Chapter 1. New and Changed Information for this Release

This chapter contains the following section:

- New and Changed Information for this Release

New and Changed Information for this Release

The following table provides an overview of the significant changes to this guide for this current release. The table does not provide an exhaustive list of all changes made to this guide or of all new features in this release.

Feature

Description

Where Documented

Host Image Mapping Enhancements

Host Image Mapping is a commonly used feature for the E-Series servers which allows you to download a firmware file to Cisco IMC, and upgrade the firmware.

In this release, you can create a host mapping profile to download and upgrade either one of the following:

- ISO firmware image

- CIMC image or

- BIOS image

Host Image Mapping

Adding a Network Host Image Mapping Profile

Creating an Upload Profile for Host Image Mapping

Creating a Cisco.com Profile for Host Image Mapping

Applying a Host Image Profile

Introduction of the Power Restore policy for E-series servers.

This release introduces a Power Restore policy that allows you to change the value set for the power restore policy on an E-series server without logging into the Cisco IMC of that server.

Power Restore Policy

Support for configuring a timeout for host system to shut down before a firmware upgrade process is initiated.

While uploading a firmware image from a local server, or while uploading a firmware image from a network server, you can now specify a timeout period, in minutes, within which the host system must gracefully shut down.

You can also enable the host system to forcibly shutdown before the firmware upgrade process is initiated.

Adding Images to a Local Cisco UCS Director System

Adding Images from a Network Server

Chapter 2. Overview

- About Standalone Rack-Mount Server Management Through Cisco UCS Director

- Cisco IMC Tasks You Can Perform in Cisco UCS Director

- Cisco IMC Tasks You Cannot Perform in Cisco UCS Director

About Standalone Rack-Mount Server Management Through Cisco UCS Director

Cisco UCS Director is not a replacement for the management of rack servers (Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Servers and Cisco UCS E-series servers) through Cisco Integrated Management Controller (Cisco IMC). Rather, Cisco UCS Director enables you to orchestrate and automate some of the steps required to configure and maintain a rack-mount server. In this way, Cisco UCS Director provides a statistical analysis of data and a converged view of each pod.

You must add these rack servers as a Rack account to Cisco UCS Director, after which Cisco UCS Director provides you with complete visibility into the rack server configuration. In addition, you can use Cisco UCS Director to manage and configure the rack-mount server.

Important

Support for rack server management through the legacy Cisco Rack Server (CIMC) accounts is not available from release version 5.4 onwards. After you upgrade to Cisco UCS Director Release 5.4, the connection status of account type Cisco Rack Server (CIMC) from the Physical Accounts tab is displayed as Failed. You must create new accounts from the Rack Accounts tab for the CIMC servers, and manually delete the accounts displayed from the Physical Accounts tab.

You can only manage rack servers that are running Cisco Integrated Management Controller (Cisco IMC) version 1.5 and higher on C-series servers, and version 2.3.1 and higher on E-series servers. For information on how to add and manage rack servers in Cisco UCS Director, see Adding a Rack Group and Discovering and Importing Rack Servers.

Cisco IMC Tasks You Can Perform in Cisco UCS Director

You can use Cisco UCS Director to perform Cisco IMC management, monitoring, and reporting tasks for physical and virtual devices on a rack-mount server.

Configuration and Administration

You can create, configure, and administer the following hardware and software components for standalone rack-mount servers in Cisco UCS Director:

- Rack server profiles

- Network and storage adapters

You can also perform firmware upgrades of these components.

Monitoring and Reporting

You can also use Cisco UCS Director to monitor and report on standalone rack-mount servers and their components including:

- Power consumption

- Temperature

- Rack server profile association

Cisco IMC Tasks You Cannot Perform in Cisco UCS Director

You cannot use Cisco UCS Director to perform certain Cisco IMC system management tasks on a rack-mount server, such as the following:

- Virtual machine management

Some server management tasks that you cannot perform in Cisco UCS Director can be automated through orchestration workflows, such as associating a VIC policy, RAID policy or a boot policy.

Chapter 3. Configuring Rack Accounts and Rack Groups

This chapter contains the following topics:

- Adding a Rack Group

- Adding a Rack Account

- Testing the Connection to a Rack Account

- Assigning Rack Groups to a Pod

- Running a Rack Account Inventory Process

Adding a Rack Group

Perform this procedure when you want to add a new rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Groups.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Rack Group screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Group Name field

A descriptive name for the rack group.

Description field

(Optional) A description of the rack group.

Step 5

Click Create.

What to do next

Add one or more rack accounts to this rack group.

Adding a Rack Account

Perform this procedure when you want to add a new rack mount server to an existing rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

On the menu bar, choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

Click the Rack Accounts tab.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Create Account dialog box, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Account Name field

A descriptive name for the rack account.

Server IP field

IP address of the rack mount server.

Description field

(Optional) A description of the rack group.

Use Credential Policy check box

Note

If you have logged in Cisco UCS Director for the first time, then do not check this checkbox.

If you have already created credential policies, then check this check box to select a policy from the drop-down list.

Credential Policy drop-down list

Choose a policy from the drop-down list.

This field is visible when you check the Use Credential Policy check box.

User Name field

Log in ID for the rack mount server.

Password field

Password for the log in ID for the rack mount server.

Protocol drop-down list

Choose HTTPS or HTTP from the list.

Port field

The port number associated with the selected protocol.

Rack Group drop-down list

Choose a rack group within which you want this rack account created.

Contact field

(Optional) The contact email address for the account.

Location field

(Optional) The location of the account.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Testing the Connection to a Rack Account

You can test the connection at any time after you add an account.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Accounts.

Step 3

In the table, select the row of the account for which you want to test the connection.

Step 4

Click Test Connection.

Step 5

In the Test Connection screen, click Submit.

The Physical Accounts page will display the results of the test in the Connection Status and Connection Message columns.

What to do next

If the connection fails, verify the configuration of the account, including the username and password. If the username and password are correct, determine whether there is a network connectivity problem.

Assigning Rack Groups to a Pod

You can assign a rack group to a pod for easy management.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Groups.

Step 3

In the table, select the row of the account for which you want to assign to a pod.

Step 4

Click Assign Pod.

Step 5

In the Assign Pod screen, choose a pod from the drop-down list.

Step 6

Click Submit.

What to do next

You can manage the rack group through the pod.

Running a Rack Account Inventory Process

When the rack account is added to a rack group, the inventory process is automatically initiated. If you want to review the changes in configuration that occurred in the rack account at a later point in time, you can use the Inventory option.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Accounts.

Step 3

In the table, click the row of the account for which you want to run the inventory.

Step 4

Click Inventory.

Step 5

In the Collect Inventory for Account(s) screen, complete the required field, including the following:

Name

Description

Choose drop-down list

Choose if you want to run an inventory process on a rack group or a rack account.

Rack Group list

Expand the list to check the check boxes of the rack groups that you want to run an inventory collection process for.

Note

This field is visible only when you select Rack Group in the drop-down list.

Rack Account list

Expand the list to check the check boxes of the rack accounts that you want to run an inventory collection process for.

Note

This field is visible only when you select Rack Account in the drop-down list.

Step 6

Click Submit.

The Physical Accounts page will display the results of the inventory collection in the Last Inventory Updated and Inventory Message columns.

Chapter 4. Managing Rack Server Discovery

This chapter discusses the following topics:

- Discovering and Importing Rack Servers

- Configuring a Rack Discovery Profile

- Performing Auto Discovery

- Importing One or More Rack Servers

- Setting Properties for Discovered Devices

- Clearing Auto Discovery List

- Deleting Auto Discovery Profile

Discovering and Importing Rack Servers

To discover rack servers in Cisco UCS Director, you can specify configuration criteria and save it as a rack server discovery profile. Using this profile, you can discover multiple rack servers simultaneously and import them into Cisco UCS Director.

With a discovery profile, you can choose to discover rack servers with one of the following options:

- IP address range—Discovers all rack servers with IP addresses within the specified range.

- Subnet range—Discovers all rack servers within the specified subnet range.

- IP Address CSV file—Discovers rack servers with IP addresses that match those specified in the uploaded CSV file.

- Specific IP addresses—Discovers rack servers with IP addresses that match the IP addresses you specify.

Perform this procedure when you want to discover and import rack servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Configure a rack server discovery profile.

Refer Configuring a Rack Discovery Profile.

Step 2

Discover servers using the profile.

Refer Performing Auto Discovery.

Step 3

Import the servers.

Refer Importing One or More Rack Servers.

Step 4

(Optional) Delete a discovery profile.

Refer Deleting Auto Discovery Profile.

Step 5

(Optional) Clear a server from the auto discovered list.

Refer Clearing Auto Discovery List.

Configuring a Rack Discovery Profile

You can configure a rack discovery profile using which the system can automatically discover rack mount servers. Perform this procedure when you want to add a rack discovery profile.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Server Discovery Profiles.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Discovery Profile screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

A descriptive name for the profile.

Search Criteria drop-down list

Select IP Address Range, Subnet Mask Range, IP Address CSV File or IP Address List from the drop-down list.

If you select IP Address Range

Starting IP field

Valid IP address

Ending IP field

Valid IP address

If you select Subnet Mask Range

Network Address field

Valid IP address

Subnet Mask drop-down list

Select a value from the drop-down list.

This drop-down list shows the available subnets in the network.

If you select IP Address CSV File

Select a file for upload field

Click Select a File and navigate to a .csv file which contains the IP addresses.

Sample CSV File field

Click File Template to download a sample CSV file.

If you select IP Address List

IP Addresses field

Enter multiple IP addresses separated by comma.

Use Credential Policy check box

If you have already created credential policies, then check this box to select the policy from the drop-down list.

If you check Use Credential Policy check box

Credential Policy drop-down list

Choose a policy from the drop-down list or click the + icon to create a new policy.

Description field

Enter a description for the server.

Contact field

Enter the contact details of the server administrator.

Location field

Enter the geographic location of the server.

Rack Group drop-down list

Choose a rack group or create a new rack group.

If you uncheck Use Credential Policy check box

User Name field

The login name.

Password field

The login password

Protocol drop-down list

Choose https or http from the list.

Port field

Enter a port number.

Note

If you choose IP Address CSV File, you can specify additional fields such as IP, description, location, contact, rack group and tags in the CSV file in the following format:

- <ip>

- (optional) <description>

- (optional) <location>

- (optional) <contact>

- (optional) <rack group>

- (optional) <tag name:tag value>;<tag name:tag value>

You can specify either an existing value or a new value for the Rack Group field and the Tags field. Specifying a value for these fields is optional. If you do not specify a value for the Rack Group field in the CSV file, then the Default Group is used.

When you upgrade to the current Cisco UCS Director version, replace the existing CSV file with the CSV file you have created in the new format using the Select a File option.

The tag type will only be of type STRING.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to do next

Click Discover to select a profile, and discover devices that match the profile.

Performing Auto Discovery

Perform this procedure when you want to perform auto discovery.

Before you begin

You should configure a profile based on which Cisco UCS Director can discover the rack servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Server Discovered Devices.

Step 3

Click Discover.

Step 4

In the Discover Devices screen, expand the Select Profile list and check the check boxes of the profiles.

Step 5

(Optional) You can choose to schedule this task to run at a later point in time by checking the Schedule Later check box.

If you check this check box, then you can either select a schedule that you previously created or create a new schedule. For information on creating a new schedule, see Creating Schedules.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Importing One or More Rack Servers

Perform this procedure when you want to import one or more rack servers that were discovered using the discovery profile.

Important

You cannot perform multiple account-related tasks, such as adding, modifying or importing accounts, simultaneously in Cisco UCS Director. We recommend that you wait for one task to complete, before initiating another task. For example, while importing discovered devices into a rack group, we recommend that you let you this task complete before you edit any other rack groups or rack accounts.

Before you begin

- You should configure a profile based on which Cisco UCS Director can discover the devices.

- You have already discovered rack servers using the discovery profile.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Server Discovered Devices.

Step 3

Click Import.

Step 4

In the Import Discovered Devices screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Select Device(s) list

Expand the list of devices that have been discovered.

Check the check boxes of all the servers you want to import.

User Prefix field

Enter a prefix for the user.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Setting Properties for Discovered Devices

Perform this procedure when you want set specific properties for discovered devices.

Before you begin

You should have configured a discovery profile based on which devices can be discovered.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Server Discovered Devices.

Step 3

Select a device and choose Set Properties.

Step 4

In the Set Properties screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Description field

Enter a description of the server.

Contact field

Enter the contact number of a person who can attend to the issues on the server.

Location field

Enter the address of the server.

Select Rack Group drop-down list

Choose a rack group from the list or create a new rack group.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Clearing Auto Discovery List

Perform this procedure when you want to delete a server or all the servers from the auto discovered list.

Before you begin

- You should configure a profile based on which Cisco UCS Director can discover the devices.

- You have already performed auto discovery.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Server Discovered Devices.

Step 3

Click Clear.

Step 4

In the Clear Devices screen, click Delete.

Deleting Auto Discovery Profile

Perform this procedure when you want to delete an automatic discovery profile.

Before you begin

You should configure a profile based on which Cisco UCS Director can discover the devices.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Rack Server Discovery Profiles.

Step 3

Select a profile from the table, and click Delete.

Step 4

In the Delete Discovery Profile screen, click Submit.

Chapter 5. Managing Rack Servers

This chapter discusses the following topics:

- Viewing Rack Server Details

- Viewing Fault Details of a Rack Server

- Setting a Label for a Rack Server

- Managing Tags for a Rack-Mount Server

- Setting Locator LED for a Rack Server

- Performing a Power Cycle on a Rack Server

- Powering On a Rack Server

- Powering Off a Rack Server

- Performing a Hard Reset on a Rack Server

- Rebooting a Server

- Shutting Down a Rack Server

- Tagging Assets for a Rack Server

- Launching the KVM Console for a Rack Server

- Launching the Cisco IMC GUI for a Rack Server

- Assign User Groups to a Rack Server

- Viewing Smart Information for Solid State Drives

- Controller Drive Security

- Managing System Tasks for Rack Servers

Viewing Rack Server Details

Perform this procedure when you want to view the details of a rack server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select a server from the list.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose View Details or double-click the sever from the list.

Note

The More Actions drop-down list is visible only after you select a server from the list.

The following details are available for a rack mount server:

Tab

Description

Summary

Displays an overview of the rack server.

CPUs

Displays the details of the CPUs in the server.

Memory

Displays details of the memory cards used in the server.

PSUs

Displays details of the power supply units in the server.

PCI Adapters

Displays details of the PCI adapters in the server.

VIC Adapters

Displays details of the VIC adapters in the server.

Network Adapters

Displays details of the network adapters in the server.

Storage Adapters

Displays details of the storage adapters in the server.

FlexFlash Adapters

Displays details of the Cisco FlexFlash adapters in the server.

Communication

Displays all the communication protocols that are configured in the server.

Remote Presence

Displays information on vKVM, vMedia and Serial over LAN (SOL) for the server.

Faults

Displays the details of the faults logged in the server.

- Severity

- DN

- Description

- Code - Error code for the fault.

- Created - Date and time the fault was logged.

- Cause - Reason for the fault.

Hardware Compatibility Report

Displays the status against the current software version or a target software version.

Users

Displays the list of users for the server.

Cisco IMC Log

Displays the details of the Cisco IMC logs for the server. You can also clear the Cisco IMC logs.

System Event Log

Displays the details of the server logs.

TPM

Displays information on the TPM inventory.

BIOS

Displays BIOS-related information of the server.

Fault History

Displays historical information on the faults that occurred on the server.

Tech Support

Provides an option to upload tech-support log files to a remote server or to a local server.

Host Images

Details of an image such as name, size, MD5 checksum, last modified time, and if the image is mapped are displayed. You can select an image and click Map Image,Unmap Image, and Delete Image to perform the various actions.

Note

Host image mapping is applicable only for E-series servers.

Associated Hardware Profiles

Displays the server profiles that are associated with the server.

Viewing Fault Details of a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to view the fault details of a rack server.

Before you begin

The server is added as a rack account within a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Faults.

Step 4

Select a server from the list.

Step 5

Choose View Details.

The following details are available for a rack mount server:

Tab

Description

Explanation

Brief reason for the issue.

Recommendation

Steps to resolve the issue.

Step 6

Click Close to return to the previous screen.

Setting a Label for a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to set label for a rack mount server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select the server from the list.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Set Label.

Step 6

Enter a new label.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Managing Tags for a Rack-Mount Server

Tagging is used to assign a label to an object, such as a resource group or a rack server. Tags can be used to provide information such as rack locations, responsible support groups, purpose, or operating system. Perform this procedure to add tags or modify tags.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select a server from the list

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Manage Tags.

Step 6

In the Manage Tags screen, click + to add an entry to the Manage Tags table.

Step 7

In the Add Entry to Tag screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Tag Name

Select the tag name from the drop-down list and click Submit or create a new tag.

1. Click the + icon.

2. In the Create Tag window, do the following:

1. In the Name field, enter a descriptive name for the tag.

2. In the Description field, enter a description of the tag.

3. In the Type field, select String or Integer from the drop-down list.

4. In the Possible Tag Values field, enter a possible value for the tag.

5. Click Next.

6. Click the + icon to add a new category.

3. In the Add Entry to Entities window, from the Category drop-down list, choose the category. It can be one of the following:

- Physical_Compute category creates tag entities for a Rack Server.

- Administration category creates tag entities for users.

Note

You can also add tags for a chassis. For more information about adding tags for a chassis, see Adding Tags for Cisco UCS S3260 Rack Server.

4. Check the Rack Servers or Chassis check box.

5. Click Submit.

Note

The tags are displayed under the respective category according to the set taggable entities.

6. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

Tag Value

Select the tag value from the drop-down list.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Step 9

Select a tag in the Manage Tags screen and click Edit to edit a tag.

Step 10

Choose the Tag Name and Tag Value to modify the tags.

Step 11

Click Submit.

- Adding Tags for a Rack-Mount Server

Adding Tags for a Rack-Mount Server

Tagging is used to assign a label to an object, such as a resource group or a rack server. Tags can be used to provide information such as rack locations, responsible support groups, purpose, or operating system. Perform this procedure to add tags to a rack mount server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Note

You can also select multiple rack servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select a server from the list

Step 5

Click Add Tags.

Note

The Add Tags option is visible only after you select a server from the list.

Step 6

In the Add Tags screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Tag Name drop-down list

Choose a name from the drop-down list or you can create a new tag.

Click the plus icon to create a new tag. See Managing Tags for a Rack-Mount Server to create tags.

Tag Value drop-down list

Choose a tag value from the drop-down list.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Setting Locator LED for a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to set locator LED for a rack server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select a sever from the list.

Step 5

Click Locator LED.

Note

The Locator LED option is visible only after you select a server from the list.

Step 6

From the Turn the Locater LED for selected servers on/off drop-down list, choose ON or OFF.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Performing a Power Cycle on a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to power off and power on a rack mount server in one cycle.

Before you begin

The server is added as a rack account within a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server that you want to perform a power cycle.

You can select multiple servers.

Step 5

Click Power Cycle.

Step 6

In the Server Power Cycle page, click Submit.

Powering On a Rack Server

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server that you want to power on.

Step 5

Click Power ON.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Powering Off a Rack Server

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server that you want to power off.

Step 5

Click Power OFF.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Performing a Hard Reset on a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to hard reset a rack server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as an account within a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select a sever from the list.

Step 5

Click Hard Reset.

Rebooting a Server

Perform this procedure when you want to reboot the BMC on a rack server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account within a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server that you want to reboot.

Step 5

Click Reboot.

Step 6

On the Server Reboot BMC page, click Submit.

Shutting Down a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to shut down a rack server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select the sever from the list.

Step 5

Click Shut Down.

Step 6

In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

Tagging Assets for a Rack Server

An asset tag is a user-defined label for a rack server. Using the Asset Tag option you can set a user-defined label for a rack server or for a chassis. For information on adding an asset tag to a chassis, see Tagging Assets for a Cisco UCS S3260 Server.

Important

Asset tagging is supported on C-series and S-series servers that are running firmware versions of 3.0(1c) and above. For E-series and ENCS servers, asset tagging is supported on servers running firmware versions 3.2.1 and above.

Before you begin

The server is added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server that you want to set a tag to.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Asset Tag.

Step 6

In the Set Asset Tag page, enter the name of the asset tag in the Asset Tag field.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Launching the KVM Console for a Rack Server

Before you begin

You must have Java Run-Time Environment (JRE) installed on your system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server for which you want to start the KVM console.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, click KVM Console.

Step 6

In the Launch KVM Console screen, click Submit.

Cisco UCS Director downloads the kvm.jnlp file to your system.

Step 7

Double-click the kvm.jnlp file in your Downloads folder.

The KVM Console opens in a separate window.

For more information about using the KVM Console, see the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller Configuration Guides.

Launching the Cisco IMC GUI for a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to launch the Cisco IMC GUI for a rack mount server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account within a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select the sever from the list.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, click Launch GUI.

Step 6

In the Launch GUI screen, click Submit.

The GUI for the server is launched in a separate browser.

Assign User Groups to a Rack Server

Perform this procedure when you want to assign a user group to the rack server.

Before you begin

The server is added as a rack account within a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Server.

Step 4

Choose the server that you want to assign a user group to.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Assign Group.

Step 6

In the Assign User Group - Rack Server screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Assign to Users check box

Check this check box to allow resource assignment to users.

User list

Expand this list, and check the names of the users.

Note

This field is displayed only if you have checked the Assign to Users check box.

Group list

Expand this list to check the names of the groups.

Note

This field is displayed only if you have not checked the Assign to Users check box.

Label field

Enter any comments, if required.

Step 7

Click Submit.

What to do next

At a later point in time, if you want to remove this user group from the rack server, you can return to this page, select the server, and choose Unassign Group.

Viewing Smart Information for Solid State Drives

Before you begin

The server is added as a Rack Account under a Rack Groups.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select the sever from the list that contains the solid state drive (SSD).

Step 5

On the Rack Server page, choose Storage Adapters.

Step 6

Double-click the solid state drive, and choose Controller Info.

The following settings are available:

- Enable Copyback on SMART

- Enable Copyback to SSD on SMART Error

Step 7

Double-click the solid state drive, and choose Physical Drives.

Step 8

Double-click a physical drive, and choose View Smart Information.

The following information is displayed:

Field

Description

Power Cycle Count field

Number of power cycles that the drive went through from the time it was manufactured.

Power on Hours field

Total number of hours that the drive is in the 'Power On' mode.

Percentage Life Left field

The number of write cycles remaining in a solid state drive (SSD). For instance, if an SSD is capable of 100 write cycles during its life time, and it has completed 15 writes, then the percentage of life left in the drive is 85%. Each percentage range is represented in a different color. For instance, green for 75% to 100% and red for 1 to 25%.

Note

You can see a bar graph added for SSDs in SSD - Percentage Life Left from the Controller Info tab.

Wear Status in Days field

The number of days an SSD has gone through with the write cycles.

SSD vendors provide a finite number of writes per day on the SSD, based on which, you can calculate the total number of years the SSD would continue to work.

Operating Temperature field

The current temperature of the drive at which the selected SSD operates at the time of selection.

PercentageReserved Consumed field

The total capacity (out of the percentage reserved for it) consumed by the SSD.

Time of Last Refresh field

Time period since the drive was last refreshed.

Step 9

Click Close.

On the Storage Adapter page, choose Controller Info to view the controller settings such as Percentage Life Left, Enable Copy back on SMART, and Enable Copy back to SSD on SMART Error.

What to do next

Controller Drive Security

Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) are used for encrypting data while writing it onto the drives and decrypting them before reading the data. This ensures that the data on the drives are secure. Cisco UCS Director supports enabling security at the controller, physical drive, and virtual drive level for this feature.

The controller level security has two options - Remote Key Management and Local Key Management. For Remote Key Management, the Security KeyId and the Security Key are retrieved from the KMIP server. In the case of Local Key Management, the Security KeyId and the Security Key are either provided by you or provided as a suggestion from the Ciso IMC server. These parameters are used to secure data on the drives.

The physical drive level security can have the SED drives in locked and foreign locked state. The locked state indicates that the drives have been locked with the security key of the controller in this server. The foreign locked state indicates that the drives are locked with the security key of another controller but the drives are placed in this controller. Unlocking the foreign locked drives require the security key of that controller. After inlocking the drive, you can perform any security related operations on the drive.

- Viewing Controller Drive Security Information

Viewing Controller Drive Security Information

Controller Driver Security information is displayed in the following tabs for a rack server:

- Controller Info

- Physical Drives

- Virtual Drives

Before you begin

The M4 rack-mount server or the Cisco UCS S3260 storage server must have Self Encrypting Drives (SED) connected in it.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Rack Servers.

Step 4

Select a sever from the list.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose View Details.

Step 6

On the Rack Server page, choose Storage Adapters.

Step 7

Select the adapter from the list and choose View Details.

Step 8

On the Storage Adapters page, choose Controller Info.

The following details are available for a SSD drive:

Tab

Description

Power Cycle Count field

Number of power cycles that the drive went through from the time it was manufactured.

Power on Hours field

Total number of hours that the drive is in the Power On mode.

Percentage Life Left field

The number of write cycles remaining in a solid state drive (SSD). For instance, if an SSD is capable of 100 write cycles during its life time, and it has completed 15 writes, then the percentage of life left in the drive is 85%. Each percentage range is represented in a different color. For instance, green for 75% to 100% and red for 1 to 25%.

Note

You can see a bar graph added for SSDs in SSD - Percentage Life Left under Controller Info.

Wear Status in Days field

The number of days an SSD has gone through with the write cycles.

SSD vendors provide a finite number of writes per day on the SSD, based on which, you can calculate the total number of years the SSD would continue to work.

Operating Temperature field

The current temperature of the drive at which the selected SSD operates at the time of selection.

Percentage Reserved Consumed field

The total capacity (out of the percentage reserved for it) consumed by the SSD.

Time of Last Refresh field

Time period since the drive was last refreshed.

Step 9

On the Storage Adapter page, choose Physical Drives.

Details such as the controller name, physical drive number, status, health, serial number, firmware, FDE capable, FDE enabled, Secured, Locked, Foreign Locked and so on are displayed.

Step 10

On the Storage Adapter page, choose Virtual Drives.

Details such as the virtual drive number, name, status, health, size, RAID level, Boot drive, FDE capable, FDE enabled and so on are displayed.

Step 11

Click the rack server name on the top right corner of the page to return to the page listing the rack servers.

Managing System Tasks for Rack Servers

System tasks are available for single node and multi node systems. For more information about how to manage system tasks, including the system task policy, see the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > System.

Step 2

On the System page, click System Tasks.

Step 3

To access the system tasks you can use for rack servers, expand the following folders:

- Rack Server Tasks—System tasks that are specific to rack servers, such as monitoring and inventory tasks.

- General—System tasks that are available for all implementations, such as data purge, data aggregation, and deleted account clean-up tasks.

Step 4

After you choose a rack server task in the table, you can perform one or more of the following actions:

Name

Description

Manage Task

In the Manage Task screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

1. From the Task Execution drop-down list, choose Enable or Disable.

2. From the System Task Policy drop-down list, choose default-system-task-policy or local-run-policy.

3. To set the frequency at which the task needs to be executed, choose the number of hours from the Hours drop-down list and number of minutes from the Minutes drop-down list.

4. Click .

Step 5

Click Submit.

Overview of Managing Schedules

Defining a schedule allows you to defer certain tasks to occur at a different time. For example, tasks such as firmware updates, server discovery, or applying policies and profiles, can be scheduled to run at a pre-defined time or at a pre-defined interval. You could schedule tasks during off-peak hours where the workloads on servers are low.

Creating Schedules

Perform this procedure when you want to create a new schedule.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Schedules.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Create Schedule screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Schedule Name field

Enter a name for the schedule task.

Enable Schedule check box

Check this check box to enable a schedule. By enabling or disabling a schedule (using the Enable or Disable options), you can enable or disable the tasks associated with the schedule from running.

Scheduler Type drop-down list

Select a one time schedule or recurring schedule frequency.

If you choose a One Time schedule, select the date, time, and AM or PM radio buttons.

Note

The schedule time is based on the time on the appliance. However, the time zone is of the local client browser.

If you choose a Recurring schedule, select the days (0 to 30 days), hours and minutes from the drop-down lists.

Schedule Time field

Specify a date using the calendar, and specify a time using the drop-down list.

This field is visible only if you selected One Time option in the Scheduler Type drop-down list.

Days drop-down list

Select the number of days on which this task must be scheduled for.

Hours drop-down list

Select the number of hours.

Minutes drop-down list

Select the number of minutes.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to do next

- You can select an existing schedule and modify, delete, or view scheduled tasks. View Scheduled Tasks displays a report which allows you to view the status of the upgrade firmware, auto discovery, apply policy and profile tasks you associated with the schedule while Upgrading Firmware, Auto Discovering Servers.

- You can select one or more tasks associated with the schedule and disassociate them from the schedule using the Remove Scheduled Tasks option.

Chapter 6. Managing Cisco UCS S3260 Servers

- About Cisco UCS S3260 Dense Storage Rack Server

- Cisco UCS S3260 Server Management in Cisco UCS Director

About Cisco UCS S3260 Dense Storage Rack Server

The Cisco UCS S3260 is a dense storage rack server that supports dual server nodes. It can also have one optimized for large datasets used in environments such as Big data, cloud, object storage, and content delivery. It belongs to the Cisco UCS C-Series rack-mount servers product family.

The Cisco UCS S3260 Dense Storage Rack Server is designed to operate in a standalone environment and as part of the Cisco Unified Computing System with Cisco UCS Director integration. The Cisco UCS S3260 Dense Storage Rack Server includes the following features:

- Enterprise-class redundancy with full featured Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) plus Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD)

- Standalone management interface (Cisco Integrated Management Controller)

- No data migration required when replacing or upgrading server nodes

- No need for extended depth racks

For more information about Cisco UCS S3260 dense storage rack server, see Cisco UCS S3260 Rack Server.

Cisco UCS S3260 Server Management in Cisco UCS Director

Managing Cisco UCS S3260 servers using Cisco UCS Director is largely the same as managing other rack-mount servers. Several of the features and tasks that are supported on other c-series servers are applicable to UCS S3260 servers as well. However, there are a few minor differences while performing these tasks. These include:

- While adding a rack account, you can specify a virtual management IP address and not a Chassis Management Controller (CMC) IP address. If you specify a CMC IP address, an error message appears. For more information, see Adding a Rack Account.

After the inventory collection task, you can view the servers managed by the Cisco UCS S3260 Rack Server from the Rack Servers tab.

- While adding or applying a policy, you can now specify if the policy is specifically for Cisco UCS S3260 servers. Also, you can now create a Zoning policy which is applicable only for this server.

Legacy Boot Order and Flex Flash policies are not available for Cisco UCS S3260 Rack Server.

- You can perform a firmware upgrade at the server level. But during a server upgrade, the chassis components and the disk drive components associated with the server are also upgraded. For more information, see Upgrading the Firmware Image.

Tagging Assets for a Cisco UCS S3260 Server

An asset tag is a user-defined label for a rack server. Using the Asset Tag option you can set a user-defined label for a chassis or a rack-server. For information on adding a asset tag to a rack server, see Tagging Assets for a Rack Server.

Important

Asset tagging is supported on C-series and S-series servers that are running firmware versions of 3.0(1c) and above. For E-series and ENCS servers, asset tagging is supported on servers running firmware versions 3.2.1 and above.

Before you begin

The server is added as a rack account under a rack group

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 3

Click Chassis.

Step 4

Choose the chassis that you want to set a tag to.

Step 5

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Asset Tag.

Step 6

In the Set Asset Tag page, enter the name of the asset tag in the Asset Tag field.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Rebooting a Chassis

Perform this procedure when you want to restart a chassis.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Chassis.

Step 5

From the list, choose a chassis and click Reboot CMC.

Step 6

In the Reboot Chassis Management Controller screen, select either CMC1 or CMC2.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Managing Tags for a Chassis

Tagging is used to assign a label to an object, such as a resource group or a rack server. Tags can be used to provide information such as rack locations, responsible support groups, purpose, or operating system. Perform this procedure to add tags or modify tags for a chassis. For adding tags for a rack-mount server, see Adding Tags for a Rack-Mount Server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account under a rack group.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Chassis.

Step 5

From the list, choose a chassis and click Manage Tags.

Note

You cannot see the Manage Tags option till you select the server from the list.

Step 6

Click + to add an entry to the Manage Tags table.

Step 7

In the Add Entry to Tag screen, complete the following:

Field

Description

Tag Name

Select the tag name from the drop-down list and click Submit or create a new tag.

1. Click the + icon.

2. In the Create Tag window, do the following:

1. In the Name field, enter a descriptive name for the tag.

2. In the Description field, enter a description of the tag.

3. In the Type field, select String or Integer from the drop-down list.

4. In the Possible Tag Values field, enter a possible value for the tag.

5. Click Next.

6. In the Applicability Rules pane, click the + icon to add a new entry to the Taggable Entities table.

3. In the Add Entry to Entities window, from the Category drop-down list, choose the category. It can be one of the following:

- Physical_Compute category creates tag entities for a Rack Server.

- Administration category creates tag entities for users.

4. Check the Chassis check box.

5. Click Submit.

Note

The tags are displayed under the respective category according to the set taggable entities.

6. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK.

Tag Value

Select the tag value from the drop-down list.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Step 9

Select a tag in the Manage Tags screen and click Edit.

Step 10

Choose the Tag Name and Tag Value to modify the tags.

Step 11

Click Submit.

- Adding Tags for a Chassis

Adding Tags for a Chassis

Tagging is used to assign a label to an object, such as a resource group or a rack server. Tags can be used to provide information such as rack locations, responsible support groups, purpose, or Operating System. Perform this procedure to add tags to a Cisco UCS S3260 Rack Server.

Before you begin

The server is already added as a rack account within a rack group.

Note

You can also select multiple rack servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Chassis.

Step 5

From the list, choose a chassis and click Add Tags.

Note

The Add Tags option is displayed only after you select the server from the list.

Step 6

Choose a name from the Tag Name drop-down list.

If there are no tags available, you can create a new tag at this point.

Step 7

Choose a value for the tag from the Tag Valuedrop-down list.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Setting Front Locator LED

A server locator LED helps you to identify a specific server among many servers in a data center. Perform this procedure when you want to turn on or turn off the front locator LED for a selected chassis.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Chassis.

Step 5

From the list, choose a chassis and click Front Locator LED.

Step 6

From the Turn the Front Locator LED for selected chassis on/off drop-down list, choose ON or OFF.

Step 7

Click Submit.

Chapter 7. Managing Rack Server Policies and Profiles

This chapter contains the following topics:

- Rack Server Policies

- Rack Server Profiles

Rack Server Policies

Rack server policies are a primary mechanism for defining configuration of various attributes on rack servers in Cisco UCS Director. These policies help ensure consistency and repeatability of configurations across rack servers. Defining and using a comprehensive set of policies enables greater consistency, control, predictability, and automation as similar configurations are applied across many rack servers.

The following workflow indicates how you can work with server policies in Cisco UCS Director:

1. Create a server policy such as BIOS policy or an NTP policy. You can create a policy in one of the following methods:

1. Create a new policy. For more information about the various policy types and creating a new policy, see Creating Server Policies.

2. Create a policy from the configuration existing on a server. For more information about creating a policy from the configuration existing on a server, see Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

2. Apply the policy on a server. For more information about applying a policy, see Applying a Policy.

3. Perform any of the following optional tasks on the policy:

1. View the list of servers that are mapped to a specific policy. For more information on performing these tasks, see Common Tasks for Server Policies.

