Concepts of Phone Registration :

Steps:

a. Phone gets power from the switch

b. Phone boots from its current firmware
c. CDP OR LLDP is bi-directionally transmitted to determine the voice vlan phone sends
a DHCP request and gets a response from the DHCP server (DORA)
d. Phone contacts TFTP server (Configured as option 150 or option 66 in the DHCP)
with request for <Sep_macaddess>.cnf.xml file but for versions above cucm 8.X that
there is a feature called as SBD in that case it will look for
<SEP_macaddress>.cnf.xml.sgn file (signed versions). In case if the phone is not
configured on UCM but auto registration is enabled in that case default.cnf.xml file is
served.

Note: Auto registration is not possible in a Secure Cluster (Mixed Mode)

e. Phone parses the XML config file for <load_informaiton>(firmware version)& process
node_name( CPN)
f. Phone requests the new load file from the TFTP server in case the there is a
difference in the version)
g. Phone registers with the CUCM sever based on the DP (CUCM_ group)
h. Sever hands down all the config to the phone (ex: line (DN), Speed dials, Softkey
template etc.)

Graphical View:
Auto registration:

Keys things to be kept in mind:

a. The cluster should be in Non-secure/insecure mode. Auto registration will never

happen if the cluster is in the Mixed mode.
How to check:

Go to system Tab>> Enterprise Parameters Configuration >> Under Security Configuration

look out for the option “Cluster security Mode”

a. If it is set to 0 that means the cluster is insecure

b. If it is set to 1 then the cluster is in secure mode

Two Protocols by which a phone can be registered to the CUCM

a. SCCP
b. SIP

Protocol for the Auto reg can be chosen under the Enterprise parameters:

System> Enterprise Parameters. Under Enterprise parameter configuration the protocol can
be chosen

By default, the Protocol is SCCP.

Auto registration is enabled at the CUCM Server Level, in order to enable the Auto
registration, go to System>> Cisco Unified CM>> Select the desired server (Make sure that
the chosen server has the Call manager service running)

While going with the auto registration the partition can be chosed and the external number
mask also can be chosen but the CSS will be defined at the Device pool level :

Note: By default, you have to have one CUCM group on which the auto registration is
enabled. (Default CUCM group has the Auto reg enabled by default),

Difference Between the SIP phone and SCCP phone registration:

A. SCCP Phone Registration Process

1. SCCP phone obtains the Power (PoE or AC adapter).

2. The phone loads its locally stored firmware image.
3. The phone learns the Voice VLAN ID via CDP from the switch.
4. The phone uses DHCP to learn its IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and TFTP
server address.
5. The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its configuration file. Each phone has
a customized configuration file named SEP<mac_address>.cnf.xml created by CUCM
and uploaded to TFTP when the administrator creates or modifies the phone.
6. The phone registers with the primary CUCM server listed in its configuration file. CUCM
then sends the softkey template to the phone using SCCP messages.
 What is in that SEP<mac_address>.cnf.xml file ?
This file contains a list of CUCM server, in order, that the phone should register with. It lists
teh TCP ports it should use for SCCP communication. It also lists the firmware version for
each device model and the service URLs that each device should be using.
The CUCM server sends other configurations such as DNs, softkeys and speed dials via the
SCCP messages in the last phase of the registration process.

B. SIP Phone Registration Process

SIP Phones use a different set of steps to achieve the same goal. Steps 1 to 4 are the same
as SCCP Phones

1. The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests the Certificate Trust List file (only if the
cluster is secured).
2. The phone contacts the TFTP server and requests its SEP<mac-address>.cnf.xml
configuration file.
3. If the SIP Phone has not been provisioned before boot time, the SIP Phone downloads the
default configuration XMLDefault.cnf.xml file from the TFTP server.
4. The SIP phone requests a firmware upgrade (Load ID file), if one was specified in the
configuration file. This process allows the phone to upgrade the firmware image
automatically when required for a new version of CUCM.
5. The phone downloads the SIP dial rules configured for that phone.
6. The phone Establish connection with the primary CUCM and the TFTP server end to end.
7. The phone Registers with the primary CUCM server listed in its configuration file.
8. The phone downloads the appropriate localization files from TFTP
9. The phone downloads the softkey configurations from TFTP
10. The phone downloads custom ringtones (if any) from TFTP.
In order to review the config file:

On the browser type https://<Ipaddressofthetftp>:6970/cofigfilecachelist.txt