Cisco UCS C-Series Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide, Release 6.0

Overview of the Cisco UCS C-Series Network Adapters

Note

The procedures in this chapter are available only when a Cisco UCS C-Series network adapter is installed in the chassis.

A Cisco UCS C-Series network adapter can be installed to provide options for I/O consolidation and virtualization support. The following adapters are available:

Cisco UCS VIC 15238 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 15428 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1497 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1495 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1477 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1467 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1457 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1455 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1387 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1385 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1227T Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS VIC 1225 Virtual Interface Card
Cisco UCS P81E Virtual Interface Card

Note

You must have same generation VIC cards on a server. For example, you cannot have a combination of 3rd generation and 4th generation VIC cards on a single server.

The interactive UCS Hardware and Software Interoperability Utility lets you view the supported components and configurations for a selected server model and software release. The utility is available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/web/techdoc/ucs/interoperability/matrix/matrix.html

Cisco UCS VIC 15238 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 15238 is a dual-port quad small-form-factor pluggable (QSFP/QSFP28/QSFP56) mLOM card designed for designed for the M6 and M7 generation of Cisco UCS C-series Rack servers. The card supports 40/100/200-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as either NICs or HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 15428 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco VIC 15428 is a quad-port Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+/SFP28/SFP56) mLOM card designed for the M6 and M7 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack servers. The card supports 10/25/50-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as either NICs or HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 1497 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco VIC 1497 is a dual-port Small Form-Factor (QSFP28) mLOM card designed for the M5 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. The card supports 40/100-Gbps Ethernet and FCoE. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as NICs and HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 1495 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1495 is a dual-port Small Form-Factor (QSFP28) PCIe card designed for the M5 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. The card supports 40/100-Gbps Ethernet and FCoE. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as NICs and HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 1477 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco VIC 1477 is a dual-port Quad Small Form-Factor (QSFP28) mLOM card designed for the M6 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. The card supports 40/100-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as NICs or HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 1467 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1467 is a quad-port Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP28) mLOM card designed for the M6 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. The card supports 10/25-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as either NICs or HBA.

Cisco UCS VIC 1457 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1457 is a quad-port Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP28) mLOM card designed for M5 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers. The card supports 10/25-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE. It incorporates Cisco’s next-generation CNA technology and offers a comprehensive feature set, providing investment protection for future feature software releases. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as NICs and HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 1455 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1455 is a quad-port Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP28) half-height PCIe card designed for M5 generation of Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers. The card supports 10/25-Gbps Ethernet or FCoE. It incorporates Cisco’s next-generation CNA technology and offers a comprehensive feature set, providing investment protection for future feature software releases. The card can present PCIe standards-compliant interfaces to the host, and these can be dynamically configured as NICs and HBAs.

Cisco UCS VIC 1387 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1387 Virtual Interface Card is a dual-port Enhanced Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) 40 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)-capable half-height PCI Express (PCIe) card designed exclusively for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. It incorporates Cisco’s next-generation converged network adapter (CNA) technology, with a comprehensive feature set, providing investment protection for future feature software releases.

Cisco UCS VIC 1385 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1385 Virtual Interface Cardis a dual-port Enhanced Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) 40 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)-capable half-height PCI Express (PCIe) card designed exclusively for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. It incorporates Cisco’s next-generation converged network adapter (CNA) technology, with a comprehensive feature set, providing investment protection for future feature software releases.

Cisco UCS VIC 1227T Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1227T Virtual Interface Card is a dual-port 10GBASE-T (RJ-45) 10-Gbps Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)–capable PCI Express (PCIe) modular LAN-on-motherboard (mLOM) adapter designed exclusively for Cisco UCS C-Series Rack Servers. New to Cisco rack servers, the mLOM slot can be used to install a Cisco VIC without consuming a PCIe slot, which provides greater I/O expandability. It incorporates next-generation converged network adapter (CNA) technology from Cisco, providing Fibre Channel connectivity over low-cost twisted pair cabling with a bit error rate (BER) of 10 to 15 up to 30 meters and investment protection for future feature releases.

Cisco UCS VIC 1225 Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS VIC 1225 Virtual Interface Card is a high-performance, converged network adapter that provides acceleration for the various new operational modes introduced by server virtualization. It brings superior flexibility, performance, and bandwidth to the new generation of Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Servers.

Cisco UCS P81E Virtual Interface Card

The Cisco UCS P81E Virtual Interface Card is optimized for virtualized environments, for organizations that seek increased mobility in their physical environments, and for data centers that want reduced costs through NIC, HBA, cabling, and switch reduction and reduced management overhead. This Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) PCIe card offers the following benefits:

Allows up to 16 virtual Fibre Channel and 16 virtual Ethernet adapters to be provisioned in virtualized or nonvirtualized environments using just-in-time provisioning, providing tremendous system flexibility and allowing consolidation of multiple physical adapters.
Delivers uncompromising virtualization support, including hardware-based implementation of Cisco VN-Link technology and pass-through switching.
Improves system security and manageability by providing visibility and portability of network polices and security all the way to the virtual machine.

The virtual interface card makes Cisco VN-Link connections to the parent fabric interconnects, which allows virtual links to connect virtual NICs in virtual machines to virtual interfaces in the interconnect. In a Cisco Unified Computing System environment, virtual links then can be managed, network profiles applied, and interfaces dynamically reprovisioned as virtual machines move between servers in the system.

Configuring Network Adapter Properties

Before you begin

You must log in as a user with admin privileges to perform this task.
The server must be powered on, or the properties will not display.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking menu, select the adapter card that you want to view.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card Properties area under the General tab, review the following information:

Name

Description

PCI Slot field

The PCI slot in which the adapter is installed.

Vendor field

The vendor for the adapter.

Product Name field

The product name for the adapter.

Product ID field

The product ID for the adapter.

Serial Number field

The serial number for the adapter.

Version ID field

The version ID for the adapter.

PCI Link field

The server to which the PCIe link is established.

Hardware Revision field

The hardware revision for the adapter.

Cisco IMC Management Enabled field

If this field displays yes, then the adapter is functioning in Cisco Card Mode and passing Cisco IMC management traffic through to the server Cisco IMC.

Configuration Pending field

If this field displays yes, the adapter configuration has changed in Cisco IMC but these changes have not been communicated to the host operating system.

To activate the changes, an administrator must reboot the adapter.

ISCSI Boot Capable field

Whether iSCSI boot is supported on the adapter.

CDN Capable field

Whether CDN is supported on the adapter.

usNIC Capable field

Whether the adapter and the firmware running on the adapter support the usNIC.

Port Channel Capable field

Indicates whether Port Channel is supported on the adapter.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters and servers.

Description field

A user-defined description for the adapter.

You can enter between 1 and 63 characters.

Enable FIP Mode check box

FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP) is enabled by default. FIP mode ensures that the adapter is compatible with current FCoE standards.

Note

We recommend that you disable this option only when explicitly directed to do so by a technical support representative.

Enable LLDP check box

Note

For LLDP change to be effective, it is required that you reboot the server.

In case of S3260 chassis with two nodes, ensure to reboot the secondary node after making LLDP changes in the primary node.

If checked, then Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) enables all the Data Center Bridging Capability Exchange protocol (DCBX) functionality, which includes FCoE, priority based flow control.

By default, LLDP option is enabled.

Note

We recommend that you do not disable LLDP option, as it disables all the DCBX functionality.

Enable VNTAG Mode check box

If VNTAG mode is enabled:

vNICs and vHBAs can be assigned to a specific channel.
vNICs and vHBAs can be associated to a port profile.
vNICs can fail over to another vNIC if there are communication problems.

Port Channel check box

This option is enabled by default.

When Port channel is enabled, two vNICs and two vHBAs are available for use on the adapter card.

When disabled, four vNICs and four vHBAs are available for use on the adapter card.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters and servers.

Physical NIC Mode check box

This option is disabled by default.

When Physical NIC Mode is enabled, up-link ports of the VIC are set to pass-through mode. This allows the host to transmit packets without any modification. VIC ASIC does not rewrite the VLAN tag of the packets based on the VLAN and CoS settings for the vNIC.

Note

This option is available for Cisco UCS VIC 14xx series and 15xxx series adapters.
For the VIC configuration changes to be effective, you must reboot the host.
This option cannot be enabled on an adapter that has:
- Port Channel mode enabled
- VNTAG mode enabled
- LLDP enabled
- FIP mode enabled
- Cisco IMC Management Enabled value set to Yes
- Multiple user created vNICs

When Physical NIC Mode is enabled, the following message is displayed in a pop-up window:

After physical nic-mode mode switch, vNIC configurations will be lost and new default vNICs will be created.

Click OK.

Transmit Enhanced Mode check box

This option is disabled by default.

When Transmit Enhanced Mode is enabled, Cisco IMC allows the firmware to optimize traffic forwarding for TCP transmissions across IPv4 networks between 1000-1560 packet sizes.

Note

This option is supported only on Linux OS for Cisco UCS VIC 15xxx series adapters.
This option is supported only on TCP transmissions across IPv4 networks.
For the VIC configuration changes to be effective, you must reboot the host.

Step 4

In the Firmware area, review the following information:

Name

Description

Running Version field

The firmware version that is currently active.

Backup Version field

The alternate firmware version installed on the adapter, if any. The backup version is not currently running. To activate it, administrators can click Activate Firmware in the Actions area.

Note

When you install new firmware on the adapter, any existing backup version is deleted and the new firmware becomes the backup version. You must manually activate the new firmware if you want the adapter to run the new version.

Startup Version field

The firmware version that will become active the next time the adapter is rebooted.

Bootloader Version field

The bootloader version associated with the adapter card.

Status field

The status of the last firmware activation that was performed on this adapter.

