Managing the Server

This chapter includes the following sections:

Managing the Server Boot Order

Server Boot Order

Using Cisco IMC, you can configure the order in which the server attempts to boot from available boot device types. In the legacy boot order configuration, Cisco IMC allows you to reorder the device types but not the devices within the device types. With the precision boot order configuration, you can have a linear ordering of the devices. In the web UI or CLI you can change the boot order and boot mode, add multiple devices under each device types, rearrange the boot order, set parameters for each device type.

When you change the boot order configuration, Cisco IMC sends the configured boot order to BIOS the next time that server is rebooted. To implement the new boot order, reboot the server after you make the configuration change. The new boot order takes effect on any subsequent reboot. The configured boot order remains until the configuration is changed again in Cisco IMC or in the BIOS setup.


Note


The actual boot order differs from the configured boot order if either of the following conditions occur:

  • BIOS encounters issues while trying to boot using the configured boot order.

  • A user changes the boot order directly through BIOS.

  • BIOS appends devices that are seen by the host but are not configured from the user.



Note


When you create a new policy using the configure boot order feature, BIOS tries to map this new policy to the devices in the system. It displays the actual device name and the policy name to which it is mapped in the Actual Boot Order area. If BIOS cannot map any device to a particular policy in Cisco IMC, the actual device name is stated as NonPolicyTarget in the Actual Boot Order area.



Note


When you upgrade Cisco IMC to the latest version 2.0(x) for the first time, the legacy boot order is migrated to the precision boot order. During this process, previous boot order configuration is erased and all device types configured before updating to 2.0 version are converted to corresponding precision boot device types and some dummy devices are created for the same device types. you can view these devices in the Configured Boot Order area in the web UI. To view these devices in the CLI, enter show boot-device command. During this the server's actual boot order is retained and it can be viewed under actual boot order option in web UI and CLI.


When you downgrade Cisco IMC prior to 2.0(x) verison the server's last legacy boot order is retained, and the same can be viewed under Actual Boot Order area. For example:

  • If you configured the server in a legacy boot order in 2.0(x) version, upon downgrade a legacy boot order configuration is retained.

  • If you configured the server in a precision boot order in 2.0(x), upon downgrade the last configured legacy boot order is retained.

Important:
  • C3260 M4 servers support both Legacy and Precision Boot order configuration through Web UI and CLI.

  • Boot order configuration prior to 2.0(x) is referred as legacy boot order. If your running version is 2.0(x), then you cannot configure legacy boot order through web UI, but you can configure through CLI and XML API. In the CLI, you can configure it by using set boot-order HDD,PXE command. Even though, you can configure legacy boot order through CLI or XML API, in the web UI this configured boot order is not displayed.

  • Legacy and precision boot order features are mutually exclusive. You can configure either legacy or precision boot order. If you configure legacy boot order, it disables all the precision boot devices configured. If you configure precision boot order, then it erases legacy boot order configuration.

Configuring the Precision Boot Order

Before You Begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to configure server the boot order.

Procedure
    Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
    Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
    Step 3   On the Server tab, click BIOS.

    The BIOS page appears.

    Step 4   In the Actions area, click Configure Boot Order.

    A dialog box with boot order instructions appears.

    Step 5   Review the instructions, and then click OK.

    The Configure Boot Order dialog box is displayed.

    Step 6   In the Configure Boot Order dialog box, update the following properties:
    Name Description

    Add Boot Device table

    The server boot options. You can add one or more of the following boot device and set parameters of the selected device:

    • Add Local HDD

    • Add PXE Boot

    • Add SAN Boot

    • Add iSCSI Boot

    • Add SD Card

      Note   

      This option is available only on some UCS C-Series servers.

    • Add USB

    • Add Virtual Media

    • Add PCHStorage

    • Add UEFISHELL

    Enable/Disable button

    The visibility of a device by BIOS. The state can be one of the following:

    • Enabled— The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

    • Disabled— The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

    Modify button

    Modifies the attributes of the selected devices.

    Delete button

    Deletes the selected bootable device from the Boot Order table.

    Clone button

    Copies an existing device setting to a new device.

    Re-Apply button

    Reapplies the boot order configuration to BIOS when the last configured boot order source displays as BIOS.

    Move Up button

    Moves the selected device type to a higher priority in the Boot Order table.

    Move Down button

    Moves the selected device type to a lower priority in the Boot Order table.

    Boot Order table

    Displays the device types from which this server can boot, in the order in which the boot is attempted.

    Save Changes button

    Saves the changes to the configured boot order or reapplies a previously configured boot order.

    Cisco IMC sends the configured boot order to BIOS the next time that server is rebooted.

    Reset Values button

    Resets the values of the configured boot order.

    Close button

    Closes the dialog box without saving any changes or reapplying the existing configuration.

    If you choose this option, the actual boot order does not change the next time that server is rebooted.

    Step 7   Click Save Changes.

    Additional device types might be appended to the actual boot order, depending on what devices you have connected to your server.


    What to Do Next

    Reboot the server to boot with your new boot order.

    Managing a Boot Device

    Before You Begin

    You must log in as a user with admin privileges to add device type to the server boot order.

    Procedure
      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
      Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
      Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
      Step 4   In the Action area, click Configure Boot Order.

      A dialog box with boot order instructions appears.

      Step 5   Review the instructions, and then click OK.

      The Configure Boot Order dialog box is displayed.

      Step 6   In the Configure Boot Order dialog box, from the Add Boot Device table, choose the device that you want add to the boot order.

      To add the local HDD device, click Add Local HDD, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      Note   

      Once created, you cannot rename the device.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. This can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Slot field

      The slot in which the device is installed. Enter a value within the range 1 - 255, or M.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the PXE device, click Add PXE, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. The state can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Slot field

      The slot in which the device is installed. Enter a value within the range 1 - 255.

      Port field

      The port of the slot in which the device is present.

      Enter a number between 0 and 255.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the SAN boot device, click Add SAN, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. The state can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Slot field

      The slot in which the device is installed. Enter a value between 1 and 255.

      LUN field

      Logical unit in a slot where the device is present.

      Enter a number between 0 and 255.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the iSCSI boot device, click Add iSCSI, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. The state can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Slot field

      The slot in which the device is installed. Enter a value between 1 and 255, or L.

      Port field

      The port of the slot in which the device is present.

      Enter a number between 0 and 255.

      Note   

      In case of a VIC card, use a vNIC instance instead of the port number.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the SD card, click Add SD Card, and update the following parameters:

      Note   

      This option is available only on some UCS C-Series servers.

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. This can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the USB device, click Add USB, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      Sub Type drop-down list

      The subdevice type under a certain device type. This can be one of the following:

      • CD

      • FDD

      • HDD

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. This can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the virtual media, click Virtual Media, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      Sub Type drop-down list

      The subdevice type under a certain device type. This could be any one of the following:

      • KVM Mapped DVD

      • Cisco IMC Mapped DVD

      • KVM Mapped HDD

      • Cisco IMC Mapped HDD

      • KVM Mapped FDD

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. The state can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Add button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the PCH storage device, click PCH Storage, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. This can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      LUN field

      Logical unit in a slot where the device is present.

      • Enter a number between 0 and 255

      • SATA in AHCI mode—Enter a value between 1 and 10

      • SATA in SWRAID mode—Enter 0 for SATA , and enter 1 for SATA

      Note   

      SATA mode is available only on some UCS C-Series servers.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

      To add the UEFI shell device, click Add UEFI Shell, and update the following parameters:

      Name Description

      Name field

      The name of the device.

