Performing Actions Using the Plug-in

This chapter includes the following sections:

Performing Actions Using the Plug-in

Cisco UCS Manager plug-in enables you to perform various actions on the servers, UCS domains, service profiles and service profile templates. The actions that you can perform are available, based on the association state of the servers and your user privileges. Before executing any action, an impact analysis is performed. Based on the result of the analysis, you are prompted to cancel or continue with the action.

You can perform the following actions on various components that can be managed using the plug-in:

  • ESXi and non ESXi servers:

    • Create service profiles for servers — allow you to create hardware or template based server profiles.
    • Manage BIOS policy — allow you to modify BIOS policy for a server.
    • Associate service profile — allow you to associate service profile for a server.
    • Manage firmware host pack — allow you to change host firmware pack for a server.
    • Disassociate service profile — allow you to disassociate service profile from a server.

  • ESXi servers:

    • Launch KVM — allow you to launch the KVM console for the server.

    • Launch UCSM — allow you to launch the Cisco UCS Manager user interface for all registered UCS domains.

  • UCS domains: Reload UCS Domain — allows you to reload the physical inventory of a UCS domain.
  • Service profile templates:
    • Manage host firmware pack — allow you to change host firmware pack for a service profile template.
    • Manage Server Pools — allow you to change server pools.

    • Create Service Profiles from Template — allow you to create service profiles using templates.

  • Service profiles: Manage firmware host pack — allows you to change firmware host pack for a service profile.
  • Firmware:

    • Upload Firmware —allow you to upload firmware bundle for a server.

    • Modify Package Versions— allow you to upgrade or downgrade the firmware package version.

    • Delete Upload Task— allow you to delete firmware upload task.

    • Delete Firmware Package—allow you to delete firmware package bundle.

The following sections describe how to perform the available actions.

ESXi and Non ESXi Server Actions

Creating Service Profiles for ESXi or Non-ESXi Servers

Perform the following steps to create a service profile:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

Click Rack Mounts or Chassis.

A list of all the rack mounts or chassis associated with the UCS domain appears.
Step 6

Select a rack mount or chassis.

Step 7

Click ESXi Servers or Non ESXi Servers.

A list of all the ESXi or non ESXi servers associated with the rack mount or chassis appears.
Step 8

Select a server and right-click.

For ESXi servers, right-click and select All Cisco UCS vCenter Plugin Actions.
Step 9

Click Create Service Profile for Server.

Create Service Profile for Server screen appears.
Step 10

In the Create Service Profile for Server, perform the following:

  • Create Service Profile in Organization - Choose an organization from the drop-down menu.
  • Select Hardware Based Service Profile or Template Based Service Profile.
  • If you have chosen Hardware Based Service Profile, enter the following:
    • Name of the service profile.
    • Select Create Default vNICs or Create Default vHBAs.
    • Click OK.
  • If you have chosen Template Based Service Profile, enter the following:
    • Name of the service profile.
    • Select a service profile template form the drop-down menu.
    • Click OK.
This creates a service profile and associates it with the chosen server.

Managing BIOS Policies

Perform the following steps to manage a BIOS policy for a server:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

Click Rack Mounts or Chassis.

A list of all the rack mounts or chassis associated with the UCS domain appears.
Step 6

Select a rack mount or chassis.
Step 7

Click ESXi Servers or Non ESXi Servers.

A list of all the ESXi or non ESXi servers associated with the rack mount or chassis appears.
Step 8

Select a server and right-click.

Step 9

Click Manage BIOS Policy.

Manage BIOS Policy screen appears.
Step 10

In the Manage BIOS Policy screen, select a BIOS Policy from the drop-down menu.

Step 11

Click Save Changes.

Step 12

To change the BIOS parameters, click on BIOS Policy Instance link.

BIOS Policy screen appears.
Step 13

Make the necessary changes to the BIOS parameters and click Save Changes.

Note 

You can associate a BIOS policy to multiple servers, if you make changes to the policy, changes will apply to all the associated servers.

Associating Service Profiles with the Servers

Perform the following steps to associate a service profile with a server:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

Click Rack Mounts or Chassis.

A list of all the rack mounts or chassis associated with the UCS domain appears.
Step 6

Select a rack mount or chassis.

Step 7

Click ESXi Servers or Non ESXi Servers.

A list of all the ESXi or non ESXi servers associated with the rack mount or chassis appears.
Step 8

Select a server and right-click.

Step 9

Click Associate Service Profile.

Associate Service Profile screen appears.
Step 10

In the Associate Service Profile screen, select Available Service Profiles or All Service Profiles.

