Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers Windows Installation Guide
Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 Installation
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Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 Installation

This chapter includes the following sections:

Installing Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 on an Internal Drive

This procedure describes how to install Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 x64, or Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 and required drivers on an internal drive using Cisco UCS Manager GUI and the KVM Console.

Before You Begin

Make sure you have completed the prerequisites described in Installation Prerequisites Checklist and Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites.

Procedure
    Step 1   Find the drivers for your installed devices on the Cisco UCS B-Series Drivers DVD or in the DVD ISO file and extract them to a location that the server can access.
    Tip   

    If you do not know which drivers are required, reboot the server and read the output messages. As the devices are initialized, the boot process displays information about them. For more information, see Installation Driver Information.

    Step 2   If you are installing the OS or drivers from virtual media, launch the KVM Console and mount the media as described in Mounting the Installation ISO Image.
    Step 3   Power cycle the server using one of the following methods:
    • In the KVM Console, go to the KVM tab and select Macros > Ctrl-Alt-Del.
    • In Cisco UCS Manager GUI, click Reset in the Actions area of the General tab.
    • On the physical server, press the Power button.
    Tip   

    If the server does not boot from the installation media, verify that the correct boot order is set in the associated service profile as described in Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites.

    Step 4   To override the normal boot order and boot from the installation media, in the KVM tab of the KVM Console, watch the boot messages and press F6 when prompted to enter the Boot Menu.
    Step 5   On the Boot Menu screen, do one of the following:
    • If you are using an ISO image, select Cisco Virtual CD/DVD and press Enter.
    • If you are using a physical install disk, select the disk drive in which that disk resides and press Enter.

    The server reboots from the selected device and begins installing the OS from the image or disk.

    Step 6   Press Enter when prompted to boot from CD. Answer the installation questions according to the requirements and standards of your company until the Where do you want to install Windows? screen displays, then go to the next step.
    Important:

    Do not install the Windows OS or drivers on any drive listed as “Viking eUSB”. While the OS considers the eUSB drives to be the same as a local drive, Cisco UCS Manager does not let you specify which local drive the server should use as the boot drive. Instead, it always boots the server from the physical local drive and ignores any internal USB (eUSB) drives.

    Step 7   When Windows displays the Where do you want to install Windows? screen, mount the Cisco driver ISO image so that you can install the basic drivers before you install Windows. To do so:
    1. Return to the VM tab or Virtual Media Session dialog box in the KVM Console.
    2. Because you can only have one virtual CD/DVD mapped at a time, unmap any existing virtual CD/DVD connections by clearing the check box associated with that connection.
      Tip   

      To verify that you can create a new connection, look at the Details table. The first line should show that the Virtual CD/DVD is not mapped.

    3. Click Add Image and navigate to the directory containing the Cisco driver ISO image for you mass storage or HBA device.
    4. Select the ISO image file and click Open.
    5. In the Client View area, check the check box in the Mapped column associated with the ISO file, then wait for mapping to complete.
    6. Return to the Windows installation prompt in the KVM tab.
    Step 8   Install the drivers:
    1. In the Where do you want to install Windows? screen, click the Load Driver link below the table.
    2. In the Load Driver dialog box, click Browse.
    3. Navigate to the appropriate folder on the virtual DVD device that you just mapped and select the drivers you want to install.
    4. Click OK.

      When Windows has finished loading the drivers, it displays the Select the driver to install dialog box with the new drivers listed.

    5. Select the driver for your device and click Next. Wait until the driver installation is complete, as indicated by the Windows status bar.
    Step 9   (Optional)If you are installing Windows from an ISO image file, unmap the driver ISO image and remap the Windows installation image:
    1. Return to the VM tab or Virtual Media Session dialog box in the KVM Console.
    2. In the Client View area, clear the check box in the Mapped column that corresponds to the driver ISO file.
    3. Check the check box in the Mapped column that corresponds to your Windows installation image, then wait for mapping to complete.
    4. Return to the Windows installation prompt in the KVM tab.
    5. Optional: If the installation procedure displays an error stating that it cannot continue because it cannot find the installation disk, click Refresh at the bottom of the screen to have the installation procedure refresh the connection with the installation ISO image.
    Step 10   In the Where do you want to install Windows? screen, select the disk or partition in which you want to install Windows and click Next.
    Step 11   Complete the installation according to the requirements and standards of your company by continuing to monitor the installation progress and answering prompts as required.

