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This chapter includes the following sections:
Some modifications to a service profile or to an updating service profile template can be disruptive and require a reboot of the server. You can, however, configure deferred deployment to control when those disruptive configuration changes are implemented. For example, you can choose to deploy the service profile changes immediately or have them deployed during a specified maintenance window. You can also choose whether or not a service profile deployment requires explicit user acknowledgement.
Deferred deployment is available for all configuration changes that occur through the association of a service profile with a server. These configuration changes can be prompted by a change to a service profile, to a policy that is included in a service profile, or to an updating service profile template. For example, you can defer the upgrade and activation of firmware through host firmware packages and management firmware packages, such as server BIOS, RAID controller, host HBA, and network adapters. However, you cannot defer the direct deployment of firmware images for components that do not use either of the firmware packages, such as Cisco UCS Manager, fabric interconnects, and I/O modules.
Deferred deployment is not available for the following actions which require the reboot of a server:
If you want to defer the deployment of service profile changes, you must configure one or more maintenance policies and configure each service profile with a maintenance policy. If you want to define the time period when the deployment should occur, you also need to create at least one schedule with one or more recurring occurrences or one time occurrences, and include that schedule in a maintenance policy.
A schedule contains a set of occurrences. These occurrences can be one time only or can recur at a specified time and day each week. The options defined in the occurrence, such as the duration of the occurrence or the maximum number of tasks to be run, determine whether a service profile change is deployed. For example, if a change cannot be deployed during a given maintenance window because the maximum duration or number of tasks has been reached, that deployment is carried over to the next maintenance window.
Each schedule checks periodically to see whether the Cisco UCS instance has entered one or more maintenance windows. If it has, the schedule executes the deployments that are eligible according to the constraints specified in the maintenance policy
A schedule contains one or more occurrences, which determine the maintenance windows associated with that schedule. An occurrence can be one of the following:
One time occurrences define a single maintenance window. These windows continue until the maximum duration of the window or the maximum number of tasks that can be run in the window has been reached.
Recurring occurrences define a series of maintenance windows. These windows continue until the maximum number of tasks or the end of the day specified in the occurrence has been reached.
A maintenance policy determines how Cisco UCS Manager reacts when a change that requires a server reboot is made to a service profile associated with a server or to an updating service profile bound to one or more service profiles.
The maintenance policy specifies how Cisco UCS Manager deploys the service profile changes. The deployment can occur in one of the following ways:
If the maintenance policy is configured to deploy the change during a scheduled maintenance window, the policy must include a valid schedule. The schedule deploys the changes in the first available maintenance window.
If you configure deferred deployment in a Cisco UCS instance, Cisco UCS Manager enables you to view all pending activities. You can see activities that are waiting for user acknowledgement and those that have been scheduled.
If a Cisco UCS instance has pending activities, Cisco UCS Manager GUI notifies users with admin privileges when they log in.
Cisco UCS Manager displays information about all pending activities, including the following:
Note |
You cannot specify the maintenance window in which a specific pending activity is applied to the server. The maintenance window depends upon how many activities are pending and which maintenance policy is assigned to the service profile. However, any user with admin privileges can manually initiate a pending activity and reboot the server immediately, whether it is waiting for user acknowledgement or for a maintenance window. |
If you cancel a pending change, Cisco UCS Manager attempts to roll back the change without rebooting the server. However, for complex changes, Cisco UCS Manager may have to reboot the server a second time to roll back the change. For example, if you delete a vNIC, Cisco UCS Manager reboots the server according to the maintenance policy included in the service profile. You cannot cancel this reboot and change, even if you restore the original vNIC in the service profile. Instead, Cisco UCS Manager schedules a second deployment and reboot of the server.
After Cisco UCS Manager begins the association of the service profile, the scheduler and maintenance policy do not have any control over the procedure. If the service profile association does not complete within the allotted maintenance window, the process continues until it is completed. For example, this can occur if the association does not complete in time because of retried stages or other issues.