Note

The status is reset each time the adapter is rebooted.

Step 5

Click the External Ethernet Interfaces link to review the following information:

Note

External Ethernet Interfaces opens in a different tab.

Name

Description

Port column

The uplink port ID.

Admin Speed column

The data transfer rate for the port. This can be one of the following:

40 Gbps
4 x 10 Gbps
Auto

Admin Link Training column

Indicates if admin link training is enabled on the port.

Select any of the below options for Admin Link Training:

Auto
Off
On

Admin Link Training is set to Auto, by default.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters and servers.

Admin FEC Mode drop-down list

Admin Forward Error Correction (FEC) apply only to Cisco UCS VIC 14xx adapters at speed 25/100G and Cisco UCS VIC 15xxx adapters at speeds 25G/50G.

Following Admin Forward Error Correction (FEC) mode options are available for configuration:

cl108 (RS-IEEE, clause 108)
cl91-cons16 (RS-FEC, clause 91, consortium version 1.6)
cl91 (RS-FEC, clause 91, consortium version 1.5)
cl74 (FC-FEC, clause 74), 25G only
Off

Admin FEC Mode is set to cl91, by default.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters and servers.
Any changes in the Admin FEC Mode settings leads to the reset of the port, even when the value for Operating FEC mode remains the same.

Operating FEC Mode

column

The value of Operating FEC Mode is the same as Admin FEC mode with these exceptions:

The value is Off when the speed is 10 Gbps or 40 Gbps. This is because FEC is not supported.
The value is Off for QSFP-100G-LR4-S transceiver.
The value is Off for QSFP-40/100-SRBD transceiver.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters and servers.

Oper Link Training column

Oper Link Training values are fetched from the values set in the Admin Link Training drop-down list.

Beginning from 4.2(2a), the below different settings apply only to Cisco UCS VIC 15xxx adapters and Copper cables at speeds 10G/25G/50G only.

If Admin Link Training is set to Auto, Adapter firmware sets Oper Link Training value (AutoNeg) as on or off, depending upon the transceivers.
- AutoNeg disabled with 25G copper
- AutoNeg enabled with 50G copper
If Admin Link Training is set to on, Adapter firmware sets Oper Link Training value as on.
- AutoNeg enabled with 25G copper
- AutoNeg enabled with 50G copper
If Admin Link Training is off, Adapter firmware sets Oper Link Training as off.
- AutoNeg disabled with 25G copper
- AutoNeg disabled with 50G copper

Note

For all non-passive copper cables, Oper Link Training (AN) mode is set to Off, irrespective of the Admin Link Training mode.

Any changes in the Admin Link Training settings leads to the reset of the Series for that port, even if the Oper Link Training value remains the same.

MAC Address column

The MAC address of the uplink port.

Link State column

The current operational state of the uplink port. This can be one of the following:

Fault
Link Up
Link Down
SFP ID Error
SFP Not Installed
SFP Security Check Failed
Unsupported SFP

Note

A Serdes reset causes the Link State field to change from Link-Up to Link-down.

If the Oper Link Training setting is valid, Link-Partners determine a Link-Up or Link-down after the reset.
You might require to refresh the Web UI several times to view Link State field change.

Encap column

The mode in which adapter operates. This can be one of the following:

CE—Classical Ethernet mode.
NIV—Network Interface Virtualization mode.

Operating Speed column

The operating rate for the port. This can be one of the following:

10 Gbps
25 Gbps
40 Gbps
50 Gbps
4 x 10 Gbps
100 Gbps

Connector Present column

Indicated whether or not the connector is present. This can be one of the following:

Yes—Connector is present.
No—Connector not present.

Note

This option is only available for some adapter cards.

Connector Supported column

Indicates whether or not the connector is supported by Cisco. This can be one of the following:

Yes—The connector is supported by Cisco.
No—The connector is not supported by Cisco.

If the connector is not supported then the link will not be up.

Note

This option is only available for some adapter cards.

Connector Type column

The Cisco Product ID (PID) of the transceiver/cable that is present.

Note

This option is only available for some adapter cards.

Connector Vendor column

The vendor for the connector.

Note

This option is only available for some adapter cards.

Connector Part Number column

The Connector Vendor part number.

Note

This option is only available for some adapter cards.

Connector Part Revision column

The part revision of the Connector Vendor part number.

Note

This option is only available for some adapter cards.

Guidelines for Managing vHBAs

When managing vHBAs, consider the following guidelines and restrictions:

The Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards provide two vHBAs and two vNICs by default. You can create up to 14 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

The Cisco UCS 1455, 1457, and 1467 Virtual Interface Cards, in non-port channel mode, provide and must have four vHBAs and four vNICs by default (one on each port). You can create up to 10 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards in VNTAG mode.

Note

If VNTAG mode is enabled for the adapter, you must assign a channel number to a vHBA when you create it.

When using the Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards in an FCoE application, you must associate the vHBA with the FCoE VLAN. Follow the instructions in the Modifying vHBA Properties section to assign the VLAN.
After making configuration changes, you must reboot the host for settings to take effect.

Viewing vHBA Properties

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to view.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card area, click the vHBAs tab.

Step 4

In the vHBAs pane, click fc0 or fc1.

Step 5

In the General area of vHBA Properties, review the information in the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name of the virtual HBA.

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

Initiator WWNN field

The WWNN associated with the vHBA.

To let the system generate the WWNN, select AUTO. To specify a WWNN, click the second radio button and enter the WWNN in the corresponding field.

Initiator WWPN field

The WWPN associated with the vHBA.

To let the system generate the WWPN, select AUTO. To specify a WWPN, click the second radio button and enter the WWPN in the corresponding field.

FC SAN Boot check box

If checked, the vHBA can be used to perform a SAN boot.

Persistent LUN Binding check box

If checked, any LUN ID associations are retained in memory until they are manually cleared.

Uplink Port drop-down list

The uplink port associated with the vHBA.

Note

This value cannot be changed for the system-defined vHBAs fc0 and fc1.

MAC Address field

The MAC address associated with the vHBA.

To let the system generate the MAC address, select AUTO. To specify an address, click the second radio button and enter the MAC address in the corresponding field.

Default VLAN field

If there is no default VLAN for this vHBA, click NONE. Otherwise, click the second radio button and enter a VLAN ID between 1 and 4094 in the field.

PCI Order field

The order in which this vHBA will be used.

To let the system set the order, select ANY. To specify an order, select the second radio button and enter an integer between 0 and 17.

vHBA Type drop-down list

Note

This option is available only with 14xx series and VIC 15428 adapters.

The vHBA type used in this policy. vHBAs supporting FC and FC-NVMe can now be created on the same adapter. The vHBA type used in this policy can be one of the following:

fc-initiator—Legacy SCSI FC vHBA initiator

fc-target—vHBA that supports SCSI FC target functionality

Note

This option is available as a Tech Preview.

fc-nvme-initiator—vHBA that is an FC NVME initiator, which discovers FC NVME targets and connects to them.
fc-nvme-target—vHBA that acts as an FC NVME target and provides connectivity to the NVME storage.

Class of Service field

The CoS for the vHBA.

Select an integer between 0 and 6, with 0 being lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Rate Limit field

The data rate limit for traffic on this vHBA, in Mbps.

If you want this vHBA to have an unlimited data rate, select OFF. Otherwise, click the second radio button and enter an integer between 1 and 10,000.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

EDTOV field

The error detect timeout value (EDTOV), which is the number of milliseconds to wait before the system assumes that an error has occurred.

Enter an integer between 1,000 and 100,000. The default is 2,000 milliseconds.

RATOV field

The resource allocation timeout value (RATOV), which is the number of milliseconds to wait before the system assumes that a resource cannot be properly allocated.

Enter an integer between 5,000 and 100,000. The default is 10,000 milliseconds.

Max Data Field Size field

The maximum size of the Fibre Channel frame payload bytes that the vHBA supports.

Enter an integer between 256 and 2112.

Channel Number field

The channel number that will be assigned to this vHBA.

Enter an integer between 1 and 1,000.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

PCI Link

It is read-only field.

Port Profile drop-down list

The port profile that should be associated with the vHBA, if any.

This field displays the port profiles defined on the switch to which this server is connected.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Step 6

In the Error Recovery area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
FCP Error Recovery check box	If checked, the system uses FCP Sequence Level Error Recovery protocol (FC-TAPE).
Link Down Timeout field	The number of milliseconds the uplink port should be offline before it informs the system that the uplink port is down and fabric connectivity has been lost. Enter an integer between 0 and 240,000.
Port Down I/O Retry Count field	The number of times an I/O request to a port is returned because the port is busy before the system decides the port is unavailable. Enter an integer between 0 and 255.
IO Timeout Retry field	The time period till which the system waits for timeout before retrying. When a disk does not respond for I/O within the defined timeout period, the driver aborts the pending command, and resends the same I/O after the timer expires. Enter an integer between 1 and 59.
Port Down Timeout field	The number of milliseconds a remote Fibre Channel port should be offline before informing the SCSI upper layer that the port is unavailable. Enter an integer between 0 and 240,000.

Step 7

In the Fibre Channel Interrupt area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
Interrupt Mode drop-down list	The preferred driver interrupt mode. This can be one of the following: MSIx—Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI) with the optional extension. This is the recommended option. MSI—MSI only. INTx—PCI INTx interrupts.

Step 8

In the Fibre Channel Port area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
I/O Throttle Count field	The number of I/O operations that can be pending in the vHBA at one time. Enter an integer between 1 and 1,024.
LUNs per Target field	The maximum number of LUNs that the driver will export. This is usually an operating system platform limitation. Enter an integer between 1 and 4,096.
LUN Queue Depth field	The number of commands that the HBA can send or receive in a single chunk per LUN. This parameter adjusts the initial queue depth for all LUNs on the adapter. Default value is 20 for physical miniports and 250 for virtual miniports.

