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Contents
- Configuring the Fabric Interconnects
- Initial System Setup
- Setup Mode
- System Configuration Type
- Management Port IP Address
- Performing an Initial System Setup for a Standalone Configuration
- Performing an Initial System Setup on the First fabric interconnect
- Performing an Initial System Setup on the Second Fabric Interconnect
- Enabling a Standalone Fabric Interconnect for Cluster Configuration
- Ethernet Switching Mode
- Configuring the Ethernet Switching Mode
- Monitoring a Fabric Interconnect
- Changing Properties of a Fabric Interconnect
- Changing Access to a Fabric Interconnect
Configuring the Fabric Interconnects
This chapter includes the following sections:
- Initial System Setup
- Performing an Initial System Setup for a Standalone Configuration
- Enabling a Standalone Fabric Interconnect for Cluster Configuration
- Ethernet Switching Mode
- Configuring the Ethernet Switching Mode
- Monitoring a Fabric Interconnect
- Changing Properties of a Fabric Interconnect
- Changing Access to a Fabric Interconnect
- Setup Mode
- System Configuration Type
- Management Port IP Address
- Performing an Initial System Setup on the First fabric interconnect
- Performing an Initial System Setup on the Second Fabric Interconnect
Initial System Setup
The first time that you access a fabric interconnect in a Cisco UCS instance, a setup wizard prompts you for the following information required to configure the system:
Setup Mode
You can choose to either restore the system configuration from an existing backup file, or manually setup the system by going through the setup wizard. If you choose to restore the system, the backup file must be reachable from the management network.
System Configuration Type
You can configure a Cisco UCS instance to use a single fabric interconnect in a standalone configuration or to use a redundant pair of fabric interconnects in a cluster configuration.
A cluster configuration provides high availability. If one fabric interconnect becomes unavailable, the other takes over. Only one management port (Mgmt0) connection is required to support a cluster configuration; however, both Mgmt0 ports should be connected to provide link-level redundancy.
Note
The cluster configuration only provides redundancy for the management plane. Data redundancy is dependent on the user configuration and may require a third-party tool to support data redundancy.
To use the cluster configuration, the two fabric interconnects must be directly connected together using Ethernet cables between the L1 (L1-to-L1) and L2 (L2-to-L2) high availability ports, with no other fabric interconnects in between. This allows the two fabric interconnects to continuously monitor the status of each other and quickly know when one has failed.
Both fabric interconnects in a cluster configuration must go through the initial setup process. The first fabric interconnect to be setup must be enabled for a cluster configuration, then when the second fabric interconnect is setup, it detects the first fabric interconnect as a peer fabric interconnect in the cluster.
For more information, refer to the Cisco UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnect Hardware Installation Guide.
Management Port IP Address
In a standalone configuration, you must specify only one IP address and the subnet mask for the single management port on the fabric interconnect.
In a cluster configuration, you must specify the following three IP addresses in the same subnet:
Management port IP address for fabric interconnect A
Management port IP address for fabric interconnect B
Cluster IP address
TipAfter the initial configuration, you can change the management IP port and the related subnet mask in the Cisco UCS Manager CLI. You cannot make this change in the Cisco UCS Manager GUI.
Performing an Initial System Setup for a Standalone Configuration
Before You BeginProcedure
Verify the following physical connections on the fabric interconnect:
The console port is physically connected to a computer terminal or console server.
The management Ethernet port (mgmt0) is connected to an external hub, switch, or router.
For more information, refer to the Cisco UCS Hardware Installation Guide for your fabric interconnect.
Collect the following information that you will need to supply during the initial setup:
Initial System Setup for a Cluster Configuration
Performing an Initial System Setup on the First fabric interconnect
Before You BeginProcedure
Verify the following physical connections on the fabric interconnect:
A console port on the first fabric interconnect is physically connected to a computer terminal or console server.
The management Ethernet port (mgmt0) is connected to an external hub, switch, or router.
The L1 ports on both fabric interconnects are directly connected to each other.
The L2 ports on both fabric interconnects are directly connected to each other.
For more information, refer to the Cisco UCS Hardware Installation Guide for your fabric interconnect.
Collect the following information that you will need to supply during the initial setup:
System name
Password for the admin account
Three static IP addresses: two for the management port on both fabric interconnects (one per fabric interconnect), and one for the cluster IP address used by Cisco UCS Manager
Subnet mask for the three static IP addresses
Default gateway IP address
DNS server IP address (optional)
Domain name for the system (optional)
Step 1 Connect to the console port. Step 2 Power on the fabric interconnect. You will see the power on self-test messages as the fabric interconnect boots.
Step 3 At the installation method prompt, enter gui. Step 4 If the system cannot access a DHCP server, you are prompted to enter the following information:
Step 5 Copy the web link from the prompt into a web browser and go to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI launch page. Step 6 On the Cisco UCS Manager GUI launch page, select Express Setup. Step 7 On the Springfield Express Setup page, select Initial Setup and click Submit. Step 8 In the Cluster and Fabric Setup Area: Step 9 In the System Setup Area, complete the following fields:
Field
Description
System Name field
The name assigned to the Cisco UCS instance
In a standalone configuration, the system adds "-A" to the system name. In a cluster configuration, the system adds "-A" to the fabric interconnect assigned to fabric A, and "-B" to the fabric interconnect assigned to fabric B.
Admin Password field
The password used for the Admin account on the fabric interconnect.
Confirm Admin Password field
The password used for the Admin account on the fabric interconnect.
Mgmt IP Address field
The static IP address for the management port on the fabric interconnect.
Mgmt IP Netmask field
The subnet mask for the management port on the fabric interconnect.
Default Gateway field
The IP address for the default gateway assigned to the management port on the fabric interconnect.
DNS Server IP field
The IP address for the DNS server assigned to the fabric interconnect.
Domain Name field
The name of the domain in which the fabric interconnect resides.
Step 10 Click Submit. A page displays the results of your setup operation.
Performing an Initial System Setup on the Second Fabric Interconnect
Before You BeginProcedureYou must ensure the following:
A console port on the second fabric interconnect is physically connected to a computer terminal or console server.
You know the password for the admin account on the first fabric interconnect that you configured.
Step 1 Connect to the console port. Step 2 Power on the fabric interconnect. You will see the power on self-test messages as the fabric interconnect boots.
Step 3 At the installation method prompt, enter gui. Step 4 If the system cannot access a DHCP server, you are prompted to enter the following information:
Step 5 Copy the web link from the prompt into a web browser and go to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI launch page. Step 6 On the Cisco UCS Manager GUI launch page, select Express Setup. Step 7 On the Springfield Express Setup page, select Initial Setup and click Submit. The fabric interconnect should detect the configuration information for the first fabric interconnect.
Step 8 In the Cluster and Fabric Setup Area: Step 9 In the System Setup Area, enter the password for the Admin account into the Admin Password of Master field. Step 10 Click Submit. A page displays the results of your setup operation.
Enabling a Standalone Fabric Interconnect for Cluster Configuration
ProcedureYou can add a second fabric interconnect to an existing Cisco UCS instance that uses a single standalone fabric interconnect. To do this, you must enable the standalone fabric interconnect for cluster operation, and then add the second fabric interconnect to the cluster.
Command or Action Purpose Step 1 UCS-A# connect local-mgmt Enters local management mode.
Step 2 UCS-A(local-mgmt) # enable cluster ip-addr Enables cluster operation on the standalone fabric interconnect with the specified IP address. When you enter this command, you are prompted to confirm that you want to enable cluster operation. Type yes to confirm.
What to Do NextThe following example enables a standalone fabric interconnect with IP address 192.168.1.101 for cluster operation:
UCS-A# connect local-mgmt UCS-A(local-mgmt)# enable cluster 192.168.1.101 This command will enable cluster mode on this setup. You cannot change it back to stand-alone. Are you sure you want to continue? (yes/no): yes UCS-A(local-mgmt)#
Add the second fabric interconnect to the cluster.
