Managing Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility Reports

Hardware Compatibility Reports

Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility Report allows you to check interoperability information for Cisco UCS components and configurations that have been tested and verified by Cisco, Cisco partners, or both. You can run reports and check the status against your current software version or a target software version. The hardware compatibility report checks the compatibility of the operating systems on servers, and then checks the adapter drivers associated with that operating system.

Cisco UCS Director integrates with the Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility Report tool to provide information on whether the server, firmware and related components (Storage, Network Adapters, VIC adapters) are supported for a given server model, OS Vendor, Version and processor combination.

Important:

Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility Report tool is available only for Cisco C-Series/S-Series servers.

An independent version of this tool is available at https:/​/​ucshcltool.cloudapps.cisco.com/​public. Cisco UCS Director leverages the REST APIs exposed by this tool to obtain the compatibility report.

To use the Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility Report tool, you must ensure the following:

Configuring You Cisco User Account

Complete this procedure to configure your Cisco-provided credentials in the system. If you configure these details, you can use the hardware compatibility report tool in Cisco UCS Director.

Procedure
    Step 1   Choose Administration > System.
    Step 2   On the Sytems page, choose Cisco.com User Configuration.
    Step 3   Complete the required fields, including the following:

    Field

    Description

    Username field

    Your Cisco login user name.

    Password field

    Your Cisco login password.
    Step 4   Click Save.

    Tagging OS Vendor and OS Version

    To be able to use the hardware compatibility report tool in Cisco UCS Director, you must tag the rack servers with an operating system vendor name and operation system version.

    You can select the servers at the system, rack groups or at a rack server level and tag them by performing the following procedure.

    Procedure
      Step 1   Choose Physical > Compute.
      Step 2   On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.
      Step 3   Choose a rack server from the list.
      Step 4   From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Manage OS Tag for HCR.
      Note   

      This option is not available for E-series servers.

      Step 5   In the Manage OS Tag for Hardware Compatibility Report page, complete the required fields, including the following:

      Field

      Description

      Operating System drop-down list

      Choose an operating system from the list.

      Operating System Version drop-down list

      Choose an operating system version from the list.
      Note   

      If the operating systems and the related versions are not listed in the drop-down lists, then verify that the DNS is properly configured and the url https:/​/​ucshcltool.cloudapps.cisco.com/​ is reachable from the Cisco UCS Director appliance. Also, manually run the Synchronize Hardware Compatibility Reports system task available from the Administration > System > System Task screen.

      Step 6   Click Submit.
      What to Do Next

      When you no longer need this tag, you can select the rack server, and choose Delete OS Tag for HCR from the More Actions drop-down list.

      Creating Hardware Compatibility Reports

      Before You Begin

      Procedure
        Step 1   Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.
        Step 2   On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Compatibility Report.
        Step 3   Click Add.
        Step 4   In the Create Hardware Compatibility Report page, complete the required fields, including the following:

        Field

        Description

        Profile Name field

        Enter a name for the hardware compatibility report profile.

        Servers list

        Expand the list to check the checkboxes of servers that you want to retrieve configurations for.
        Step 5   Click Validate.
        Step 6   Click Submit.

        The Hardware Compatibility Report page lists the profiles that you have created. You can choose a profile from this list, and click View Status Details. You can also view the reports by selecting a rack group or rack server and choosing Hardware Compatibility Reports.

        What to Do Next

        You can select the report you have created and Delete, Edit, Synchronize HCL Report and or View Status Details. The report determines if the server is supported and if it is compliant. Compliance can be in any of the following states:

        • Fully Compliant—If the server OS Vendor, version or processor and its related components are fully supported.

        • Partially Compliant—If a few of the components are found to be unsupported.

        • Not Compliant—If there is a compliance error or if the given combination of server or related components are invalid.

        • Error or Cannot Determine—If the given server is not tagged or if there is an error while trying to retrieve the response from the backend.

        Synchronizing Hardware Compatibility Reports

        The Synchronize Hardware Compatibility Reports system task runs every week to synchronize the Hardware Compatibility Reports with the backend periodically. Perform this procedure to synchronize the reports manually.

        Before You Begin

        Procedure
          Step 1   Choose Administration > System.
          Step 2   On the System page, click System Tasks.
          Step 3   Expand Rack Server Tasks.and choose Synchronize Hardware Compatibility Reports.
          Step 4   Click Run Now.
          Step 5   Click Submit.