Step 9

In the Fibre Channel Port FLOGI area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
FLOGI Retries field	The number of times that the system tries to log in to the fabric after the first failure. To specify an unlimited number of retries, select the INFINITE radio button. Otherwise select the second radio button and enter an integer into the corresponding field.
FLOGI Timeout field	The number of milliseconds that the system waits before it tries to log in again. Enter an integer between 1,000 and 255,000.

Step 10

In the Fibre Channel Port PLOGI area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
PLOGI Retries field	The number of times that the system tries to log in to a port after the first failure. Enter an integer between 0 and 255.
PLOGI Timeout field	The number of milliseconds that the system waits before it tries to log in again. Enter an integer between 1,000 and 255,000.

Step 11

In the I/O area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
CDB Transmit Queue Count field	The number of SCSI I/O queue resources the system should allocate. For Cisco UCS VIC 14xx series and later adapters, enter an integer between 1 and 64.
CDB Transmit Queue Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each SCSI I/O queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 512.

Step 12

In the Receive/Transmit Queues area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
FC Work Queue Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each transmit queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 128.
FC Receive Queue Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each receive queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 2048.

Step 13

In the Boot Table area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

Boot Table is available as a separate tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers. Click Add Boot Entry to create a new boot entry or select an existing entry and click Edit Boot Entry.


Name	Description
Index column	The unique identifier for the boot target.
Target WWPN column	The World Wide Port Name (WWPN) that corresponds to the location of the boot image.
LUN column	The LUN ID that corresponds to the location of the boot image.
Add Boot Entry button	Opens a dialog box that allows you to specify a new WWPN and LUN ID.
Edit Boot Entry button	Opens a dialog box that allows you to change the WWPN and LUN ID for the selected boot target.
Delete Boot Entry button	Deletes the selected boot target after you confirm the deletion.

Step 14

In the Persistent Bindings area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

Persistent Bindings is available as a separate tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers. You may click Rebuild Persistent Binding to clear the bindings and create a new one.


Name	Description
Index column	The unique identifier for the binding.
Target WWPN column	The target World Wide Port Name with which the binding is associated.
Host WWPN column	The host World Wide Port Name with which the binding is associated.
Bus ID column	The bus ID with which the binding is associated.
Target ID column	The target ID on the host system with which the binding is associated.
Rebuild Persistent Bindings button	Clears all unused bindings and resets the ones that are in use.

Modifying vHBA Properties

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.

Step 4

In the vHBAs pane, click fc0 or fc1.

Step 5

In the General area, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name of the virtual HBA.

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

Initiator WWNN field

The WWNN associated with the vHBA.

To let the system generate the WWNN, select AUTO. To specify a WWNN, click the second radio button and enter the WWNN in the corresponding field.

Initiator WWPN field

The WWPN associated with the vHBA.

To let the system generate the WWPN, select AUTO. To specify a WWPN, click the second radio button and enter the WWPN in the corresponding field.

FC SAN Boot check box

If checked, the vHBA can be used to perform a SAN boot.

Persistent LUN Binding check box

If checked, any LUN ID associations are retained in memory until they are manually cleared.

Uplink Port drop-down list

The uplink port associated with the vHBA.

Note

This value cannot be changed for the system-defined vHBAs fc0 and fc1.

MAC Address field

The MAC address associated with the vHBA.

To let the system generate the MAC address, select AUTO. To specify an address, click the second radio button and enter the MAC address in the corresponding field.

Default VLAN field

If there is no default VLAN for this vHBA, click NONE. Otherwise, click the second radio button and enter a VLAN ID between 1 and 4094 in the field.

PCI Order field

The order in which this vHBA will be used.

To let the system set the order, select ANY. To specify an order, select the second radio button and enter an integer between 0 and 17.

vHBA Type drop-down list

Note

This option is available only with 14xx series and VIC 15428 adapters.

The vHBA type used in this policy. vHBAs supporting FC and FC-NVMe can now be created on the same adapter. The vHBA type used in this policy can be one of the following:

fc-initiator—Legacy SCSI FC vHBA initiator

fc-target—vHBA that supports SCSI FC target functionality

Note

This option is available as a Tech Preview.

fc-nvme-initiator—vHBA that is an FC NVME initiator, which discovers FC NVME targets and connects to them.
fc-nvme-target—vHBA that acts as an FC NVME target and provides connectivity to the NVME storage.

Class of Service field

The CoS for the vHBA.

Select an integer between 0 and 6, with 0 being lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Rate Limit field

The data rate limit for traffic on this vHBA, in Mbps.

If you want this vHBA to have an unlimited data rate, select OFF. Otherwise, click the second radio button and enter an integer between 1 and 10,000.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

EDTOV field

The error detect timeout value (EDTOV), which is the number of milliseconds to wait before the system assumes that an error has occurred.

Enter an integer between 1,000 and 100,000. The default is 2,000 milliseconds.

RATOV field

The resource allocation timeout value (RATOV), which is the number of milliseconds to wait before the system assumes that a resource cannot be properly allocated.

Enter an integer between 5,000 and 100,000. The default is 10,000 milliseconds.

Max Data Field Size field

The maximum size of the Fibre Channel frame payload bytes that the vHBA supports.

Enter an integer between 256 and 2112.

Channel Number field

The channel number that will be assigned to this vHBA.

Enter an integer between 1 and 1,000.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

PCI Link

It is read-only field.

Port Profile drop-down list

The port profile that should be associated with the vHBA, if any.

This field displays the port profiles defined on the switch to which this server is connected.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Step 6

In the Error Recovery area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
FCP Error Recovery check box	If checked, the system uses FCP Sequence Level Error Recovery protocol (FC-TAPE).
Link Down Timeout field	The number of milliseconds the uplink port should be offline before it informs the system that the uplink port is down and fabric connectivity has been lost. Enter an integer between 0 and 240,000.
Port Down I/O Retry Count field	The number of times an I/O request to a port is returned because the port is busy before the system decides the port is unavailable. Enter an integer between 0 and 255.
IO Timeout Retry field	The time period till which the system waits for timeout before retrying. When a disk does not respond for I/O within the defined timeout period, the driver aborts the pending command, and resends the same I/O after the timer expires. Enter an integer between 1 and 59.
Port Down Timeout field	The number of milliseconds a remote Fibre Channel port should be offline before informing the SCSI upper layer that the port is unavailable. Enter an integer between 0 and 240,000.

Step 7

In the Fibre Channel Interrupt area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
Interrupt Mode drop-down list	The preferred driver interrupt mode. This can be one of the following: MSIx—Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI) with the optional extension. This is the recommended option. MSI—MSI only. INTx—PCI INTx interrupts.

Step 8

In the Fibre Channel Port area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
I/O Throttle Count field	The number of I/O operations that can be pending in the vHBA at one time. Enter an integer between 1 and 1,024.
LUNs per Target field	The maximum number of LUNs that the driver will export. This is usually an operating system platform limitation. Enter an integer between 1 and 4,096.
LUN Queue Depth field	The number of commands that the HBA can send or receive in a single chunk per LUN. This parameter adjusts the initial queue depth for all LUNs on the adapter. Default value is 20 for physical miniports and 250 for virtual miniports.

Step 9

In the Fibre Channel Port FLOGI area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
FLOGI Retries field	The number of times that the system tries to log in to the fabric after the first failure. To specify an unlimited number of retries, select the INFINITE radio button. Otherwise select the second radio button and enter an integer into the corresponding field.
FLOGI Timeout field	The number of milliseconds that the system waits before it tries to log in again. Enter an integer between 1,000 and 255,000.

Step 10

In the Fibre Channel Port PLOGI area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
PLOGI Retries field	The number of times that the system tries to log in to a port after the first failure. Enter an integer between 0 and 255.
PLOGI Timeout field	The number of milliseconds that the system waits before it tries to log in again. Enter an integer between 1,000 and 255,000.

Step 11

In the SCSI I/O area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
CDB Transmit Queue Count field	The number of SCSI I/O queue resources the system should allocate. For Cisco UCS VIC 14xx series and later adapters, enter an integer between 1 and 64.
CDB Transmit Queue Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each SCSI I/O queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 512.

Step 12

In the Receive/Transmit Queues area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
FC Work Queue Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each transmit queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 128.
FC Receive Queue Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each receive queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 2048.

Step 13

Click Save Changes.

Step 14

In the Boot Table area, update the following fields or add a new entry:

Note

Boot Table is available as a separate tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers. Click Add Boot Entry to create a new boot entry or select an existing entry and click Edit Boot Entry.


Name	Description
Index column	The unique identifier for the boot target.
Target WWPN column	The World Wide Port Name (WWPN) that corresponds to the location of the boot image.
LUN column	The LUN ID that corresponds to the location of the boot image.
Add Boot Entry button	Opens a dialog box that allows you to specify a new WWPN and LUN ID.
Edit Boot Entry button	Opens a dialog box that allows you to change the WWPN and LUN ID for the selected boot target.
Delete Boot Entry button	Deletes the selected boot target after you confirm the deletion.

Step 15

In the Persistent Bindings area, update the following fields or add a new entry:

Note

Persistent Bindings is available as a separate tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers. You may click Rebuild Persistent Binding to clear the bindings and create a new one.


Name	Description
Index column	The unique identifier for the binding.
Target WWPN column	The target World Wide Port Name with which the binding is associated.
Host WWPN column	The host World Wide Port Name with which the binding is associated.
Bus ID column	The bus ID with which the binding is associated.
Target ID column	The target ID on the host system with which the binding is associated.
Rebuild Persistent Bindings button	Clears all unused bindings and resets the ones that are in use.

