Configuring Network-Related Policies
This chapter includes the following sections:
- Configuring vNIC Templates
- Configuring Ethernet Adapter Policies
- Configuring Network Control Policies
Configuring vNIC Templates
vNIC Template
This policy defines how a vNIC on a server connects to the LAN. This policy is also referred to as a vNIC LAN connectivity policy.
You need to include this policy in a service profile for it to take effect.
 Note |
If your server has two Emulex or QLogic NICs (Cisco UCS CNA M71KR-E or Cisco UCS CNA M71KR-Q), you must configure vNIC policies for both adapters in your service profile to get a user-defined MAC address for both NICs. If you do not configure policies for both NICs, Windows still detects both of them in the PCI bus. Then because the second eth is not part of your service profile, Windows assigns it a hardware MAC address. If you then move the service profile to a different server, Windows sees additional NICs because one NIC did not have a user-defined MAC address. |
Configuring a vNIC Template
The following example configures a vNIC template and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org* # create vnic template VnicTempFoo UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set descr "This is a vNIC template example." UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set fabric a UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set mac-pool pool137 UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set mtu 8900 UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set nw-control-policy ncp5 UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set pin-group PinGroup54 UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set qos-policy QosPol5 UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set stats-policy ServStatsPolicy UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # set type updating-template UCS-A /org/vnic-templ* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org/vnic-templ #
Deleting a vNIC Template
The following example deletes the vNIC template named VnicTempFoo and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # delete vnic template VnicTempFoo UCS-A /org* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org #
Configuring Ethernet Adapter Policies
Ethernet and Fibre Channel Adapter Policies
These policies govern the host-side behavior of the adapter, including how the adapter handles traffic. For example, you can use these policies to change default settings for the following:
- Queues
- Interrupt handling
- Performance enhancement
- RSS hash
- Failover in an cluster configuration with two fabric interconnects
Operating System Specific Adapter Policies
By default, Cisco UCS provides a set of Ethernet adapter policies and Fibre Channel adapter policies. These policies include the recommended settings for each supported server operating system. Operating systems are sensitive to the settings in these policies. Storage vendors typically require non-default adapter settings. You can find the details of these required settings on the support list provided by those vendors.
We recommend that you use the values in these policies for the applicable operating system. Do not modify any of the values in the default policies unless directed to do so by Cisco Technical Support.
However, if you are creating an Ethernet adapter policy for a Windows OS (instead of using the default Windows adapter policy), you must use the following formulas to calculate values that work with Windows:
- Completion Queues = Transmit Queues + Receive Queues
- Interrupt Count = (Completion Queues + 2) rounded up to nearest power of 2
For example, if Transmit Queues = 1 and Receive Queues = 8 then:
- Completion Queues = 1 + 8 = 9
- Interrupt Count = (9 + 2) rounded up to the nearest power of 2 = 16
Configuring an Ethernet Adapter Policy
The following example configures an Ethernet adapter policy, and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org* # create eth-policy EthPolicy19 UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set comp-queue count 16 UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set descr "This is an Ethernet adapter policy example." UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set failover timeout 300 UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set interrupt count 64 UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set offload large-receive disabled UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set recv-queue count 32 UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set rss receivesidescaling enabled UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # set trans-queue UCS-A /org/eth-policy* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org/eth-policy #
Deleting an Ethernet Adapter Policy
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCS-A# scope org org-name | Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name . |
| Step 2 | UCS-A /org # delete eth-policy policy-name | Deletes the specified Ethernet adapter policy. |
| Step 3 | UCS-A /org # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the Ethernet adapter policy named EthPolicy19 and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # delete eth-policy EthPolicy19 UCS-A /org* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org #
Configuring Network Control Policies
Network Control Policy
This policy configures the network control settings for the Cisco UCS instance, including the following:
- Whether the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is enabled or disabled
- How the VIF behaves if no uplink port is available in end-host mode
- Whether the server can use different MAC addresses when sending packets to the fabric interconnect
The network control policy also determines the action that Cisco UCS Manager takes on the remote Ethernet interface, vEthernet interface , or vFibreChannel interface when the associated border port fails.
By default, the Action on Uplink Fail property in the network control policy is configured with a value of link-down. For adapters such as the Cisco UCS M81KR Virtual Interface Card, this default behavior directs Cisco UCS Manager to bring the vEthernet or vFibreChannel interface down if the associated border port fails. For Cisco UCS systems using a non-VM-FEX capable converged network adapter that supports both Ethernet and FCoE traffic , such as Cisco UCS CNA M72KR-Q and the Cisco UCS CNA M72KR-E, this default behavior directs Cisco UCS Manager to bring the remote Ethernet interface down if the associated border port fails. In this scenario, any vFibreChannel interfaces that are bound to the remote Ethernet interface are brought down as well.
Note |
Cisco UCS Manager, version 1.4(2) and earlier did not enforce the Action on Uplink Fail property for those types of non-VM-FEX capable converged network adapters mentioned above. If the Action on Uplink Fail property was set to link-down, Cisco UCS Manager would ignore this setting and instead issue a warning. Therefore, if your implementation includes one of those converged network adapters and the adapter is expected to handle both Ethernet and FCoE traffic, we recommend that you configure the Action on Uplink Fail property with a value of warning. Please note that this configuration may result in an Ethernet teaming driver not being able to detect a link failure when the border port goes down. |
Configuring a Network Control Policy
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCS-A# scope org / | Enters the root organization mode. |
| Step 2 | UCS-A /org # create nwctrl-policy policy-name | Creates the specified network control policy, and enters organization network control policy mode. |
| Step 3 | UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy # {disable | enable} cdp | Disables or enables Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP). |
| Step 4 | UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy # set uplink-fail-action {link-down | warning} | Specifies the action to be taken when no uplink port is available in end-host mode. Use the link-down keyword to change the operational state of a vNIC to down when uplink connectivity is lost on the fabric interconnect, and facilitate fabric failover for vNICs. Use the warning keyword to maintain server-to-server connectivity even when no uplink port is available, and disable fabric failover when uplink connectivity is lost on the fabric interconnect. The default uplink failure action is link-down. |
| Step 5 | UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy # {create mac-security | Enters organization network control policy MAC security mode |
| Step 6 | UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy/mac-security # {set forged-transmit {allow | deny} | Allows or denies the forging of MAC addresses when sending traffic. MAC security is disabled when forged MAC addresses are allowed, and MAC security is enabled when forged MAC addresses are denied. By default, forged MAC addresses are allowed (MAC security is disabled). |
| Step 7 | UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy/mac-security # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example creates a network control policy named ncp5, enables CDP, sets the uplink fail action to link-down, denies forged MAC addresses (enables MAC security), and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # create nwctrl-policy ncp5 UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy* # enable cdp UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy* # set uplink-fail-action link-down UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy* # create mac-security UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy/mac-security* # set forged-transmit deny UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy/mac-security* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org/nwctrl-policy/mac-security #
Deleting a Network Control Policy
| Command or Action | Purpose | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | UCS-A# scope org / | Enters the root organization mode. |
| Step 2 | UCS-A /org # delete nwctrl-policy policy-name | Deletes the specified network control policy. |
| Step 3 | UCS-A /org # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the network control policy named ncp5 and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # delete nwctrl-policy ncp5 UCS-A /org* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org #
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