This demo environment was created for use with the Cisco ISE with Meraki Webinar on October 5, 2021. Watch the recording of the Cisco ISE with Meraki Webinar in the Cisco ISE YouTube Channel:

You will need at least one additional Meraki MX or Z network to act as a VPN hub to terminate the other side of the VPN connection. You should have your hub MX working before you run the Ansible playbook because it will attempt to connect the vMX to an existing Lab VPN hub. You may edit the vars/main.yaml file to customize your VPN hub network name. I chose to have the vMX network in AWS be a VPN spoke because I do not want AWS to charge me for all of my network traffic flowing through AWS to the Internet!

Running ansible-playbook ise_in_aws.yaml will create :

• AWS VPC, subnets, route tables, internet gateway. For the gory details, see Manual Configuration in AWS Console and Meraki Dashboard below.
• ISE 3.1 or later instance
• Meraki vMX instance to secure RADIUS traffic from network devices to ISE
• Linux VM instance to ping while ISE boots so you will feel confident that the VPN is going to work! You could also turn this into a web server for testing URL redirections or as an internal site that you block.

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/1homas/ISE_with_Meraki_in_AWS.git
   cd ISE_with_Meraki_in_AWS

2. Create your Python environment and install Ansible with other Python packages for AWS and ISE :

   pip install --upgrade pip
   pip install pipenv
   pipenv install --python 3.11
   pipenv install ansible boto3 botocore ciscoisesdk jmespath paramiko
   pipenv shell

   If you have any problems installing Python or Ansible, see Installing Ansible.

3. Export your various keys, tokens, and credentials for ISE, Meraki, and AWS APIs into your shell environment. You can store these in one or more *.env then load them with the source command.

   # AWS IAM API Keys
   export AWS_REGION='us-west-1'
   export AWS_ACCESS_KEY='AKIAIOSF/EXAMPLE+KEY'
   export AWS_SECRET_KEY='wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfi/EXAMPLE+KEY'

   # Meraki API Authentication Key
   export MERAKI_KEY='EXAMPLE_KEYc320e12ee407159487a4cabc41abb'

   # ISE REST API Credentials
   export ISE_USERNAME=admin
   export ISE_PASSWORD=ISEisC00L
   export ISE_VERIFY=false
   export ISE_DEBUG=false
   export ISE_INIT_PASSWORD=C1sco12345
   # Secrets
   export ISE_RADIUS_SECRET=ISEisC00L
   export ISE_TACACS_SECRET=ISEisC00L
   export ISE_SNMP_SECRET=ISEisC00L
   # Repository & Backups
   export ISE_REPOSITORY=ftp.trust0.net
   export ISE_REPOSITORY_PROTOCOL=FTP
   export ISE_REPOSITORY_PATH=/
   export ISE_REPOSITORY_USERNAME=ise
   export ISE_REPOSITORY_PASSWORD=ISEisC00L
   export ISE_BACKUP_ENCRYPTION_KEY=ISEisC00L

   Alternatively, keep your environment variables in files in a .secrets or similar folder in your home directory and use source {filename} to load environment variables from the files:

   source ~/.secrets/aws.sh
   source ~/.secrets/ise.sh
   source ~/.secrets/ise_repo.sh
   source ~/.secrets/meraki.sh

4. Review the vars/*.yaml configuration files and un/comment or edit them to suit your environment. You must edit the vars/main.yaml and change the meraki_org_name to your respective Meraki org. You will want to review the other settings and change them to match your environment:

   • your desired project_name
   • the AMI identifiers for your respective AWS region if not us-west-1
   • your desired network CIDR ranges
   • your desired VM instance types
   • your Meraki vMX instance type and license (S/M/L)
   • your default password(s) or pre-shared keys

5. Run the Ansible playbook:

   ansible-playbook ise_in_aws.yaml

6. Due to a Meraki VPN API error, you will need to manually add the vMX Local Network definition in the Meraki Dashboard to advertise the VPC subnet:

   1. In the Meraki Dashboard, view your ISE_Meraki_AWS network
   2. Choose Security & SD-WAN > Configure > Site-to-Site VPN and for the Local Networks, Add a Local Network:

      Network	VPN mode	Subnet
      ISE_Meraki_AWS	Enabled	172.31.0.0/16

   ⚠ If you cannot ping or SSH to the Ping Linux VM this is probably the reason!

