Product Support Notice © 2018 Avaya Inc. All Rights Reserved.

PSN # PSN020438u
Original publication date: Feb. 5, 2020. This is Issue #02, published date: Nov. 26 Severity/ High Urgency Immediately
2019. risk level
Name of problem
Avaya Aura® Session Manager 7.1 SSP-3 causes Cassandra failures on 7.1.0 through 7.1.3.0
Products affected
Avaya Aura® Session Manager 7.1.0.0 through 7.1.3.0
Problem description
Installing the first Session Manager 7.1 Security Service Pack (Session_Manager_7.1-SSP-3.bin) on a Session Manager 7.1.0 through
7.1.3.0 will cause the Cassandra database service (used by call history logging, contacts, and in some cases AADS data) to fail to start
up or start and crash continually. This is due to the removal of certain ciphers from the support cipher list of the Cassandra database
server. If after installing the 7.1-SSP-3 security service pack, the Cassandra service on the Session Manager will not start up and stay
running, follow the steps within this PSN to resolve the issue. Note that security changes made in release 7.1.3.1 and later are in line
with SSP-3. As a result, SSP-3 installs on 7.1.3.1 and later will not exhibit this problem.
Resolution
Installation of the 7.1 Security Service pack SSP-7 or later will resolve this issue. If the SSP-3 was previously installed and now
Cassandra is broken, installing the SSP-7 security service pack will repair the system and allow Cassandra to start properly. Install
Session_Manager_7.1-SSP-7.bin as detailed in the Session Manager upgrade guide by using the patchSM tool to install the SSP-7
update.
NOTE: This Security Service Pack should ONLY be installed on systems running 7.1.0.0 through 7.1.3.4 Session Manager
software. The 7.1.3.5 and later Session Manager software loads have all of these security updates built into it.
Remarks
N/A

Patch Notes
The information in this section concerns the patch, if any, recommended in the Resolution above
Backup before applying the patch
No backup is required prior to deployment of this patch.
Downloads
PLDS Download ID: SM000000170
Filename: Session_Manager_7.1-SSP-7.bin
Size: 472.2MB
Patch install instructions Service-interrupting?
1) Download the Session Manager Patch from PLDS. Yes
2) Copy the Session Manager patch file to the Session Manager servers in the /tmp directory.
3) Following the procedure below for each Core Session Manager in the enterprise:
a. Place the Session Manager into a Deny New Service State and wait for the call count on
the System Manager > Elements > Session Manager > Dashboard display to show a
zero or an acceptable level before proceeding.
b. Shutdown the Session Manager virtual machine
c. Create a Snapshot of the virtual machine from vCenter or from the vSphere host web
UI. This will allow the patch to rolled back if problems arise with the installation or
testing of the patch.
d. After the snapshot is created, power on the virtual machine and continue with the patch
installation.
e. Install the patch: # patchSM /tmp/Session_Manager_7.1-SSP-7.bin. Patch installation
will look something like this:

$ patchSM Session_Manager_7.1-SSP-7.bin
Verifying signature... [ OK ]
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 Extracting files
Starting installation of patch 7.1-SSP
…
Applying patch 7.1-SSP
Patch install completed

f. After patch installation and reboot of the virtual machine, run maintenance tests. Once
all tests are passing, place the Session Manager back into an Accept New Service State.
g. Follow up with call scenario testing to ensure the Session Manager is operating as
expected.
h. Once testing is complete, it is very important to remove the snapshot created in step C
above, otherwise performance issues will eventually arise with the virtual machine
which could result in a system failure and outage.
i. Follow the above procedure until all core Session Manager servers have been patched.

Verification
To confirm patch installation was successful, you can run the “swversion” command on the Branch Session Manager, it should
display the patch information as shown below:

$ swversion

Avaya Aura Session Manager Software Version Inventory

Release: 7.1.0.0.710078
Patches:

ID Version Status Summary

------------ ---------------- --------- --------------------------------
7.1-SSP 7 installed Security Service Pack #2

Failure
N/A
Patch uninstall instructions
Patch removal can only be accomplished by reverting to the snapshot that was created just prior to the patch being installed. Revert
to the snapshot created prior to patch installation via vCenter or the vSphere Web UI of the host. After the snapshot is reverted,
power up the virtual machine and the swversion command output should show that patch 7.1-SSP Version 7 is no longer installed.

Security Notes
The information in this section concerns the security risk, if any, represented by the topic of this PSN.
Security risks
n/a
Avaya Security Vulnerability Classification
Not Susceptible
Mitigation
n/a

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