2. Edit a policy to modify values.

3. Delete a policy when it is no longer needed

4. Clone a policy to use similar values

5. Group multiple policies into a server profile. For more information about applying profiles, see Applying a Policy.

- Creating Server Policies

- Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration

- Common Tasks for Server Policies

- Creating a BIOS Policy

- Creating a Disk Group Policy

- FlexFlash Policy

- Creating an IPMI Over LAN Policy

- Creating an LDAP Policy

- Creating a Legacy Boot Order Policy

- Creating a Network Configuration Policy

- Creating a Network Security Policy

- Creating an NTP Policy

- Creating a Password Expiration Policy

- Creating a Precision Boot Order Policy

- Power Restore Policy

- Creating a RAID Policy

- Creating a Serial Over LAN Policy

- Creating an SNMP Policy

- Creating an SSH Policy

- Creating a User Policy

- Creating a VIC Adapter Policy

- Creating a Virtual KVM Policy

- Creating a vMedia Policy

- Creating a Zoning Policy

- Applying a Policy

- Deleting a Policy

Creating Server Policies

Perform this procedure when you want to create a new server policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose a policy type from the drop-down list.

For more information about creating a policy based on the policy type, select the policy type listed in the table below. The various properties required to configure these policies are available in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide. The respective sections in this guide are listed against each policy type.

Policy

Procedure Documented in this Guide

Sections in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide

BIOS Policy

Creating a BIOS Policy

Configuring BIOS Settings

Disk Group Policy

Creating a Disk Group Policy

Managing Storage Adapters

FlexFlash Policy

FlexFlash Policy

Managing the Flexible Flash Controller

IPMI over LAN Policy

Creating an IPMI Over LAN Policy

Configuring IPMI

LDAP Policy

Creating an LDAP Policy

Configuring the LDAP Server

Legacy Boot Order Policy

Creating a Legacy Boot Order Policy

Server Boot Order

Network Configuration Policy

Creating a Network Configuration Policy

Configuring Network-Related Settings

Network Security Policy

Creating a Network Security Policy

Network Security Configuration

Network Time Protocol Policy

Creating an NTP Policy

Configuring Network Time Protocol Settings

Password Expiration Policy

Creating a Password Expiration Policy

Password Expiry

Precision Boot Order Policy

Creating a Precision Boot Order Policy

Configuring the Precision Boot Order

Power Restore Policy

Power Restore Policy

Configuring the Power Restore Policy

RAID Policy

Creating a RAID Policy

Managing Storage Adapters

Serial Over LAN Policy

Creating a Serial Over LAN Policy

Configuring Serial Over LAN

SNMP Policy

Creating an SNMP Policy

Configuring SNMP

SSH Policy

Creating an SSH Policy

Configuring SSH

User Policy

Creating a User Policy

Configuring Local Users

VIC Adapter Policy

Creating a VIC Adapter Policy

Viewing VIC Adapter Properties

Virtual KVM Policy

Creating a Virtual KVM Policy

Configuring the Virtual KVM

vMedia Policy

Creating a vMedia Policy

Configuring Virtual Media

Zoning Policy

Creating a Zoning Policy

Dynamic Storage in the Cisco UCS C-Series Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide for S3260 Servers.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to do next

Apply the policy to a server. For more information about applying a policy, see Applying a Policy.

Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration

You can choose to create a policy using a server that you have previously configured. By re-using the existing configuration on a server, you can reduce the time and effort involved in creating similar configurations.

Note

When you create a policy from current configuration of a server, the password fields are not retrieved from the server.

Perform the following procedure when you want to create a policy from current configuration of a server.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add (+).

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose a policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Server Details pane, you can use the server details in the following two methods:

1. Check Enter Server Details Manually and complete the required fields, including the following:

1. Enter the IP address in the Server IP field.

2. Check the Use Credential Policy check box to select an existing policy and select a policy from the Credential Policy drop-down list or click+ next to the Credential Policy drop-down list and enter the details to create a new policy in the Credential Policy Add Form dialog box.

3. Enter the server login name in the User Name field.

4. Enter the server login password in the Password field.

5. Select http or https from the Protocol drop-down list.

6. Enter the port number associated with the selected protocol in the Port field.

2. Click Select and choose a server from where you can retrieve the configurations.

Step 8

Click Next.

You will return to the Main pane for creating the policy. Continue with creating a policy using the prompts in the wizard. The fields for each policy vary depending on the policy you are creating in the system.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Common Tasks for Server Policies

Perform the following procedure when you want to edit, delete, clone, or view server mapping details of an existing policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Expand a policy folder and select a policy.

Step 4

To apply a policy to a server or server group, click Apply. For more information about applying a profile, see Applying a Policy.

Step 5

(Optional) Click View Apply Status to view the details of a selected policy such as the status of the policy you have applied, the server details to which you have applied the policy and so on. If the policy is not successfully applied for example, an error message is displayed in the Status Message column.

Step 6

(Optional) To modify a policy, click Properties and modify the required properties.

When you modify a policy name, ensure that you do not specify a name which already exists.

Step 7

(Optional) To clone a policy, click Clone to copy the details of a selected policy to a new policy.

Step 8

(Optional) To delete a policy, click Delete. In the Delete Policy screen, expand Select Policy(s) and check the policies you want to delete, and click Submit.

You can delete one or more selected policies even if you have associated the policy with a server. If you try to delete a policy which is associated to a profile, an error occurs.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Creating a BIOS Policy

A BIOS policy automates the configuration of BIOS settings on servers. You can create one or more BIOS policies which contain a specific grouping of BIOS settings that match the needs of a server or a set of servers. If you do not specify a BIOS policy for a server, the BIOS settings will remain as they are, either a default set of values for a brand new bare metal server or a set of values which were configured using Cisco IMC. If a BIOS policy is specified, the values specified in the policy replace any previously configured values on the server.

For details about configuring the various BIOS properties, see section Configuring BIOS Settings in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a BIOS policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose BIOS Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Note

If some properties or attributes in Cisco UCS Director are not applicable to a server running a specific Cisco IMC version, they are not applied. If the properties are not available on the Cisco IMC server, they are displayed as Platform-Default in the property fields.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, select values for the main BIOS properties such as CDN Control, POST Error Pause, and TPM Support drop-down lists.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the Advanced pane, choose the BIOS property values from the drop-down lists and click Next.

Step 10

In the Boot Options pane, choose the appropriate setting for the drop-down lists.

The Power ON Password Support drop-down list allows you to enable or disable power on password support. You can also choose the default platform setting. Enabling this option prevents you from making any changes to the server, including configuration changes and entering the BIOS setup. Prior to enabling this option, ensure that a BIOS password is set in the BIOS Configuration screen using the Cisco IMC user interface.

Step 11

In the Server Management pane, choose the server property values from the drop-down lists.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Creating a Disk Group Policy

Using a Disk Group policy, you can select the physical disks used for virtual drives and also configure various attributes associated with a virtual drive.

A disk group policy defines how a disk group is created and configured. The policy specifies the RAID level to be used for the virtual drive. You can use a disk group policy to manage multiple disk groups. A single Disk Group policy can be associated with multiple virtual drives. If so, the virtual drives share the same Virtual Drive group space. Disk Group policies associated with different virtual drives in a RAID policy do not have any physical disk repeated across different Disk Group policies. For more information about RAID policy, see Creating a RAID Policy.

For details about configuring the various disk group properties, see section Managing Storage Adapters in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a Disk Group policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Disk Group Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create Disk Group Policy screen, enter a name in the Policy Name field and click Next.

Step 6

In the Virtual Drive Configuration pane, choose the RAID level and click Next.

Step 7

In the Local Disk Configuration pane, click + to add an entry to reference a local disk configuration.

Step 8

In the Add Entry to Local Disk Configuration Reference pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Slot Number field

Enter the slot number of the disk.

Role drop-down list

Choose a role. It be can one of the following:

- Normal

- Dedicated Hot Spare

- Global Hot Spare

Step 9

Click Submit.

Step 10

In the Local Disk Configuration pane, select a local disk from the table and click Submit.

Note

- You cannot create a Disk Group policy from current configuration of the server.

- When a RAID policy is created from current configuration of the server, the Disk Group policy is also created automatically from the server configuration.

FlexFlash Policy

A FlexFlash policy allows you to configure and enable the SD card.

For details about configuring the various properties, see section Managing the Flexible Flash Controller in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Note

The minimum Cisco Integrated Management Controller firmware version for FlexFlash support is 2.0(2c).

You cannot create a FlexFlash policy for Cisco UCS S3260 rack servers.

Perform the following procedure to create a FlexFlash policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose FlexFlash Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

Enter a name in the Policy Name field and click Next.

You can also check the Create policy from current configuration of the server check box and click Next. This takes you to the Server Details pane. For information on performing tasks in this dialog box, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Step 6

In the Configure Cards pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Firmware Mode options

Choose any of the following firmware operating modes:

- Mirror - This mode is a mirror configuration and is available only for C220 M4 and C240 M4 servers.

- Util - In this mode one card with four partitions and one card with a single partition is created. This mode is available only for C220 M4 and C240 M4 servers.

- Not Applicable - No firmware operating modes are selected. This mode is available only for C220 M3, C240 M3, C22, C24, and C460 M4 servers.

Mirror radio button

Check Enable Virtual Drive to enable the Hypervisor virtual drive or check Erase Virtual Drive to erase it.

Util radio button

Check Enable Virtual Drive to enable virtual drives such as SCU, Hypervisor, Drivers, HUU, and User Partition or check Erase Virtual Drive to erase them.

Note

You can select multiple virtual drives.

Not Applicable radio button

Check Enable Virtual Drive to enable virtual drives such as SCU, HV, Drivers, and HUU.

Note

You can select multiple virtual drives.

The Erase Virtual Drive check box is not available.

Partition Name field

The name of the partition.

Non Util Card Partition Name field

The name that you want to assign to the single partition on the second card, if it exists.

Note

This option is available only for util mode.

Select Primary Card (available for mirror mode) or Select Util Card (available for Util mode) drop-down list

Select the slots Slot 1 or Slot 2 where the SD cards are present or select None if only one SD card is present on the server.

Note

None is available only for Select Util Card option.

Auto Sync check box

Automatically synchronizes the SD card available in the selected slot.

Note

This option is available only for mirror mode.

Slot-1 Read Error Threshold field

The number of read errors that are permitted while accessing Slot 1 of the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of read errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy.

To specify a read error threshold, enter an integer between 1 and 255. To specify that the card should never be disabled regardless of the number of errors encountered, enter 0 (zero).

Slot-1 Write Error Threshold field

The number of write errors that are permitted while accessing Slot 1 of the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of write errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy.

To specify a write error threshold, enter an integer between 1 and 255. To specify that the card should never be disabled regardless of the number of errors encountered, enter 0 (zero).

Slot-2 Read Error Threshold field

The number of read errors that are permitted while accessing Slot 2 of the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of read errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy.

To specify a read error threshold, enter an integer between 1 and 255. To specify that the card should never be disabled regardless of the number of errors encountered, enter 0 (zero).

Note

This option is available only for util mode. In case of mirror mode, the slot-1 Read/Write threshold will be applied to Slot-2 as well.

Slot-2 Write Error Threshold field

The number of write errors that are permitted while accessing Slot 2 of the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of write errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy.

To specify a write error threshold, enter an integer between 1 and 255. To specify that the card should never be disabled regardless of the number of errors encountered, enter 0 (zero).

Note

This option is available only for util mode. In case of mirror mode, the slot-1 Read/Write threshold will be applied to Slot-2 as well.

Step 7

If you selected Not Applicable as the firmware mode, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Virtual Drive Enable drop-down list

The virtual drives that can be made available to the server as a USB-style drive.

RAID Primary Member drop-down list

The slot in which the primary RAID member resides.

RAID Secondary Role drop-down list

The role of the secondary RAID.

I/O Read Error Threshold field

The number of read errors that are permitted while accessing the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of read errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy.