      This name cannot be changed after the device has been created.

      State drop-down list

      The visibility of the device by BIOS. The state can be one of the following:

      • Enabled—The device is visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      • Disabled—The device is not visible to BIOS in a boot order configuration.

      Order field

      The order of the device in the available list of devices.

      Enter between 1 and n, where n is the number of devices.

      Add Device button

      Adds the device to the Boot Order table.

      Cancel button

      Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.


      Overview to UEFI Secure Boot

      You can use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) secure boot to ensure that all the EFI drivers, EFI applications, option ROM or operating systems prior to loading and execution are signed and verified for authenticity and integrity, before you load and execute the operating system. You can enable this option using either web UI or CLI. When you enable UEFI secure boot mode, the boot mode is set to UEFI mode and you cannot modify the configured boot mode until the UEFI boot mode is disabled.


      Note


      If you enable UEFI secure boot on a nonsupported OS, on the next reboot, you cannot boot from that particular OS. If you try to boot from the previous OS, an error is reported and recorded the under system software event in the web UI. You must disable the UEFI secure boot option using Cisco IMC to boot from your previous OS.


      Important:

      Also, if you use an unsupported adapter, an error log event in Cisco IMC SEL is recorded. The error messages is displayed that says:

      System Software event: Post sensor, System Firmware error. EFI Load Image Security Violation. [0x5302] was asserted .

      UEFI secure boot is supported on the following components:
      Components Types

      Supported OS

      • Windows Server 2012

      • Windows Server 2012 R2

      QLogic PCI adapters

      • 8362 dual port adapter

      • 2672 dual port adapter

      Fusion-io

      LSI

      • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i

      • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9220-8i

      • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9265CV-8i

      • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9285CV-8e

      • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9285CV-8e

      • LSI MegaRAID SAS 9266-8i

      • LSI SAS2008-8i mezz

      • LSI Nytro card

      • RAID controller for UCS C3X60 Storage (SLOT-MEZZ)

      • Host Bus Adapter (HBA)

      Enabling UEFI Secure Boot

      Procedure
        Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
        Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
        Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
        Step 4   In the BIOS Properties area of the Configure Boot Order tab, check UEFI Secure Boot checkbox.
        Note   

        If checked, the boot mode is set to UEFI secure boot. You cannot modify the Configure Boot Mode until UEFI secure boot option is disabled.

        If you enable UEFI secure boot on a nonsupported OS, on the next reboot, you cannot boot from that particular OS. If you try to boot from the previous OS, an error is reported and recorded under the system software event in the web UI. You must disable the UEFI secure boot option by using Cisco IMC to boot from your previous OS.

        Step 5   Click Save Changes.

        What to Do Next

        Reboot the server to have your configuration boot mode settings take place.

        Disabling UEFI Secure Boot

        Procedure
          Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
          Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
          Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
          Step 4   In the BIOS Properties area, uncheck the UEFI Secure Boot check box.
          Step 5   Click Save Changes.

          What to Do Next

          Reboot the server to have your configuration boot mode settings take place.

          Viewing the Actual Server Boot Order

          The actual server boot order is the boot order actually used by BIOS when the server last booted. The actual boot order can differ from the boot order configured in Cisco IMC.

          Procedure
            Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
            Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
            Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
            Step 4   In the BIOS tab, click the Configure Boot Order tab.

            This area displays the boot order devices configured through Cisco IMC as well as the actual boot order used by the server BIOS.

            The Configured Boot Devices section displays the boot order (Basic or Advanced) configured through Cisco IMC. If this configuration changes, Cisco IMC sends this boot order to BIOS the next time that server boots. The Basic configuration allows you to specify only the device type. The Advanced configuration allows you to configure the device with specific parameters such as slot, port and LUN.

            To change the configured boot order, or to restore the previously configured boot order, administrators can click the Configure Boot Order button. To have these changes take effect immediately, reboot the server. You can verify the new boot order by refreshing the BIOS tab.

            Note    This information is only sent to BIOS the next time the server boots. Cisco IMC does not send the boot order information to BIOS again until the configuration changes.

            The Actual Boot Devices section displays the boot order actually used by BIOS when the server last booted. The actual boot order will differ from the configured boot order if either of the following conditions occur:

            • The BIOS encounters issues while trying to boot using the configured boot order.

            • A user changes the boot order directly through the BIOS. To override any manual changes, you can change the configured boot order through Cisco IMC and reboot the server.

            Note    When you create a new policy using the configured boot order, BIOS tries to map this new policy to the device or devices present in the system. It displays the actual device name and the policy name to which it is mapped under the Actual Boot Order area. If BIOS cannot map any device found to a particular policy in Cisco IMC, then the actual device name is stated as NonPolicyTarget under the Actual Boot Order area.

            Configuring Power Policies

            Configuring the Power Restore Policy

            The power restore policy determines how power is restored to the server after a chassis power loss.

            Before You Begin

            You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

            Procedure
              Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
              Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
              Step 3   In the Server pane, click the Power Policies tab.
              Step 4   In the Power Restore Policy area, update the following fields:
              Name Description

              Power Restore Policy drop-down list

              The action to be taken when chassis power is restored after an unexpected power loss. This can be one of the following:

              • Power Off—The server remains off until it is manually restarted.

              • Power On—The server is allowed to boot up normally when power is restored. The server can restart immediately or, optionally, after a fixed or random delay.

              • Restore Last State—The server restarts and the system attempts to restore any processes that were running before power was lost.

              Power Delay Type drop-down list

              If the selected policy is Power On, the restart can be delayed with this option. This can be one of the following:

              • fixed—The server restarts after a fixed delay.

              • random—The server restarts after a random delay.

              Note   

              This option is available only for some C-Series servers.

              Power Delay Value field

              If a fixed delay is selected, once chassis power is restored and the Cisco IMC has finished rebooting, the system waits for the specified number of seconds before restarting the server.

              Enter an integer between 0 and 240.

              Note   

              This option is available only for some C-Series servers.

              Step 5   Click Save Changes.

              Power Characterization

              The chassis power characterization range is calculated and derived from individual server node power characterization status, and from the power requirements of all the unmanageable components of the chassis.

              This range varies for each configuration, so you need to run the power characterization every time a configuration changes.

              To help you use the power characterization range appropriately for the different power profiles, the system represents the chassis' minimum power as auto profile minimum and custom profile minimum. However, custom power profile minimum is the actual minimum power requirement of the current chassis configuration. For more information see the section Run Power Characterization.

              Running Power Characterization

              You can run power characterization only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.

              Before You Begin

              You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

              Procedure
                Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Cap Configuration tab.
                Step 4   In the Power Cap Configuration tab, click the Run Power Characterization link.

                A confirmation box appears that says the host is going to be either powered on or rebooted depending on the current power state. Review the message and click OK to close the dialog box.

                You can verify the progress of the power characterization in the Status field. The status can be one of the following:
                • Not Run on One Server— When the power characterization status is Not Run on any one server node.

                • Not Run— When the power characterization status is Not Run on both the server nodes.

                • Failed on One Server— When the power characterization status is Failed on any one server.

                • Completed Successfully—When the power characterization status is Completed Successfully on both the server nodes.

