CUCM 7.0 & AMD Incompatibility

I was recently able to get my hands on a nice suite of Cisco NFR software to aid in my studies. Items included: CUCM 7.1.3 / Unity Connections 7.1 / CUPS 7.0(5) / UCCX 7.0(1). It also included CUCM 7.0(2a) which is what is outlined on the CCIE-Voice exam blueprint. I was pretty happy about this, since I currently only have CUCM 6.x and wanted to be able to have some hands-on with the actual version that I will be seeing in the lab.

Being like a kid on Christmas, I broke out the CUCM 7.0(2a) DVD and started the install on my VMWare server. This is where it all went wrong. Like getting an awesome new toy, but your parents forgot to buy the batteries.

Now, I have installed CUCM 6.x multiple times using VMWare and have not had any issues. In doing a little research, I found that the only thing you really have to change is the base OS, Linux Red Hat Enterprise 4. Everything started off like a charm, I entered all of the required info, usernames, passwords, networking, etc…

Then, about 80% through the install, I get the following screen

Ok, no big deal, maybe there was an issue with the image that I made from the DVD. I tried to install it again directly from the DVD. Same error. After attempting to install 7 or 8 times, I decided that I would turn to the web to help sort out my frustrations. That is when I came across a few posts mentioning that CUCM 7.0 will not install when using VMWare on a server with an AMD processor.

A few others offered possible workarounds for this:
Install using VMWare Server 1.x — Failed
When installing, make sure you run a media check — Failed
When installing, skip the basic setup, let the install run, then tell it the server is not the first node — Failed

There were countless posts that said “I don’t have any issues, everything installed just fine”. Come later to find out they all have Intel processors. As far as I know, there is no way around this. Obviously you can’t have VMWare imitate an Intel processor.

I am happy to report that this issue was fixed in the 7.1 release. I have successfully installed CUCM 7.1(3) using VMWare on my AMD server. The only issue that I have come across, and it seems to be a popular one, is that the Streaming Media App service will not start. However, this will be dealt with once I can confirm the work around actually takes care of it.