Network Pools

MAC Pools

A MAC pool is a collection of network identities, or MAC addresses, that are unique in their layer 2 environment and are available to be assigned to vNICs on a server. MAC pools created in Cisco UCS Central can be shared between Cisco UCS domains. If you use MAC pools in service profiles, you do not have to manually configure the MAC addresses to be used by the server associated with the service profile.

In a system that implements multitenancy, you can use the organizational hierarchy to ensure that MAC pools can only be used by specific applications or business services. Cisco UCS Central uses the name resolution policy to assign MAC addresses from the pool.

To assign a MAC address to a server, you must include the MAC pool in a vNIC policy. The vNIC policy is then included in the service profile assigned to that server.

You can specify your own MAC addresses or use a group of MAC addresses provided by Cisco.

Creating a MAC Pool

Procedure
     Command or ActionPurpose
    Step 1UCSC# connect policy-mgr  

    Enters policy manager mode.

     
    Step 2UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name  

    Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name.

     
    Step 3UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create mac-pool pool-name  

    Creates a MAC pool with the specified name, and enters organization MAC pool mode.

     
    Step 4UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool # set descr description   (Optional)

    Provides a description for the MAC pool.

    Note   

    If your description includes spaces, special characters, or punctuation, you must begin and end your description with quotation marks. The quotation marks will not appear in the description field of any show command output.

     
    Step 5UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool # create block first-mac-addr last-mac-addr  

    Creates a block (range) of MAC addresses, and enters organization MAC pool block mode. You must specify the first and last MAC addresses in the address range using the form nn:nn:nn:nn:nn:nn, with the addresses separated by a space.

    Note   

    A MAC pool can contain more than one MAC address block. To create multiple MAC address blocks, you must enter multiple create block commands from organization MAC pool mode.

     
    Step 6UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool/block # commit-buffer  

    Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

    Note   

    If you plan to create another pool, wait at least 5 seconds.

     
    The following example shows how to:

    • Create a MAC pool named GPool1

    • Provide a description for the pool

    • Specify a block of suffixes to be used for the pool 

    UCSC# connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org /
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create mac-pool GPool1
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool* # set descr "This is MAC pool GPool1"
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool* # create block 00:A0:D7:42:00:01 00:A0:D7:42:01:00
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool/block* # commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/mac-pool/block #
    What to Do Next

    Include the MAC pool in a vNIC template.

    Deleting a MAC Pool

    If you delete a pool, does not reallocate any addresses from that pool that were assigned to vNICs or vHBAs. All assigned addresses from a deleted pool remain with the vNIC or vHBA to which they are assigned until one of the following occurs:

    • The associated service profiles are deleted.

    • The vNIC or vHBA to which the address is assigned is deleted.

    • The vNIC or vHBA is assigned to a different pool.

    Procedure
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1UCSC# connect policy-mgr  

      Enters policy manager mode.

       
      Step 2UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name  

      Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name.

       
      Step 3UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete mac-pool pool-name  

      Deletes the specified MAC pool.

       
      Step 4UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/ # commit-buffer  

      Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

      Note   

      If you plan to delete another pool, wait at least 5 seconds.

       

      The following example shows how to delete the MAC pool named GPool1: 

      UCSC# connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org /
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete mac-pool GPool1
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #