Upgrade Prerequisites

Before you upgrade your Fabric Interconnect firmware, consider the following prerequisites:

• Upgrades are permissible only for Cisco UCS Domains that are claimed through Intersight.

• Fabric Interconnects (FIs) must be operating on Cisco Intersight Infrastructure firmware release version 4.1(2a) or later.

• You need Account Administrator or UCS Domain Administrator privileges to perform firmware upgrade.

• For faster firmware download, update your proxy or firewall settings to allow access to the domain cdn.intersight.com or cdn.eu-central-1.intersight.com, depending on your region.

Fabric Interconnect Firmware Upgrade

1. Choose Operate > Fabric Interconnects, and then select a Fabric Interconnect.

2. Click the ellipsis (…) icon of the Fabric Interconnect, and then choose Upgrade Firmware.

3. Click Start to proceed if the guided tour page for the Firmware Upgrade process appears. Otherwise, skip this step.

   Note	To skip this page in the future, check the Do not show this page again check box before clicking Start.

4. On the General page:

   • To upgrade both Fabric Interconnects in a domain:

     With this option, FI-A and FI-B are upgraded sequentially, FI-B first, followed by FI-A, optimizing downtime. This is the default and recommended option.

     1. Select both the Fabric Interconnects in the Table View.

     2. Click Next.

        Note	By default, the system selects both FIs. If one FI appears unselected and disabled, it may be disconnected. In this situation, you cannot upgrade the domain.

   • To upgrade a single Fabric Interconnect:

     With this option, you can choose to upgrade firmware for either FI-A or FI-B by checking the check box next to your preferred FI. You can run custom code to check status at various steps during the FI upgrade process.

     1. Choose the Fabric Interconnect you want to upgrade, either FI-A or FI-B from the Table View.

     2. Click Next.

     Note	Upgrading one Fabric Interconnect can result in firmware inconsistencies within a paired configuration. Ensure to upgrade the peer Fabric Interconnect to the same firmware version. Upgrading a single Fabric Interconnect is supported only in Intersight Managed Mode.

5. On the Version page, select the fabric firmware bundle to which the Fabric Interconnects need to be upgraded.

   This page displays a list of available firmware bundles and information about their firmware version, size, release date, and description. You can also click the eye icon to view the image name and supported models. The selected firmware bundle will be downloaded from the Intersight repository.

   During upgrade of Intersight Managed Fabric Interconnect, the Fabric Interconnect traffic evacuation is enabled by default. Fabric Interconnect traffic evacuation evacuates all traffic that flows through the Fabric Interconnect from all servers attached to it, while upgrading the system. The traffic will fail over to the peer Fabric Interconnect for fail over vNICs. Before the traffic evacuation on a Fabric Interconnect, you must acknowledge that replay on peer Fabric Interconnect is completed and all vEths are up. Use the show interface virtual status command to check the vEth status for respective veths from NXOS.

   Before evacuating traffic, you can monitor the traffic passing through the Fabric Interconnect by checking the Transmit (Tx) and Receive (Rx) statistics of Host Interfaces (HIFs). After the traffic evacuation, you can verify the traffic through the Fabric Interconnect (FI) by reviewing the Transmit (Tx) and Receive (Rx) statistics of Network Interfaces (NIFs).

   To obtain these statistics, execute the show int ethx/y command on the uplink ports and compare the Rx and Tx outputs.

   Note	For Fabric Interconnect traffic evacuation to be functional, vNIC failover must be enabled in the LAN Connectivity Policy.

   Select Advanced Mode to disable the Fabric Interconnect traffic evacuation and/or to skip the IO path connectivity monitoring.

6. Click Next.

7. On the Summary page, verify the summary of the selected Fabric Interconnect(s), the firmware version running on them, and the firmware version to which they will be upgraded, and then click Upgrade.

   To change the firmware version, navigate to the previous page by clicking the Back button.

8. Confirm the upgrade request.

   The firmware upgrade workflow begins. You can check the status of the upgrade workflow in the Execution Flow pane. Acknowledge any messages in the Execution Flow pane and click Proceed to continue with the upgrade.

Note	To know about the procedure of converting an Intersight Managed Mode (IMM) domain to UCSM Managed Mode (UMM) and vice versa, see Conversion Procedures. For detailed procedure on upgrading Fabric Interconnect firmware in UCSM Managed Mode (UMM), see Upgrading Fabric Interconnect Firmware in UMM.

Monitoring Fabric Interconnect Firmware Upgrade

You can now monitor the IO path connectivity and choose to wait for its restoration during the firmware upgrade workflow on the Fabric Interconnect in Intersight Managed Mode.

The following sequence of events occurs:

1. A baseline reference is established during the 'Wait for firmware upgrade in Fabric Interconnect-B' task.

2. All alarms raised for the domain from this baseline time onward are captured.

3. After the Fabric Interconnect is rebooted with the new firmware, monitoring of the IO path connectivity starts during the 'Wait for IO Path Connectivity on Fabric Interconnect-B' task. At this point, the system checks for the presence of any IO path alarms on the first Fabric Interconnect.