To specify a read error threshold, enter an integer between 1 and 255. To specify that the card should never be disabled regardless of the number of errors encountered, enter 0 (zero).

I/O Write Error Threshold field

The number of write errors that are permitted while accessing the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of write errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy

The number of write errors that are permitted while accessing the Cisco FlexFlash card. If the number of write errors exceeds this threshold on a card, the card is marked unhealthy.

Clear Errors check box

If checked, the read/write errors are cleared when you click Submit.

Step 8

Click Submit.

You can also select an existing FlexFlash policy from the Hardware Policies table and delete, edit, clone, apply or view the apply status by selecting the respective options in the user interface.

Note

Applying a FlexFlash policy is a two step process as follows:

1. The settings on the server will be set to default.

2. The new settings on the policy will be applied. If there is any failure in this step, you will lose the existing settings prior to applying the policy.

Creating an IPMI Over LAN Policy

Configure an IPMI over LAN policy when you want to manage Cisco IMC with IPMI messages.

For details about configuring the various properties, see section Configuring IPMI in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create an IPMI Over LAN policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose IPMI Over LAN Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create IPMI Over LAN Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, see Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main page, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Enable IPMI Over LAN check box

Check this check box to configure the IPMI properties.

Privilege Level Limitdrop-down list

Choose a privilege level from the drop-down list.

Encryption Key field

Enter a key in the field.

Encryption key must contain even number of hexadecimal characters, not exceeding 40 characters in total length. If less than 40 characters are specified, the key will be automatically added with zeros to the length of 40.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the Confirm page, click Submit.

Creating an LDAP Policy

Cisco UCS Director supports the LDAP configuration settings on the servers using an LDAP policy. You can create one or more LDAP policies which contain a specific grouping of LDAP settings that match the needs of a server or a set of servers.

For details about configuring the various LDAP properties, see section Configuring LDAP Server in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a LDAP policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose LDAP Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create LDAP Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, see Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Enable LDAP check box

Check the check box to enable LDAP on the server.

Base DN field

The Base DN for the server.

The Base DN refers to the point from where the server begins the search for users.

Domain field

The LDAP domain name.

Timeout drop-down list

Choose a timeout interval.

Enable Encryption check box

Check this check box to enable encryption.

Binding Parameters

Method drop-down list

Choose a binding method from the drop-down list.

Binding DN field

Specify the binding DN for the LDAP server.

The Binding DN consists of the user and the location of the user in the LDAP tree.

Password field

The password.

Search Parameters

Filter Attribute field

Specify the filtering attribute.

Group Attribute field

Specify the group attribute.

Attribute field

Specify the attribute.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the Configure LDAP Servers pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Use DNS to Configure LDAP Servers check box

Check this check box to specify DNS parameters.

Source drop-down list

Choose a source method for DNS. It can be Extracted, Configured or Configured-Extracted.

If you select Extracted, then the remaining DNS parameters are not displayed.

Domain to Search field

Specify the domains that must be searched.

Forest to Search field

Specify the forests that must be searched.

Server 1 field

The IP address or the host name of the LDAP server.

Port field

The port number.

You can enter details for about 6 servers.

Note

These fields are not displayed if you have enabled DNS to configure LDAP servers.

Step 10

Click Next.

Step 11

In the Group Authorization pane, fill in the group authorization details and click + to add an LDAP group entry to the table.

Step 12

In the Add Entry to LDAP Groups screen, fill in the group details.

Step 13

Click Submit.

Note

- Any existing LDAP Role Groups configured previously on the rack server are removed and replaced with the role groups that you configured in the policy. If you have not added any role groups into the policy, then the existing role groups on the server are removed, but not replaced.

- Nested Group Search Depth is applicable only to Cisco IMC versions 2.0(4c) and above. This value cannot be applied using the policy on a server that is running Cisco IMC versions prior to 2.0(4c).

Creating a Legacy Boot Order Policy

A Legacy Boot Order Policy automates the configuration of boot order settings of a rack server. You can create one or more Legacy Boot Order policies which contain a specific grouping of boot order settings that match the needs of a server or a set of servers. Using Cisco UCS Director, you can configure the order in which the rack server attempts to boot from available boot device types. You can also configure the precision boot order which allows linear ordering of the devices. For more information about precision boot order, see Creating a Precision Boot Order Policy.

For details about configuring the various server boot order properties, see section Server Boot Order in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a Legacy Boot Order policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Legacy Boot Order Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

For this policy, this check box is disabled.

Step 6

In the Main pane, click + to create a device type entry to the table. and select the device type from the drop-down list. The table lists the devices you have added.

Step 7

In the Add Entry to Select Devices pane, choose a device type, and click Submit.

You cannot add a device type multiple times.

In the Device Type table, select an existing device and use the up and down arrow icons to re-order the entries. The order of entries in the table determines the boot order.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Note

This policy is applicable only for Cisco IMC versions prior to 2.0. An error message is displayed if the policy is applied to a server running higher Cisco IMC versions. For servers running versions higher than 2.0, you must use the Precision Boot Order policy instead.

Creating a Network Configuration Policy

With a Network Configuration policy, you can specify the following network settings on a server:

- DNS Domain

- DNS Server for IPv4 and IPv6

- VLAN configuration

For details about configuring the various network configuration properties, see section Configuring Network-Related Settings in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a Network Configuration policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Network Configuration Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, see Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, complete the following fields:

Field

Description

Common Properties

Use Dynamic DNS check box

Check the check box to indicate use of Dynamic DNS.

Dynamic DNS is used to add or update the resource records on the DNS server from Cisco UCS Director.

If you check Use Dynamic DNS check box

Dynamic DNS Update Domain field

You can specify the domain.

The domain could be either main domain or any sub-domain. This domain name is appended to the hostname of Cisco UCS Director for the DDNS update.

IPv4 Properties

Obtain DNS Server Addresses from DHCP check box

If checked, Cisco UCS Director retrieves the DNS server addresses from DHCP.

If you do not check Obtain DNS Server Addresses from DHCP check box

Preferred DNS Server field

The IP address of the primary DNS server.

Alternate DNS Server field

The IP address of the secondary DNS server.

IPv6 Properties

Obtain DNS Server Addresses from DHCP check box

If checked, Cisco UCS Director retrieves the DNS server addresses from DHCP.

If you do not check Obtain DNS Server Addresses from DHCP check box

Preferred DNS Server field

The IP address of the primary DNS server.

Alternate DNS Server field

The IP address of the secondary DNS server.

VLAN Properties

Enable VLAN check box

If checked, is connected to a virtual LAN.

If you check Enable VLAN check box

VLAN ID field

The VLAN ID.

Priority field

The priority of this system on the VLAN.

Step 8

If you checked the Cisco UCS S3260 check box in the General pane, then you must complete the following steps:

1. In the CMC Settings pane, specify the hostname and IPv4 address, and click Next.

2. In the BMC Settings pane, specify the hostname and IPv4 address, and click Next.

Step 9

In the Confirm pane, click Submit.

Caution

To prevent breaking the communication between Cisco UCS Director and the rack server which depends on the DHCP settings in your network, exercise caution when using the following setting.

If you choose to use DHCP for obtaining the DNS IP addresses, the system will also configure the rack server (where this policy is applied) to use DHCP for the Management IP Address of the server.

Creating a Network Security Policy

Cisco UCS Director uses IP blocking as network security. IP blocking prevents the connection between a server or a website and certain IP addresses or a range of addresses. IP blocking effectively bans undesired connections from those computers to a website, mail server, or other Internet servers. You can create one or more Network Security policies which contain a specific grouping of IP properties that match the needs of a server or a set of servers.

For details about configuring the various network security properties, see section Network Security Configuration in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a Network Security policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Network Security from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the IP Blocking pane, check the Enable IP Blocking checkbox to block the IP, and enter attributes to set IP Blocking properties.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the IP Filtering pane, check the Enable IP Filtering checkbox to enter IP addresses or a range of IP addresses.

Step 10

Click Submit.

Creating an NTP Policy

With an NTP service, you can configure a server managed by Cisco UCS Director to synchronize the time with an NTP server. By default, the NTP server does not run in Cisco UCS Director. You must enable and configure the NTP service by specifying the IP/DNS address of at least one server or a maximum of four servers that function as NTP servers. When you enable the NTP service, Cisco UCS Director synchronizes the time on the managed server with the configured NTP server.

For details about configuring the various NTP properties, see section Configuring Network Time Protocol Settings in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a NTP policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose NTP Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Enable NTP check box

Check this check box to enable NTP and to configure a maximum of 4 servers.

NTP Server 1 field

Enter the IP address of the NTP server. You can enter the IP addresses of a maximum of 4 servers.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Note

This policy is not applicable to E-series server models.

Creating a Password Expiration Policy

You can set a shelf life for a password, after which the password expires and is no longer valid for use. As an administrator, you can set this time in days. This configuration is common to all users. Users can set and derive the configuration as part of the user policy and create a password expiration policy.

For details about configuring the various properties, see section Configuring Password Expiry for Users in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Password Expiration Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the General page, enter a name for the policy and click Next.

Step 6

In the Main page, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Enable Password Expiry check box

Check this check box to enable a specified password expiry duration. You must set the number of days after which the password will expire.

Choose a number from the Password Expiry Duration drop-down list.

Password History field

Set the number of occurrences that will be displayed when you view the password history.

Notification Period field

Set the number of days before which you will be notified about the password expiry.

Grace Period field

Set the grace period after which the password will expire.

Step 7

Click Submit.

- You can also select an existing policy and click Properties or Delete to edit or delete a policy from the More Actions drop-down list.

- This policy must be applied along with the User policy. You cannot apply a Password Expiration policy individually.

- E-Series servers do not suppport Password Expiration policy.

Creating a Precision Boot Order Policy

Configuring the precision boot order allows linear ordering of the devices. In Cisco UCS Director you can change the boot order and boot mode, add multiple devices under each device types, re-arrange the boot order, and set parameters for each device type.
For details about configuring the various boot order properties, see section Configuring the Precision Boot Order in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

You can create this policy for servers that are running Cisco IMC version 2.x and above. For servers that are running versions prior to 2.x, you must configure the Legacy Boot Order policy instead.

Perform the following procedure to create a Precision Boot Order policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Precision Boot Order Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create Precision Boot Order Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

In the Main pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

UEFI Secure Boot check box

Check the check box to enable UEFI secure boot.

If you check this check box, then you cannot configure a boot mode.

Configure Boot Mode drop-down list

Choose a boot mode from the drop-down list.

You can choose a boot mode only if you have not checked UEFI Secure Boot.

Select Devices list

Expand the list, and click + and select or enter device details. To enter the device details, you must specify the following fields:

- Device Type

- Device Name

- State

- Slot

Step 7

In the Add Entry to Select Devices screen, click Submit.

The devices that you have added are listed in the table. Use the up and down arrow icons to re-order the entries. The order of entries in the table determines the boot order.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Step 9

Check Configure One Time Boot Device to set the device from which the server must boot once.

Important

This check box is not applicable for Cisco IMC versions older than 3.0(1c).

Step 10

Select the device from the One Time Boot Device drop-down list.

Step 11

Check Reboot On Update to reboot the selected server after the one time boot device has been updated in the server.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Power Restore Policy

Create this policy when you want to modify the value for the Power Restore policy set on an E-series server without having to login to the Cisco IMC of that server.

Note

You can create this policy only for E-series servers. You cannot create this policy for ENCS servers or C-series servers.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

On the Add screen, choose Power Restore Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

Enter a name in the Policy Name field.

You can also check the Create policy from current configuration of the server check box and click Next. This takes you to the Server Details screen. See Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Step 6

Choose a setting from the Power Restore Policy drop-down list.

It can be one of the following options:

- Power-off

- Power-on

- Restore-last-state

Step 7

Click Submit.

What to do next

You must apply this policy. For more information, see Applying a Hardware Policy.

Creating a RAID Policy

You can use a RAID policy to create virtual drives on a server. You can also configure the storage capacity of a virtual drive. Each virtual drive in a RAID policy is associated with a disk group policy. Using a disk group policy you can select and configure the disks to be used for a particular virtual drive.

