Cisco UCS Servers

Server Management

With global policies, global server pools and firmware management in Cisco UCS Central, you can manage general and complex server deployments for the following servers in your registered UCS domains:

  • Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Servers

  • Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Servers

  • Cisco UCS Mini

Unified KVM Launcher

The Unified KVM Launcher page allows you to connect to any server in the Cisco UCS domain, whether or not they are associated with a service profile.

You can create users with the KVM privilege, or use the new KVM role that only has the KVM privilege. When users that only have the KVM privilege log into the Cisco UCS Central HTML5 UI, they will only be able to view the unified KVM launcher page.

Using the Unified KVM Launcher

Procedure
    Step 1   On the menu bar, click the System Tools icon and choose Unified KVM Launcher.
    Step 2   On the Unified KVM Launcher page, select the server to which you want to connect.

    Use the checkboxes in the Filters area to narrow down the selections.

    Step 3   Click Launch KVM.

    Equipment Policies

    Equipment policies allow you to tune your servers and other equipment to suit your requirements. Equipment policies can only be set at the domain group level, and apply to all servers in that domain group.


    Note

    Equipment policies are not included in service profiles.

    Managing Equipment Policies

    Procedure
      Step 1   Click the Domain Group Navigation icon and choose a domain group.
      Step 2   Click the Configuration icon and choose System Policies.
      Step 3   In Equipment, click Basic and complete the following fields:
      1. In Rack Management Action, select how server management is configured when a new rack server is discovered:

        • Auto Acknowledged—Cisco UCS automatically configures server management by domain based on the available server connections.

        • User Acknowledged—Cisco UCS does not automatically configure server management. It waits until acknowledged by the user.

      2. In MAC Address Table Aging Time, select the length of time an idle MAC address remains in the MAC address table before it is removed:

        • Mode Default—System uses the default value. For end-host mode, the default is 14,500 seconds. For switching mode, the default is 300 seconds.

        • Never—Cisco UCS never removes MAC addresses from the table.

        • Other—Enter a custom value in the dd:hh:mm:ss field.

      3. In VLAN Port Count Optimization, select whether Cisco UCS can logically group VLANs to optimize the use of ports and reduce the CPU load on the FI.
      4. In Firmware Auto Server Sync State, select the firmware synchronization policy for recently discovered blade servers or rack servers:

        • User Acknowledged—Cisco UCS does not synchronize firmware until the administrator acknowledges the upgrade.

        • No Actions—Cisco UCS does not perform any firmware upgrade on the server.

      5. In Info Action, select whether the information policy displays the uplink switches that are connected to the Cisco UCS domain.
      Step 4   Click Discovery and complete the fields to specify how you want the system to behave when you add a new chassis or FEX:
      1. In Chassis/FEX Link Action, select the minimum threshold for the number of links between the chassis or FEX and the fabric interconnect.
      2. In Chassis/FEX Link Grouping Preference, select whether the links from the system IO controllers, IOMs, or FEXes to the fabric interconnects are grouped in a port channel.
      3. In the Multicast Hardware Hash, click Enable to specify if Cisco UCS can use all of the links from the IOMs or FEXes to the fabric interconnects for multicast traffic.
      4. In the Backplane Speed Preference, choose the speed that you want to use.
      Step 5   Click Power and complete the following fields:
      1. In Power Redundancy, select the power redundancy policy that you want to use:

        • N+1—The total number of power supplies, plus one additional power supply for redundancy, equally share the power load for the chassis. If any additional power supplies are installed, Cisco UCS sets them to a "turned-off" state.

        • Grid—Two power sources are turned on, or the chassis requires greater than N+1 redundancy. If one source fails, the surviving power supplies continue to provide power to the chassis.

        • Non-Redundant—All installed power supplies are turned on and the load is evenly balanced. Only power small configurations (requiring less than 2500W) by a single power supply.

      2. In Power Allocation, select the power allocation management mode used in the Cisco UCS domain:

        • Policy Driven Chassis Group Cap—Configures power allocation at the chassis level through power control policies included in the associated service profiles.

        • Manual Blade Level Cap—Configures power allocation on each individual blade server in all chassis.