                • Running— When the power characterization status is Running on any one of the server nodes.

                • Failed— When the power characterization status is Failed on both the server nodes.

                After power characterization action is performed, the platform power limit range is populated under the Recommended Power Cap area as a minimum and maximum power in watts.


                Power Profiles


                Note


                Power Management is available only on some C-series servers.


                Power capping determines how server power consumption is actively managed. When you enable power capping option, the system monitors power consumption and maintains the power below the allocated power limit. If the server cannot maintain the power limit or cannot bring the platform power back to the specified power limit within the correction time, power capping performs actions that you specify in the Action field under the Power Profile area.

                You can configure multiple profiles with the following combinations: automatic and thermal profiles; and custom and thermal profiles. These profiles are configured by using either the web user interface, command line interface, or XML API. In the web UI, the profiles are listed under the Power Capping area. In the CLI, the profiles are configured when you enter the power-cap-config command. You can configure the following power profiles for power capping feature:
                • Automatic Power Limiting Profile

                • Custom Power Limiting Profile

                • Thermal Power Limiting Profile

                Automatic power limiting profile sets the power limit of the individual server boards based on server priority selected by you, or as detected by the system, based on the server utilization sensor (which is known as manual or dynamic priority selection). The limiting values are calculated within the manageable chassis power budget and applied to the individual server, and the priority server is allocated with its maximum power limiting value, while the other server with the remaining of the manageable power budget. Power limiting occurs at each server board platform level that affects the overall chassis power consumption.

                Custom power limiting profile allows you to set an individual server board’s power limit from the Web UI or command line interface within the chassis power budget. In this scenario you can specify an individual server power limit.

                Thermal power profile allows you to enable thermal failure power capping, which means you can set a specific platform temperature threshold and it sets P (min-x) as the power limit to be applied on the temperature threshold.

                Resetting Power Profiles to Default

                This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.

                Before You Begin

                You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                Procedure
                  Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                  Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                  Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Cap Configuration tab.
                  Step 4   In the Power Cap Configuration tab, click the Reset Profiles to Default link.
                  Note   

                  This action resets all the power profile settings to factory default values and disables power capping.


                  Configuring the Power Capping Settings

                  You can enable power characterization only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.

                  Before You Begin

                  You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                    Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                    Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Cap Configuration tab.
                    Step 4   In the Chassis Power Characterization Details area, review the following information:
                    Name Description

                    Chassis Power Characterization Status field

                    Displays the progress of the power characterization. This can be one of the following:

                    • Not Run on One Server— When the power characterization status is Not Run on any one server node.

                    • Not Run— When the power characterization status is Not Run on both the server nodes.

                    • Failed on One Server— When the power characterization status is Failed on any one server.

                    • Completed Successfully—When the power characterization status is Completed Successfully on both the server nodes.

                    • Running— When the power characterization status is Running on any one of the server nodes.

                    • Failed— When the power characterization status is Failed on both the server nodes.

                    Chassis Power Characterization Range

                    It is composed of the following:

                    • Auto Profile Minimum— The minimum value to be used for the user allocated chassis power to enable Auto Profile.
                      Note   

                      The Auto Profile Minimum option is available only when both server nodes are present.

                    • Custom Profile Minimum— The minimum value to be used for the user allocated chassis power to enable Custom Profile

                    • Maximum— Maximum value for both Auto and Custom profiles.

                    Server Power Details

                    When you move the mouse over the Help icon, the server power details are displayed in a table.

                    Step 5   In the Power Capping and Profiles Configuration area, complete the following fields:
                    Name Description

                    Enable Power Capping check box

                    If checked, this enables the power capping capability of the system, and allows you to select and set the parameters for individual power capping profiles.

                    Note   

                    If disabled, you cannot configure or modify individual power capping profiles in the Power Profiles area.

                    User Allocated Chassis Power field

                    Power budget that you allocate to a chassis, in watts.

                    Chassis Manageable Power field

                    Maximum power that a chassis can manage, in watts. It is a part of the User Allocated Chassis power that is manageable.

                    Step 6   Click Save Changes.

                    What to Do Next

                    Configure the individual power profiles.

                    Configuring Auto Power Profile

                    Before You Begin

                    You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                      Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                      Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Cap Configuration tab.
                      Step 4   In the Auto tab complete the following fields:
                      Name Description

                      Enable Profile check box

                      If checked, enables the power profile for editing.

                      Allow Throttle check box

                      If checked, it forces the processor to use more aggressive power management mechanisms such as CPU throttling states (T-states) and memory bandwidth throttling to maintain the power limit, in addition to the regular internal mechanisms.

                      Priority Selection drop-down list

                      This can be one of the following:

                      • Manual— When you manually assign priority to a server node. It could be either server 1 or server 2.

                      • Dynamic— CMC dynamically decides to assign priority to a server node based on server utilization. The server that is utilized more at any given time is selected as a priority server.

                      Correction Time field

                      The time in seconds in which the platform power should be brought back to the specified power limit before taking the action specified in the Action field.

                      The valid range is 1 to 600 seconds.

                      Priority Server drop-down list

                      Select an option to manually assign priority to a server. This can be one of the following:

                      • Server 1

                      • Server 2

                      Note   

                      This option is available when you select Manual from the Priority Selection drop-down list.

                      Exception Action drop-down list

                      The action to be performed if the specified power limit is not maintained within the correction time.

                      • Alert—Logs the event to the Cisco IMC SEL.

                      • Alert and Shutdown—Logs the event to the Cisco IMC SEL, and gracefully shuts down the host.

                      Power Limit field

                      Server 1

                      Server 2

                      Displays the power cap limit assigned to server 1 and server 2 in auto profile.

                      Step 5   In the Suspend Period area, click the Configure link to set the time period in which the power capping profile is not active.

                      What to Do Next

                      Configure the custom power profile.

                      Configuring Custom Power Profile

                      Before You Begin

                      You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                      Procedure
                        Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                        Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                        Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Cap Configuration tab.
                        Step 4   In the Custom tab, complete the following fields:
                        Name Description

                        Component field

                        Component for which you want to enable the Custom Power profile.

                        Enabled check box

                        If checked, enables the power profile for editing.

                        Power Limit field

                        Enter a value in the range suggested by the tooltip.

                        Exception Action drop-down list

                        The action to be performed if the specified power limit is not maintained within the correction time.

                        • Alert—Logs the event to the Cisco IMC SEL.

                        • Alert and Shutdown—Logs the event to the Cisco IMC SEL, and gracefully shuts down the host.

                        Correction Time field

                        The time in seconds in which the platform power should be brought back to the specified power limit before taking the action specified in the Action field.

                        The valid range is 1 to 600 seconds.

                        Allow Throttling field

                        Forces the processor to use more aggressive power management mechanisms such as, CPU the throttling states (T-states) and memory bandwidth throttling to maintain the power limit, in addition to the regular internal mechanisms.

                        Suspend Period field

                        Allows you to suspend power capping for a chosen period of time.


                        What to Do Next

                        Configure the thermal power profile.

                        Configuring Thermal Power Profile

                        Before You Begin

                        You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                        Procedure
                          Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                          Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                          Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Cap Configuration tab.
                          Step 4   In the Thermal tab, complete the following fields:
                          Name Description

                          Component field

                          Component for which you want to enable the Thermal Power profile.

                          Enabled field

                          Enables the power profile for editing.