RAID policy is supported only on the following:

- Storage controllers that support RAID configurations.

- Cisco IMC firmware version 2.0(4c) and above.

- Servers containing single storage controllers. On servers containing multiple storage controllers, the RAID policy will be applied only on the storage controller in the first slot.

For details about configuring the various properties, see section Managing Storage Adapters in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a RAID policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose RAID Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create RAID Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, click + to add virtual drives that you want to configure on the server to the Virtual Drives list.

Step 8

In the Add Entry to Virtual Drives screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Virtual Drive Name field

Enter a unique name for the virtual drive.

Virtual Drive Size (MB) field

The size of the virtual drive.

Disk Group Policy drop-down list

You can either select an existing Disk Group policy from the drop-down list and edit or add a new Disk Group policy to specify local disks. To create a Disk Group policy, see Creating a Disk Group Policy.

Note

If two virtual drives are created and associated to the same Disk Group policy, they will share the same virtual drive group space.

Access Policy drop-down list

Choose an access policy for the virtual drive.

Read Policy drop-down list

Choose a read policy for the virtual drive.

Write Policy drop-down list

Choose a Write for the virtual drive.

IO Policy drop-down list

Choose an IO for the virtual drive.

Drive Cache drop-down list

Select the status of the drive cache.

Expand to available check box

Check the check box to expand the virtual drive.

Boot drive check box

Check the check box to indicate this virtual drive as a boot drive.

Set disks in JBOD state to Unconifigured Good check box

Disks which are in JBOD state will be set to Unconfigured Good state before being used for the Virtual Drive creation

Step 9

In the Add Entry to Virtual Drives screen, click Submit.

Step 10

Check Delete existing Virtual Drives to delete all existing virtual drives on the server.

If you select this check box, all existing virtual drives on the server will be deleted when the policy is applied. This results in loss of existing data.

Step 11

Check Configure Unused Disks to configure the remaining disks.

This option is applicable only on storage controllers that support JBOD. The disks that are not used for virtual drives or hotspares are configured as JBOD.

1. Check either of the following options:

- Unconfigured Good

- JBOD

Step 12

Click Submit.

Creating a Serial Over LAN Policy

Serial over LAN enables the input and output of the serial port of a managed system to be redirected over IP. Configure and use a serial over LAN on your server when you want to reach the host console with Cisco UCS Director. You can create one or more Serial over LAN policies which contain a specific grouping of Serial Over LAN attributes that match the needs of a server or a set of servers.

For details about configuring the various Serial Over LAN properties, see section Configuring Serial Over LAN in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a Serial Over LAN policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Serial Over LAN Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create SoL Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, check the Enable SoL check box and select the CoM Port and Baud Rate values from the drop-down list or use the existing values.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Creating an SNMP Policy

Cisco UCS Director supports configuration of the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) settings and for sending fault and alert information by SNMP traps from the managed server.

For details about configuring the various SNMP properties, see section Configuring SNMP in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a SNMP policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose SNMP Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create SNMP Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the SNMP Users pane, click + to add a SNMP user and fill in the user details. You can use the + icon to add up to 15 SNMP Users.

Select an existing SNMP entry to edit or delete an entry from the table.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

In the SNMP Traps pane, click + to add a SNMP trap and fill in the trap details. You can use the + icon to add up to 15 SNMP Traps.

Select an existing SNMP entry to edit or delete an entry from the table.

Step 10

Click Next.

Step 11

In the SNMP Settings pane, configure the SNMP properties.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Note

- Any existing SNMP Users or SNMP Traps configured previously on the server are removed and replaced with users or traps that you configured in the policy. If you have not added any users or traps into the policy, the existing users or traps on the server are removed but not replaced.

- The SNMP Port cannot be configured on a server that is running Cisco IMC versions prior to 2.x; it must be excluded for such servers using the check box.

Creating an SSH Policy

The SSH server enables an SSH client to make a secure, encrypted connection and the SSH client is an application running over the SSH protocol to provide device authentication and encryption. You can create one or more SSH policies which contain a specific grouping of SSH properties that match the needs of a server or a set of servers.

For details about configuring the various SSH properties, see section Configuring SSH in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create an SSH policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose SSH Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create SSH Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Enable SSH check box

Check the check box to enable SSH and configure the SSH properties.

SSH Port field

By default, the port number of 22 is displayed. Use the arrows to increase or decrease the number.

SSH Session Timeout (seconds) field

The idle time, in seconds, after which an SSH session is timed out. By default, it is set to 60 seconds. Use the arrows to increase or decrease the number.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Creating a User Policy

A user policy automates the configuration of local user settings. You can create one or more user policies which contain a list of local users that need to be configured on a server or a group of servers.

For details about configuring the various properties, see section Configuring Local Users in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a User policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose User Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create User Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, check Enforce Strong Password.

Checking this check box implies that users selected for this policy must create a strong password.

Step 8

Click + to add users that need to be configured on the server to the Users list.

You can also select an existing user from the Users table and click Edit or Delete icons to edit or delete a user.

Step 9

In the Add Entry to Users screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Username field

Enter a name for the user in the field.

Role drop-down list

Choose a role for the user such as read-only, admin and so on from the drop-down list.

Enable User Account check box

Check this check box to activate the user account.

New Password field

Enter a password associated with the username.

Confirm New Password field

Repeat the password from the previous field.

Step 10

Click Submit.

Step 11

In the Main pane, check Add Password Expiration Policy, and you can either choose a password expiration policy that you have previously created, or you can create a new policy.

To use a password expiration policy, Cisco IMC version 3.0(1c) or later is required.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Note

- The first user in the Users table is the admin user. You cannot delete this admin user but you can change the password.

- When you apply a user policy, the user entries in Cisco UCS Director are replaced with the user entries you created. Blank entries in Cisco UCS Director are replaced with default users from Cisco UCS Director. The default user role is always read-only and the user is disabled.

- Ensure that the account used to manage the Cisco UCS Director is not deleted from the user list in the policy. If deleted, the Cisco UCS Director will lose connection to the server being managed.

Creating a VIC Adapter Policy

For details about configuring the various properties, see section Viewing VIC Adapter Properties in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a VIC Adapter policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose VIC Adapter Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create VIC Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main pane, click + to add a VIC adapter entry in the table.

Step 8

In the Add Entry to VIC Adapters screen, enter or select the adapter details.

- vNIC - default properties are eth0 and eth1. You can only edit these properties and cannot delete them. These properties are also available for usNIC properties.

- vHBA - default properties are fc0 and fc1. You can only edit these properties and cannot delete them.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Step 10

In the Main pane, click Submit.

Creating a Virtual KVM Policy

The KVM console is an interface accessible from Cisco UCS Director that emulates a direct keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) connection to the server. The KVM console allows you to connect to the server from a remote location. You can create one or more KVM policies which contain a specific grouping of virtual KVM properties that match the needs of a server or a set of servers.

For details about configuring the various KVM properties, see section Configuring the Virtual KVM in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform this procedure when you want to create a Virtual KVM policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Virtual KVM Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create vKVM Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

Check Enable vKVM.

Step 8

In the Max Sessions drop-down list, choose a number to indicate the maximum number of KVM sessions.

Step 9

In the Remote Port field, specify the port number.

Step 10

Check the Enable Video Encryption check box.

Step 11

Check the Enable Local Server Video check box.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Creating a vMedia Policy

You can use Cisco UCS Director to install an OS on the server using the KVM console and VMedia. You can create one or more vMedia policies which contain vMedia mappings for different OS images that match the needs of a server or a set of servers. You can configure upto two vMedia mappings in Cisco UCS Director - one for ISO files (through CDD) and the other for IMG files (through HDD).

For details about configuring the various vMedia properties, see section Configuring Virtual Media in the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide.

Perform the following procedure to create a VMedia policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose vMedia Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create vMedia Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

Check this check box to create this policy for Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Main screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Enable vMedia check box

Check the check box to enable vMedia.

Enable Virtual Media Encryption check box

Check the check box for enabling vMedia encryption.

This field is editable only after you check Enable vMedia.

Enable Low Power USB check box

Check this check box to enable low power USB on the server.

Maximum Sessions drop-down list

Select the maximum number of sessions allowed on the server.

Step 8

Click Next.

Step 9

Check Add CDD vMedia Mapping and complete the CDD mapping details.

Step 10

Click Next.

Step 11

Check Add HDD vMedia Mapping check box and complete the HDD mapping details.

Step 12

Click Submit.

Note

- Low Power USB State cannot be configured currently in Cisco UCS Director.

- Applying a vMedia policy removes any existing vMedia mappings previously configured on the server, even if the policy does not contain any vMedia mappings.

Creating a Zoning Policy

A Zoning policy is used to assign physical drives to server. The Cisco UCS C-Series rack-mount servers support dynamic storage of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives in the Cisco Management Controller (CMC). This dynamic storage support is provided by the SAS fabric manager located in the CMC. Dynamic storage supports the following options:

- Assigning physical disks to server 1 and server 2

- Chassis Wide Hot Spare (supported only on RAID controllers)

- Shared mode (supported only in HBAs)

- Un-assigning physical disks

- Viewing SAS expander properties

- Assigning physical drives to servers

- Moving physical drives as Chassis Wide Hot Spare

- Un-assigning physical drives

For details about configuring the various disk group properties, see section Dynamic Storage in the Cisco UCS C-Series Integrated Management Controller GUI Configuration Guide for S3260 Servers.

Perform the following procedure to create a Zoning policy.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add screen, choose Zoning Policy from the drop-down list and click Submit.

Step 5

In the Create Zoning Policy screen, in the General pane, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Policy Name field

A unique name for the policy.

Policy Type field

The type of policy that you are creating. You cannot edit this field.

Create policy from current configuration of the server check box

Check this check box to create the policy from an existing configuration of the server.

If you check this check box, an additional Server Details pane is displayed. For information on performing tasks in this pane, refer Creating a Policy from an Existing Configuration.

Cisco UCS S3260 check box

A Zoning Policy is only applicable to Cisco UCS S3260 Rack Server. So, the Cisco UCS S3260 check box is checked by default.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Zoning screen, click + to add local disks that you want to configure on the server.

Step 8

In the Add Entry to Local Disks screen, enter the Slot Number where the local disk is present.

Step 9

Select the local disk details such as the Ownership assigning the ownership of the local disk.

Step 10

Check Force when assigning disks owned by one server to another server.

Step 11

Click Submit.

Step 12

Check Modify Physical Drive Power Policy to set the policy.

Step 13

Select the power state from the Physical Drive Power State drop-down list.

Step 14

Click Submit.

Applying a Policy

Perform this procedure when you want to apply an existing policy to a server.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Expand the folders, and select a policy you want to apply.

Step 4

Click Apply from the options available at the top.

Step 5

In the Apply Policy screen, choose the servers on which you want to apply this policy.

Step 6

Check Schedule Later to apply the policy at a later time.

You will have to select a schedule from the Schedule drop-down list, or create a new schedule.

Step 7

Click Submit.

The process of applying the policy to the specified set of servers is initiated. This process can take a few minutes depending on the policy type and network connectivity to servers to which the policy is being applied.

What to do next

You can also perform the following policy-related tasks:

- Click Clone to copy the details of a selected policy to a new policy.

- Click View Apply Status to see the list of the servers that the policy is associated to.

- Click Delete to delete policies from the system.

Deleting a Policy

You cannot delete a policy if it is mapped to a hardware profile.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Policies.

Step 3

Click Delete.

Step 4

In the Delete Policy screen, check the check boxes of the policies you want to delete.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Rack Server Profiles

Multiple policies combined together form a server profile. For example, you can apply configuration details of a rack server profile to multiple rack-mount servers. You can associate this server profile to specific rack-mount servers. This helps ensure consistency and repeatability of configurations across servers. Defining and using a profile enables greater consistency, control, predictability, and automation as similar configurations are applied across many servers.