   • If none are found, you can click Proceed in the 'Wait for a user acknowledgement on Fabric Interconnect-B' task to continue with the firmware upgrade on the second Fabric Interconnect.

   • If any IO path alarms are present, the system waits for the alarm to be cleared.

The details of the alarms can be viewed by clicking View Alarms during the 'Wait for a user acknowledgement on Fabric Interconnect-B' task. You can either wait for the alarms to clear or click Proceed within the same task to ignore the alarms and continue with the firmware upgrade. For more information, see Acknowledging the Upgrade of the Fabric Interconnect Firmware.

A similar process will be followed for the firmware upgrade of Fabric Interconnect-A; however, this time there is no user acknowledgment task present.

Acknowledging the Upgrade of the Fabric Interconnect Firmware

The user acknowledgement task presents two user actions:

1. View Alarms:

   This action only appears if there are alarms present in the system. Clicking on it displays the total count of all alarms and the number of IO path alarms raised for this domain since the firmware upgrade. You also have the option to filter the IO path alarms out.

   Below are the IO path alarms that can appear for a domain:

   • AdapterHostEthInterfaceStandByActive

   • EquipmentIoCardOffline

   • EtherPortLinkDown

   • EtherPortChannelLinkDown

   • AssetTargetDisconnectedDC

   • AdapterHostEthInterfaceDown

   • AdapterHostEthInterfaceDown

   • AdapterHostFcInterfaceDown

   • AdapterNotReachable

   • FcPortLinkDown

   • FcPcLinkDown

   • NetworkInterClusterLinkStateDown

   • NetworkInterClusterLinkStateDegraded

   Accordingly, you can either wait for the alarms to be cleared or take an action to resolve them. For more information, see Cisco Intersight Alarms Reference Guide.

2. Proceed: You can proceed with the upgrade by clicking Proceed, which will override any existing alarms and continue with the firmware upgrade and reboot.

   After completing the firmware upgrade on the Fabric Interconnect, if any IO path alarms remain pending, a warning message will appear in the 'Wait for IO Path Connectivity on Fabric Interconnect' task. This message displays the total count of alarms, including IO path alarms, that have occurred since the firmware upgrade.

Intersight Managed Mode also supports the monitoring and tracking of IO Path Connectivity during the firmware upgrade of a single Fabric Interconnect.

You have the option to skip the IO path connectivity monitoring check on the firmware version selection page of the Fabric Interconnect firmware upgrade wizard.

To do this:

1. Toggle the Advanced Mode button on.

2. Check the Skip IO Path Connectivity Tracking check box.

   The IO Path Connectivity monitoring task will then be skipped in the firmware upgrade workflow of the Fabric Interconnect.

Monitoring Firmware Version using Alarms

An alarm is raised when the firmware of the peer Fabric Interconnect is out of sync. We recommend that you upgrade the Fabric Interconnects to the same firmware version.

The alarm is reported on the Fabric Interconnect that has been upgraded and is cleared once the firmware vesion is synchronized. For more information, see Alarms Reference Guide.

Managing Firmware Upgrade using API

Firmware upgrades for fabric interconnects can also be executed using API. For more information, see API Docs.

Limitations

• Concurrent firmware upgrades on peer fabric interconnects are restricted.

• Fabric Interconnect and IO Modules connected to it may run different versions compared with the peer Fabric Interconnect/IO Modules.

Perform the following steps to upgrade the server firmware using Firmware policy:

1. Create a Firmware policy as described in Creating a Firmware Policy.

2. Attach the policy to the server profile of the server that needs to be upgraded.

   The profile status will change to 'Pending Changes'.

3. Deploy the profile.

   The firmware will be downloaded and prepared for upgrade upon the next reboot.

   The profile status will change to 'Pending Reboot'.

4. Reboot the server.

   The Activation workflow is triggered, and the firmware upgrade is monitored.

   After the successful upgrade, the profile status changes to 'OK'.

RMA Upgrades

RMA is a Return Material Authorization process that enhances customer experience.

The RMA process triggers an automatic discovery workflow when you insert a new blade server, or when you replace an old blade server. The discovery workflow raises an alarm if the firmware of the blade server is outdated, and you will be asked to trigger an upgrade workflow.

1. Go to Chassis > Inventory > Servers

2. Select the server that you want to upgrade

3. Click Upgrade.

4. Select the firmware version to which you want to upgrade the server.

Relevant endpoints like Cisco IMC and Adaptor are upgraded to ensure that the server comes up in the Intersight Managed Mode, is available in the server list page, and is ready for use. You can upgrade the rest of the endpoints using the standard firmware upgrade method

Note	The CMC version must be 4.1(3b) or later.

RMA support is not available for FI-attached C-Series servers in Intersight Managed Mode. You first need to convert the C-Series server in IMM to Standalone mode, verify the firmware, and then upgrade using HUU.

To convert the server from IMM to Standalone, See Converting a Server in Intersight Managed Mode to Standalone Mode.

