This post describes how to install a Cisco ISE evaluation VM for labbing. The VM will run for 90 days, providing a full feature set for up to 100 endpoints.

Start by downloading the software. I’ll be using an OVA as I’m going to run my VM on ESX:

Deploy the OVA and select Eval version:

Power on the VM. When the VM boots, the following prompt is shown:

Type setup and press enter:

You will have to configure the hostname, IP address, name server, and so on:

Press 'Ctrl-C' to abort setup
Enter hostname[]: ise01
Enter IP address []: 192.168.128.102
Enter IP netmask []: 255.255.255.0
Enter IP default gateway []: 192.168.128.1
Do you want to configure IPv6 address? Y/N [N]: N
Enter default DNS domain []: iselab.local
Enter primary nameserver []: 192.168.128.100
Add secondary nameserver? Y/N [N]: N
Enter NTP server[time.nist.gov]: ntp.netnod.se
Add another NTP server? Y/N [N]: N
Enter system timezone[UTC]: CET
Enable SSH service? Y/N [N]: Y
Enter username [admin]: admin
Enter password:
Enter password again:
Bringing up the network interface...

The installation will take some time…

When the installation has finished, you should be able to SSH to the server:

Failed to log in 0 time(s)

admin connected from 10.254.255.2 using ssh on ise01
ise01/admin#show application 
<name>          <Description> 
ise             Cisco Identity Services Engine

ise01/admin#show application status ise

ISE PROCESS NAME                       STATE            PROCESS ID  
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Database Listener                      running          10701       
Database Server                        running          79 PROCESSES
Application Server                     initializing                 
Profiler Database                      running          14649       
ISE Elasticsearch                      not running                  
AD Connector                           not running                  
M&T Session Database                   running          12559       
M&T Log Processor                      not running                  
Certificate Authority Service          not running                  
EST Service                            not running                  
SXP Engine Service                     disabled                     
TC-NAC Service                         disabled        
PassiveID WMI Service                  disabled                     
PassiveID Syslog Service               disabled                     
PassiveID API Service                  disabled                     
PassiveID Agent Service                disabled                     
PassiveID Endpoint Service             disabled                     
PassiveID SPAN Service                 disabled                     
DHCP Server (dhcpd)                    disabled                     
DNS Server (named)                     disabled                     
ISE Messaging Service                  initializing                 
ISE API Gateway Database Service       initializing                 
ISE API Gateway Service                not running                  
ISE pxGrid Direct Service              not running                  
ISE pxGrid Direct Pusher               not running                  
Segmentation Policy Service            disabled                     
REST Auth Service                      disabled                     
SSE Connector                          disabled                     
Hermes (pxGrid Cloud Agent)            disabled                     
MFA (Duo Sync Service)                 disabled                     
McTrust (Meraki Sync Service)          disabled                     
aciconn (ACI Connection Service)       disabled                     
ISE Prometheus Service                 not running                  
ISE Prometheus Exporter                not running                  
ISE Grafana Service                    not running                  
ISE MNT LogAnalytics Elasticsearch     not running                  
ISE Logstash Service                   not running                  
ISE Kibana Service                     not running                  
ISE Native IPSec Service               running          17681       
MFC Profiler                           not running                  
ISE Prometheus Alertmanager Service    not running                  
Protocols Engine                       Disabled          

The GUI should now be reachable:

That’s all for this post. In the next one we’ll generate a certificate in the CA for ISE and install it.

Installing Cisco ISE Evaluation VM for Labbing
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