The following workflow indicates how you can work with a server profile in Cisco UCS Director:

1. Create a server profile. You can create a policy in one of the following methods:

1. Create a new profile. For more information about creating a new profile, see Creating a Server Profile.

2. Create a profile from the configuration existing on a server. For more information about creating a profile from the configuration existing on a server, see Creating a Profile from an Existing Configuration.

2. Apply the profile on a server. For more information about applying a profile, see Applying a Server Profile.

3. Perform any of the following optional tasks on the profile.

1. Edit

2. Delete

3. Clone

You can also view the list of servers that are mapped to a specific profile and view details of policies tied to this profile. For more information on performing these tasks, see Common Tasks Under Server Profiles.

- Creating a Server Profile

- Creating a Profile from an Existing Configuration

- Common Tasks Under Server Profiles

- Applying a Server Profile

Creating a Server Profile

Perform this procedure when you want to create a server profile.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Profiles.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Create Hardware Profile screen, in the General pane, enter a name for the profile you want to create in the Profile Name field.

Step 5

Click Next or check Create profile from current configuration of the server check box and click Next.

To perform the tasks in the Server Details pane, see Creating a Profile from an Existing Configuration.

Step 6

In the Profile Entities screen, click + to add a profile entry.

You can also click the edit and delete icons to edit and delete the existing entries.

Step 7

In the Add Entry to Profile Name screen, choose the Policy Type.

Step 8

Select the policy name from the Policy Name drop-down list which lists the names of policies you have already created.

You can click the + next to Policy Name to create a new policy based on the policy type you have selected earlier. For more information about creating policies, see Creating Server Policies.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Step 10

In the Profile Entities screen, click Submit.

What to do next

You can also edit, delete, clone a profile and also view the server mapped to a selected profile. For performing these tasks, see Common Tasks Under Server Profiles

Creating a Profile from an Existing Configuration

You can choose to create a profile using a server that you have previously configured. By re-using the existing configuration on a server, you can reduce the time and effort involved in creating similar configurations.

Note

When you create a profile from current configuration of a server, the password fields are not retrieved from the server.

Perform the following procedure when you want to create a profile from current configuration of a server.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Profiles.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

Enter a name for the profile in the Profile Name field.

Step 5

Check Create profile from current configuration of the server. You can use the server details in the following methods:

1. Check the Enter Server Details Manually check box and fill in the following fields:

1. Enter the IP address in the Server IP field.

2. Check the Use Credential Policy check box to select an existing policy and select a policy from the Credential Policy drop-down list or click+ next to the Credential Policy drop-down list and enter the details to create a new policy in the Credential Policy Add Form dialog box.

3. Enter the server login name in the User Name field.

4. Enter the server login password in the Password field.

5. Select http or https from the Protocol drop-down list.

6. Enter the port number associated with the selected protocol in the Port field.

7. Click Select, select the policies, and click Select.

2. Click Select and choose a server from where you can retrieve the configurations.

3. Click Select, choose the policies, and click Select.

Step 6

Click Next.

Step 7

In the Profile Entities screen, click + to add an entry to the profile name.

Click x to delete an existing entry from the Profile Name table.

Step 8

Click Submit.

Common Tasks Under Server Profiles

Perform the following procedure when you want to edit, delete, clone, or view server mapping details of an existing profile.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Profiles.

Step 3

Expand the list of hardware profiles and select a profile.

Step 4

(Optional) To delete a profile, click Delete and complete the following steps:

1. Click Select in the Delete Profile screen.

2. Select one or more profiles.

3. Click Select.

4. Click Submit.

You cannot delete a profile which is associated to a server. You must associate a different profile to the server before deleting it.

Step 5

(Optional) To modify a profile, select a profile, click Edit and modify the required properties.

When you modify a profile name, ensure that you do not specify a name which already exists.

Step 6

(Optional) To copy the details of an existing profile to a new profile, click Clone.

Step 7

(Optional) To apply a profile to a server or server group, click Apply. For more information about applying a profile, see Applying a Server Profile.

Step 8

Click View Details to view the details of a selected profile such as the status of the profile you have applied, the server details to which you have applied the profile and so on. If the profile is not successfully applied for example, an error message is displayed in the Status Message column.

Step 9

Click Submit or Close if applicable.

Applying a Server Profile

Perform this procedure when you want to apply a server profile to a rack server.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Policies > Physical Infrastructure Policies > Rack Server.

Step 2

On the Rack Server page, click Hardware Profiles.

Step 3

Select an existing server profile and click Apply.

Step 4

In the Apply Profile screen, choose the server or server group from the drop-down list, based on whether you want to apply the profile to individual servers or an entire rack server group.

Step 5

Click Select to select the server groups or servers to which you want to apply the profile.

Step 6

Click Submit.

The process of applying a profile to the specified set of servers is initiated. This process can take a few minutes depending on the profile type and network connectivity to server(s) to which the profile is being applied.

Chapter 8. Host Image Mapping for E-series Servers

- Host Image Mapping

- Adding a Network Host Image Mapping Profile

- Creating an Upload Profile for Host Image Mapping

- Creating a Cisco.com Profile for Host Image Mapping

- Applying a Host Image Profile

- Downloading a Firmware Image

- Running a Host Image Upgrade Manually

- Deleting a Downloaded Image

- Mapping and Unmapping a Host Image

- Viewing Status Details of a Host Image Profile

- Deleting a Host Image Mapping Profile

- Configuring Proxy Settings

Host Image Mapping

Host Image Mapping is a commonly used feature for the E-Series servers which allows you to download a firmware file to Cisco IMC, and upgrade the firmware. Using Cisco UCS Director, you can create a host image mapping profile to download and upgrade either one of the following:

- ISO firmware image

- CIMC image or

- BIOS image

You can download the firmware image on Cisco IMC in one of the following methods:

- Provide a location on the network (an FTP, FTPS, HTTP or HTTPS server) where the firmware file is currently available.

For more information, see Adding a Network Host Image Mapping Profile

- Choose the firmware file from a location on your system.

For more information, see Creating an Upload Profile for Host Image Mapping

- Download the firmware image from www.cisco.com.

For more information, see Creating a Cisco.com Profile for Host Image Mapping

Important

To perform these tasks, Cisco IMC version 3.2.4 must be installed on the E-series servers. This feature does not work with prior versions of Cisco IMC.

For information on creating a profile to upgrade the firmware, see Adding a Network Host Image Mapping Profile.

Adding a Network Host Image Mapping Profile

Before you begin

You should have created rack accounts for UCS E-series servers in the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Choose Network Profile.

Click this button if you have downloaded the firmware image from a location on the network.

Step 4

On the Create Host Image Mapping Profile - Network screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

A descriptive name for the profile.

Platform drop-down list

Choose a server platform.

While applying this profile, the list of available servers is populated based on the platform you select in this drop-down list.

Attention

This drop-down list is populated by the rack accounts that you have created for UCS E-series servers.

Download Image From drop-down list

Select the type of server where the firmware image is available. It can be one of the following:

- FTP Server

- FTPS Server

- HTTP Server

- HTTPS Server

Server IP Address field

IP address of the server.

File Path field

The path to the location where the fimware file is available.

File Type drop-down list

Choose the file type of the image. It can be one of the following:

- ISO

- CIMC

- BIOS

File Name field

Enter the name of the file.

User name field

The user name.

Note

This field is only displayed when you select FTP Server or FTPS Server in the Download Image From drop-down list.

Password field

The user password.

Note

This field is only displayed when you select FTP Server or FTPS Server in the Download Image From drop-down list.

Map After Download check box

Maps the downloaded image.

Important

This check box is displayed only if you selected ISO in the File Type drop-down list.

You can map the image while creating the profile, or you can map the image at a later point in time. Mapping an ISO image is mandatory for initiating an upgrade on the server. If you have not mapped the image on the server, and attempt to upgrade the firmware, an error message stating that the image is not mapped is displayed.For information on mapping an image in this scenario, see Mapping and Unmapping a Host Image.

Delete All Existing Images check box

Deletes all the currently downloaded images available in Cisco IMC of the server chosen for the firmware upgrade.

Run Upgrade After Download check box

Check this check box if you want to initiate the upgrade process immediately after the firmware file is downloaded.

If you prefer to initiate the upgrade process manually at a later time, then do not check this check box. To run this process at a later time, see Running a Host Image Upgrade Manually.

Important

If you chose ISO in the File Type drop-down list, and if you check this check box, then you must also check the Map After Download check box to proceed. By checking both these check boxes, the firmware file is downloaded and mapped to Cisco IMC.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to do next

After creating a profile, you must select a server on which this profile must run on. For more information, see Applying a Host Image Profile.

Following are some of the other actions you can perform after creating a profile:

- Edit or delete a profile

- View status information for a profile

- Initiate the upgrade process if not previously indicated while creating the profile.

Creating an Upload Profile for Host Image Mapping

Follow this procedure to upload a firmware file from your system to Cisco IMC.

Before you begin

You should have created rack accounts for UCS E-series servers in the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Choose Upload Profile.

Step 4

In the Create Host Image Mapping Profile – Upload screen, complete the required fields including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

A descriptive and unique name for the profile. The profile name must be unique.

Platform drop-down list

Choose a platform from the drop-down list.

While applying this profile, the list of available servers is populated based on the platform you select in this drop-down list

Attention

This drop-down list is populated by the rack accounts that you have created for UCS E-series servers.

File Type drop-down list

Choose the file type of the image.

It can be one of the following:

- ISO

- CIMC

- BIOS

File Name field

Click Select a File to browse for and select a file from your system.

Map After Download check box

Maps the downloaded image.

Important

This check box is displayed only if you selected ISO in the File Type drop-down list.

You can map the image while creating the profile, or you can map the image at a later point in time. Mapping an ISO image is mandatory for initiating an upgrade on the server. If you have not mapped the image on the server, and attempt to upgrade the firmware, an error message stating that the image is not mapped is displayed.For information on mapping an image in this scenario, see Mapping and Unmapping a Host Image.

Delete All Existing Images check box

Deletes all the currently downloaded images available in Cisco IMC of the server chosen for the firmware upgrade.

Run Upgrade After Download check box

Check this check box if you want to initiate the upgrade process immediately after the firmware file is downloaded.

If you prefer to initiate the upgrade process manually at a later time, then do not check this check box. To run this process at a later time, see Running a Host Image Upgrade Manually.

Important

If you chose ISO in the File Type drop-down list, and if you check this check box, then you must also check the Map After Download check box to proceed. By checking both these check boxes, the firmware file is downloaded and mapped to Cisco IMC.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to do next

After creating a profile, you must select a server on which this profile must run on. For more information, see Applying a Host Image Profile.

Following are some of the other actions you can perform after creating a profile:

- Edit or delete a profile

- View status information for a profile

- Initiate the upgrade process if not previously indicated while creating the profile.

Creating a Cisco.com Profile for Host Image Mapping

Complete this procedure to create a profile to download an image from www.cisco.com.

Before you begin

- You should have configured the Cisco.com user credentials. For more information, see Configuring Your Cisco User Account

- You should enabled proxy configuration on the system. For more information, see Configuring Proxy Settings

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Choose CCO Profile.

Step 4

In the Create Host Image Mapping Profile - CCO screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

A descriptive and unique name for the profile. The profile name must be unique.

Proxy Configuration check box

Indicates if the proxy settings have been configured or not. If the check box is checked, it implies that the proxy settings have been configured.

Platform drop-down list

Choose a platform from the drop-down list.

While applying this profile, the list of available servers is populated based on the platform you select in this drop-down list

Attention

This drop-down list is populated by the rack accounts that you have created for UCS E-series servers.

Download Now check box

Check this check box to initiate the download of the firmware image immediately after you create the profile.

If you do not check this check box now, you can download the image at a later point in time. To do so, choose the profile name in the Host Image Mapping screen, and from the More Actions drop-down list, choose Download Image. After the image is downloaded, you must apply the profile. For more information, see Applying a Host Image Profile.

Available Image drop-down list

Choose the image from the drop-down list.

This list is populated with images relevant to the server platform you chose in the Platform drop-down list.

Map After Download check box

Maps the downloaded image.