7. When ISE is up, you may configure it using the additional playbook :

   ansible-playbook ise.configuration.yaml

8. When you are done, terminate the instances and delete all resources to prevent surprise AWS bills:

   ansible-playbook ise_in_aws.terminate.yaml

In case you wondered exactly what these Ansible playbooks are doing ... here is how to do it the hard way! If you want to do it the old-fashioned way or just understand what the time spent on automation is saving you from!

Your AWS instance(s) will have a public IP address so anyone can - and will - eventually find it and try to login and use it. For this reason, AWS does not allow the use of normal passwords. Instead, they use a private/public cryptographic key pair which is much stronger than a password.

1. Login to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Console as a root user (not IAM user) of your account

2. Verify or choose your Region in the drop-down menu next to your account name

3. Open the Services menu and choose Compute > EC2

4. From the left menu, choose Network & Security > Key Pairs

5. Click Create Key Pair, fill in the attributes below, and click Create Key Pair

   • Name: ISEinAWS
   • Key pair type: RSA
   • Private key file format: .pem

6. When prompted, save the ISEinAWS.pem private key file to your home directory in a folder named .ssh (~/.ssh/ISEinAWS.pem)

7. If you are using macOS, Linux, or WSL, change the file permissions so it cannot be viewed by others or accidentally overwritten or deleted by you:

   chmod 400 ~/.ssh/ISEinAWS.pem

   🛑 Do not lose this private key file! You will not be able to login to your AWS EC2 instances configured with the corresponding public key!

When you create instances in AWS, you may choose to put the matching public key into your VMs to authorize your SSH login. To use your key with AWS EC2 instances, you will connect using SSH and authenticate with the -i identity file option which is your ISEinAWS.pem private key :

ssh -i ~/.ssh/ISEinAWS.pem admin@{hostname | IP}

1. In the AWS Console, go to Services > Networking & Content Delivery > VPC
2. Choose your region: us-west1
3. Select Create VPC
   • Name: ISEinAWS
   • IPv4 CIDR: 172.31.0.0/16
   • Tenancy: Default
   • Add Tag: Project : ISEinAWS Click Create VPC

1. From the left menu, select Virtual Private Cloud > Subnets
2. Click Create Subnet
3. Create your Public subnet for the Meraki vMX:
   1. VPC ID: ISEinAWS
   2. Subnet name: Public-Subnet
   3. Availability Zone: No preference or choose your desired AZ
   4. CIDR: 172.31.1.0/24
4. Select Add a New Subnet for the Private subnet with ISE
   1. VPC ID: ISEinAWS
   2. Subnet name: Private-Subnet
   3. Availability Zone: No preference or choose your desired AZ
   4. CIDR: 172.31.2.0/24
5. Select Create Subnet
6. Check ✅ Public-Subnet, choose Actions > Modify auto-assign IP settings, check ✅ Enable auto-assign public IPv4 address and click Save

1. From the left menu, select Virtual Private Cloud > Internet Gateways
2. Click Create Internet Gateway
   • Name: vMX-IG Click Create Internet Gateway
3. Associate the Internet Gateway to the VPC by selecting Actions > Attach to VPC > ISEinAWS and click Attach Internet Gateway

1. From the left menu, select Virtual Private Cloud > Route Tables
2. Click Create Route Table
3. Create the Public Route Table
   • Name: Public-RT
   • VPC: ISEinAWS Click Create Route Table
4. From the left menu, select Virtual Private Cloud > Route Tables
5. Create the Private Route Table
   • Name: Private-RT
   • VPC: ISEinAWS Click Create Route Table
6. Associate the respective route tables and subnets:
   1. Check ✅ Public-RT and select the Subnet Assocations tab below
   2. Click Edit Subnet Associations, check ✅ Public-Subnet and click Save Associations
   3. Check ✅ Private-RT and select the Subnet Assocations tab below
   4. Click Edit Subnet Associations, check ✅ Private-Subnet and click Save Associations

