Proctor Labs Voice vRacks: Tech Support FAQ

Hi, I’m Glenn Champine, one of the technical support engineers for Proctor Labs / IPexpert.  I joined the team in July 2006 to provide after-hours support to Boot Camp students and customers studying on their own using our racks. I’m here to ensure prompt and accurate responses for all Tier 1 support issues and escalating Tier 2 inquiries to satisfy all of our customers in a timely manner.

I would like to post a compilation of FAQ files that pertain to common questions asked by customers utilizing the CCIE Voice Proctor Labs vRacks. I’ll follow up with FAQ for the Security, R&S and SP racks as well…

CCIE VOICE Racks FAQ

I cannot connect to CCM/Unity!

There are a couple things to check when you are unable to connect to Callmanager or Unity:

1. Make sure you have a vpn connection to Proctor Labs and that you are using the proper vpn group policy for your vRack.  If you are able to ping CCM/Unity but cannot connect via RDP, this usually means you’ve connected with the incorrect group policy for your vRack.
2. Be sure that you have made the appropriate configurations on the Catalyst 6500 before attempting to reach CallManager or Unity.  All the required information for the proper vlans and ports can be located here.

How do I set up a VPN connection to Proctor Labs?

To connect to your Voice vRack, you must first install the Cisco VPN Client.

Follow the steps below to configure your VPN Client:

1. Open the Cisco VPN Client
2. Create a VPN Connection
3. Set the “Host” to vpn.proctorlabs.com
4. Enter in the group policy credentials for the connection, depending on which pod you are onGroup Authenticationfor POD11 name: vpodg1for POD12 name: vpodg2for POD13 name: vpodg3for POD14 name: vpodg4for POD15 name: vpodg5

   for POD16 name: vpodg6

   for POD18 name: vpodg8

   for POD19 name: vpodg9

   for POD20 name: vpodg20

   for POD21 name: vpodg21

   for POD22 name: vpodg22

   for POD23 name: vpodg23

   for POD24 name: vpodg24

   for POD25 name: vpodg25

   for POD26 name: vpodg26

   for POD27 name: vpodg27

   for POD28 name: vpodg28

   for POD29 name: vpodg29

   for POD30 name: vpodg30

   for POD31 name: vpodg31

   for POD32 name: vpodg32

   for POD33 name: vpodg33

   for POD34 name: vpodg34

   for POD35 name: vpodg35

   Password: proctorvoice

5. Click Save to create the connection.
6. Select your Proctor Labs connection and press “Connect”
7. You will next be prompted for a username and password. Use your Proctor Labs username/Password

You willl also note that a PCF file of each vrack for the Cisco VPN client is presented to you before you reach the session page.

I cannot obtain a VPN connection to Proctor Labs!

If you have had no luck obtaining a VPN connection after double-checking the settings on your client software, please review the following items to help correct the problem:

1. Ensure that you are not behind a firewall that would prohibit you from obtaining a valid VPN connection to Proctor Labs.  This includes firewalls found in Windows, Norton, and certain security settings on home and commercial routers/firewalls.  If you are behind a firewall, you will not be able to obtain a VPN connection, thus losing the ability to RDP to CCM/Unity and reaching the catalyst 6500.
2. Try toggling the transparent toggling option on your Proctor Labs VPN connection:
   1. Disconnect for your VPN connection
   2. Ensure you are using the correct VPN account for your POD
   3. Select the VPN Connection for your POD and click “Modify”
   4. Select the “Transport” tab.
   5. If you are behind a NAT router or a Firewall, Such as a Linksys or Netgear Cable/DSL Router, you may need to “Enable transparent Tunneling”. Also, ensure the option “IPSec over UDP (NAT / PAT)” is selected
   6. If Enable Transparent Tunneling is checked and you are having issues, uncheck the option and try reconnecting

I cannot log in to the AIM-CUE because of a username/password!

If you are unable to gain access to the CUE on your pod due to an unknown username/password, please issue the following commands from the BR2 router:

Step 1: PX-BR2-RTR# config t [Enter]

Step 2: PX-BR2-RTR(config)# int service-engine 0/0 [Enter]

Step 3: PX-BR2-RTR(config-if)# no aaa new [Enter]

I can no longer reach a router or switch on my vrack

If you are unable to reach a device on your vRack, here are a couple things to check for:

1. Power-cycle the device via the web GUI.  A simple reboot solves more problems that you can imagine!
2. If you are unable to connect to a device you were once able to, try clearing the line!  You’ll find that the Proctor Labs web GUI has a clear line link integrated for this purpose, or you can always do it the old fashioned way by issuing the following commands of the terminal server for your vRack:

HQ-RTR:        clear line 2

BR1:                clear line 4

BR2:                clear line 5

BR2-3550:      clear line 6

I would like to clear the configurations on my vRack and restore the initial configurations

Please read the following items if you wish to revert/clear out device/server configurations:

1. Each router and switch on your vrack should have a reload button next to it on the Web GUI host table.  This reload button clears out the configurations made and enters in the original “clean-config” that comes preloaded at the beginning of each voice vrack session.  The reload button takes around 3-5 minutes to complete.  If you would like to do this the old fashioned way, enter in the following on the device you wish to reload:
   Device-prompt# erase start

   Device-prompt# reload

   (if prompted to save configurations, press “n” on your keyboard)

   Device-prompt# copy clean-config start

   Device-prompt# reload

   After the router or switch finishes booting, it will be back to it’s initial configuration!