Creating a vHBA

The Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards provide two vHBAs and two vNICs by default. You can create up to 14 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

Cisco UCS 1455, 1457, and 1467 Virtual Interface Cards, in non-port channel mode, provide four vHBAs and four vNICs by default. You can create up to 10 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

Before you begin

Ensure that Enable VNTAG Mode under Adapter Card Properties in the General tab is checked.

Procedure

Step 1	In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.
Step 2	In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.
Step 3	In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.
Step 4	In the Host Fibre Channel Interfaces area, choose one of these actions: To create a vHBA using default configuration settings, click Add vHBA. To create a vHBA using the same configuration settings as an existing vHBA, select that vHBA and click Clone vHBA. The Add vHBA dialog box appears.
Step 5	In the Add vHBA dialog box, enter a name for the vHBA in the Name entry box.
Step 6	Configure the new vHBA as described in Modifying vHBA Properties.
Step 7	Click Add vHBA.

What to do next

Reboot the server to create the vHBA.

Deleting a vHBA

Default vHBAs cannot be deleted. You can delete any other vHBAs created using VNTAG mode.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.

Step 4

In the Host Fibre Channel Interfaces area, select a vHBA or vHBAs from the table.

Note

You cannot delete either of the two default vHBAs, fc0 or fc1.

Step 5

Click Delete vHBAs and click OK to confirm.

What to do next

Reboot the server to delete the vHBA.

vHBA Boot Table

In the vHBA boot table, you can specify up to four LUNs from which the server can boot.

Creating a Boot Table Entry

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.

Step 4

Select a vHBA from the list of available vHBAs under vHBAs in the vHBAs tab.

The related vHBA Properties pane is displayed in the right hand side of the window.

Step 5

For:

Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers, select the Boot Table tab.
Cisco UCS C-Series M6 and earlier servers, scroll down to view Boot Table.

Step 6

Click the Add Boot Entry button to open the Add Boot Entry dialog box.

Step 7

In the Add Boot Entry dialog box, review the following information and perform the actions specified:


Name	Description
Index field	The default value for this field is 0.
Target WWPN field	The World Wide Port Name (WWPN) that corresponds to the location of the boot image. Enter the WWPN in the format `hh:hh:hh:hh:hh:hh:hh:hh`.
LUN ID field	The LUN ID that corresponds to the location of the boot image. Enter an ID between 0 and 255.
Add Boot Entry button	Adds the specified location to the boot table.
Reset Values button	Clears the values currently entered in the fields.
Cancel button	Closes the dialog box without saving any changes made while the dialog box was open.

Deleting a Boot Table Entry

Procedure

Step 1	In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.
Step 2	In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.
Step 3	In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.
Step 4	Select a vHBA from the list of available vHBAs under vHBAs in the vHBAs tab. The related vHBA Properties pane is displayed in the right hand side of the window.
Step 5	For: Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers, select the Boot Table tab. Cisco UCS C-Series M6 and earlier servers, scroll down to view Boot Table.
Step 6	In the Boot Table area, click the entry to be deleted.
Step 7	Click Delete Boot Entry and click OK to confirm.

vHBA Persistent Binding

Persistent binding ensures that the system-assigned mapping of Fibre Channel targets is maintained after a reboot.

Viewing Persistent Bindings

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.

Step 4

In the vHBAs pane, click fc0 or fc1.

Step 5

For:

Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers, select the Persistent Bindings tab.
Cisco UCS C-Series M6 and earlier servers, scroll down to view Persistent Bindings.

Step 6

In the Persistent Bindings area, review the following information:


Name	Description
Index column	The unique identifier for the binding.
Target WWPN column	The target World Wide Port Name with which the binding is associated.
Host WWPN column	The host World Wide Port Name with which the binding is associated.
Bus ID column	The bus ID with which the binding is associated.
Target ID column	The target ID on the host system with which the binding is associated.
Rebuild Persistent Bindings button	Clears all unused bindings and resets the ones that are in use.

Rebuilding Persistent Bindings

Procedure

Step 1	In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.
Step 2	In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.
Step 3	In the Adapter Card pane, click the vHBAs tab.
Step 4	In the vHBAs pane, click fc0 or fc1.
Step 5	For: Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers, select the Persistent Bindings tab. Cisco UCS C-Series M6 and earlier servers, scroll down to view Persistent Bindings area.
Step 6	Click the Rebuild Persistent Bindings button.
Step 7	Click OK to confirm.

Guidelines for Managing vNICs

When managing vNICs, consider the following guidelines and restrictions:

The Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards provide two vHBAs and two vNICs by default. You can create up to 14 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

Additional vHBAs can be created using VNTAG mode.

The Cisco UCS 1455, 1457, and 1467 Virtual Interface Cards, in non-port channel mode, provide four vHBAs and four vNICs by default. You can create up to 10 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

Note

If VNTAG mode is enabled for the adapter, you must assign a channel number to a vNIC when you create it.

After making configuration changes, you must reboot the host for settings to take effect.

Viewing vNIC Properties

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to view.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 4

In the vNICs pane, click eth0 or eth1.

Step 5

In the General area under vNIC Properties area, review the following fields:

General Area

Name

Description

Name field

The name for the virtual NIC.

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

CDN field

The Consistent Device Name (CDN) that you can assign to the ethernet vNICs on the VIC cards. Assigning a specific CDN to a device helps in identifying it on the host OS.

Note

This feature works only when the CDN Support for VIC token is enabled in the BIOS.

MTU field

The maximum transmission unit, or packet size, that this vNIC accepts.

Enter an integer between 1500 and 9000.

Uplink Port drop-down list

The uplink port associated with this vNIC. All traffic for this vNIC goes through this uplink port.

MAC Address field

The MAC address associated with the vNIC.

To let the adapter select an available MAC address from its internal pool, select Auto. To specify an address, click the second radio button and enter the MAC address in the corresponding field.

Class of Service field

The class of service to associate with traffic from this vNIC.

Select an integer between 0 and 6, with 0 being lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Trust Host CoS check box

Check this box if you want the vNIC to use the class of service provided by the host operating system.

PCI Order field

The order in which this vNIC will be used.

To specify an order, enter an integer within the displayed range.

Default VLAN radio button

If there is no default VLAN for this vNIC, select NONE. Otherwise, select the second radio button and enter a VLAN ID between 1 and 4094 in the field.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

VLAN Mode drop-down list

If you want to use VLAN trunking, select TRUNK. Otherwise, select ACCESS.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Enable PTP check box

Check this box to enable Precision Time Protocol (PTP).

Precision Time Protocol (PTP) precisely synchronizes the server clock with other devices and peripherals on Linux operating systems.

Clocks managed by PTP follow a client-worker hierarchy, with workers sychronized to a master client. The hierarchy is updated by the best master clock (BMC) algorithm, which runs on every clock. One PTP interface per adapter must be enabled to sychronize it to the grand master clock.

Note

This option is supported only with Linux operating system.
This option is available only for Cisco UCS VIC 15xxx series adapters.

This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.
For the PTP enabling to be effective, it is required that you reboot the server.

Rate Limit radio button

If you want this vNIC to have an unlimited data rate, select OFF. Otherwise, click the second radio button and enter a rate limit in the associated field.

Enter an integer between 1 and 10,000 Mbps.

For VIC 13xx controllers, you can enter an integer between 1 and 40,000 Mbps.

For VIC 1455, 1457, and 1467 controllers:

If the adapter is connected to 25 Gbps link on a Switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 25,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.
If the adapter is connected to 10 Gbps link on a Switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 10,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.

For VIC 1495, 1497, and 1477 controllers:

If the adapter is connected to 40 Gbps link on a switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 40,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.
If the adapter is connected to 100 Gbps link on a switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 100,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Channel Number field

Select the channel number that will be assigned to this vNIC.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

PCI Link field

The link through which vNICs can be connected. These are the following values:

0 - The first cross-edged link where the vNIC is placed.
1 - The second cross-edged link where the vNIC is placed.

Note

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

Enable NVGRE check box

Check this box to enable Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation.

This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.
This option is available only on C-Series servers with Cisco VIC 1385 cards.

Enable VXLAN check box

Check this box to enable Virtual Extensible LAN.

This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.
This option is available only on C-Series servers with Cisco VIC 1385, VIC 14xx, and VIC 15xxx.

Geneve Offload check box

Beginning with release 4.1(2a), Cisco IMC supports Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation (Geneve) Offload feature with Cisco VIC 14xx series and VIC 15xxx adapters in ESX 7.0 (NSX-T 3.0) and ESX 6.7U3(NSX-T 2.5) OS.

Geneve is a tunnel encapsulation functionality for network traffic . Check this box if you want to enable Geneve Offload encapsulation in Cisco VIC 14xx series adapters.

Un-check this box to disable Geneve Offload, in order to prevent non-encapsulated UDP packets whose destination port numbers match with the Geneve destination port from being treated as tunneled packets.

If you enable Geneve Offload feature, then Cisco recommends the following settings:

Transmit Queue Count—1
Transmit Queue Ring Size—4096
Receive Queue Count—8
Receive Queue Ring Size—4096
Completion Queue Count—9
Interrupt Count—11

Note

You cannot enable the following when Geneve Offload is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 14xx series:

RDMA on the same vNIC
usNIC on the same vNIC
Non-Port Channel Mode on Cisco VIC 145x adapters
aRFS
Advanced Filters
NetQueue

Note

Cisco UCS C220 M7 and C240 M7 servers do not support Cisco VIC 14xx series.