                          Temperature field

                          Enter a temperature value crossing which the thermal profile should be applied. The valid range is 1 to 40.

                          Power Limit field

                          Displays the power cap limit that is minimum for the given server.


                          Viewing Power Monitoring Summary

                          This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.

                          Procedure
                            Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                            Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                            Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Monitoring tab.
                            Step 4   In the Power Monitoring Summary area, review the following information about the chassis:

                            The following tables display the power consumed by the chassis and its components since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Name Description

                            Monitoring Period

                            The time duration of the monitored chassis' power consumption since the last time Cisco IMC rebooted or powered on.

                            The monitoring period is displayed in Day HH:MM:SS format.

                            Current

                            The power currently being used by the chassis in watts.

                            Minimum

                            The minimum number of watts consumed by the chassis since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Maximum

                            The maximum number of watts consumed by the chassis since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Average

                            The average amount of power consumed by the chassis in watts over the defined period of time.

                            Step 5   In the Power Monitoring Summary area, review the following information about the servers:
                            Name Description

                            Monitoring Period

                            The duration of the monitored server's power consumption since it was last rebooted or powered on.

                            The monitoring period is displayed in Day HH:MM:SS format.

                            Platform Power Summary

                            Current

                            The power currently being used by the server, CPU, and memory in watts.

                            Minimum

                            The minimum number of watts consumed by the server, CPU, and memory during the monitored period.

                            Maximum

                            The maximum number of watts consumed by the server, CPU, and memory during the monitored period.

                            Average

                            The average amount of power consumed by the server, CPU, and memory in watts during the monitored period.

                            CPU Power Summary

                            Current

                            The power currently being used by the CPU in watts.

                            Minimum

                            The minimum number of watts consumed by the CPU since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Maximum

                            The maximum number of watts consumed by the CPU since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Average

                            The average amount of power consumed by the server, CPU, and memory in watts over the defined period of time.

                            Memory Power Summary

                            Current

                            The power currently being used by the memory, in watts.

                            Minimum

                            The minimum number of watts consumed by the memory since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Maximum

                            The maximum number of watts consumed by the memory since the last time it was rebooted.

                            Average

                            The average amount of power consumed by the memory in watts over the defined period of time.

                            Step 6   In the Chart Properties area, review and update the chart, component, and view the power consumption details.
                            Name Description

                            Component drop-down list

                            The component for which you want to view the power consumption over the selected duration. This can be one of the following:

                            • Chassis

                            • Server 1

                            • Server 2

                            Domain drop-down list

                            Allows you to view a server's domain specific information. This can be one of the following:
                            • All

                            • Platform

                            • CPU

                            • Memory

                            Note    This option is available only if you select Server 1 or Server 2 from the Component drop-down list.

                            Chart drop-down list

                            Allows you to collect the trends of power consumption from every server for the selected duration. This can be one of the following:

                            • Last One Hour— Plots the chart for the last hour.

                            • Last One Day—Plots the chart for the last one day.

                            • Last One Week—Plots the chart for the last one week.

                            Plot button

                            Displays the power consumed by the selected component for the selected duration.

                            Chart/Table View (Appears on mouse-over)

                            Select to view power monitoring summary in either Chart or Table view.

                            Chart Type (Appears on mouse-over)

                            Select the type of chart you wish to view. This could be one of the following:
                            • Column Chart— Power monitoring data appears as a column.

                            • Line Chart— Power monitoring data appears in lines.

                            Current check box

                            If checked, the chart displays the current power consumed by the selected component for the selected duration.

                            Average check box

                            If checked, the plot displays the average amount of power consumed by the selected component for the selected duration.

                            Maximum check box

                            If checked, the plot displays the maximum number of watts consumed by the selected component for the selected duration.

                            Minimum check box

                            If checked, the plot displays the minimum number of watts consumed by the selected component for the selected duration.


                            Configuring the Chart Properties

                            Procedure
                              Step 1   In the Navigation tab, click the Chassis tab.
                              Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click the Power Management tab.
                              Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Monitoring tab.
                              Step 4   In the Chart Properties area, click the Chart Settings icon to configure the following fields:
                              Name Description

                              Show Range Filter check box

                              If checked, displays the range filter content.

                              Show X Axis Labels check box

                              If checked, displays the X Axis labels for the power monitoring summary.

                              Show Y Axis Labels check box

                              If checked, displays the Y Axis labels for the power monitoring summary.

                              Show Markers check box

                              If checked, displays the markers for the X and Y axis data.

                              Y-Axis Interval Value field (1 - 1020)

                              Select the interval value in wattage. Default value is 20.

                              The power reading chart plots power consumption values of different components for the selected duration. These power consumption values are captured from the time that the host is powered on. When a power profile is enabled, the power limit is plotted in the chart as a red line. This plot can be used to determine the power consumption trend of the system. To view the configured power limit values of a particular domain, move the mouse over these trend lines.
                              Note   

                              These trend lines are not displayed if the profile is disabled on the Power Cap Configuration tab.

                              Step 5   Click Save Changes.

                              Downloading Power Statistics and Server Utilization Data

                              This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.

                              Before You Begin

                              You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                              Procedure
                                Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Chassis tab.
                                Step 2   In the Chassis tab, click Power Management.
                                Step 3   On the Work pane, click the Power Monitoring tab.
                                Step 4   In the Power Monitoring tab, click Download Power Statistics and Server Utilization Data.

                                The files are downloaded to your local download folder.

                                Note   

                                If the file size of the already downloaded statistics file is less than 256 KB, then when you download, another set of files is downloaded, one for the power statistics and the other for host server utilization. If the size of the existing files exceeds 256 KB, then the next set of files overwrites the existing ones.


                                Configuring DIMM Blacklisting

                                DIMM Black Listing

                                In Cisco IMC, the state of the Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM) is based on SEL event records. A DIMM is marked bad if the BIOS encounters a non-correctable memory error or correctable memory error with 16000 error counts during memory test execution during BIOS post. If a DIMM is marked bad, it is considered a non-functional device.

                                If you enable DIMM blacklisting, Cisco IMC monitors the memory test execution messages and blacklists any DIMM that encounters memory errors at any given point of time in the DIMM SPD data. This allows the host to map out those DIMMs.

                                DIMMs are mapped out or blacklisted only when Uncorrectable errors occur. When a DIMM gets blacklisted, other DIMMs in the same channel are ignored or disabled, which means that the DIMM is no longer considered bad.


                                Note


                                DIMMs do not get mapped out or blacklisted for 16000 Correctable errors.


                                Enabling DIMM Black Listing

                                Before You Begin
                                • You must be logged in as an administrator.

                                Procedure
                                  Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                  Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                  Step 3   In the Server pane, click the Inventory tab.
                                  Step 4   In the Memory pane's DIMM Black Listing area, click the Enable DIMM Black List check box.

                                  Configuring BIOS Settings

                                  Configuring Main BIOS Settings

                                  Before You Begin

                                  You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                                  Procedure
                                    Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                    Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                    Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
                                    Step 4   In the Actions area, click Configure BIOS.
                                    Step 5   In the Configure BIOS Parameters dialog box, click the Main tab.
                                    Step 6   Specify whether the server should be rebooted after you save your changes.

                                    If you want your changes applied automatically after you click Save Changes, check the Reboot Host Immediately check box. Cisco IMC immediately reboots the server and applies your changes.