A list of service profiles appears.
Step 11

Select a service profile from the list and click OK.

The chosen service profile is associated with the server.

Managing Host Firmware Pack

Perform the following steps to manage firmware host packs for servers:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

Click Rack Mounts or Chassis.

A list of all the rack mounts or chassis associated with the UCS domain appears.
Step 6

Select a rack mount or chassis.

Step 7

Click ESXi Servers or Non ESXi Servers.

A list of all the ESXi or non ESXi servers associated with the rack mount or chassis appears.
Step 8

Select a server and right-click.

Step 9

Click Actions and select Manage Firmware Host Pack.

The Manage Firmware Host Pack wizard appears.
Step 10

In the Manage Firmware Host Pack wizard, select a firmware host pack from the drop-down menu.

Step 11

Click Save Changes.

Disassociating a Service Profile from a ESXi or Non ESXi Server

Perform the following steps to disassociate a service profile from a server:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

Click Rack Mounts or Chassis.

A list of all the rack mounts or chassis associated with the UCS domain appears.
Step 6

Select a rack mount or chassis.
Step 7

Click ESXi Servers or Non ESXi Servers.

A list of all the ESXi or non ESXi servers associated with the rack mount or chassis appears.
Step 8

Select a server and right-click.

Step 9

Click Disassociate Service Profile.

Step 10

In the Disassociate Service Profile screen, select the service profile and click OK.

The service profile is disassociated from the server.

Launching the KVM Console of an ESXi Server


Note

The following steps are valid for Release 2.0(x).

The KVM Launch Manager enables you to access a server through the KVM console without logging in to Cisco UCS Manager.

Perform the following steps to launch the KVM console of the server:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

Navigate to the server on which you want to launch the KVM.
Step 4

Select the server, and click Launch KVM.

A list of configured in-band management and out-of-band management IP addresses are displayed.

Step 5

Select the IP address through which you want to launch the KVM, and click OK.

Launching the UCSM User Interface for an ESXi Server

Perform the following steps to launch the Cisco UCS Manager user interface:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the left pane, click Hosts and Clusters.

A list of all the hosts appear.
Step 4

Select a host with a registered UCSM domain.

Step 5

On the left pane, select a server and right-click and choose All Cisco UCS vCenter Plug-in Actions.

A list of all the available actions appear.
Step 6

Click Launch UCSM.

Service Profile Templates Actions

Managing Host Firmware Pack for Service Profile Templates

Perform the following steps to manage firmware host packs for servers:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Service Profile Template.

Step 6

Click Actions and select Manage Firmware Host Pack.

The Manage Firmware Host Pack wizard appears.
Step 7

In the Manage Firmware Host Pack wizard, select a firmware host pack from the drop-down menu.

Step 8

Click Save Changes.

Managing Server Pools

Perform the following steps to manage server pools:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Service Profile Templates

Step 6

Click Actions and select Manage Server Pools.

Associated Server Pools pop-up appears.
Step 7

Click Associate with Server Pool.

Associate with Server Pool pop-up appears.
Step 8

Select Pool Assignment and Server Pool Qualification from the respective drop-down menus.

Step 9

Click OK.

Creating Service Profiles From Templates

Perform the following steps to create service profiles from templates:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Service Profile Templates

Step 6

Click Actions and select Create Service Profiles From Template using which you want to create a service profile.

Create Service Profiles From Template pop-up appears.
Step 7

Enter the prefix, suffix and the number of instances of the service profile you want to create in the respective fields.

Step 8

Click OK.

Service Profile Actions

Managing Host Firmware Pack for a Service Profile

Perform the following steps to manage firmware host packs for servers:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Service Profile.

Step 6

Click Actions and select Manage Firmware Host Pack.

The Manage Firmware Host Pack wizard appears.
Step 7

In the Manage Firmware Host Pack wizard, select a firmware host pack from the drop-down menu.

Step 8

Click Save Changes.

Acknowledging Pending Activities

Perform the following steps to acknowledge the pending activities for servers:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Service Profile .

Step 6

Click Pending Activities.

The Pending Activities wizard appears.
Step 7

On the Pending Activities wizard, check the Reboot now check box against the servers for which you want to trigger the reboot.

Step 8

Click Ok.

Firmware Management Actions

Uploading Firmware Packages

Perform the following steps to upload firmware host packs for the servers:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Firmware > Firmware Upload Tasks.

Step 6

Click Actions and select Upload Firmware.

The Upload Firmware Bundle dialog box appears.
Step 7

In the Upload Firmware Bundle dialog box, complete the following:

Action

Description

Protocol field

The protocol type. This can be one of the following:

  • FTP

  • TFTP

  • SCP

  • SFTP

Server field

The IP address or hostname of the server on which the firmware bundle resides. Depending on the setting in the Protocol field, the name of the server may vary.

Filename field

The name of the firmware bundle on the server.

Remote Path field

The absolute path to the file on the remote server.

If you use SCP, the absolute path is always required. If you use any other protocol, you may not need to specify a remote path if the file resides in the default download folder. For details about how your file server is configured, contact your system administrator.

User field

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

Password field

The password for the server. This field does not apply if the protocol is TFTP.

Step 8

Click Ok.

Uploads the firmware package and the uploaded package appears on the Firmware Packages tab.

Step 9

(Optional) To delete a firmware package, select the firmware package and click Delete Upload Task.

Step 10

(Optional) Click Ok in the delete confirmation prompt.

Modifying Package Version for Host Firmware Pack

Perform the following steps to modify the firmware host packs for the servers:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Firmware > Host Firmware Packages.

Step 6

Expand Org.

Step 7

Select the host firmware package that is associated with the service profile or the servers for which you want to upgrade or downgrade the firmware.

Note 

You can view the currently associated service profiles to host firmware package by clicking Modify Package Version. This displays the existing packages.

Note 

If you want to upgrade the firmware on server that does not have an associated service profile, select the default host firmware package. Choosing this option upgrades the firmware on all the unassociated servers or service profiles associated to the default host firmware package.

Step 8

Click Modify Package Versions.

The Modify Package Versions wizard appears.

Step 9

For the B-Series and C-Series servers, select the firmware versions to which you want to upgrade from the respective Blade Package and Rack Package drop-down lists.

Step 10

The Host Firmware Package Dependencies area, lists all the associated service profiles, affected ESXi hosts and their VMs.

Step 11

Click Next.

Summary of the impacted endpoints and their status appear.

Step 12

(Optional) Use the available filter option to view specific impacts.

Step 13

If ESXi is running on any impacted server, Move all the running hosts to maintenance mode is enable by default. If you want to update the firmware package without moving the host to maintenance mode, check Upgrade even with running server.

Note 

The firmware upgrade process terminates if the hosts are not successfully moved to a maintenance mode.

Note 

After the upgrade, all the hosts remain in the maintenance mode until you manually exit the hosts from the maintenance mode.

Step 14

Click Update.

Initiates the upgrade process.

Note 

If the upgrade process aborts due to any fault, check the hosts status manually to see whether any of the hosts are pending or moved to maintenance mode.

Note 

If you encounter a timeout error during the upgrade process, move the hosts to maintenance mode manually, and then rerun the Modify Package Versions wizard to trigger the firmware upgrade.

Step 15

After successful firmware upgrade, an Alert message dialog box appears. Review the message and click Ok to exit.

If you want to trigger an immediate reboot for a few or all the servers, click Pending Activities.

Note 

The Pending Activities option appear when UCS maintenance policy is set to User Acknowledge or Scheduled for maintenance window for associated service profiles.

Step 16

(Optional) On the Pending Activities page, you can do the following:

  1. On the Scheduled Activities tab, you can override the schedule state and trigger an immediate reboot for the servers in the list. For immediate reboot, check the Reboot Now checkbox against respective service profile and click Ok.

  2. on the User Acknowledged Activities tab, you can acknowledge an activity, or trigger immediate reboot for the servers in the list. For immediate reboot, check the Reboot Now checkbox against respective service profile and click Ok.

Deleting Uploaded Task

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Firmware > Firmware Upload Tasks.

Step 6

Select the task that you want to delete.

Step 7

Click Actions and select Delete Upload Task.

Step 8

Click OK in the delete confirmation box.

Click OK in the delete success box.

Deleting Firmware Package

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

On the right pane of the screen, click Manage > Firmware > Firmware Packages.

Step 6

Select the firmware package that you want to delete.

Step 7

Click Actions and select Delete Firmware Package.

Step 8

Click OK in the delete confirmation box.

Click OK in the delete success box.

UCS Domain Actions

Reloading UCS Domain Inventory

Perform the following steps to reload a UCS domain inventory:

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Go to the Home page, and launch the Cisco UCS plug-in.
Step 3

On the Home tab, you can view a list of all the registered UCS domains.

Step 4

Double-click a domain.

Step 5

Select Reload UCS Domain.

Reloads the UCS domain inventory.