Note

You cannot enable the following when Geneve Offload is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 15xxx:

aRFS
RoCEv2

Outer IPV6 is not supported with GENEVE Offload feature.

Downgrade Limitation—If Geneve Offload is enabled, you cannot downgrade to any release earlier than 4.1(2a).

Advanced Filter check box

Check this box to enable advanced filter options in vNICs.

Port Profile drop-down list

Select the port profile that should be associated with the vNIC.

This field displays the port profiles defined on the switch to which this server is connected.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Enable PXE Boot check box

Check this box if the vNIC can be used to perform a PXE boot.

Enable VMQ check box

Check this box to enable Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ).

Enable Multi Queue check box

Check this box to enable the Multi Queue option on vNICs. When enabled multi queue vNICs will be available to the host. By default this is disabled.

Note

Multi queue is supported only on C-Series servers with 14xx and VIC 15xxx adapters.
VMQ must be in enabled state to enable this option.
When you enable this option on one of the vNICs, configuring only VMQ (without choosing multi-queue) on other vNICs is not supported.
When this option is enabled usNIC configuration will be disabled.

No. of Sub vNICs field

Number of sub vNICs available to the host when the multi queue option is enabled.

Enable aRFS check box

Check this box to enable Accelerated Receive Flow steering (aRFS).

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

Enable Uplink Failover check box

Check this box if traffic on this vNIC should fail over to the secondary interface if there are communication problems.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Failback Timeout field

After a vNIC has started using its secondary interface, this setting controls how long the primary interface must be available before the system resumes using the primary interface for the vNIC.

Enter a number of seconds between 0 and 600.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Enable VIC QinQ Tunneling check box

Beginning with release 4.3(2.230207), Cisco IMC provides VIC QinQ Tunneling support for Cisco UCS M5 and M6 servers with Cisco UCS VIC 14xx series and 15xxx series VIC adapters.

Check this box to enable the VIC QinQ Tunneling option on the specified vNIC.

Note

VIC QinQ Tunneling is not supported on 13xx adapters.
Default vLAN should not be none when VIC QinQ Tunneling is configured and vLAN mode is trunk.

You cannot enable the following when VIC QinQ Tunneling is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 14xx:

usNIC on the same vNIC
Geneve offload on the same vNIC
VMMQ on the same vNIC
RDMA v2 on the same vNIC
SR-IOV on the same vNIC
iSCSI boot on the same vNIC
PXE boot on the same vNIC

You cannot enable the following when VIC QinQ Tunneling is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 15xxx:

usNIC on the same vNIC
VMMQ on the same vNIC
RDMA v2 on the same vNIC
SR-IOV on the same vNIC
iSCSI boot on the same vNIC
PXE boot on the same vNIC

QinQ VLAN field

Enter a QinQ VLAN ID between 2 and 4094 in the field.

Step 6

In the Ethernet Interrupt area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
Interrupt Count field	The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources. Enter an integer between 1 and 1024.
Interrupt Mode drop-down list	The preferred driver interrupt mode. This can be one of the following: MSI-X—Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI) with the optional extension. This is the recommended option. MSI—MSI only. INTx—PCI INTx interrupts.
Coalescing Time field	The time to wait between interrupts or the idle period that must be encountered before an interrupt is sent. Enter an integer between 1 and 65535. To turn off interrupt coalescing, enter 0 (zero) in this field.
Coalescing Type drop-down list	This can be one of the following: MIN—The system waits for the time specified in the Coalescing Time field before sending another interrupt event. IDLE—The system does not send an interrupt until there is a period of no activity lasting as least as long as the time specified in the Coalescing Time field.

Step 7

In the TCP Offload area, review the information in the following fields:

Name

Description

Enable Large Receive check box

If checked, the hardware reassembles all segmented packets before sending them to the CPU. This option may reduce CPU utilization and increase inbound throughput.

If cleared, the CPU processes all large packets.

Enable TCP Rx Offload Checksum Validation check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packet checksums to the hardware for validation. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU validates all packet checksums.

Enable TCP Segmentation Offload check box

If checked, the CPU sends large TCP packets to the hardware to be segmented. This option may reduce CPU overhead and increase throughput rate.

If cleared, the CPU segments large packets.

Note

This option is also known as Large Send Offload (LSO).

Enable TCP Tx Offload Checksum Generation check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packets to the hardware so that the checksum can be calculated. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU calculates all packet checksums.

Step 8

In the Receive Side Scaling area, review the information in the following fields:


Name	Description
Enable TCP Receive Side Scaling check box	Receive Side Scaling (RSS) distributes network receive processing across multiple CPUs in multiprocessor systems. If checked, network receive processing is shared across processors whenever possible. If cleared, network receive processing is always handled by a single processor even if additional processors are available.
Enable IPv4 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled on IPv4 networks.
Enable TCP-IPv4 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for TCP transmissions across IPv4 networks.
Enable IPv6 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled on IPv6 networks.
Enable TCP-IPv6 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for TCP transmissions across IPv6 networks.
Enable IPv6 Extension RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for IPv6 extensions.
Enable TCP-IPv6 Extension RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for TCP transmissions across IPv6 networks.

Step 9

Review the following

Note

Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers have a Queues tab.


Name	Description
Enable VMQ check box	Check this box to enable Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ).
Enable Multi Queue check box	Check this box to enable the Multi Queue option on vNICs. When enabled multi queue vNICs will be available to the host. By default this is disabled. Multi queue is supported only on C-Series servers with 14xx and VIC 15xxx adapters. VMQ must be in enabled state to enable this option. When you enable this option on one of the vNICs, configuring only VMQ (without choosing multi-queue) on other vNICs is not supported. When this option is enabled usNIC configuration will be disabled
Trust Host CoS check box	Check this box if you want the vNIC to use the class of service provided by the host operating system.
No. of Sub vNICs field	Number of sub vNICs available to the host when the multi queue option is enabled.

Step 10

In the Ethernet Receive Queue area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

Ethernet Receive Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.


Name	Description
Count field	The number of receive queue resources to allocate. Enter an integer between 1 and 256.
Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each receive queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.

Step 11

In the Ethernet Transmit Queue area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

Ethernet Transmit Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.


Name	Description
Count field	The number of transmit queue resources to allocate. Enter an integer between 1 and 256.
Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each transmit queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.

Step 12

In the Completion Queue area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

Completion Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.


Name	Description
Count field	The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources. Enter an integer between 1 and 512.
Ring Size	The number of descriptors in each completion queue. This value cannot be changed.

Step 13

In the Multi Queue area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

Multi Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.

Name

Description

Receive Queue Count field

The number of receive queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 1000.

Transmit Queue Count field

The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 1000.

Completion Queue Count field

The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 2000.

RoCE check box

Check the check box to change the RoCE Properties.

Note

If Multi Queue RoCE is enabled, ensure that VMQ RoCE is also enabled.

Queue Pairs field

The number of queue pairs per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 2048. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2.

Memory Regions field

The number of memory regions per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 524288. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2.

Resource Groups field

The number of resource groups per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 128. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2 greater than or equal to the number of CPU cores on the system for optimum performance.

Class of Service field

This field is read-only and is set to 5.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters.

Step 14

In the RoCE Properties area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

RoCE Properties is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.

Name

Description

RoCE checkbox

Check the check box to change the RoCE Properties.

Queue Pairs field

The number of queue pairs per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 2048.

We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2. The recommended value for queue pairs per vNIC is 2048.

Memory Regions field

The number of memory regions per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 524288. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2. The recommended value is 131072.

The number of memory regions supported should be enough to meet application requirements as the regions are primarily used to send operation channel semantics.

Resource Groups field

The number of resource groups per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 128. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2 greater than or equal to the number of CPU cores on the system for optimum performance.

The resource group defines the total number of hardware resources such as WQ, RQ, CQ, and interrupts required to support the RDMA functionality, and is based on the total number of processor cores available with the host. The host chooses to dedicate a particular resource group to a core to maximize performance and get a better non-uniform memory access.

Class of Service drop-down list

NO Drop QOS COS to be specified. This same value should be configured at the up link switch. Default No Drop QOS COS is 5.

Note

This option is available only on some adapters.

Step 15

In the SR-IOV Properties area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

SR-IOV Properties is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.

Name

Description

No. of VFs field

Enter an integer between 1 and 64.

Note

Other SR-IOV properties are enabled only when you enter an integer between 1 and 64.

Receive Queue Count Per VF field

The number of receive queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 8.

Transmit Queue Count Per VF field

The number of descriptors in each transmit queue.

Enter an integer between 1 and 8.

Completion Queue Count Per VF field

The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 16.

Interrupt Count field

The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 16.

What to do next

Reboot the server to create the vHBA.

Modifying vNIC Properties

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 4

In the vNICs pane, click eth0 or eth1.

Step 5

In the General area under vNIC Properties in the vNICs pane, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name for the virtual NIC.

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

CDN field

The Consistent Device Name (CDN) that you can assign to the ethernet vNICs on the VIC cards. Assigning a specific CDN to a device helps in identifying it on the host OS.

Note

This feature works only when the CDN Support for VIC token is enabled in the BIOS.

MTU field

The maximum transmission unit, or packet size, that this vNIC accepts.

Enter an integer between 1500 and 9000.

Uplink Port drop-down list

The uplink port associated with this vNIC. All traffic for this vNIC goes through this uplink port.

MAC Address field

The MAC address associated with the vNIC.

To let the adapter select an available MAC address from its internal pool, select Auto. To specify an address, click the second radio button and enter the MAC address in the corresponding field.

Class of Service field

The class of service to associate with traffic from this vNIC.

Select an integer between 0 and 6, with 0 being lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Trust Host CoS check box

Check this box if you want the vNIC to use the class of service provided by the host operating system.