      3. In ID Soaking Interval, specify the number of seconds Cisco UCS Central waits before reassigning a pool entity that Cisco UCS released. Enter an integer between 0 and 86400.
      Step 6   Click Save.

      Managing Rack Discovery Policies

      Procedure
        Step 1   Click the Domain Group Navigation icon and choose a domain group.
        Step 2   Click the Configuration icon and choose System Policies.
        Step 3   In Rack Discovery, click Enabled.
        Step 4   In Basic, for Discovery Policy Action, select how you want the system to behave when you add a new rack server.

        • Immediate—Cisco UCS domain attempts to discover new servers automatically.

        • User Acknowledged—Cisco UCS domain waits until the user tells it to search for new servers.

        Step 5   Click Policies and select the scrub policy that you want to run on a newly discovered server.

        The server must meet the criteria in the selected server pool policy qualification.

        Step 6   Click Save.

        Power Control Policy

        You can create a power control policy in Cisco UCS Central and include it in the service profile to enable the system to manage the power allocation control for the blade servers in the registered Cisco UCS domains.

        Cisco UCS uses the priority set in the power control policy, along with the blade type and configuration, to calculate the initial power allocation for each blade within a chassis.

        During normal operation, the active blades within a chassis can borrow power from idle blades within the same chassis. If all blades are active and reach the power cap, service profiles with higher priority power control policies take precedence over service profiles with lower priority power control policies. Priority is ranked on a scale of 1-10, where 1 indicates the highest priority and 10 indicates lowest priority. The default priority is 5.

        For mission-critical application a special priority called no-cap is also available. Setting the priority to no-cap prevents Cisco UCS from leveraging unused power from a particular server. With this setting, the server is allocated the maximum amount of power possible for that type of server.

        Creating or Editing a Power Control Policy

        Procedure
          Step 1   In the Actions bar, type Create Power Control Policy and press Enter.
          Step 2   In the Power ControlPolicy dialog box, choose the Organization in which you want to create the policy.
          Step 3   Enter the Name and optional Description.

          The name is case sensitive.

          Step 4   Choose the Fan Speed.

          This can be one of the following:

          • Low Power—The fan runs at the minimum speed required to keep the server cool.

          • Balanced—The fan runs faster when needed based on the heat generated by the server. When possible, the fan returns to the minium required speed.

          • Performance—The fan is kept at the speed needed for better server performance. This draws more power but means the fan is already at speed if the server begins to heat up.

          • High Power—The fan is kept at an even higher speed that emphasizes performance over power consumption.

          • Max Power—The fan is kept at the maximum speed at all times. This option provides the most cooling and uses the most power.

          • Any—The server determines the optimal fan speed.

          Step 5   Choose whether to enable Power Capping.
          Step 6   If Enabled, choose the Power Group Priority.

          Priority is ranked on a scale of 1-10, where 1 indicates the highest priority and 10 indicates lowest priority. The default priority is 5.

          Step 7   Click Create.

          Physical and Logical Inventory

          Cisco UCS Central allows you to view all fabric interconnects, servers, chassis, and FEXes located in your Cisco UCS domains. You can also view individual components for each type of hardware, such as cartridges, fans, CPUs, IOMs, and ports.

          You can also view the logical inventory details such as the server pools and ID pools in the registered UCS domains.

          Fabric Interconnect

          The Fabric Interconnect (FI) page displays the following information related to FIs associated with the registered Cisco UCS domain:

          FI

          Hardware

          FW

          Status

          This column displays the following information for a fabric interconnect:

          • The associated domain name and FI ID

          • Domain group location

          • IP address of the domain

          This column displays the following hardware information for a fabric interconnect:

          • The model number and type of FI

          • Serial number

          • The number of fixed and expansion module ports

          • The number of ethernet and fabric channel ports

          This column displays the following firmware details for a fabric interconnect:

          • Firmware version

          • Firmware status

          This column displays the following status for a fabric interconnect:

          • Overall status

          • Worst fault level

          • Locator LED status

          Fabric Interconnect Main View

          The Fabric Interconnect Main View page displays the following information related to the selected Fabric Interconnect (FI) and its components within a registered Cisco UCS domain.

