Field Notice: FN - 72014 - C-Series and S-Series Software (Cisco IMC) for UCS M3 Rack Servers Affected by Adobe Flash End-of-Life - Workaround Provided

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Updated:December 17, 2020

Document ID:FN72014

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Revision History

Revision	Publish Date	Comments
1.0	10-Dec-20	Initial Release
1.1	10-Dec-20	Updated the Products Affected Section

Products Affected

Affected OS Type	Affected Software Product	Affected Release	Affected Release Number	Comments
NON-IOS	Unified Computing System (UCS) Server Firmware	2.0	2.0(10b), 2.0(10c), 2.0(10e), 2.0(10f), 2.0(10g), 2.0(10h), 2.0(10i), 2.0(10k), 2.0(10l), 2.0(12b), 2.0(12c), 2.0(12d), 2.0(12e), 2.0(12f), 2.0(12g), 2.0(12h), 2.0(12i), 2.0(13e), 2.0(13f), 2.0(13h), 2.0(13i), 2.0(13j), 2.0(13k), 2.0(13n), 2.0(13o), 2.0(13p), 2.0(13q), 2.0(1a), 2.0(1b), 2.0(2c)1, 2.0(2d)3, 2.0(2e), 2.0(3d)1, 2.0(3d)2, 2.0(3e)1, 2.0(3f)3, 2.0(3i), 2.0(3j)1, 2.0(4c), 2.0(4c)1, 2.0(6d), 2.0(6f), 2.0(7d), 2.0(7e), 2.0(8b), 2.0(8d), 2.0(8e), 2.0(8g), 2.0(8h), 2.0(9c), 2.0(9d), 2.0(9e), 2.0(9f), 2.0(9i), 2.0(9l), 2.0(9m), 2.0(9n), 2.0(9o), 2.0(9p)
NON-IOS	Unified Computing System (UCS) Server Firmware	3.0	3.0(1c), 3.0(1d), 3.0(3a), 3.0(3b), 3.0(3e), 3.0(4a), 3.0(4d), 3.0(4e), 3.0(4i), 3.0(4j), 3.0(4k), 3.0(4l), 3.0(4m), 3.0(4n), 3.0(4o), 3.0(4p), 3.0(4q), 3.0(4r)

Defect Information

Defect ID	Headline
CSCvw67367	M3 servers would not support HTML based UI

Problem Description

The Web User Interface (WebUI) of Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC) software releases listed in the Products Affected section might not function after the deprecation of Adobe Flash on 2020-12-31.

Background

In accordance with Adobe’s End-of-Life announcement, Adobe plans to deprecate Flash-based content and will no longer distribute or support Flash software after 2020-12-31. In addition, third-party software updates from operating system vendors and/or browser vendors might also block Flash.

Even if Flash-based content works normally after 2020-12-31, the lack of Flash maintenance updates from Adobe introduces various levels of risk that administrators should evaluate.

Problem Symptom

The WebUI of Unified Computing System (UCS) M3 Standalone Rack Server Software (Cisco IMC) is Java-based and might not be accessible on future versions of web browsers that are going to deprecate support for Flash Player-based content.

Workaround/Solution

Cisco started shipping UCS C-Series and S-Series M3 servers in 2012 and announced in 2015 and 2016 the end-of-life (EOL) of all M3 rack server models, before Adobe announced the EOL of Flash Player support in July 2017. Cisco has migrated from Flash to HTML5 for the WebUI of releases for M4 and future generation rack servers. While Cisco will continue to provide applicable service and support such as critical security fixes via patch releases for M3 rack servers through the end-of-support date in December 2021, Cisco does not plan to retrofit UCS C-Series and S-Series M3 platforms with the HTML5-based WebUI for Cisco IMC.

Note: UCS M4 C-Series servers do have an HTML5-based WebUI with Cisco IMC 3.0(x), hence customers with M4 servers are not impacted.

Customers who might be impacted by this deprecation should consider these alternatives to manage their M3 rack servers:

Use the CLI of the Cisco IMC software to control and configure the standalone M3 rack platforms.
Use a web browser that will not be deprecating support for Flash.
Attach the M3 rack servers to Fabric Interconnects in order to use an HTML5-based WebUI of a corresponding UCS Manager release.
Access vKVM through the XML API in case the web user interface is not available.

For More Information

If you require further assistance, or if you have any further questions regarding this field notice, please contact the Cisco Systems Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by one of the following methods:

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