PCI Order field

The order in which this vNIC will be used.

To specify an order, enter an integer within the displayed range.

Default VLAN radio button

If there is no default VLAN for this vNIC, select NONE. Otherwise, select the second radio button and enter a VLAN ID between 1 and 4094 in the field.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

VLAN Mode drop-down list

If you want to use VLAN trunking, select TRUNK. Otherwise, select ACCESS.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Enable PTP check box

Check this box to enable Precision Time Protocol (PTP).

Precision Time Protocol (PTP) precisely synchronizes the server clock with other devices and peripherals on Linux operating systems.

Clocks managed by PTP follow a client-worker hierarchy, with workers sychronized to a master client. The hierarchy is updated by the best master clock (BMC) algorithm, which runs on every clock. One PTP interface per adapter must be enabled to sychronize it to the grand master clock.

Note

This option is supported only with Linux operating system.
This option is available only for Cisco UCS VIC 15xxx series adapters.

This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.
For the PTP enabling to be effective, it is required that you reboot the server.

Rate Limit radio button

If you want this vNIC to have an unlimited data rate, select OFF. Otherwise, click the second radio button and enter a rate limit in the associated field.

Enter an integer between 1 and 10,000 Mbps.

For VIC 13xx controllers, you can enter an integer between 1 and 40,000 Mbps.

For VIC 1455, 1457, and 1467 controllers:

If the adapter is connected to 25 Gbps link on a Switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 25,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.
If the adapter is connected to 10 Gbps link on a Switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 10,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.

For VIC 1495, 1497, and 1477 controllers:

If the adapter is connected to 40 Gbps link on a switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 40,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.
If the adapter is connected to 100 Gbps link on a switch, then you can enter an integer between 1 to 100,000 Mbps for the Rate Limit field.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

Channel Number field

Select the channel number that will be assigned to this vNIC.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

PCI Link field

The link through which vNICs can be connected. These are the following values:

0 - The first cross-edged link where the vNIC is placed.
1 - The second cross-edged link where the vNIC is placed.

Note

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

Enable NVGRE check box

Check this box to enable Network Virtualization using Generic Routing Encapsulation.

This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.
This option is available only on C-Series servers with Cisco VIC 1385 cards.

Enable VXLAN check box

Check this box to enable Virtual Extensible LAN.

This option is available only on some Cisco UCS C-Series servers.
This option is available only on C-Series servers with Cisco VIC 1385, VIC 14xx, and VIC 15xxx.

Geneve Offload check box

Beginning with release 4.1(2a), Cisco IMC supports Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation (Geneve) Offload feature with Cisco VIC 14xx series and VIC 15xxx adapters in ESX 7.0 (NSX-T 3.0) and ESX 6.7U3(NSX-T 2.5) OS.

Geneve is a tunnel encapsulation functionality for network traffic . Check this box if you want to enable Geneve Offload encapsulation in Cisco VIC 14xx series adapters.

Un-check this box to disable Geneve Offload, in order to prevent non-encapsulated UDP packets whose destination port numbers match with the Geneve destination port from being treated as tunneled packets.

If you enable Geneve Offload feature, then Cisco recommends the following settings:

Transmit Queue Count—1
Transmit Queue Ring Size—4096
Receive Queue Count—8
Receive Queue Ring Size—4096
Completion Queue Count—9
Interrupt Count—11

Note

You cannot enable the following when Geneve Offload is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 14xx series:

RDMA on the same vNIC
usNIC on the same vNIC
Non-Port Channel Mode on Cisco VIC 145x adapters
aRFS
Advanced Filters
NetQueue

Note

Cisco UCS C220 M7 and C240 M7 servers do not support Cisco VIC 14xx series.

Note

You cannot enable the following when Geneve Offload is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 15xxx:

aRFS
RoCEv2

Outer IPV6 is not supported with GENEVE Offload feature.

Downgrade Limitation—If Geneve Offload is enabled, you cannot downgrade to any release earlier than 4.1(2a).

Advanced Filter check box

Check this box to enable advanced filter options in vNICs.

Port Profile drop-down list

Select the port profile that should be associated with the vNIC.

This field displays the port profiles defined on the switch to which this server is connected.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Enable PXE Boot check box

Check this box if the vNIC can be used to perform a PXE boot.

Enable VMQ check box

Check this box to enable Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ).

Enable Multi Queue check box

Check this box to enable the Multi Queue option on vNICs. When enabled multi queue vNICs will be available to the host. By default this is disabled.

Note

Multi queue is supported only on C-Series servers with 14xx and VIC 15xxx adapters.
VMQ must be in enabled state to enable this option.
When you enable this option on one of the vNICs, configuring only VMQ (without choosing multi-queue) on other vNICs is not supported.
When this option is enabled usNIC configuration will be disabled.

No. of Sub vNICs field

Number of sub vNICs available to the host when the multi queue option is enabled.

Enable aRFS check box

Check this box to enable Accelerated Receive Flow steering (aRFS).

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

Enable Uplink Failover check box

Check this box if traffic on this vNIC should fail over to the secondary interface if there are communication problems.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Failback Timeout field

After a vNIC has started using its secondary interface, this setting controls how long the primary interface must be available before the system resumes using the primary interface for the vNIC.

Enter a number of seconds between 0 and 600.

Note

VNTAG mode is required for this option.

Enable VIC QinQ Tunneling check box

Beginning with release 4.3(2.230207), Cisco IMC provides VIC QinQ Tunneling support for Cisco UCS M5 and M6 servers with Cisco UCS VIC 14xx series and 15xxx series VIC adapters.

Check this box to enable the VIC QinQ Tunneling option on the specified vNIC.

Note

VIC QinQ Tunneling is not supported on 13xx adapters.
Default vLAN should not be none when VIC QinQ Tunneling is configured and vLAN mode is trunk.

You cannot enable the following when VIC QinQ Tunneling is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 14xx:

usNIC on the same vNIC
Geneve offload on the same vNIC
VMMQ on the same vNIC
RDMA v2 on the same vNIC
SR-IOV on the same vNIC
iSCSI boot on the same vNIC
PXE boot on the same vNIC

You cannot enable the following when VIC QinQ Tunneling is enabled in a setup with Cisco VIC 15xxx:

usNIC on the same vNIC
VMMQ on the same vNIC
RDMA v2 on the same vNIC
SR-IOV on the same vNIC
iSCSI boot on the same vNIC
PXE boot on the same vNIC

QinQ VLAN field

Enter a QinQ VLAN ID between 2 and 4094 in the field.

Step 6

In the Ethernet Interrupt area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
Interrupt Count field	The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources. Enter an integer between 1 and 1024.
Coalescing Time field	The time to wait between interrupts or the idle period that must be encountered before an interrupt is sent. Enter an integer between 1 and 65535. To turn off interrupt coalescing, enter 0 (zero) in this field.
Coalescing Type drop-down list	This can be one of the following: MIN—The system waits for the time specified in the Coalescing Time field before sending another interrupt event. IDLE—The system does not send an interrupt until there is a period of no activity lasting as least as long as the time specified in the Coalescing Time field.
Interrupt Mode drop-down list	The preferred driver interrupt mode. This can be one of the following: MSI-X—Message Signaled Interrupts (MSI) with the optional extension. This is the recommended option. MSI—MSI only. INTx—PCI INTx interrupts.

Step 7

In the TCP Offload area, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Enable Large Receive check box

If checked, the hardware reassembles all segmented packets before sending them to the CPU. This option may reduce CPU utilization and increase inbound throughput.

If cleared, the CPU processes all large packets.

Enable TCP Segmentation Offload check box

If checked, the CPU sends large TCP packets to the hardware to be segmented. This option may reduce CPU overhead and increase throughput rate.

If cleared, the CPU segments large packets.

Note

This option is also known as Large Send Offload (LSO).

Enable TCP Rx Offload Checksum Validation check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packet checksums to the hardware for validation. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU validates all packet checksums.

Enable TCP Tx Offload Checksum Generation check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packets to the hardware so that the checksum can be calculated. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU calculates all packet checksums.

Step 8

In the Receive Side Scaling area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
Enable TCP Receive Side Scaling check box	Receive Side Scaling (RSS) distributes network receive processing across multiple CPUs in multiprocessor systems. If checked, network receive processing is shared across processors whenever possible. If cleared, network receive processing is always handled by a single processor even if additional processors are available.
Enable IPv4 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled on IPv4 networks.
Enable TCP-IPv4 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for TCP transmissions across IPv4 networks.
Enable IPv6 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled on IPv6 networks.
Enable TCP-IPv6 RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for TCP transmissions across IPv6 networks.
Enable IPv6 Extension RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for IPv6 extensions.
Enable TCP-IPv6 Extension RSS check box	If checked, RSS is enabled for TCP transmissions across IPv6 networks.

Step 9

Review the following:

Note

Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers have a Queues tab.


Name	Description
Enable VMQ check box	Check this box to enable Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ).
Enable Multi Queue check box	Check this box to enable the Multi Queue option on vNICs. When enabled multi queue vNICs will be available to the host. By default this is disabled. Multi queue is supported only on C-Series servers with 14xx and VIC 15xxx adapters. VMQ must be in enabled state to enable this option. When you enable this option on one of the vNICs, configuring only VMQ (without choosing multi-queue) on other vNICs is not supported. When this option is enabled usNIC configuration will be disabled
Trust Host CoS check box	Check this box if you want the vNIC to use the class of service provided by the host operating system.
No. of Sub vNICs field	Number of sub vNICs available to the host when the multi queue option is enabled.

Step 10

In the Ethernet Receive Queue area, update the following fields:

Note

Ethernet Receive Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.