          • Basic—Displays an overview of the FI within the domain, hardware details, firmware version, number of ports (Ethernet or FC) that are in use and available for use, management IP, and fault summary details.

          • Fixed Mod.—Displays overall status, firmware, hardware, properties, and fault summary details of the fixed modules installed in the FI .

          • Exp. Mod.—Displays overall status, firmware, hardware, properties, and fault summary details of the expansion modules installed in the FI.

          • Fans—Displays overall status, and hardware details of the fan.

          • PSUs—Displays overall status, fault summary, and hardware details of the PSU.

          • Ports—Displays ports, port role, and port status for all ports in the FI.

          • Port Channels—Displays all port channels in the FI and detailed information about each port channel.

          • Traffic Monitoring—Displays traffic monitoring sessions for the Ethernet or FC ports.

          You can also perform the following tasks:

          • Turn on or off the Locator LED.

          • View configuration status.

          • Set the switching mode.

          • Create port channels.

          • Manage unified port configuration.

          • Launch Cisco UCS Manager for the specific Cisco UCS domain.


            Note

            • Your browser must have pop-ups enabled.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(2) or later, this launches the HTML5 GUI. If the Cisco UCS Manager credentials match the credentials for your Cisco UCS Central login, then the system will automatically log in to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI without prompting for the login information.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(1) or previous, this launches the Java-based GUI.

          Server Details

          The Server page displays the following information related to the servers associated with the registered Cisco UCS domain:

          Servers

          Hardware

          Configuration

          Status

          This column displays the following information for a server:

          • The associated domain name, chassis ID, and slot ID

          • Domain group location

          • Management IP address

          This column displays the following hardware information for a server:

          • Blade server model

          • The number of cores the CPU has and the total RAM on the motherboard

          • The serial number

          • The number of CPUs and the speed

          This column displays the following configuration for a server:

          • Service profile name

          • Service profile organization location

          • Firmware version

          • Firmware status

          This column displays the following status for a server:

          • Overall status

          • Worst fault level

          • Power status

          • Decommissioned server.

            You can recommission a decommissioned server.

          Servers Details Page

          You can view the following information on the selected server and its components, and also perform various tasks:


          Note

          Depending on the server type, the options may vary.

          • Basic—Displays associated service profile, fault summary, hardware, and firmware details of the selected server.

          • Motherboard—Displays the overall status and the hardware details of the motherboard.

          • CPUs—Displays a list of all the CPUs in the server. Select a processor to view overall status and hardware and other details of the selected processor.

          • GPUs—Displays a list of all graphics cards in the server. Select a graphics card to view the overall status and additional details.

          • Security—Displays a list of all hardware security modules in the server, such as the Cisco Mezzanine Crypto Card.

          • Memory—Displays a list of available memory in the selected server. Select a memory card to view the current overall status and other details.

          • Adapters—Displays details of the adapter in the selected server. Select an adapter to view overall status, power status, and other product details.

          • Controllers—Displays the list of storage controllers, such as SAS or FlexFlash. Select a controller to view operability and other product details.

          • Storage Enclosures—Displays a list of the storage enclosures in the selected server. You can view details on the enclosure or the individual slots.

          • Storage—Displays list of the storage in the selected server. Select a disk to view the current overall status, hardware, and controller details.

          • LUNs—Displays a list of the virtual drives created on the server. Select a virtual drive to view the status, configuration status, and other details. You can also perform virtual-drive related tasks.

          You can also perform the following server-related tasks:

          • Launch Cisco UCS Manager for the specific Cisco UCS domain.


            Note

            • Your browser must have pop-ups enabled.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(2) or later, this launches the HTML5 GUI. If the Cisco UCS Manager credentials match the credentials for your Cisco UCS Central login, then the system will automatically log in to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI without prompting for the login information.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(1) or previous, this launches the Java-based GUI.

          • Launch the KVM Console.

          • Reset, recover, reacknowledge, or decommission a server.

          • Toggle the locator LED.