    After the Windows installation is complete, Windows reboots the server again and you are prompted to press Ctrl-Alt-Del and log in to access the Windows desktop. Use the login credentials that you supplied during the Windows installation process.

    Note   

    At this point, Windows still needs device drivers installed for devices such as the server chipset and Ethernet controllers. In the Windows Device Manager, devices that still need drivers are marked with yellow flags.

    Step 12   Use Windows File Manager to navigate to the folder into which you extracted the Cisco drivers in Step 1.

    For details about the driver DVD folder structure, see Windows Installation Drivers.

    Step 13   Launch the Windows Device Manager and look for any devices that still have yellow flags. For each such device, install the driver manually through the Device Manager.

    Installing Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 on a Bootable SAN LUN

    This section describes how to install Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 x64, or Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 and required drivers on a bootable SAN LUN using Cisco UCS Manager GUI and the KVM Console.

    Before You Begin
    Procedure
      Step 1   Find the drivers for your installed devices on the Cisco UCS B-Series Drivers DVD or in the DVD ISO file and extract them to a location that the server can access.
      Tip   

      If you do not know which drivers are required, reboot the server and read the output messages. As the devices are initialized, the boot process displays information about them. For more information, see Installation Driver Information.

      Step 2   If you are installing the OS or drivers from virtual media, launch the KVM Console and mount the media as described in Mounting the Installation ISO Image.
      Step 3   Power cycle the server using one of the following methods:
      • In the KVM Console, go to the KVM tab and select Macros > Ctrl-Alt-Del.
      • In Cisco UCS Manager GUI, click Reset in the Actions area of the General tab.
      • On the physical server, press the Power button.
      Tip   

      If the server does not boot from the installation media, verify that the correct boot order is set in the associated service profile as described in Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites.

      Step 4   To override the normal boot order and boot from the installation media, in the KVM tab of the KVM Console, watch the boot messages and press F6 when prompted to enter the Boot Menu.
      Step 5   On the Boot Menu screen, do one of the following:
      • If you are using an ISO image, select Cisco Virtual CD/DVD and press Enter.
      • If you are using a physical install disk, select the disk drive in which that disk resides and press Enter.

      The server reboots from the selected device and begins installing the OS from the image or disk.

      Step 6   Press Enter when prompted to boot from CD. Answer the installation questions according to the requirements and standards of your company until the Where do you want to install Windows? screen displays, then go to the next step.
      Important:

      Do not install the Windows OS or drivers on any drive listed as “Viking eUSB”. While the OS considers the eUSB drives to be the same as a local drive, Cisco UCS Manager does not let you specify which local drive the server should use as the boot drive. Instead, it always boots the server from the physical local drive and ignores any internal USB (eUSB) drives.

      Step 7   Complete the installation according to the requirements and standards of your company by continuing to monitor the installation progress and answering prompts as required.

      After the Windows installation is complete, Windows reboots the server again and you are prompted to press Ctrl-Alt-Del and log in to access the Windows desktop. Use the login credentials that you supplied during the Windows installation process.

      Note   

      At this point, Windows still needs device drivers installed for devices such as the server chipset and Ethernet controllers. In the Windows Device Manager, devices that still need drivers are marked with yellow flags.

      Step 8   Use Windows File Manager to navigate to the folder into which you extracted the Cisco drivers in Step 1.

      For details about the driver DVD folder structure, see Windows Installation Drivers.

      Step 9   Launch the Windows Device Manager and look for any devices that still have yellow flags. For each such device, install the driver manually through the Device Manager.