Name	Description
Count field	The number of receive queue resources to allocate. Enter an integer between 1 and 256.
Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each receive queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 16384. VIC 14xx Series adapters support a 4K (4096) maximum Ring Size VIC15xxx Series adapters support up to 16K Ring Size.

Step 11

In the Ethernet Transmit Queue area, update the following fields:

Note

Ethernet Transmit Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.


Name	Description
Count field	The number of transmit queue resources to allocate. Enter an integer between 1 and 256.
Ring Size field	The number of descriptors in each transmit queue. Enter an integer between 64 and 16384. VIC 14xx Series adapters support a 4K (4096) maximum Ring Size VIC15xxx Series adapters support up to 16K Ring Size.

Step 12

In the Completion Queue area, update the following fields:

Note

Completion Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.


Name	Description
Count field	The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources. Enter an integer between 1 and 512.
Ring Size	The number of descriptors in each completion queue. This value cannot be changed.

Step 13

In the Multi Queue area, update the following details:

Note

Multi Queue is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.

Name

Description

Receive Queue Count field

The number of receive queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 1000.

Transmit Queue Count field

The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 1000.

Completion Queue Count field

The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 2000.

RoCE check box

Check the check box to change the RoCE Properties.

Note

If Multi Queue RoCE is enabled, ensure that VMQ RoCE is also enabled.

Queue Pairs field

The number of queue pairs per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 2048. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2.

Memory Regions field

The number of memory regions per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 524288. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2.

Resource Groups field

The number of resource groups per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 128. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2 greater than or equal to the number of CPU cores on the system for optimum performance.

Class of Service field

This field is read-only and is set to 5.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters.

Step 14

In the RoCE Properties area, update the following fields:

Note

RoCE Properties is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.

Name

Description

RoCE check box

Check the check box to change the RoCE Properties.

Note

If Multi Queue RoCE is enabled, ensure that VMQ RoCE is also enabled.

Queue Pairs field

The number of queue pairs per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 2048. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2.

Memory Regions field

The number of memory regions per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 524288. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2.

Resource Groups field

The number of resource groups per adapter. Enter an integer between 1 and 128. We recommend that this number be an integer power of 2 greater than or equal to the number of CPU cores on the system for optimum performance.

Class of Service field

This field is read-only and is set to 5.

Note

This option is available only on some of the adapters.

Step 15

In the SR-IOV Properties area, review the information in the following fields:

Note

SR-IOV Properties is available under Queues tab for Cisco UCS C-Series M7 and later servers.

Name

Description

No. of VFs field

Enter an integer between 1 and 64.

Note

Other SR-IOV properties are enabled only when you enter an integer between 1 and 64.

Receive Queue Count Per VF field

The number of receive queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 8.

Transmit Queue Count Per VF field

The number of descriptors in each transmit queue.

Enter an integer between 1 and 8.

Completion Queue Count Per VF field

The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 16.

Interrupt Count field

The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 16.

Step 16

Click Save Changes.

What to do next

Reboot the server to modify the vNIC.

Creating a vNIC

The Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Cards provide two vHBAs and two vNICs by default. You can create up to 14 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

The Cisco UCS 1455, 1457, and 1467 Virtual Interface Cards, in non-port channel mode, provide four vHBAs and four vNICs by default. You can create up to 10 additional vHBAs or vNICs on these adapter cards.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 4

In the Host Ethernet Interfaces area, choose one of these actions:

To create a vNIC using default configuration settings, click Add vNIC.
To create a vNIC using the same configuration settings as an existing vNIC, select that vNIC and click Clone vNIC.

The Add vNIC dialog box appears.

Step 5

In the Add vNIC dialog box, enter a name for the vNIC in the Name entry box.

Step 6

In the Add vNIC dialog box, enter a channel number for the vNIC in the Channel Number entry box.

Note

If VNTAG is enabled on the adapter, you must assign a channel number for the vNIC when you create it.

Step 7

Click Add vNIC.

What to do next

If configuration changes are required, configure the new vNIC as described in Modifying vNIC Properties.

Deleting a vNIC

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 4

In the Host Ethernet Interfaces area, select a vNIC from the table.

Note

You cannot delete either of the two default vNICs, eth0 or eth1.

Step 5

Click Delete vNIC and click OK to confirm.

Configuring iSCSI Boot Capability for vNICs

To configure the iSCSI boot capability on a vNIC:

You must log in with admin privileges to perform this task.
To configure a vNIC to boot a server remotely from an iSCSI storage target, you must enable the PXE boot option on the vNIC.

Note

You can configure a maximum of 2 iSCSI vNICs for each host.

Configuring iSCSI Boot Capability on a vNIC

Before you begin

You must log in as an admin to perform this procedure.

Beginning with the Cisco IMC release 6.0, you can configure iSCSI boot capability for IPv6 in a vNIC.

Note

The following list are the requirements to configure iSCSI boot capability for IPv6 in a vNIC:

The minimum supported versions to enable iSCSI boot capability for IPv6 in a vNIC are Cisco IMC 6.0release components (Cisco IMC, BIOS, VIC).
Supported servers: Cisco UCS M6 servers and later (only in UEFI boot mode).
Default iSCSI port number must be 3260 for iSCSI Boot.
iSCSI DHCP vendor options 43 and 17 are not supported for IPv6.
iSCSI supported Boot LUN ID <=255 in the LUN ID filed for primary and secondary targets

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 4

In the vNICs pane, click eth0 or eth1.

Step 5

Select the iSCSI Boot Properties area.

Step 6

In the General area, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

The name of the vNIC.

DHCP Network check box

Whether DHCP Network is enabled for the vNIC.

If enabled, the initiator network configuration is obtained from the DHCP server.

DHCP iSCSI check box

Whether DHCP iSCSI is enabled for the vNIC. If enabled and the DHCP ID is set, the initiator IQN and target information are obtained from the DHCP server.

Note

If DHCP iSCSI is enabled without a DHCP ID, only the target information is obtained.

DHCP ID field

The vendor identifier string used by the adapter to obtain the initiator IQN and target information from the DHCP server.

Enter a string up to 64 characters.

DHCP Timeout field

The number of seconds to wait before the initiator assumes that the DHCP server is unavailable.

Enter an integer between 60 and 300 (default: 60 seconds)

Link Timeout field

The number of seconds to wait before the initiator assumes that the link is unavailable.

Enter an integer between 0 and 255 (default: 15 seconds)

LUN Busy Retry Count field

The number of times to retry the connection in case of a failure during iSCSI LUN discovery.

Enter an integer between 0 and 255. The default is 15.

IP Version field

The IP version to use during iSCSI boot.

Step 7

In the Initiator area, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Name field

A regular expression that defines the name of the iSCSI initiator.

You can enter any alphanumeric string as well as the following special characters:

. (period)
: (colon)
- (dash)

Note

The name is in the IQN format.

IP Address field

The IP address of the iSCSI initiator.

Subnet Mask field

The subnet mask for the iSCSI initiator.

Gateway field

The default gateway.

Primary DNS field

The primary DNS server address.

Initiator Priority drop-down list

The initiator priority drop-down list.

Secondary DNS field

The secondary DNS server address.

TCP Timeout field

The number of seconds to wait before the initiator assumes that TCP is unavailable.

Enter an integer between 0 and 255 (default: 15 seconds)

CHAP Name field

The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) name of the initiator.

CHAP Secret field

The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) shared secret of the initiator.

Step 8

In the Primary Target area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
Name field	The name of the primary target in the IQN format.
IP Address field	The IP address of the target.
TCP Port field	The TCP port associated with the target.
Boot LUN field	The Boot LUN associated with the target.
CHAP Name field	The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) name of the initiator.
CHAP Secret field	The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) shared secret of the initiator.

Step 9

In the Secondary Target area, update the following fields:


Name	Description
Name field	The name of the secondary target in the IQN format.
IP Address field	The IP address of the target.
TCP Port field	The TCP port associated with the target.
Boot LUN field	The Boot LUN associated with the target.
CHAP Name field	The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) name of the initiator.
CHAP Secret field	The Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) shared secret of the initiator.


Name	Description
Configure ISCSI button	Configures iSCSI boot on the selected vNIC.
Unconfigure ISCSI button	Removes the configuration from the selected vNIC.
Reset Values button	Restores the values for the vNIC to the settings that were in effect when this dialog box was first opened.
Cancel button	Closes the dialog box without making any changes.

Step 10

Click Save Changes.

Removing iSCSI Boot Configuration from a vNIC

Before you begin

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

Procedure

Step 1	In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.
Step 2	In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.
Step 3	In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.
Step 4	In the vNICs pane, click eth0 or eth1.
Step 5	Select the iSCSI Boot Properties area.
Step 6	Click the Unconfigure ISCSI Boot button at the bottom of the iSCSI Boot Properties area.

What to do next

Reboot the server to remove the iSCSI Boot Configuration.

Overview of Cisco usNIC

The Cisco user-space NIC (Cisco usNIC) feature improves the performance of software applications that run on the Cisco UCS servers in your data center by bypassing the kernel when sending and receiving networking packets. The applications interact directly with a Cisco UCS VIC second generation or later generation adapter, such as the Cisco UCS VIC-1225, which improves the networking performance of your high-performance computing cluster. To benefit from Cisco usNIC, your applications must use the Message Passing Interface (MPI) instead of sockets or other communication APIs.

Cisco usNIC offers the following benefits for your MPI applications:

Provides a low-latency and high-throughput communication transport.
Employs the standard and application-independent Ethernet protocol.
Takes advantage of lowlatency forwarding, Unified Fabric, and integrated management support in the following Cisco data center platforms:
- Cisco UCS server
- Cisco UCS VIC second generation or later generation adapter
- 10 or 40GbE networks

Standard Ethernet applications use user-space socket libraries, which invoke the networking stack in the Linux kernel. The networking stack then uses the Cisco eNIC driver to communicate with the Cisco VIC hardware. The following figure shows the contrast between a regular software application and an MPI application that uses Cisco usNIC.