          Chassis Inventory

          The Chassis page displays the following information related to the chassis associated with the registered Cisco UCS domain:

          Chassis

          Hardware

          Configuration

          Status

          This column displays the following information for a chassis:

          • The associated domain name and chassis ID

          • Domain group location

          • Fabric side

          This column displays the following hardware information for a chassis:

          • Model number of the chassis

          • Serial number of the chassis

          • Number of blades

          This column displays the following configuration for a Chassis:

          • Configuration status

          • Configuration error count

          This column displays the following status for a Chassis:

          • Overall status

          • Worst fault level

          • Power status

          • Thermal status

          • Decommissioned chassis.

            You can recommission the chassis by specifying a valid chassis ID.

          Chassis Main View

          The Chassis Main View page allows you to manage and monitor all chassis in a Cisco UCS domain through Cisco UCS Central GUI.

          You can view the following information on the selected chassis and its components within a registered Cisco UCS domain:

          • Basic—Displays the overall status and, overview of all the components within the selected chassis, fault summary, configuration errors and hardware details.

          • IOM Left—Displays overall status, hardware details and fault summary of the left IOM module.

          • IOM Right—Displays overall status, hardware details and fault summary details of the right IOM module.

          • Servers—Displays overall status, hardware, and firmware details of the server associated with this chassis. If you select a server, the page redirects to the server detail view page.

          • Fans—Displays a list of fans in the chassis. Select a fan to view information related to its module, overall status and hardware details.

          • PSUs— Displays a list of all the PSUs in the chassis. Select a PSU to view information related to its fault summary, overall status, and other property details.

          You can also perform the following tasks:

          • Acknowledge and decommission a chassis.

          • Turn on or turn off the Locator LED for a chassis.

          • Launch Cisco UCS Manager for the specific Cisco UCS domain.


            Note

            • Your browser must have pop-ups enabled.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(2) or later, this launches the HTML5 GUI. If the Cisco UCS Manager credentials match the credentials for your Cisco UCS Central login, then the system will automatically log in to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI without prompting for the login information.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(1) or previous, this launches the Java-based GUI.

          Storage Chassis View

          The Storage Chassis page allows you to manage and monitor all Cisco UCS C3260 Storage Servers in a Cisco UCS domain.

          You can view the following information on the selected chassis and its components:

          • Basic—Displays the overall status and an overview of all the components within the selected chassis, fault summary, configuration errors and hardware details.

          • System IO Controllers—Displays overall status and detailed information about the shared adapter.

          • Servers—Displays overall status, hardware, and firmware details of the server associated with this chassis. If you select a server, the page redirects to the server detail view page.

          • SAS Expanders—Displays the overall status, configuration, and hardware for each SAS expander associated with this chassis.

          • Storage Enclosures—Displays the overall status and configuration of the storage enclosures associated with this chassis by enclosure or by slot.

          • Storage—Displays list of the storage in the selected server. Select a disk to view the current overall status, hardware, and controller details.

          • Fans—Displays a list of fans in the chassis. Select a fan to view information related to its module, overall status and hardware details.

          • PSUs—Displays a list of all the PSUs in the chassis. Select a PSU to view information related to its fault summary, overall status, and other property details.

          You can also perform the following tasks:

          • Acknowledge and decommission a chassis.

          • Turn on or turn off the Locator LED for a chassis.

          • Modify the discovery policy for the selected chassis.

          • Launch Cisco UCS Manager for the specific Cisco UCS domain.


            Note

            • Your browser must have pop-ups enabled.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(2) or later, this launches the HTML5 GUI. If the Cisco UCS Manager credentials match the credentials for your Cisco UCS Central login, then the system will automatically log in to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI without prompting for the login information.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(1) or previous, this launches the Java-based GUI.

          FEX

          The All FEX page displays the following information for each FEX associated with a registered Cisco UCS domains:

          FEX

          Hardware

          Configuration

          Status

          This column displays the following information for a FEX:

          • The associated domain name and FEX ID

          • Domain group location

          • Fabric Side

          This column displays the following hardware information for a FEX:

          • Model number

          • Serial number

          • Number of ports available

          This column displays the following configuration for a FEX:

          • Configuration status

          • Configuration error count

          This column displays the following status for a FEX:

          • Overall status

          • Worst fault level

          • Power status

          • Thermal status

          • Decommissioned FEX.

