for the HandleMakeCall script, follow these steps:

Step 3

Scroll down to the Partition section, and click the Edit button for the Default partition.

Step 4

Scroll down to the Scripts section and click Edit Trigger Parameters.

Step 5

Verify that the url trigger parameter value has the value /MakeCall. This means that the HandleMakeCall script will initiate when an HTTP request comes in with the URL http://<Application Server IP>:8000/MakeCall.

After installing the MakeCall application and verifying the trigger setting, you can test the application by opening a web browser and entering http://<Application Server IP>:8000/MakeCall.

If the outbound call succeeds, a message is presented, as shown in Figure 2-5, and you hear `goodbye' three times, then you have successfully integrated outbound calling using H.323 and the Cisco Unified Application Environment.

AnswerCall Application

The AnswerCall application tests inbound calling to the Cisco Unified Application Server as follows:

A successful call indicates that the Cisco Unified Application Server is able to receive incoming calls.

Figure 2-6 shows the call flow in which the AnswerCall application answers a call from an internal IP phone.

Cisco Unified CallManager makes an H.323 call as a result of the call from the IP phone.

When the call is answered by the application server, RTP streams are established between the IP phone and the media engine.

Figure 2-7 shows the call flow in which the AnswerCall application answers a call from the PSTN.

The gateway makes a call to Cisco Unified CallManager as a result of the call from the PSTN phone.

Cisco Unified CallManager makes an H.323 call as a result of the call from the gateway.

When the call is answered by the application server, RTP streams are established between the gateway and the media engine.

Note Each application must execute as a partition. For the AnswerCall example, the application is running in the default partition. If you click the Edit button for the Default partition on the AnswerCall page, you will see that the default call route group and media resource group are automatically selected. See the "Partitions" section for information on configuring partitions.

The HandleInboundCall script, which handles calls routed to the application server, does not contain any pre-defined trigger parameters. However, because it is a dial-in application (you dial a number to test it), it is a good idea to define a trigger parameter for the script.

For consistency with the route pattern 5000X, which was defined in Task 3: Set Up a Route Pattern, define a trigger parameter with the name `to' and value `50000.'

To define the trigger parameter for the HandleInboundCall script, follow these steps:

Step 3

Scroll down to the Partition section, and click the Edit button for the Default partition.

Step 4

Scroll down to the Scripts section and click Edit Trigger Parameters.

To test the application, call 50000 from an IP phone that is configured to dial to the previously-defined route pattern ( Figure 2-8). The call should answer immediately, and you should hear three 'goodbye's followed by a hang up.

You have now completed the installation, configuration, and testing of two sample applications. See these chapters for additional configuration and maintenance information and instructions:

Planning for Redundancy

The Cisco Unified Application Environment includes limited support for redundancy with clustering:

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If you have multiple application servers, they can each act as a hot standby for the others.

After the master/standby relationship is configured, the standby machines create an active replication link with the respective master servers. If a master server becomes unreachable, its standby uses the replicated configuration information to register the devices held by the master server in addition to its own.

When the master server recovers, the standby relinquishes the devices that were originally owned by the master and then signals the master to begin registration. The master registers its original devices and the configuration is restored.

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Active calls that involve the failing server may or may not be terminated depending on the signalling protocol used and whether or not the call used media resources that were located on the failing appliance.

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All active application instances and related state information are lost during failover.

Table Of Contents

Getting Started

Before You Begin

Setting Up the Cisco Unified Application Environment

Task 1: Log into the Management Console

Task 2: Enter License Keys

Task 3: Assign Media Engines to the Application Server

Task 4: Configure Cisco Unified CallManager Clusters to Integrate with the Cisco Unified Application Server

Task 5: Install Applications

Configuring an Example Environment

Assumptions About the Example Environment

Setting Up an Example Deployment and Performing Configuration Tasks

Task 1: Create an H.323 Gateway Telephony Server

Task 2: Identify the H.323 Gateway in Cisco Unified CallManager

Task 3: Set Up a Route Pattern

Task 4: Install, Configure, and Test Sample Applications

MakeCall Application

AnswerCall Application

Planning for Redundancy