Enabling Faster Download of Firmware Images

Starting with this connector pack release, you can enable faster download of firmware images if you configure a proxy server in Cisco UCS Director. To configure a proxy server, choose Administration > System > Proxy Configuration.

Enhancements to Zoning Policy

Starting with this connector pack release, you can use the zoning policy to assign physical drives to a specific controller slot on servers that support dual controllers such as Cisco UCS S3260 Dual Raid Controller (UCS-S3260-DRAID). However, choosing a specific controller slot is not mandatory. If you do not choose a specific controller slot, then the ownership of the physical drives is assigned to the first controller slot that is available on the server that you selected.

Enhancements to RAID Policy

Following are the enhancements introduced in this connector pack release to for confguring a RAID policy:

• Deriving the Policy

  • Drive Security

    Drive security for the RAID policy is retrieved only if the security properties, such as the security Key ID, are common for all controller slots associated with the server. If the security Key ID is not common across all controller slots in the server, deriving the policy will fail.

  • Virtual Drive Configuration

    • While creating a RAID policy based on an existing server configuration, virtual drives from all controller slots in the server are retrieved and listed in the Virtual Drives Configuration screen of the RAID policy. In addition, all related disk group policies are also created.

• Applying the policy

  While applying the policy, the Drive Security configuration is applied commonly to all controllers that are associated with the server.

  Applying the policy to virtual drives is determined by the disk group policy associated with the virtual drives. If a disk group includes slots from multiple controllers in the server, then the Apply Policy action fails. But a single RAID policy can include virtual drives with disk groups that belong to different controllers.

  The Enable JBOD/UnConfigured Good configuration is applied to unused disks that belong to all the controllers associated with the server.

Visual Representation of Device Claim Status

Starting with this connector pack release, the Rack Server Summary screen displays the claim status of the rack server in Cisco Intersight. A new field label titled Intersight Claim Status is displayed with one of the following values:

• Yes—when the rack server is claimed in Cisco Intersight.

• No—when the rack server is not claimed in Cisco Intersight.

• Not Applicable—when the firmware version running on the rack server is prior to version 4.0(2a) or if the server is Cisco UCS S3260.

In addition, the response output for the GetConnector API has been enhanced to display the claim status of the rack server, and the serial number of the claimed rack server. For Cisco UCS S3260 servers, the Serial Number attribute in the response output displays the chassis serial number. For all other servers, the server serial number is displayed as the value for the Serial Number attribute.

Introduction of SFTP User Configuration

Starting with this release, you will need to configure a password for an SFTP user in Cisco UCS Director. This user configuration is used in server diagnostics and tech support processes to transfer files to Cisco UCS Director using SFTP. This SFTP user configuration replaces the previously available SCP user configuration functionality. After installing or upgrading to this release, you must configure the password for the SFTP user. To do so, choose Administration > Users and Groups > SFTP User Configuration and enter a password.

If you upgrade to version 6.7.4.1 of the Cisco UCS Director Base Platform Connector Pack, then you must also upgrade to version 6.7.4.1 of the Cisco UCS Director IMC Connector Pack to use the Server Diagnostics and Tech Support features with the SFTP user configuration.

Changes to Launching KVM Console for a Rack Server

Starting with this release, the process to launch the KVM console for a rack server is different based on the Cisco IMC version running on the server. If the Cisco IMC version installed on the server is prior to version 4.1(1.c), then clicking Submit in the Launch KVM Console screen will download a kvm.jnlp file. Double-click this file to launch the KVM Console. If the Cisco IMC version installed on the server is version 4.1(1.c) and above, then clicking Submit in the Launch KVM Console screen will display a new tab with a link. Click this link to enter the KVM console credentials and login.

Enhancements to VIC Adapter Policy

Starting with this release, for a VIC adapter policy, you can configure the Admin Forward Error Correction (FEC) mode for the following adapters:

• Cisco VIC 1455

• Cisco VIC 1457

• Cisco VIC 1495

• Cisco VIC 1497

By default, four ports are configured for these adapters and you cannot delete them. However, the number of ports configured with the Admin FEC mode varies depending on the adapter you have selected. For example, for a Cisco VIC 1497 adapter, there are only two ports. So, the Admin FEC mode is configured only on the first two ports (port 0 and port1), ignoring the remaining ports (port 2 and port 3). For the existing policies, this field is set to Auto. But you can change this value to cl91, cl74, and Off.

Note	The cl74 option is not supported for Cisco VIC 1495 and Cisco VIC 1497 adapters.

In addition to the default vNICs and vHBAs configured on these adapters, you can create additional vNICs and vHBAs based on the selected port channel state.

Note	When you modify the port channel configuration for an adapter, all previously configured vNICs and vHBAs are deleted and the configuration is restored to the factory default settings.