Scheduled deployments run in parallel and independently. You cannot specify the order in which the deployments occur. You also cannot make the deployment of one service profile change dependent upon the completion of another.
Cisco UCS Manager applies all changes made to a service profile in the scheduled maintenance window. You cannot make several changes to a service profile at the same time and then have those changes be spread across several maintenance windows. When Cisco UCS Manager deploys the service profile changes, it updates the service profile to match the most recent configuration in the database.
Configuring Schedules
The following example creates a scheduler called maintenancesched and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # create scheduler maintenancesched UCS-A /system/scheduler* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/scheduler #
Create a one time occurrence or recurring occurrence for the schedule.
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope scheduler maintsched UCS-A /system/scheduler # create occurrence one-time onetimemaint UCS-A /system/scheduler/one-time* # set date apr 1 2011 11 00 UCS-A /system/scheduler/one-time* # set concur-tasks 5 UCS-A /system/scheduler/one-time* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/scheduler/one-time #
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope scheduler maintsched UCS-A /system/scheduler # create occurrence recurring recurringmaint UCS-A /system/scheduler/recurring* # set day even-day UCS-A /system/scheduler/recurring* # set hour 11 UCS-A /system/scheduler/recurring* # set minute 5 UCS-A /system/scheduler/recurring* # set concur-tasks 5 UCS-A /system/scheduler/recurring* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/scheduler/recurring #
If this is the only occurrence in a schedule, that schedule is reconfigured with no occurrences. If the schedule is included in a maintenance policy and that policy is assigned to a service profile, any pending activities related to the server associated with the service profile cannot be deployed. You must add a one time ocurrence or a recurring occurrence to the schedule to deploy the pending activity.
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope scheduler maintsched UCS-A /system/scheduler # delete occurrence one-time onetimemaint UCS-A /system/scheduler* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/scheduler #
If this is the only occurrence in a schedule, that schedule is reconfigured with no occurrences. If the schedule is included in a maintenance policy and that policy is assigned to a service profile, any pending activities related to the server associated with the service profile cannot be deployed. You must add a one time ocurrence or a recurring occurrence to the schedule to deploy the pending activity.
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope scheduler maintsched UCS-A /system/scheduler # delete occurrence recurring onetimemaint UCS-A /system/scheduler* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/scheduler #
If this schedule is included in a maintenance policy, the policy is reconfigured with no schedule. If that policy is assigned to a service profile, any pending activities related to the server associated with the service profile cannot be deployed. You must add a schedule to the maintenance policy to deploy the pending activity.
The following example deletes a scheduler called maintenancesched and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # delete scheduler maintenancesched UCS-A /system* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system #
Configuring Maintenance Policies
If you plan to configure this maintenance policy for deferred deployment, create a schedule.
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # create maint-policy maintenance UCS-A /org/maint-policy* # set reboot-policy immediate UCS-A /org/maint-policy* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org/maint-policy #
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # delete maint-policy maintenance UCS-A /org/maint-policy* # commit-buffer UCS-A /org/maint-policy #
Managing Pending Activities
The following example shows how to display pending changes for a service profile called accounting:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # scope service-profile accounting UCS-A /org/service-profile # show pending-changes detail Pending Changes: Scheduler: Changed by: admin Acked by: Mod. date: 2010-09-20T20:36:09.254 State: Untriggered Admin State: Untriggered Pend. Changes: 0 Pend. Disr.: 0 UCS-A /org/service-profile #
You cannot stop Cisco UCS Manager from rebooting the affected server after you acknowledge a pending activity.
The following example shows how to apply pending changes for a service profile called accounting:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # scope service-profile accounting UCS-A /org/service-profile # apply pending-changes immediate UCS-A /org/service-profile #
You cannot stop Cisco UCS Manager from rebooting the affected server after you acknowledge a pending activity.
The following example shows how to apply pending changes for a service profile called accounting:
UCS-A# scope org / UCS-A /org # scope service-profile accounting UCS-A /org/service-profile # apply pending-changes immediate UCS-A /org/service-profile #