Working with Cisco UCS Manager

This chapter includes the following sections:

Cisco UCS Domains and Cisco UCS Central

Cisco UCS Central provides centralized management capabilities to multiple Cisco UCS domains across one or more data centers. Cisco UCS Central works with Cisco UCS Manager to provide a scalable management solution for a growing Cisco UCS environment. Cisco UCS Central does not replace Cisco UCS Manager, which is the basic engine for managing a Cisco UCS domain. Instead, it builds on the capabilities provided by Cisco UCS Manager and works with Cisco UCS Manager to effect changes in individual domains.

Cisco UCS Central does not reduce or change any local management capabilities of Cisco UCS Manager, such as its API. This allows you to continue using Cisco UCS Manager the same way you did before Cisco UCS Central. This also allows all existing third party integrations to continue to operate without change.

Registering Cisco UCS Domains

To manage Cisco UCS Manager through Cisco UCS Central, you must register the Cisco UCS domains in Cisco UCS Central. You can register a Cisco UCS domain as a part of a domain group or as an ungrouped domain. When you have domain group, all registered domains in the domain group can share common policies and other configurations.

You can use a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or IP address to register Cisco UCS domains in Cisco UCS Central.


Note

During the initial registration process with Cisco UCS Central, all the active Cisco UCS Manager GUI sessions will be terminated.

Before registering a domain in Cisco UCS Central, do the following:

  • Configure an NTP server and the correct time zone in both Cisco UCS Manager and Cisco UCS Central to ensure that they are in sync. If the time and date in the Cisco UCS domain and Cisco UCS Central are out of sync, the registration might fail.

  • Obtain the hostname or IP address of Cisco UCS Central. You cannot use the same hostname for both Cisco UCS Central and Cisco UCS Manager. For standalone mode, use individual VM IP address. If you plan to setup in cluster mode, use virtual IP address.


    Note

    We recommend that you always register Cisco UCS domains using a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN).

  • Obtain the shared secret that you configured when you deployed Cisco UCS Central.


Note

  • If you register Cisco UCS domains using a domain name, Cisco UCS Manager can gracefully move to a different IP address.

    If you register a Cisco UCS domain in Cisco UCS Central using an IP address, you cannot change or swap the IP address used by Cisco UCS Manager. If you need to change or swap the IP address, you must contact Cisco TAC.

  • You can register or un-register a Cisco UCS domain using Cisco UCS Manager GUI or CLI.

  • If the registered Cisco UCS domains have a latency of greater than 300ms for a round trip from Cisco UCS Central, there might be some performance implications for the Cisco UCS domains.

  • When you unregister a Cisco UCS domain from Cisco UCS Central the global service profiles become local service profiles in Cisco UCS Manager.


Warning

You should upgrade the Cisco UCS Manager to Release 2.1(2) before registering with Cisco UCS Central. If you try to register Cisco UCS Manager, Release 2.1(1) with Cisco UCS Central Release 1.1, Cisco UCS Manager will display the registration as positive. But Cisco UCS Central inventory will not display the registered Cisco UCS Domain. Cisco UCS Central faults will display a critical fault on the registration failure.

Registering a Cisco UCS Domain Using Cisco UCS Manager GUI

Procedure
    Step 1   In Cisco UCS Manager Navigation pane, click Admin tab.
    Step 2   On the Admin tab, expand All > Communication Management.
    Step 3   Click the UCS Central node.
    Step 4   In the Actions area, click Register With UCS Central.
    Step 5   In the Register with UCS Central dialog box,
    1. Enter the host name or IP address in the Hostname/IP Address field.

      We recommend that you use a hostname rather than an IP address. To use a hostname, you must configure a DNS server. If the Cisco UCS domain is not registered with Cisco UCS Central, or DNS management is set to local, configure a DNS server in Cisco UCS Manager. If the Cisco UCS domain is registered with Cisco UCS Central and DNS management is set to global, configure a DNS server in Cisco UCS Central.

    2. Enter the shared secret or password in the Shared Secret field.
    Step 6   In the Policy Resolution Control area, click Global if you want the policy or configuration to be managed by Cisco UCS Central or click Local to manage the policy or configuration by Cisco UCS Manager.
    Step 7   Click OK.

    Registering a Cisco UCS Domain Using Cisco UCS Manager CLI

    Procedure
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1UCS-A# scope system  

      Enters system mode.

       
      Step 2UCS-A/system # create control-ep policy ucs-central  

      Creates the policy required to register the Cisco UCS Domain with Cisco UCS Central.

      ucs-central can be the hostname or IP address of the virtual machine where Cisco UCS Central is deployed.

      Note   

      We recommend that you use a hostname rather than an IP address. To use a hostname, you must configure a DNS server. If the Cisco UCS domain is not registered with Cisco UCS Central, or DNS management is set to local, configure a DNS server in Cisco UCS Manager. If the Cisco UCS domain is registered with Cisco UCS Central and DNS management is set to global, configure a DNS server in Cisco UCS Central.

       
      Step 3Shared Secret for Registration: shared-secret  

      Enter the shared secret (or password) that was configured when Cisco UCS Central was deployed.

       
      Step 4UCS-A/system/control-ep # commit-buffer  

      Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

       

      The following example registers a Cisco UCS Domain with a Cisco UCS Central system with a FQDN, and commits the transaction: 

      UCS-A# scope system
UCS-A /system # create control-ep policy UCSCentral.MyCompany.com
Shared Secret for Registration: S3cretW0rd!
UCS-A /system/control-ep* # commit-buffer
UCS-A /system/control-ep #

      Unregistering a Cisco UCS Domain Using Cisco UCS Manager GUI


      Caution

      If you want to unregister any registered Cisco UCS Domain in a production system, contact Cisco Technical Support.

      When you unregister a Cisco UCS Domain from Cisco UCS Central:

      • You can no longer manage the service profiles, policies and other configuration for the Cisco UCS Domain from Cisco UCS Central.

      • All global service profiles and policies become local and continues to operate as local entities. When you re-register the domain, the service profiles and polices still remain local.

      Procedure
        Step 1   In Cisco UCS Manager Navigation pane, click Admin tab.
        Step 2   On the Admin tab, expand All > Communication Management.
        Step 3   Click the UCS Central node.
        Step 4   In the Actions area, click Unregister With UCS Central.
        Step 5   If the Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.
        Step 6   Click OK.

        Unregistering a Cisco UCS Domain Using Cisco UCS Manager CLI


        Caution

        If you want to unregister any registered Cisco UCS Domain in a production system, contact Cisco Technical Support.

        When you unregister a Cisco UCS Domain from Cisco UCS Central:

        • You can no longer manage the service profiles, policies and other configuration for the Cisco UCS Domain from Cisco UCS Central.

        • All global service profiles and policies become local and continues to operate as local entities. When you re-register the domain, the service profiles and polices still remain local.

        Procedure
           Command or ActionPurpose
          Step 1UCS-A# scope system  

          Enters system mode.

           
          Step 2UCS-A/system # delete control-ep policy  

          Deletes the policy and unregisters the Cisco UCS Domain from Cisco UCS Central.

           
          Step 3UCS-A/system # commit-buffer  

          Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

           

          The following example unregisters a Cisco UCS Domain from Cisco UCS Central and commits the transaction: 

          UCS-A# scope system
UCS-A /system # delete control-ep policy
UCS-A /system* # commit-buffer
UCS-A /system #