                                    If you want to apply your changes at a later time, clear the Reboot Host Immediately check box. Cisco IMC stores the changes and applies them the next time the server reboots.

                                    Note   

                                    If there are existing BIOS parameter changes pending, Cisco IMC automatically overwrites the stored values with the current settings when you click Save Changes.

                                    Step 7   In the Main tab, choose whether you want TPM Support to be enabled or disabled, and update the BIOS settings fields with the following options:
                                    Name Description

                                    Save button

                                    Saves the settings for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs and closes the dialog box.

                                    Reset button

                                    Restores the values for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to the settings that were in effect when this dialog box was first opened.

                                    Restore Defaults button

                                    Sets the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to their default settings.

                                    Important:

                                    The buttons in this dialog box affect all BIOS parameters on all available tabs, not just the parameters on the tab that you are viewing.


                                    Configuring Advanced BIOS Settings


                                    Note


                                    Depending on your installed hardware, some configuration options described in this topic may not appear.


                                    Before You Begin

                                    You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                                    Procedure
                                      Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                      Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                      Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
                                      Step 4   In the Actions area, click Configure BIOS.
                                      Step 5   In the Configure BIOS Parameters dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
                                      Step 6   Specify whether the server should be rebooted after you save your changes.

                                      If you want your changes applied automatically after you click Save Changes, check the Reboot Host Immediately check box. Cisco IMC immediately reboots the server and applies your changes.

                                      If you want to apply your changes at a later time, clear the Reboot Host Immediately check box. Cisco IMC stores the changes and applies them the next time the server reboots.

                                      Note   

                                      If there are existing BIOS parameter changes pending, Cisco IMC automatically overwrites the stored values with the current settings when you click Save Changes.

                                      Step 7   In the Advanced tab's Processor Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

                                      Whether the processor uses Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, which allows multithreaded software applications to execute threads in parallel within each processor. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not permit hyperthreading.

                                      • Enabled—The processor allows for the parallel execution of multiple threads.

                                      We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

                                      Number of Enabled Cores

                                      Allows you to disable one or more of the physical cores on the server. This can be one of the following:

                                      • All—Enables all physical cores. This also enables Hyper Threading on the associated logical processor cores.

                                      • 1 through n—Specifies the number of physical processor cores that can run on the server. Each physical core has an associated logical core.

                                      We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

                                      Execute Disable

                                      Classifies memory areas on the server to specify where application code can execute. As a result of this classification, the processor disables code execution if a malicious worm attempts to insert code in the buffer. This setting helps to prevent damage, worm propagation, and certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not classify memory areas.

                                      • Enabled—The processor classifies memory areas.

                                      We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

                                      Intel VT

                                      Whether the processor uses Intel Virtualization Technology (VT), which allows a platform to run multiple operating systems and applications in independent partitions. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not permit virtualization.

                                      • Enabled—The processor allows multiple operating systems in independent partitions.

                                      Note   

                                      If you change this option, you must power cycle the server before the setting takes effect.

                                      Intel VT-d

                                      Whether the processor uses Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d). This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not use virtualization technology.

                                      • Enabled—The processor uses virtualization technology.

                                      Intel VT-d Coherency Support

                                      Whether the processor supports Intel VT-d Coherency. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not support coherency.

                                      • Enabled—The processor uses VT-d Coherency as required.

                                      Intel VT-d ATS Support

                                      Whether the processor supports Intel VT-d Address Translation Services (ATS). This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not support ATS.

                                      • Enabled—The processor uses VT-d ATS as required.

                                      CPU Performance

                                      Sets the CPU performance profile for the server. The performance profile consists of the following options:

                                      • DCU Streamer Prefetcher

                                      • DCU IP Prefetcher

                                      • Hardware Prefetcher

                                      • Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch

                                      This can be one of the following:

                                      • Enterprise—All options are enabled.

                                      • High Throughput—Only the DCU IP Prefetcher is enabled. The rest of the options are disabled.

                                      • HPC—All options are enabled. This setting is also known as high performance computing.

                                      • Custom—All performance profile options can be configured from the BIOS setup on the server. In addition, the Hardware Prefetcher and Adjacent Cache-Line Prefetch options can be configured in the fields below.

                                      Hardware Prefetcher

                                      Whether the processor allows the Intel hardware prefetcher to fetch streams of data and instruction from memory into the unified second-level cache when necessary. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The hardware prefetcher is not used.

                                      • Enabled—The processor uses the hardware prefetcher when cache issues are detected.

                                      Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher

                                      Whether the processor fetches cache lines in even/odd pairs instead of fetching just the required line. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor only fetches the required line.

                                      • Enabled— The processor fetches both the required line and its paired line.

                                      DCU Streamer Prefetch

                                      Whether the processor uses the DCU IP Prefetch mechanism to analyze historical cache access patterns and preload the most relevant lines in the L1 cache. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not try to anticipate cache read requirements and only fetches explicitly requested lines.

                                      • Enabled—The DCU prefetcher analyzes the cache read pattern and prefetches the next line in the cache if it determines that it may be needed.

                                      DCU IP Prefetcher

                                      Whether the processor uses the DCU IP Prefetch mechanism to analyze historical cache access patterns and preload the most relevant lines in the L1 cache. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not preload any cache data.

                                      • Enabled—The DCU IP prefetcher preloads the L1 cache with the data it determines to be the most relevant.

                                      Direct Cache Access Support

                                      Allows processors to increase I/O performance by placing data from I/O devices directly into the processor cache. This setting helps to reduce cache misses. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—Data from I/O devices is not placed directly into the processor cache.

                                      • Enabled—Data from I/O devices is placed directly into the processor cache.

                                      Power Technology

                                      Enables you to configure the CPU power management settings for the following options:

                                      • Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology

                                      • Intel Turbo Boost Technology

                                      • Processor Power State C6

                                      Power Technology can be one of the following:

                                      • Custom—The server uses the individual settings for the BIOS parameters mentioned above. You must select this option if you want to change any of these BIOS parameters.

                                      • Disabled—The server does not perform any CPU power management and any settings for the BIOS parameters mentioned above are ignored.

                                      • Energy Efficient—The server determines the best settings for the BIOS parameters mentioned above and ignores the individual settings for these parameters.

                                      Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology

                                      Whether the processor uses Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology, which allows the system to dynamically adjust processor voltage and core frequency. This technology can result in decreased average power consumption and decreased average heat production. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor never dynamically adjusts its voltage or frequency.

                                      • Enabled—The processor utilizes Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and enables all supported processor sleep states to further conserve power.

                                      We recommend that you contact your operating system vendor to make sure the operating system supports this feature.

                                      Note   

                                      Power Technology must be set to Custom or the server ignores the setting for this parameter.

                                      Intel Turbo Boost Technology

                                      Whether the processor uses Intel Turbo Boost Technology, which allows the processor to automatically increase its frequency if it is running below power, temperature, or voltage specifications. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The processor does not increase its frequency automatically.

                                      • Enabled—The processor utilizes Turbo Boost Technology if required.

                                      Note   

                                      Power Technology must be set to Custom or the server ignores the setting for this parameter.

                                      Processor Power State C6

                                      Whether the BIOS sends the C6 report to the operating system. When the OS receives the report, it can transition the processor into the lower C6 power state to decrease energy usage while maintaining optimal processor performance. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The BIOS does not send the C6 report.

                                      • Enabled—The BIOS sends the C6 report, allowing the OS to transition the processor to the C6 low power state.

                                      Note   

                                      Power Technology must be set to Custom or the server ignores the setting for this parameter.

                                      Processor Power State C1 Enhanced

                                      Whether the CPU transitions to its minimum frequency when entering the C1 state. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The CPU continues to run at its maximum frequency in C1 state.

                                      • Enabled—The CPU transitions to its minimum frequency. This option saves the maximum amount of power in C1 state.

                                      Frequency Floor Override

                                      Whether the CPU is allowed to drop below the maximum non-turbo frequency when idle. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled— The CPU can drop below the maximum non-turbo frequency when idle. This option decreases power consumption but may reduce system performance.

                                      • Enabled— The CPU cannot drop below the maximum non-turbo frequency when idle. This option improves system performance but may increase power consumption.

                                      P-STATE Coordination

                                      Allows you to define how BIOS communicates the P-state support model to the operating system. There are 3 models as defined by the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification.

                                      • HW_ALL—The processor hardware is responsible for coordinating the P-state among logical processors with dependencies (all logical processors in a package).

                                      • SW_ALL—The OS Power Manager (OSPM) is responsible for coordinating the P-state among logical processors with dependencies (all logical processors in a physical package), and must initiate the transition on all of the logical processors.

                                      • SW_ANY—The OS Power Manager (OSPM) is responsible for coordinating the P-state among logical processors with dependencies (all logical processors in a package), and may initiate the transition on any of the logical processors in the domain.

                                      Note   

                                      Power Technology must be set to Custom or the server ignores the setting for this parameter.

                                      Energy Performance

                                      Allows you to determine whether system performance or energy efficiency is more important on this server. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Balanced Energy

                                      • Balanced Performance

                                      • Energy Efficient

                                      • Performance

                                      Step 8   In the Memory Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      Select Memory RAS

                                      How the memory reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) is configured for the server. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Maximum Performance—System performance is optimized.

                                      • Mirroring—System reliability is optimized by using half the system memory as backup.

                                      • Lockstep—If the DIMM pairs in the server have an identical type, size, and organization and are populated across the SMI channels, you can enable lockstep mode to minimize memory access latency and provide better performance. This option offers better system performance than Mirroring and better reliability than Maximum Performance but lower reliability than Mirroring and lower system performance than Maximum Performance.

                                      DRAM Clock Throttling

                                      Allows you to tune the system settings between the memory bandwidth and power consumption. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Balanced— DRAM clock throttling is reduced, providing a balance between performance and power.

                                      • Performance—DRAM clock throttling is disabled, providing increased memory bandwidth at the cost of additional power.

                                      • Energy Efficient—DRAM clock throttling is increased to improve energy efficiency.

                                      NUMA

                                      Whether the BIOS supports Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA). This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The BIOS does not support NUMA.

                                      • Enabled—The BIOS includes the ACPI tables that are required for NUMA-aware operating systems. If you enable this option, the system must disable Inter-Socket Memory interleaving on some platforms.

                                      Low Voltage DDR Mode

                                      Whether the system prioritizes low voltage or high frequency memory operations. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Power Saving Mode—The system prioritizes low voltage memory operations over high frequency memory operations. This mode may lower memory frequency in order to keep the voltage low.

                                      • Performance Mode—The system prioritizes high frequency operations over low voltage operations.

                                      DRAM Refresh rate

                                      Allows you to set the rate at which the DRAM cells are refreshed. This can be one of the following:

                                      • 1x—DRAM cells are refreshed every 64ms.

                                      • 2x—DRAM cells are refreshed every 32ms.

                                      • 3x—DRAM cells are refreshed every 21ms.

                                      • 4x—DRAM cells are refreshed every 16ms.

                                      • Auto—DRAM cells refresh rate is automatically chosen by the BIOS based on the system configuration. This is the recommended setting for this parameter.

                                      Channel Interleaving

                                      Whether the CPU divides memory blocks and spreads contiguous portions of data across interleaved channels to enable simultaneous read operations. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Auto—The CPU determines what interleaving is done.

                                      • 1 Way—Some channel interleaving is used.

                                      • 2 Way

                                      • 3 Way

                                      • 4 Way—The maximum amount of channel interleaving is used.

                                      Rank Interleaving

                                      Whether the CPU interleaves physical ranks of memory so that one rank can be accessed while another is being refreshed. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Auto—The CPU determines what interleaving is done.

                                      • 1 Way—Some rank interleaving is used.

                                      • 2 Way

                                      • 4 Way

                                      • 8 Way—The maximum amount of rank interleaving is used.

                                      Patrol Scrub

                                      Whether the system actively searches for, and corrects, single bit memory errors even in unused portions of the memory on the server. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The system checks for memory ECC errors only when the CPU reads or writes a memory address.

                                      • Enabled—The system periodically reads and writes memory searching for ECC errors. If any errors are found, the system attempts to fix them. This option may correct single bit errors before they become multi-bit errors, but it may adversely affect performance when the patrol scrub is running.

                                      Demand Scrub

                                      Whether the system corrects single bit memory errors encountered when the CPU or I/O makes a demand read. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled— Single bit memory errors are not corrected.

                                      • Enabled— Single bit memory errors are corrected in memory and the corrected data is set in response to the demand read.

                                      Altitude

                                      The approximate number of meters above sea level at which the physical server is installed. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Auto—The CPU determines the physical elevation.

                                      • 300 M—The server is approximately 300 meters above sea level.

                                      • 900 M—The server is approximately 900 meters above sea level.

                                      • 1500 M—The server is approximately 1500 meters above sea level.

                                      • 3000 M—The server is approximately 3000 meters above sea level.

                                      Step 9   In the QPI Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      QPI Link Frequency Select

                                      The Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) link frequency, in gigatransfers per second (GT/s). This can be one of the following:

                                      • Auto—The CPU determines the QPI link frequency.

                                      • 6.4 GT/s

                                      • 7.2 GT/s

                                      • 8.0 GT/s

                                      Step 10   In the SATA Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      SATA Mode

                                      Mode of operation of Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) Solid State Drives (SSD).

                                      • Disabled— All SATA ports is disabled, and drivers are not enumerated.

                                      • AHCI Mode—The default mode. Drives operate according to newer standard of Advance Host Controller Interface(AHCI).

                                      Step 11   In the USB Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      Legacy USB Support

                                      Whether the system supports legacy USB devices. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—USB devices are only available to EFI applications.

                                      • Enabled—Legacy USB support is always available.

                                      • Auto—Disables legacy USB support if no USB devices are connected.

                                      Port 60/64 Emulation

                                      Whether the system supports 60h/64h emulation for complete USB keyboard legacy support. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—60h/64 emulation is not supported.

                                      • Enabled—60h/64 emulation is supported.

                                        You should select this option if you are using a non-USB aware operating system on the server.

                                      All USB Devices

                                      Whether all physical and virtual USB devices are enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—All USB devices are disabled.

                                      • Enabled—All USB devices are enabled.

                                      USB Port: Rear

                                      Whether the rear panel USB devices are enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—Disables the rear panel USB ports. Devices connected to these ports are not detected by the BIOS and operating system.

                                      • Enabled—Enables the rear panel USB ports. Devices connected to these ports are detected by the BIOS and operating system.

                                      USB Port: Internal

                                      Whether the internal USB devices are enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—Disables the internal USB ports. Devices connected to these ports are not detected by the BIOS and operating system.

                                      • Enabled—Enables the internal USB ports. Devices connected to these ports are detected by the BIOS and operating system.

                                      USB Port: KVM

                                      Whether the KVM ports are enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—Disables the KVM keyboard and/or mouse devices. Keyboard and/or mouse will not work in the KVM window.

                                      • Enabled—Enables the KVM keyboard and/or mouse devices.

                                      USB Port: vMedia

                                      Whether the virtual media devices are enabled or disabled. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—Disables the vMedia devices.

                                      • Enabled—Enables the vMedia devices.

                                      Step 12   In the PCI Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      PCI ROM CLP

                                      PCI ROM Command Line Protocol (CLP) controls the execution of different Option ROMs such as PxE and iSCSI that are present in the card. By default, it is disabled.

                                      • Enabled— Enables you to configure execution of different option ROMs such as PxE and iSCSI for an individual ports separately.

                                      • Disabled—The default option. You cannot choose different option ROMs. A default option ROM is executed during PCI enumeration.

                                      ASPM Support

                                      Allows you to set the level of ASPM (Active Power State Management) support in the BIOS. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—ASPM support is disabled in the BIOS.

                                      • Force L0s—Force all links to L0 standby (L0s) state.

                                      • Auto—The CPU determines the power state.

                                      Step 13   In the Serial Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      Out-of-Band Mgmt Port

                                      Allows you to configure the COM port 0 that can be used for Windows Emergency Management services. ACPI SPCR table is reported based on this setup option. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—Configures the COM port 0 as a general purpose port for use with the Windows Operating System.

                                      • Enabled—Configures the COM port 0 as a remote management port for Windows Emergency Management services.

                                      Console Redirection

                                      Allows a serial port to be used for console redirection during POST and BIOS booting. After the BIOS has booted and the operating system is responsible for the server, console redirection is irrelevant and has no effect. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—No console redirection occurs during POST.

                                      • COM 0—Enables console redirection on COM port 0 during POST.

                                      • COM 1—Enables console redirection on COM port 1 during POST.

                                      Terminal Type

                                      What type of character formatting is used for console redirection. This can be one of the following:

                                      • PC-ANSI—The PC-ANSI terminal font is used.

                                      • VT100—A supported vt100 video terminal and its character set are used.

                                      • VT100+—A supported vt100-plus video terminal and its character set are used.

                                      • VT-UTF8—A video terminal with the UTF-8 character set is used.

                                      Note   

                                      This setting must match the setting on the remote terminal application.

                                      Bits per second

                                      What BAUD rate is used for the serial port transmission speed. If you disable Console Redirection, this option is not available. This can be one of the following:

                                      • 9600—A 9,600 BAUD rate is used.

                                      • 19200—A 19,200 BAUD rate is used.

                                      • 38400—A 38,400 BAUD rate is used.

                                      • 57600—A 57,600 BAUD rate is used.

                                      • 115200—A 115,200 BAUD rate is used.

                                      Note   

                                      This setting must match the setting on the remote terminal application.

                                      Flow Control

                                      Whether a handshake protocol is used for flow control. Request to Send / Clear to Send (RTS/CTS) helps to reduce frame collisions that can be introduced by a hidden terminal problem. This can be one of the following:

                                      • None—No flow control is used.

                                      • Hardware RTS/CTS—RTS/CTS is used for flow control.

                                      Note   

                                      This setting must match the setting on the remote terminal application.

                                      Putty KeyPad

                                      Allows you to change the action of the PuTTY function keys and the top row of the numeric keypad. This can be one of the following:

                                      • VT100—The function keys generate ESC OP through ESC O[.

                                      • LINUX—Mimics the Linux virtual console. Function keys F6 to F12 behave like the default mode, but F1 to F5 generate ESC [[A through ESC [[E.

                                      • XTERMR6—Function keys F5 to F12 behave like the default mode. Function keys F1 to F4 generate ESC OP through ESC OS, which are the sequences produced by the top row of the keypad on Digital terminals.

                                      • SCO—The function keys F1 to F12 generate ESC [M through ESC [X. The function and shift keys generate ESC [Y through ESC [j. The control and function keys generate ESC [k through ESC [v. The shift, control and function keys generate ESC [w through ESC [{.

                                      • ESCN—The default mode. The function keys match the general behavior of Digital terminals. The function keys generate sequences such as ESC [11~ and ESC [12~.

                                      • VT400—The function keys behave like the default mode. The top row of the numeric keypad generates ESC OP through ESC OS.

                                      Redirection After BIOS POST

                                      Whether BIOS console redirection should be active after BIOS POST is complete and control given to the OS bootloader. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Always Enable—BIOS Legacy console redirection is active during the OS boot and run time.

                                      • Bootloader—BIOS Legacy console redirection is disabled before giving control to the OS boot loader.

                                      Step 14   In the LOM and PCIe Slots Configuration area, update the following fields.
                                      Name Description

                                      CDN Support for VIC

                                      Whether the Ethernet Network naming convention is according to Consistent Device Naming (CDN) or the traditional way of naming conventions. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled— CDN support for VIC cards is disabled.

                                      • Enabled— CDN support is enabled for VIC cards.

                                        Note   

                                        CDN support for VIC cards work with Windows 2012 or the latest OS only.

                                      All PCIe Slots OptionROM

                                      Whether the server can use Option ROM present in the PCIe Cards. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The Option ROM for all PCIe slots are not available.

                                      • Enabled—The Option ROMs for all the PCIe slots are available.

                                      • UEFI Only—The Opiton ROMs for slot n are available for UEFI only.

                                      • Legacy Only—The Option ROM for slot n are available for legacy only.

                                      PCIe Slot:n OptionROM

                                      Whether the server can use the Option ROMs present in the PCIe Cards. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled—The Option ROM for slot n is not available.

                                      • Enabled—The Option ROM for slot n is available.

                                      • UEFI Only—The Option ROM for slot n is available for UEFI only.

                                      • Legacy Only—The Option ROM for slot n is available for legacy only.

                                      PCIe Mezzanine OptionROM

                                      Whether the PCIe mezzanine slot expansion ROM is available to the server. This can be one of the following:

                                      • Disabled— The Option ROM for slot M is not available.

                                      • Enabled— The Option ROM for slot M is available.

                                      • UEFI Only—The Option ROM for slot M is available for UEFI only.

                                      • Legacy Only—The expansion slot for slot M is available for legacy only.

                                      SIOC1 Link Speed

                                      System IO Controller 1 (SIOC1) add-on slot 1 link speed.

                                      • GEN1 — Link speed can reach up to first generation.

                                      • GEN2 — Link speed can reach up to second generation.

                                      • GEN3— The default link speed. Link speed can reach up to third generation.

                                      • Disabled — Slot is disabled, and the card is not enumerated.

                                      SIOC2 Link Speed

                                      System IO Controller 2 (SIOC2) add-on slot 2 link speed.

                                      • GEN1 — Link speed can reach up to first generation.

                                      • GEN2 — Link speed can reach up to second generation.

                                      • GEN3— The default link speed. Link speed can reach up to third generation.

                                      • Disabled — Slot is disabled, and the card is not enumerated.

                                      Mezz Link Speed

                                      set PcieSlotMLinkSpeed

                                      Mezz link speed. This can be one of the following:

                                      • GEN 1— Link speed can reach up to first generation.

                                      • GEN 2— Link speed can reach up to second generation.

                                      • GEN 3—The default link speed. Link speed can reach up to third generation.

                                      • Disabled—Slot is disabled, and the card is not enumerated.

                                      Step 15   After you updated the fields, perform the following actions:
                                      Name Description

                                      Save button

                                      Saves the settings for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs and closes the dialog box.

                                      Reset button

                                      Restores the values for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to the settings that were in effect when this dialog box was first opened.

                                      Restore Defaults button

                                      Sets the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to their default settings.


                                      Configuring Server Management BIOS Settings

                                      Procedure
                                        Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                        Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                        Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
                                        Step 4   Specify whether the server should be rebooted after you save your changes.

                                        If you want your changes applied automatically after you click Save Changes, check the Reboot Host Immediately check box. Cisco IMC immediately reboots the server and applies your changes.

                                        If you want to apply your changes at a later time, clear the Reboot Host Immediately check box. Cisco IMC stores the changes and applies them the next time the server reboots.

                                        Note   

                                        If there are existing BIOS parameter changes pending, Cisco IMC automatically overwrites the stored values with the current settings when you click Save Changes.

                                        Step 5   In the Server Management pane, update the following fields:
                                        Name Description

                                        FRB-2 Timer

                                        Whether the FRB2 timer is used by Cisco IMC to recover the system if it hangs during POST. This can be one of the following:

                                        • Disabled—The FRB2 timer is not used.

                                        • Enabled—The FRB2 timer is started during POST and used to recover the system if necessary.

                                        OS Watchdog Timer

                                        Whether the BIOS programs the watchdog timer with a specified timeout value. This can be one of the following:

                                        • Disabled—The watchdog timer is not used to track how long the server takes to boot.

                                        • Enabled—The watchdog timer tracks how long the server takes to boot. If the server does not boot within the length of time specified in the OS Boot Watchdog Timer Timeout field, the Cisco IMC logs an error and takes the action specified in the OS Boot Watchdog Policy field.

                                        OS Watchdog Timer Timeout

                                        If OS does not boot within the specified time, OS watchdog timer expires and system takes action according to timer policy. This can be one of the following:

                                        • 5 Minutes—The OS watchdog timer expires 5 minutes after it begins to boot.

                                        • 10 Minutes—The OS watchdog timer expires 10 minutes after it begins to boot.

                                        • 15 Minutes—The OS watchdog timer expires 15 minutes after it begins to boot.

                                        • 20 Minutes—The OS watchdog timer expires 20 minutes after it begins to boot.

                                        Note   

                                        This option is only applicable if you enable the OS Boot Watchdog Timer.

                                        OS Watchdog Timer Policy

                                        What action the system takes if the watchdog timer expires. This can be one of the following:

                                        • Do Nothing—The server takes no action if the watchdog timer expires during OS boot.

                                        • Power Down—The server is powered off if the watchdog timer expires during OS boot.

                                        • Reset—The server is reset if the watchdog timer expires during OS boot.

                                        Note   

                                        This option is only applicable if you enable the OS Boot Watchdog Timer.

                                        Step 6   Complete your action with the following options:
                                        Name Description

                                        Save button

                                        Saves the settings for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs and closes the dialog box.

                                        Reset button

                                        Restores the values for the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to the settings that were in effect when this dialog box was first opened.

                                        Restore Defaults button

                                        Sets the BIOS parameters on all three tabs to their default settings.


                                        Entering BIOS Setup

                                        Before You Begin
                                        • The server must be powered on.

                                        • You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                                        Procedure
                                          Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                          Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                          Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
                                          Step 4   In the Actions area, click Enter BIOS Setup.
                                          Step 5   Click Enable. Enables enter BIOS setup. On restart, the server enters the BIOS setup.

                                          Clearing the BIOS CMOS

                                          Before You Begin
                                          • The server must be powered on.

                                          • You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                                          Procedure
                                            Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                            Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                            Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
                                            Step 4   In the Actions area, click Clear BIOS CMOS.
                                            Step 5   Click OK to confirm. Clears the BIOS CMOS.

                                            Restoring BIOS Manufacturing Custom Settings

                                            Before You Begin
                                            • The server must be powered on.

                                            • You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.

                                            Procedure
                                              Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Compute menu.
                                              Step 2   In the Compute menu, click Server 1 or Server 2.
                                              Step 3   In the Server pane, click the BIOS tab.
                                              Step 4   In the Actions area, click Restore Manufacturing Custom Settings.
                                              Step 5   Click OK to confirm.

                                              Uploading a PID Catalog

                                              Before You Begin

                                              You must log in as a user with admin privileges to upload a PID catalog.

                                              Procedure
                                                Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.
                                                Step 2   On the Admin tab, click Utilities.
                                                Step 3   In the Work pane, click the Upload PID Catalog link.

                                                The Upload PID Catalog dialog box appears.

                                                Depending on the location of the catalog file, choose one of the options.

                                                Step 4   In the Upload PID Catalog from Local File dialog box, click Browse and use the Choose File to Upload dialog box to select the catalog file that you want to upload.
                                                Name Description

                                                File field

                                                The PID catalog file that you want to upload.

                                                Browse button

                                                Opens a dialog box that allows you to navigate to the appropriate file.

                                                Step 5   In the Upload PID Catalog from Remote Server dialog box, complete the following fields:

                                                Name

                                                Description

                                                Upload PID Catalog from Remote Server drop-down list

                                                The remote server type. This can be one of the following:

                                                • TFTP

                                                • FTP

                                                • SFTP

                                                • SCP

                                                • HTTP

                                                Server IP/Hostname field

                                                The IP address or hostname of the server on which the PID catalog information is available. Depending on the setting in the Upload PID Catalog from drop-down list, the name of the field may vary.

                                                Path and Filename field

                                                The path and filename of the catalog file on the remote server.

                                                Username field

                                                Username of the remote server.

                                                Password field

                                                Password of the remote server.

                                                Upload button

                                                Uploads the selected PID catalog.

                                                Note   

                                                If you chose SCP or SFTP as the remote server type while performing this action, a pop-up window is displayed with the message Server (RSA) key fingerprint is <server_finger_print _ID> Do you wish to continue?. Click Yes or No depending on the authenticity of the server fingerprint.

                                                The fingerprint is based on the host's public key and helps you to identify or verify the host you are connecting to.

                                                Cancel button

                                                Closes the wizard without making any changes to the firmware versions stored on the server.


                                                Activating a PID Catalog

                                                Before You Begin

                                                You must log in as a user with admin privileges to activate a PID catalog.

                                                Procedure
                                                  Step 1   In the Navigation pane, click the Admin tab.
                                                  Step 2   On the Admin tab, click Utilities.
                                                  Step 3   In the Work pane, click the Activate PID Catalog link.

                                                  The Activate PID Catalog dialog box appears. Complete the following fields:

                                                  Name Description

                                                  Server check box

                                                  Allows you to select the server or servers for which you want to activate the PID Catalog.

                                                  Activate button

                                                  Opens up a dialog box asking if you want to activate the PID Catalog for the selected server or servers. Click OK to activate.

                                                  Cancel button

                                                  Closes the dialog box without applying the changes.

                                                  Note   

                                                  The Activate PID Catalog link is greyed out when you log on to the system for the first time. It gets activated once you upload a PID catalog to the server. After you upload a PID file, the link remains active and you can activate the PID multiple times.