To upgrade the firmware of C-Series Standalone server , See Upgrading UCS C-Series Standalone Servers Firmware.

When a single Fabric Interconnect, or a Fabric Interconnect cluster is faulty, and the Fabric Interconnects have been replaced of the same model, you can use the Replace option for migrating the configuration of the old Fabric Interconnects to the new ones. The workflows for replacing both a single Fabric Interconnect and a Fabric Interconnect cluster are detailed in the subsequent paragraphs.

Replacement of Single Fabric Interconnect in Cisco UCS 6400, 6500, and 6600 Series Fabric Interconnects

1. Remove the old Fabric Interconnect and connect the new Fabric Interconnect of the same model.

2. Move all cable connections, including servers, FEX fabrics, and blade chassis, from the old Fabric Interconnect to the new Fabric Interconnect.

3. Configure the new module to join the cluster, before triggering the 'Replace' action.

4. Go to Operate > Fabric Interconnects to view the list of Fabric Interconnects that have been replaced and to identify those for which the 'Replace' option is enabled.

5. Select the Replace Fabric Interconnect option.

6. Click Replace on the confirmation page to trigger the replacement workflow.

As part of the workflow:

• The disconnected Fabric Interconnect is removed from inventory.

• The domain profile is reassigned to the new Fabric Interconnect and deployed.

• The servers, chassis, and FEX are inventoried and discovered under the new Fabric Interconnect.

• The server and chassis profiles are redeployed with Fabric Interconnect related policies.

Replacement of Single Fabric Interconnect in Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G

1. Remove the old Fabric Interconnect and insert the new Fabric Interconnect of the same model into the slot.

   If the replacement Fabric Interconnect has an existing configuration, ensure that you perform an erase-configuration on the device before using it for replacement.

2. Reconnect all the cable connections to the new Fabric Interconnect.

3. Configure the new module to join the cluster, before triggering the 'Replace' action.

4. Go to Operate > Fabric Interconnects to view the list of Fabric Interconnects that have been replaced and to identify those for which the 'Replace' option is enabled.

5. Select the Replace Fabric Interconnect option.

6. Click Replace on the confirmation page to trigger the replacement workflow.

As part of the workflow:

• The disconnected Fabric Interconnect is removed from inventory.

• The domain profile is reassigned to the new Fabric Interconnect and deployed.

• The servers and chassis are inventoried and discovered under the new Fabric Interconnect.

• The server and chassis profiles are redeployed with Fabric Interconnect related policies.

Replacement of Fabric Interconnect Cluster in Cisco UCS 6400, 6500, and 6600 Series Fabric Interconnects

1. Remove the old Fabric Interconnect cluster and connect the new Fabric Interconnect cluster of the same model.

2. Move all the cable connections, including servers, FEX fabrics, and blade chassis, from the old Fabric Interconnects to the new Fabric Interconnects.

3. Claim the new Fabric Interconnects in Intersight.

4. Select the 'Replace UCS Domain' option displayed next to the old cluster on the Fabric Interconnects page.

5. Choose the new Fabric Interconnect cluster to replace the old one.

As part of the workflow:

• The old device registration is merged with the new device registration.

• The disconnected Fabric Interconnect cluster is removed from inventory.

• The domain profile is reassigned to the new Fabric Interconnect cluster and deployed.

• The servers, chassis, and FEX are inventoried and discovered under the new Fabric Interconnect cluster.

• The server and chassis profiles are redeployed with Fabric Interconnect related policies.

Replacement of Fabric Interconnect Cluster in Cisco UCS Fabric Interconnects 9108 100G

1. Remove the old Fabric Interconnect cluster and insert the new Fabric Interconnect cluster of the same model into the slots.

   If Fabric Interconnects with existing configurations are used for replacement, ensure to perform an erase-configuration on the devices before using them for replacement.

2. Reconnect all the cable connections to the new Fabric Interconnects.

3. Claim the new Fabric Interconnects in Intersight.

   The Primary Chassis Discovery workflow will run and fail, displaying a warning to run the 'Replace UCS Domain' action, as the chassis ID is found to be the same.

4. Select the 'Replace UCS Domain' option displayed next to the old cluster on the Fabric Interconnects page.

5. Choose the new Fabric Interconnect cluster to replace the old one.

As part of the workflow:

• The old device registration is merged with the new device registration.

• The disconnected Fabric Interconnect cluster is removed from inventory.

• The domain profile is reassigned to the new Fabric Interconnect cluster and deployed.

• The servers, chassis, and FEX are inventoried and discovered under the new Fabric Interconnect cluster.

• The server and chassis profiles are redeployed with Fabric Interconnect related policies.

Note	Swapping of Fabric Interconnects between slots is not supported.

Cisco Intersight Support for Auto Upgrade of IOM

You do not have to manually update the firmware of IOMs that have CMC lower than 4.1(3b). When the chassis is connected to the Fabric Interconnect, the firmware is automatically updated, the server port is configured in the Port Policy, the port policy is associated with the domain profile, and the domain profile is deployed.