Figure 1. Kernel-Based Network Communication versus Cisco usNIC-Based Communication

Viewing and Configuring Cisco usNIC using the Cisco IMC GUI

Before you begin

You must log in to the Cisco IMC GUI with admin privileges to perform this task. Click Play on this video to watch how to configure Cisco usNIC in Cisco IMC.

Procedure

Step 1

Log into the Cisco IMC GUI.

For more information about how to log into Cisco IMC, see Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Step 2

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 3

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 4

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 5

In the vNICs pane, click eth0 or eth1.

Step 6

In the usNIC area, review and update the following fields.

Name

Description

Name

The name for the vNIC that is the parent of the usNIC.

Note

This field is read-only.

usNIC field

The number of usNICs assigned to the specific vNIC.

Enter an integer between 0 and 225.

To assign additional usNICs to a specified vNIC, enter value higher than the existing value.

To delete usNICs from a specified vNIC, enter value smaller than the existing value.

To delete all the usNICs assigned to a vNIC, enter zero.

Transmit Queue Count field

The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 256.

Receive Queue Count field

The number of receive queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 256.

Completion Queue Count field

The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 512.

Transmit Queue Ring Size field

The number of descriptors in each transmit queue.

Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.

Receive Queue Ring Size field

The number of descriptors in each receive queue.

Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.

Interrupt Count field

The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 514.

Interrupt Coalescing Type drop-down list

This can be one of the following:

MIN—The system waits for the time specified in the Coalescing Time field before sending another interrupt event.
IDLE—The system does not send an interrupt until there is a period of no activity lasting as least as long as the time specified in the Coalescing Time field.

Interrupt Coalescing Timer Time field

The time to wait between interrupts or the idle period that must be encountered before an interrupt is sent.

Enter an integer between 1 and 65535. To turn off interrupt coalescing, enter 0 (zero) in this field.

Class of Service field

The class of service to associate with traffic from this usNIC.

Select an integer between 0 and 6, with 0 being lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

TCP Segment Offload check box

If checked, the CPU sends large TCP packets to the hardware to be segmented. This option may reduce CPU overhead and increase throughput rate.

If cleared, the CPU segments large packets.

Note

This option is also known as Large Send Offload (LSO).

Large Receive check box

If checked, the hardware reassembles all segmented packets before sending them to the CPU. This option may reduce CPU utilization and increase inbound throughput.

If cleared, the CPU processes all large packets.

TCP Tx Checksum check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packets to the hardware so that the checksum can be calculated. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU calculates all packet checksums.

TCP Rx Checksum check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packet checksums to the hardware for validation. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU validates all packet checksums.

Step 7

Click Save Changes.

The changes take effect upon the next server reboot.

Viewing usNIC Properties

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to view.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the vNICs tab.

Step 4

In the vNICs pane, click eth0 or eth1.

Step 5

In the Host Ethernet Interfaces pane's usNIC Properties area, review the information in the following fields:

Name

Description

Name

The name for the vNIC that is the parent of the usNIC.

Note

This field is read-only.

usNIC field

The number of usNICs assigned to the specific vNIC.

Enter an integer between 0 and 225.

To assign additional usNICs to a specified vNIC, enter value higher than the existing value.

To delete usNICs from a specified vNIC, enter value smaller than the existing value.

To delete all the usNICs assigned to a vNIC, enter zero.

Transmit Queue Count field

The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 256.

Receive Queue Count field

The number of receive queue resources to allocate.

Enter an integer between 1 and 256.

Completion Queue Count field

The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 512.

Transmit Queue Ring Size field

The number of descriptors in each transmit queue.

Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.

Receive Queue Ring Size field

The number of descriptors in each receive queue.

Enter an integer between 64 and 4096.

Interrupt Count field

The number of interrupt resources to allocate. In general, this value should be equal to the number of completion queue resources.

Enter an integer between 1 and 514.

Interrupt Coalescing Type drop-down list

This can be one of the following:

MIN—The system waits for the time specified in the Coalescing Time field before sending another interrupt event.
IDLE—The system does not send an interrupt until there is a period of no activity lasting as least as long as the time specified in the Coalescing Time field.

Interrupt Coalescing Timer Time field

The time to wait between interrupts or the idle period that must be encountered before an interrupt is sent.

Enter an integer between 1 and 65535. To turn off interrupt coalescing, enter 0 (zero) in this field.

Class of Service field

The class of service to associate with traffic from this usNIC.

Select an integer between 0 and 6, with 0 being lowest priority and 6 being the highest priority.

Note

This option cannot be used in VNTAG mode.

TCP Segment Offload check box

If checked, the CPU sends large TCP packets to the hardware to be segmented. This option may reduce CPU overhead and increase throughput rate.

If cleared, the CPU segments large packets.

Note

This option is also known as Large Send Offload (LSO).

Large Receive check box

If checked, the hardware reassembles all segmented packets before sending them to the CPU. This option may reduce CPU utilization and increase inbound throughput.

If cleared, the CPU processes all large packets.

TCP Tx Checksum check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packets to the hardware so that the checksum can be calculated. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU calculates all packet checksums.

TCP Rx Checksum check box

If checked, the CPU sends all packet checksums to the hardware for validation. This option may reduce CPU overhead.

If cleared, the CPU validates all packet checksums.

Exporting the Adapter Configuration

The adapter configuration can be exported as an XML file to a remote server which can be one of the following:

TFTP
FTP
SFTP
SCP
HTTP

Before you begin

Obtain the remote server IP address.

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

In the Adapter Card pane, click the General tab.

Step 4

In the Actions area of the General tab, click Export vNIC.

The Export vNIC dialog box opens.

Step 5

In the Export Adapter Configuration dialog box, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Export To drop-down list

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

TFTP Server
FTP Server
SFTP Server
SCP Server
HTTP Server

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.

IP Address or Host Name field

The IPv4 or IPv6 address, or hostname of the server to which the adapter configuration file will be exported. Depending on the setting in the Export to drop-down list, the name of the field may vary.

Path and Filename field

The path and filename Cisco IMC should use when exporting the file to the remote server.

Username

The username the system should use to log in to the remote server. This field does not apply if the protocol is TFTP or HTTP.

Password

The password for the remote server username. This field does not apply if the protocol is TFTP or HTTP.

Step 6

Click Export vNIC.

Importing the Adapter Configuration

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to modify.

Step 3

Select the General tab.

Step 4

In the Actions area of the General tab, click Import vNIC.

The Import vNIC dialog box is displayed.

Step 5

In the Import vNIC dialog box, update the following fields:

Name

Description

Import from drop-down list

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

TFTP Server
FTP Server
SFTP Server
SCP Server
HTTP Server

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.

IP Address or Host Name field

The IPv4 or IPv6 address, or hostname of the server on which the adapter configuration file resides. Depending on the setting in the Import from drop-down list, the name of the field may vary.

Path and Filename field

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

Username

The username the system should use to log in to the remote server. This field does not apply if the protocol is TFTP or HTTP.

Password

The password for the remote server username. This field does not apply if the protocol is TFTP or HTTP.

Step 6

Click Import vNIC.

What to do next

Reboot the server to apply the imported configuration.

Restoring Adapter Defaults

Procedure

Step 1	In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.
Step 2	In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to restore to default settings.
Step 3	Select the General tab.
Step 4	In the Actions area of the General tab, click Reset To Defaults and click OK to confirm.

Resetting the Adapter

Procedure

Step 1

In the Navigation pane, click the Networking menu.

Step 2

In the Networking pane, select the Adapter Card that you want to reset.

Step 3

Select the General tab.

Step 4

In the Actions area of the General tab, click Reset and click OK to confirm.

Note

Resetting the adapter also resets the host.

Bias-Free Language

Results

Chapter: Managing Network Adapters

Managing Network Adapters

Overview of the Cisco UCS C-Series Network Adapters

Cisco UCS VIC 15238 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 15428 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1497 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1495 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1477 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1467 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1457 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1455 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1387 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1385 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1227T Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS VIC 1225 Virtual Interface Card

Cisco UCS P81E Virtual Interface Card

Configuring Network Adapter Properties

Before you begin

Procedure

Guidelines for Managing vHBAs

Viewing vHBA Properties

Procedure

Modifying vHBA Properties

Procedure

Creating a vHBA

Before you begin

Procedure

What to do next

Deleting a vHBA

Procedure

What to do next

vHBA Boot Table

Creating a Boot Table Entry

Procedure

Deleting a Boot Table Entry

Procedure

vHBA Persistent Binding

Viewing Persistent Bindings

Procedure

Rebuilding Persistent Bindings

Procedure

Guidelines for Managing vNICs

Viewing vNIC Properties

Procedure

What to do next

Modifying vNIC Properties

Procedure

What to do next

Creating a vNIC

Procedure

What to do next

Deleting a vNIC

Procedure

Configuring iSCSI Boot Capability for vNICs

Configuring iSCSI Boot Capability on a vNIC

Before you begin

Procedure

Removing iSCSI Boot Configuration from a vNIC

Before you begin

Procedure

What to do next

Overview of Cisco usNIC

Viewing and Configuring Cisco usNIC using the Cisco IMC GUI

Before you begin

Procedure

Viewing usNIC Properties

Procedure

Exporting the Adapter Configuration

Before you begin

Procedure

Importing the Adapter Configuration

Procedure

What to do next

Restoring Adapter Defaults

Procedure

Resetting the Adapter

Procedure