1. Check ✅ Public-RT, select the Routes tab below, and click Edit Routes
2. Click Add Route and add a 0.0.0.0/0 default route to the target type Internet Gateway > igw-* then click Save Changes
3. Your Public Route Table should now look like this:

   Destination	Target
   172.31.0.0/16	local
   0.0.0.0/0	igw-0ed2b71a84a9588ac

1. Login to the Meraki Dashboard
2. From the network menu, choose Create a New Network
   • Network name: ISEinAWS
   • Network type: Security Appliance
   • Network Configuration: Default Meraki configuration
   • Check ✅ the vMX Serial Number you want to use Click Create Network
3. Scroll down and select Generate Authentication Token and copy the text for use in the User Data of the vMX instance in the next section.

1. In the AWS Search Box at the top of the page, search for "Meraki vMX" and open the link to Cisco Meraki vMX
2. Click Continue to Subscribe
3. Click Continue to Configuration
4. Choose your region (us-west) and click Continue to Launch
   1. ami-09db17cd0ae68ce37
5. For Choose Action, choose Launch Through EC2 then click Launch
6. Choose the appropriate Instance Type, c5.large and click Next: Configure Instance Details
7. For Configure Instance Details use the settings:
   • Network: vpc-* | ISEinAWS
   • Subnet: subnet-* | Public-Subnet
   • Auto-assign Public IP : Enable
   • User data: As Text, paste the vMX Authentication Token from the Meraki Dashboard
8. Click Next: Add Storage
9. Click Next: Add Tags
10. Click Add Tag and use a key:value of Name : vMX
11. Click Next: Configure Security Group
12. For the Security Group, use the settings:
    • Assign a security group : ⦿ Create a new security group
    • Security group name: vMX-SG
    • Description: vMX-SG
    • Change the existing rule to be:
      • Type : All Traffic
      • Description: Allow All
13. Click Review and Launch
14. Click Launch
15. Select your Key Pair ISEinAWS.pem, acknowledge that you have the private key file and click Launch Instances
16. After launching, select View Instances and you should see your instance running!
17. Check ✅ your vMX, choose Actions > Networking > Change Source / destination check, ✅ Stop Source / destination checking and click Save

1. In the AWS Console, go to Services > EC2

2. Click Launch Instances

3. Find a free tier Linux AMI such as the Amazon Linux 2 AMI (HVM) and click it's Select button

4. Choose the t2.micro instance type and click Next: Configure Instance Details

5. For Configure Instance Details use the settings:

   • Network: vpc-* | ISEinAWS
   • Subnet: subnet-* | Private-Subnet
   • Auto-assign Public IP : Enable)

6. Click Next: Add Storage

7. Click Next: Add Tags

8. Click Add Tag and use a key:value of Name : Ping

9. Click Next: Configure Security Group

10. For the Security Group, use the settings:

    • Assign a security group : ⦿ Create a new security group
    • Security group name: SSH+Ping
    • Description: SSH+Ping
    • Click Add Rule and choose :
      • Type: All ICMP-IPv4
      • Source: 0.0.0.0/0

11. Click Review and Launch

12. Click Launch

13. Select your Key Pair ISEinAWS.pem, acknowledge that you have the private key file and click Launch Instances

14. Click View Instances and you should see your instance running!

15. Login to your Linux VM is you need to do any troubleshooting or add software:

    ssh -i "~/.ssh/ISEinAWS.pem" ec2-user@{ hostname | IP } 

1. In the Meraki Dashboard, view your ISEinAWS network
2. Choose Security & SD-WAN > Configure > Site-to-Site VPN
3. For the Site-to-Site VPN settings, use:
   • Type: Spoke
   • Local network:

     Network	VPN mode	Subnet
     Private-Subnet	Enabled	172.31.2.0/24

   • NAT traversal : ⦿ Automatic
4. Click Save Changes
5. Choose Security & SD-WAN > Appliance Status and you should now see the vMX public WAN address and it should be Active!