            You can recommission the FEX by specifying a valid FEX ID.

          FEX Main View

          You can view the following information related to the FEX and its components within a registered Cisco UCS domain:

          • Basic—Displays fault summary, overall status and hardware details of the FEX within UCS domain.

          • IOM—Displays fault summary, overall status, and properties of the IOM.

          • Servers—Displays number of rack servers connected to the FEX. Select a server to view more information on overall status, firmware and hardware details of the server.

          • Fans—Displays a list of fans in the FEX. Select a fan to view more information related to the module number, overall status and hardware details.

          • PSUs— Displays a list of all the PSUs in the FEX. Select a PSU to view details on fault summary, status, properties, and status of power supply units.

          You can also perform the following tasks:

          • Acknowledge, decommission, and recommission a FEX.

          • Turn on or turn off Locator LED for FEXes.

          • Launch Cisco UCS Manager for the specific Cisco UCS domain.


            Note

            • Your browser must have pop-ups enabled.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(2) or later, this launches the HTML5 GUI. If the Cisco UCS Manager credentials match the credentials for your Cisco UCS Central login, then the system will automatically log in to the Cisco UCS Manager GUI without prompting for the login information.

            • For Cisco UCS Manager release 3.1(1) or previous, this launches the Java-based GUI.

          Domains Table View

          The Domains Table View page displays the following information related to the domains registered with Cisco UCS Central:

          Domain

          Hardware

          Configuration

          Status

          This column displays the following information for a registered domain:

          • The associated domain name and site

          • Domain group location

          • Management IP address

          • Owner

          This column displays the following hardware information for a registered domain:

          • Fabric interconnect model number and cluster state (HA or Standalone)

          • Number of chassis and FEX

          • Number of blade and rack servers

          • Number of blade servers available for storage

          This column displays the following configuration for a registered domain:

          • Platform family

          • Firmware version

          • Firmware status

          This column displays the following status for a registered domain:

          • Overall status

          • Worst fault level

          • Trial expiry or status

          Domain Group Details

          From the Domain Group page, you can view information about the entities associated with a domain group. This includes the following:

          • Backup

          • Settings

          • Inventory

          • Domain IDs

          • Policies

          • VLANs

          • VSANs

          If you click the Settings icon, you can perform the following tasks:

          • Create a system profile or system policy.

          • Manage users, authentication, SNMP, and Call Home settings.

          • Edit the domain group, and delete any user-created domain group.


            Note

            The domain group root cannot be deleted.

          Domains Main View

          The Cisco UCS Domain page displays the following information related to a selected Cisco UCS domain:

          • Basic—Displays information related to the overall status, firmware, resources available, fault summary and management details of the selected Cisco UCS domain.

            Also, you can suspend and acknowledge a UCS Central subscription, and re-evaluate the membership of the domain.

          • FI—Displays the number of Fabric Interconnects (FI) associated with a domain, overall status, hardware, and firmware details of the FI.

            If you want to view more information on the status of the components in the FI, click on an FI from the list.

          • Chassis—Displays the number of chassis associated with a domain, overall status, hardware, and configuration details of the chassis. For more information on the status of the components in the chassis, click on a chassis from the list.

          • FEX—Displays the number of FEX associated with a domain, overall status, hardware, and configuration details of the FEX. For more information on the status of the components in the FEX, click on an FEX from the list.

          • Servers—Displays the number of servers in a domain and the number of available servers. For more information on overall status, hardware, and configuration details of the server, click Go to Servers Table.

          • Pin Groups—Displays the list of all pin groups in a domain and the details of each pin group.

          On the Cisco UCS Domain page, you can do the following:

          • Launch Cisco UCS Manager GUI for the selected Cisco UCS domain.

          • Suspend UCS Central subscription when the overall status of a domain is OK.

          • Activate UCS Central subscription when the overall status of a domain is suspended.

          • Re-evaluate membership

          • Create a LAN or SAN pin group.