2. If you would wish to reset the Callmanager and/or Unity server to default configurations, you’ll notice there is a revert button on your vrack’s Web GUI!  This will take approx. 10-15 mins to complete – please be patient!
3. If you are unable to reload your devices to a clean configuration with the previous solutions, please be sure to contact Proctor Labs support!

I’m having issues with IPBlue/softphone software

Proctor Labs does NOT support the IPBlue software, nor do we support any softphone programs, for that matter.  All questions or issues regarding softphone applications should be directed to the program’s vendor or posted on our forums; Certification Talk or Online Study List.

Were can I obtain the Cisco VPN Client software?

We are unable to distribute the VPN client software. However, it is easily obtainable after you register for your Cisco CCO (http://www.cisco.com).  We recommend version 4.7 and up.

What username and password do I use on the Catalyst 6500?

The following credentials allow you to access the 6500, no matter which vRack you are assigned:

Username: ipexpert

Password: ipexpert

What’s the enable password for my router?

There has been a recent increase in the number of customers using non-standard enable passwords during their sessions. In order for our reload scripts to run on the switches, they need to guess these passwords. If they can’t guess the password, the reload script does not run. If the reload script does not run on a switch, we are unable to recover the device remotely.

If you need to set any passwords during your session, please use one of the following:

• ipexpert
• ccie
• cisco
• ip?expert

How do I perform a password recovery on a router?

Step 1: Power-cycle the router (via your power management GUI on yoru session’s page)

Step 2: During the post, send a break signal (press ctrl-shift-6 B) to boot into rommon mode

Step 3: At the rommon prompt type in:

confreg 0×2142 [enter]

reset     [enter]

Step 4: Let the router boot as normal.  When you get to the router> prompt:

enable [enter]

erase start [enter]

config t [enter]

config-reg 0×2102 [enter]

end [enter]

reload [enter]

(when prompted to save your configurations, hit the “n” key)

Step 5: When the router boots up, you’ll have a clean configuration!

Note: Performing a password recovery doesn’t really “recover” as much as wipe out the existing config.  If you wish to save the config, or obtain the enable password, simply enter enable mode before going to step 4 and do a “show start”.

I give up! How do I contact Proctor Labs for support?

During our normal office hours, Monday-Friday, 8:00am – 12:30am EST (-5:00), technical support is available via our Live Chat application.  This is, by far, the BEST and most prompt method to contact support.

If you find that you need to reach a Proctor Labs support representative concerning any connectivity issues after our office hours (and on weekends), use the After-Hours Support system.  Simply locate the After-Hours Support link on your session’s page under “Technical Support”. When you send your issue this way, a support technician will be paged to be alerted to your issue.  (This link will only become available during active sessions.)

I have booked two or more consecutive sessions and I would like them on the same vRack.

Sessions are linked together automatically by our scheduling system.  Sessions are usually not linked until immediately before or during the first session.  If you wish to schedule a next-consecutive session to one that’s already in progress, we ask that you book the second session at least 1 hour before its scheduled start time. This will ensure us enough time to disable the revert scripts from running during your rack session.

I’m currently in a session and would like to book another session immediately after this one on the same vRack. I don’t want the scripts to blow away my configurations.  What can I do?

Contact support ASAP! Due to the nature of the reload scripts, we need to link the sessions 45 minutes or more before the next session starts to ensure the scripts do not run.  Keep in mind that we cannot guarantee the linking of your session if you schedule with less than an hour to go until the following session starts.

I didn’t have a clean configuration when my session began – what gives?

Please ensure you book your session at least 45 minutes before the scheduled start time.  Our scripts need this amount of time to update and clear out the vRack on which your session is scheduled on.  If this happens to you, feel free to follow the steps listed in this blog post to clear out any configurations that may be present or contact support for any assistance in clearing out the vRack.

What is the Username/Password for IPCC?

Case-sensitive…

• Username: Administrator
• Password: ciscocisco

I hope you will find this FAQ to be helpful in your future CCIE Voice rack sessions!

Stay tuned for FAQ posts for the Security, R&S and SP racks.

Tags: faq, glenn, Proctor Labs, rack, Support, Voice