/mcpThis guide provides the general installation procedures for Unified Communications Manager. If your deployment integrates Unified CM with other Cisco solutions, such as Unified Contact Center Enterprise (UCCE), review the installation and upgrade documentation for each product. This ensures that you meet all integration requirements across platforms. For example, if you are integrating Unified CM with Cisco Contact Center, also refer to the Contact Center Enterprise Installation and Upgrade Guide. Note Requirements and Limitations The following sections provide information about the requirements that your system must meet, and limitations that apply when you install or upgrade Unified Communications Manager or IM and Presence Service. • By default, if your system is in non-FIPS mode, you must enable it, if desired. • Ensure that the security password length is a minimum of 14 characters before you enable FIPS, Common Criteria, or Enhanced Security mode on the cluster. Update the password even if the prior version was FIPS enabled. Note Do not run Network Address Translation (NAT) or Port Address Translation (PAT) between servers where you are installing the Unified Communications Manager. Note Ensure that the network interface card (NIC) speed and duplex settings on the switch port are the same as those that you plan to set on the new server. For GigE (1000/FULL), you should set NIC and switch port settings to Auto/Auto; do not set hard values. Note You must enable PortFast on all switch ports that are connected to Cisco servers. With PortFast enabled, the switch immediately brings a port from the blocking state into the forwarding state by eliminating the forwarding delay [the amount of time that a port waits before changing from its Spanning-Tree Protocol (STP) learning and listening states to the forwarding state]. Note Virtualization Requirements Unified Communications Manager and IM and Presence are supported on VMware vSphere ESXi, Cisco NFVIS-for-UC, and Nutanix AHV versions. Cisco NFVIS-for-UC is a special edition of NFVIS that introduces a new commercial offer with a separate product ID, distinct pricing, new licensing, and a slightly different administrative GUI. Installation Guide for Cisco Unified Communications Manager and the IM and Presence Service, Release 15 and SUs 14 Planning the Installation Requirements and Limitations