Introduction to “acisim-6.0-5h.ova” Software

The “acisim-6.0-5h.ova” file represents Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) Simulator 6.0(5h)M, a preconfigured virtual appliance designed for testing and validating ACI fabric configurations in lab environments. This OVA package contains three fully functional APIC controller instances and simulated leaf/spine switches, replicating production ACI behavior without requiring physical Nexus 9000 hardware.

Compatible with VMware virtualization platforms, this release (dated Q2 2024 based on Cisco’s versioning patterns) aligns with APIC software version 6.0(5h), providing feature parity for hybrid cloud network policy management simulations. It serves as an essential tool for network architects preparing production deployments or testing multi-tenant application policies.

Key Features and Improvements

This version introduces several critical enhancements from Cisco’s ACI 6.0 branch:

  1. ​​Enhanced Security Protocols​​

    • TLS 1.3 support for APIC cluster communications
    • Improved certificate rotation workflows for simulated fabric components

  2. ​​Third-Party Integration Updates​​

    • VMware vSphere 8.0U2 compatibility validation
    • Preconfigured service graphs for testing F5 BIG-IP L4-L7 integrations

  3. ​​Operational Visibility Enhancements​​

    • Real-time health scoring for simulated spine/leaf nodes
    • Expanded REST API endpoints for infrastructure-as-code implementations

  4. ​​Fault Simulation Upgrades​​

    • 12 new synthetic failure scenarios including link flapping and EEPROM errors

Compatibility and Requirements

Component Supported Versions Notes
Hypervisor VMware ESXi 7.0 U3+
VMware Workstation 17+
VMware Fusion 13+		 Nested virtualization not supported
Host Hardware 64GB RAM minimum
500GB storage
12 vCPUs		 SSD storage recommended
Management Clients Chrome 100+
Firefox ESR 102+		 JavaScript must be enabled

​​Critical Compatibility Notes​​:

  • Requires VMware Hardware Version 19+
  • Incompatible with Hyper-V/KVM platforms
  • Simulated switches don’t support data path forwarding

Accessing the Software Package

Network professionals can obtain “acisim-6.0-5h.ova” through Cisco’s authorized distribution channels. For lab/testing purposes, visit https://www.ioshub.net to verify download availability. The package includes:

  • APIC Cluster Simulation (3 nodes)
  • Virtual Leaf/Spine Switch Emulators (4 nodes)
  • Preloaded ACI Fabric Policies
  • Validation Test Suite

System administrators should review Cisco’s ACI Simulator VM Installation Guide before deployment and ensure compliance with VMware’s licensing requirements.

This technical overview synthesizes information from Cisco’s official ACI Simulator documentation, ensuring alignment with version 6.0 feature sets and compatibility matrices. Always cross-reference with Cisco’s latest release notes for implementation-specific details.

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