          ID Universe

          The ID Universe displays the collections of identities, or physical or logical resources, that are available in the system. All pools increase the flexibility of service profiles and allow you to centrally manage your system resources. Pools that are defined in Cisco UCS Central are called Global Pools and can be shared between Cisco UCS domains. Global Pools allow centralized ID management across Cisco UCS domains that are registered with Cisco UCS Central. By allocating ID pools from Cisco UCS Central to Cisco UCS Manager, you can track how and where the IDs are used, prevent conflicts, and be notified if a conflict occurs. Pools that are defined locally in Cisco UCS Manager are called Domain Pools.


          Note

          The same ID can exist in different pools, but can be assigned only once. Two blocks in the same pool cannot have the same ID.

          You can pool identifying information, such as MAC addresses, to preassign ranges for servers that host specific applications. For example, you can configure all database servers across Cisco UCS domains within the same range of MAC addresses, UUIDs, and WWNs.

          From the ID Universe page, you can view the total number IDs for each type of pool, and how many of the total are Available, In Use, or have a Conflict. If you click on a Resource, you can view detailed information about that ID and where it is used.

          All Pools

          Display a complete list of ID pools in the system. You can use filter to sort by Utilization Status, Org or ID Type to view availability and usage.

          Exporting Inventory Lists

          You can export data to CSV, XLS, and PDF formats from table views in Cisco UCS Central.

          Procedure
            Step 1   Click the Browse Tables icon and choose an inventory view, for example Domains, Servers, or Templates.
            Note   

            This does not apply to ID Universe.

            Step 2   In an inventory view, click the icon that corresponds to your selected export format.

            If there are more than 500 rows to be exported, you are given the opportunity to filter your results before downloading.

            Viewing Configuration Status

            Procedure
              Step 1   Click the Browse Tables icon and choose a hardware option such as: Servers, Chassis, Fabric Interconnects, or FEX.
              Step 2   Click on an object to select it.
              Step 3   On the detail view page, click the Tools icon and select Configuration Status.

              The Configuration Status page displays.

              Step 4   Click Close to close the window.

              Inventory Faults

              You can view faults from each individual inventory page. Click the Browse Tables icon and choose a physical inventory type. Click your selection to open the inventory page, and then click the Faults icon to view the following information:

              • Filters—Filter the data in the table by severity, fault type, and timestamp.

              • Code—Unique identifier associated with the fault.

              • Timestamp—Day and time at which the fault occurred.

              • Cause—Brief description of what caused the fault.

              • Affected Object—The name and location of the component that this issue affects, and the domain name where it is found.

              • Fault Details—More information about the log message.

              • Severity—Displays an icon denoting the fault severity. The icon key displays below the table.

              • Action—Whether user acknowledgment is required.

              Toggling Locator LEDs

              You can toggle the locator LEDs on and off for servers, chassis, fabric interconnects, and FEXes.

              Procedure
                Step 1   Click the Browse Tables icon and choose a hardware option such as: Servers, Chassis, Fabric Interconnects, or FEX.
                Step 2   Click on an object to select it.
                Step 3   On the detail view page, click the Tools icon and select Toggle Locator LED.

                The Locator LED status is located at the top of the Basic tab.

                Dynamic Searches

                Cisco UCS Central enables you to save a dynamic search query that includes filters such as name, label, tag, ID, and PID. Unless you delete a query, it is retained when background processes are restarted or when the system is rebooted. Your search results are dynamically updated with current data when you select and execute a saved query.

                Saving Dynamic Search Queries

                Procedure
                  Step 1   Click the Browse Tables icon and choose a view such as Domains, Policies, Schedules from the navigation menu.
                  Step 2   In the Filters panel, select parameters for your search such as Fault level status or Platform name. When you make selections, a save icon appears at the right of Filters.
                  Step 3   Click the save icon and enter a context-sensitive name for the search query you want to create.
                  Step 4   Click Save this filter. The query you created is listed under Saved Searches in the Filters panel.

                  Executing a Saved Search Query

                  Procedure
                    Step 1   In the Filters panel under Saved Searches, select a query that you previously saved.
                    Step 2   Verify that the filters you selected when you created the query are checked.

                    The search results are dynamically updated.

                    Deleting a Saved Search Query

                    Procedure
                      Step 1   In the Filters panel under Saved Searches, select a query that you previously saved.
                      Step 2   Click the trash can icon at the right of the query name.

                      The search query immediately disappears.