Now you will connect your other MX in the mesh to the vMX

1. Choose your Meraki Lab network for your physical, on-premise MX
2. Choose Security & SD-WAN > Configure > Site to Site VPN
3. For the Site-to-Site VPN settings, use:
   • Type: Hub (Mesh)
   • Local Networks :

     💡 you may use a Single LAN or VLANs - I used a Single LAN to keep it simple | Network | VPN mode | Subnet | |-------------|----------|--------| | Main Subnet | Enabled | 192.168.101.0/24

   • NAT traversal : ⦿ Automatic
   • If you have alreaady configured a Meraki MX has a hub, you should see ISEinAWS under Remote VPN participants!
4. Click Save Changes

You will need to update the Private-RT to the Lab MX

1. In the AWS Console, go to Services > VPC and select the Route Tables
2. Check ✅ Private-RT and select the Routes tab below
3. Click Edit Routes
4. Select Add Route
   • Destination: 192.168.0.0/16
   • Target: Instance > i-* | vMX Click Save Changes
5. Select Add Route
   • Destination: 0.0.0.0/0
   • Target: Internet Gateway > igw-* Click Save Changes
6. Your Private Route Table should now look like this:

   Destination	Target
   172.31.0.0/16	local
   192.168.0.0/16	i-* / vMX
   0.0.0.0/0	igw-*

7. You can now try to ping through your site-to-site VPN to the Linux instance

1. In the AWS Console, go to Services > EC2 and

2. Select the Ping Linux VM instance and locate it's Private IPv4 addresses

3. SSH to the instance:

   ssh -i ~/.ssh/ISEinAWS.pem [email protected]

1. In the AWS Search Box at the top of the page, search for "Cisco ISE" and open the link to Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
2. Click Continue to Subscribe
3. Click Continue to Configuration
4. For Configure This Software, choose:
   • Delivery Method: Cloud Formation Template then choose the normal or GovCloud version of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
   • Software Version: 3.1
   • Region: us-west Click Continue to Launch
5. For Launch this Software, choose: Launch CloudFormation then click Launch
6. Choose Upload a template file, choose your file (files/ISE-3-1-518.CFT.yaml) and click Next
7. Verify and complete the ISE CloudFormation Parameters then click Next
   • Stack Name: ISE-3-1-518
   • AMIid: ami-00a1a68f5519aa150 # ISE in us-west-1
   • Hostname: ise
   • KeyName / Instance Key Pair: ISEinAWS
   • Management Security Group: ISE
   • Management Network: Private-Subnet
   • TimeZone: America/Los_Angeles
   • ISEInstanceType: c5.4xlarge
   • EBS Encryption : false
   • Volume Size / StorageSize: 300
   • DNSDomain: aws.local
   • NameServer: 208.67.222.222
   • NTPServer: time.nist.gov
   • ERS: yes
   • OpenAPI: yes
   • pxGrid: no
   • pxGridCloud: no
   • ERS: yes
   • password: C1sco12345
   • ConfirmPwd: C1sco12345 Click Next
8. Review the Stack Options then click Next
9. Do a final review of the parameters then click Creat Stack

To create another instance:

1. In the AWS Console, navigate to CloudFormation > Stacks
2. Select ISE-3-1-518
3. Choose Create Stack > With New Resources (standard)
4. For Create Stack, choose Upload a template file, choose your file (ISE-3-1-518.CFT.yaml) and click Next
5. choose a unique Stack Name (ISE-3-1-518)

SSH to the ISE console

ssh -i "~/.ssh/ISEinAWS.pem" admin@{ hostname | IP }

• Installing Ansible for all platforms
• Documentation for Ansible collections:
  • cisco.ise
  • cisco.meraki
  • amazon.aws
  • community.aws
• Cisco Meraki vMX en AWS - YouTube video for vMX in AWS (Spanish)
• AWS re:Invent 2019: AWS Networking Fundamentals (NET201-R2) provides an excellent overview of the networking elements that are automatically created when using the Launch Instance wizard
• Best practices for managing AWS access keys

This repository is licensed under the MIT License.