Ethernet Switching Mode
The Ethernet switching mode determines how the fabric interconnect behaves as a switching device between the servers and the network. The fabric interconnect operates in either of the following Ethernet switching modes:
End-Host Mode
End-host mode allows the fabric interconnect to act as an end host to the network, representing all server (hosts) connected to it through vNICs. This is achieved by pinning (either dynamically pinned or hard pinned) vNICs to uplink ports, which provides redundancy toward the network, and makes the uplink ports appear as server ports to the rest of the fabric. When in end-host mode, the fabric interconnect does not run the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and avoids loops by denying uplink ports from forwarding traffic to each other, and by denying egress server traffic on more than one uplink port at a time. End-host mode is the default Ethernet switching mode and should be used if either of the following are used upstream:
Note
When end-host mode is enabled, if a vNIC is hard pinned to an uplink port and this uplink port goes down, the system cannot re-pin the vNIC, and the vNIC remains down.Switch Mode
Switch mode is the traditional Ethernet switching mode. The fabric interconnect runs STP to avoid loops, and broadcast and multicast packets are handled in the traditional way. Switch mode is not the default Ethernet switching mode, and should be used only if the fabric interconnect is directly connected to a router, or if either of the following are used upstream:
Note
For both Ethernet switching modes, even when vNICs are hard pinned to uplink ports, all server-to-server unicast traffic in the server array is sent only through the fabric interconnect and is never sent through uplink ports. Server-to-server multicast and broadcast traffic is sent through all uplink ports in the same VLAN.
Configuring the Ethernet Switching Mode
ProcedureImportant:When you change the Ethernet switching mode, Cisco UCS Manager logs you out and restarts the fabric interconnect. For a cluster configuration, Cisco UCS Manager restarts both fabric interconnects sequentially. The second fabric interconnect can take several minutes to complete the change in Ethernet switching mode and become system ready.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. Step 2 On the Equipment tab, expand . Step 3 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 4 In the Actions area of the General tab, click one of the following links: The link for the current Ethernet switching mode is dimmed.
Step 5 In the dialog box, click Yes. Cisco UCS Manager restarts the fabric interconnect, logs you out, and disconnects Cisco UCS Manager GUI.
Step 6 Launch Cisco UCS Manager GUI and log back in to continue configuring your system.
Monitoring a Fabric Interconnect
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. Step 2 On the Equipment tab, expand . Step 3 In the Work pane, click one of the following tabs to view the status of the fabric interconnect:
Option Description General tab
Provides an overview of the status of the fabric interconnect, including a summary of any faults, a summary of the fabric interconnect properties, and a physical display of the fabric interconnect and its components.
Physical Ports tab
Displays the status of all ports on the fabric interconnect. This tab includes the following sub-tabs:
Fans tab
Displays the status of all fan modules in the fabric interconnect.
PSUs tab
Displays the status of all power supply units in the fabric interconnect.
Physical Display tab
Provides a graphical view of the fabric interconnect and all ports and other components. If a component has a fault, the fault icon is displays next to that component.
Faults tab
Provides details of faults generated by the fabric interconnect.
Events tab
Provides details of events generated by the fabric interconnect.
Statistics tab
Provides statistics about the fabric interconnect and its components. You can view these statistics in tabular or chart format.
Changing Properties of a Fabric Interconnect
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, click All. Step 3 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 4 In the Actions area, click Change System Name/IP Address. Step 5 In the Properties for: UCS Manager dialog box, change one or more of the following fields: Step 6 Click OK. Step 7 Log out of Cisco UCS Manager GUI and log back in again to see your changes.
Changing Access to a Fabric Interconnect
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab. Step 2 On the Admin tab, click All. Step 3 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 4 In the Actions area, click Change Fabric_Interconnect_Name Access. Step 5 In the Properties for: Fabric_Interconnect_Name dialog box, click the Communication Services tab. Step 6 Change one or more of the following fields: Step 7 Click OK.