Important

This check box is displayed only if you selected ISO in the File Type drop-down list.

You can map the image while creating the profile, or you can map the image at a later point in time. Mapping an ISO image is mandatory for initiating an upgrade on the server. If you have not mapped the image on the server, and attempt to upgrade the firmware, an error message stating that the image is not mapped is displayed.For information on mapping an image in this scenario, see Mapping and Unmapping a Host Image.

Delete All Existing Images check box

Deletes all the currently downloaded images available in Cisco IMC of the server chosen for the firmware upgrade.

Run Upgrade After Download check box

Check this check box if you want to initiate the upgrade process immediately after the firmware file is downloaded.

If you prefer to initiate the upgrade process manually at a later time, then do not check this check box. To run this process at a later time, see Running a Host Image Upgrade Manually.

Important

If you chose ISO in the File Type drop-down list, and if you check this check box, then you must also check the Map After Download check box to proceed. By checking both these check boxes, the firmware file is downloaded and mapped to Cisco IMC.

Step 5

Click Submit.

What to do next

After creating a profile, you must select a server on which this profile must run on. For more information, see Applying a Host Image Profile.

Following are some of the other actions you can perform after creating a profile:

- Edit or delete a profile

- View status information for a profile

- Initiate the upgrade process if not previously indicated while creating the profile.

- Download an image if not previously downloaded while creating the profile.

- Delete a downloaded image.

Applying a Host Image Profile

After creating a host image mapping profile, you can select a server on which:

- A profile can be run to download the image to Cisco IMC or

- firmware upgrade must be initiated immediately, provided you selected the Run Upgrade After Download check box while creating the profile.

Note

If you do not apply a host image profile, then blank reports are generated when you choose the View Status option. Also, you cannot initiate a firmware upgrade without applying a profile, or when the Apply Host Image Profile action is in progress.

Before you begin

You should have created a host image mapping profile in the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Select a profile from the table and click Apply.

Alternatively, you can select and profile, and choose Apply from the More Actions drop-down list.

Step 4

In the Apply Profile screen, click Select to select the servers on which this firmware image must be applied on.

You can select multiple servers. The list of servers is populated based on the server platforms you selected while creating the profile.

Step 5

Click Select to return to the Apply Profile screen.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Downloading a Firmware Image

Complete this procedure to download a firmware image on the Cisco IMC of the server.

Before you begin

- You have created a Cisco.com profile for downloading the firmware image.

- While creating the profile, you have not checked the Download Now check box.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Choose a CCO profile from the list of profiles.

Step 4

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Download Image.

Step 5

In the Download Image screen, review the information displayed and click Download.

The firmware image specified in the profile is downloaded from Cisco.com using the Cisco.com credentials that you configured.

What to do next

At a later point in time, you can delete the image that you have downloaded. For more information, see Deleting a Downloaded Image.

Running a Host Image Upgrade Manually

While creating a host image mapping profile, if you did not check the Run Upgrade After Download check box, then you manually initiate the upgrade process by completing the following procedure.

Before you begin

You should have created a host image mapping profile in the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Choose Run Upgrade.

Step 4

In the Upgrade Host Image screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Select Profile drop-down list

Choose a profile.

After you choose a profile, the details of the profile are displayed on the screen.

Servers field

Click Select to choose the servers on which the upgrade must be run.

Schedule Later check box

Check this check box and select an existing schedule to upgrade the server at a later time, or click + to create a new schedule.

For information on creating a new schedule, see Creating Schedules.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Deleting a Downloaded Image

While creating a Cisco.com profile, you can choose to download the firmware image immediately after creating the profile, or you can download it at a later point in time. After an image is downloaded, you can delete it from the Cisco UCS Director. This option is only available for images downloaded with the Cisco.com profile.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Choose the CCO profile from the list of created profiles.

Step 4

From the More Actions drop-down list, choose Delete Image.

Step 5

In the Delete Image(s) screen, click Delete.

Mapping and Unmapping a Host Image

Complete this procedure to map or unmap a host image on a specific Cisco IMC server. You can map and unmap only an ISO host image. For other host images such as BIOS and CIMC, you can only delete them from this screen.

Before you begin

You should have created a host image mapping profile in the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

Choose the Rack Servers tab.

Step 4

Double-click the server in the list to view the details, or select View Details from the More Actions drop-down list.

Step 5

Choose the Host Images tab.

The screen lists all the images that are available on the Cisco IMC server.

Step 6

Choose an ISO host image and select Map Image or Unmap Image or Delete Image.

From this screen, you can only select Delete Image for BIOS and CIMC images.

Viewing Status Details of a Host Image Profile

Before you begin

You should have created a host image mapping profile in the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Select a profile from the table and choose View Status Details from the More Actions drop-down list.

You can also select a profile from the table and right-click to choose View Status Details.

The View Host Image Mapping Profile Status screen displays the following information:

- Profile name

- Server IP address

- Download status

- Upgrade status

The status information is displayed for an upload profile and for a Cisco.com profile.

Note

If you chose a BIOS file to upgrade the firmware, then you must wait for about 3-4 minutes for the changes to reflect in the Cisco IMC of that server.

Deleting a Host Image Mapping Profile

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Host Image Mapping.

Step 3

Select a profile from the table and click Delete Profile.

Step 4

In the Delete Profile screen, click Delete.

The profile is deleted from the system.

Configuring Proxy Settings

Perform this procedure when you want to configure proxy settings.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > System.

Step 2

On the System page, click Proxy Configuration.

Step 3

Complete the required fields, including the following, to configure proxy on the system:

Field

Description

Enable Proxy Configuration check box

(Optional) Check this check box to enable proxy and complete the following:

- Host Name field - Enter a host name for the proxy configuration.

- Port field - Enter the port for the proxy configuration.

Enable Proxy Authentication check box

(Optional) Check this check box to enable proxy authentication and complete the following:

- Proxy User Name field - Enter a proxy user name for the proxy authentication.

- Proxy Password field - Enter the password for the proxy user name.

Step 4

Click Save.

Chapter 9. Managing Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility Reports

- Hardware Compatibility Reports

- Configuring Your Cisco User Account

- Tagging OS Vendor and OS Version

- Creating Hardware Compatibility Reports

- Synchronizing 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:

- The DNS is properly configured and the url https://ucshcltool.cloudapps.cisco.com is reachable from the system.

- You have specified cisco.com credentials. See Configuring Your Cisco User Account.

Configuring Your 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

- You have configured your Cisco.com account details. For more information, see Configuring Your Cisco User Account

- You have tagged the servers with operating system vendors and operating system versions. For more information, see Tagging OS Vendor and OS Version.

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

- Configure the URL https://ucshcltool.cloudapps.cisco.com.

- You have configured your Cisco.com account details. For more information, see Configuring Your Cisco User Account

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.

Chapter 10. Managing Firmware Upgrades

This chapter discusses the following topics:

- About Upgrading Firmware on Rack Servers

- Adding Images to a Local Cisco UCS Director System

- Uploading Images from a Local File System

- Adding Images from a Network Server

- Upgrading the Firmware Image

- Deleting the Firmware Image

- Deleting a Profile Created for Firmware Upgrade

- Clearing Firmware Upgrade Status Messages

About Upgrading Firmware on Rack Servers

In Cisco UCS Director, you can create firmware upgrade profiles and then use these profiles to upgrade the firmware on rack servers. You can create the following types of firmware upgrade profiles:

- Profile for locally stored firmware images.

For more information on creating this profile, see Adding Images to a Local Cisco UCS Director System

- Profile for firmware images stored on the network.

For more information on creating this profile, see Adding Images from a Network Server

Adding Images to a Local Cisco UCS Director System

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Images - Local.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Firmware Image - Local screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

Enter a descriptive and unique profile name.

The profile name must be unique across both Local and Network image profiles.

Proxy Configuration check box

(Optional) Check this check box to enable proxy configuration and complete the following:

- Host Name field - Enter a host name for the proxy configuration.

- Port field - Enter the port for the proxy configuration.

Platform drop-down list

Choose a platform from the drop-down list.

This list displays only those platforms that have at least one server being managed.

Available Image drop-down list

Choose the .iso image from the drop-down list.

Download Now check box

Check this check box to download the .iso image immediately after adding a profile.

Graceful Timeout check box

Check this check box to specify a time period within which the host system must shutdown to initiate the firmware upgrade process.

Note

You can configure graceful timeout for systems running Cisco IMC 3.1(3a) or higher.

If you do not provide a timeout period, then the system is forcibly shut down after 120 seconds.

Timeout (in mins) field

Specify a time period, in minutes, within which the host system must shutdown to initiate the firmware upgrade process.

You can specify a value between 0 and 60.

Force Shutdown Server check box

Check this check box to forcibly shut down the host system if it did not shut down within the time specified in the Graceful Timeout (in mins) field.

This option is enabled by default.

Accept License Agreement check box

Check this check box to accept the license agreement.

Click on the Terms and Conditions link to read the End User License Agreement.

Note

You must accept the license agreement to create a firmware profile, irrespective of the time you choose to download the image.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Note

- You can click View Location Details to view profile configuration details, click Modify to modify the firmware image details, and click Delete Profile to delete the image profile. You can select multiple profiles concurrently and delete them.

- For downloading the E-Series firmware images, you must associate a contract access to the cisco.com account.

Uploading Images from a Local File System

Perform this procedure to upload iso images from your local file system to the system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Images - Local.

Step 3

Click Upload to add an image.

Step 4

In the Upload Firmware Image - Local screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

Enter a descriptive and unique profile name.

Platform drop-down list

Select the C-Series or E-Series platform.

File Name field

Choose Browse to search and select a file to upload on your local file system.

Step 5

Click Upload.

Step 6

Click OK in the File Upload confirmation screen, once the upload is complete.

Step 7

Click Close.

Note

- You can view profile configuration details, modify the firmware image details, and delete the image profile. You can also select multiple profiles concurrently and delete them.

- The Delete Profile option removes the image associated with the profile. If you uploaded a wrong image or if a file is no longer associated with a profile, a purge system task which runs periodically (once a month) will delete the files from the system.

Adding Images from a Network Server

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Images - Network.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Firmware Image - Network screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

A descriptive and unique name for the profile.

The profile name must be unique across both Local and Network image profiles.

Platform drop-down list

Choose a platform from the drop-down list.

Mount Type drop-down list

Choose either Network File System (NFS) or Common Internet File System (CIFS) server types.

Remote IP field

Enter remote IP address.

Remote Share field

Enter remote share path.

Remote File Name field

Enter a remote filename.

Note

The remote filename is the Unified Computing System (UCS) Server Configuration Utility ISO file.

User Name field

Enter a network path user name.

Password field

Enter a network path password.

Graceful Timeout check box

Check this check box to specify a time period within which the host system must shutdown to initiate the firmware upgrade process.

Timeout (in mins) field

Specify a time period, in minutes, within which the host system must shutdown to initiate the firmware upgrade process.

Force Shutdown Server check box

Check this check box to forcibly shut down the host system if it did not shut down within the time specified in the Graceful Timeout (in mins) field.

This option is enabled by default.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Note

You can click View Location Details to view profile configuration details, click Modify to modify the firmware image details, and click Delete Profile to delete the image profile. You can also select multiple profiles concurrently and delete them.

Upgrading the Firmware Image

Perform this procedure when you want to upgrade firmware on a rack server.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Firmware Upgrades.

Step 3

Click Run Upgrade.

A warning message stating that the firmware upgrade process will result in downtime of the hosts is displayed.

Step 4

Click OK to confirm.

Step 5

In the Upgrade Firmware screen, complete the following:

Field

Description

Select Profile drop-down list

Choose a profile from the drop-down list.

Server(s) list

Check the check boxes of the servers.

The list displays only those servers whose platform matches the one configured in the selected profile.

Schedule later check box

Check this check box and select an existing schedule to run an upgrade.

You can also click on + icon to create a new schedule. For more information on creating schedules, see Creating Schedules. You can go to Policies > Manage Schedules, select a schedule and click View Scheduled Tasks to verify the scheduled task and its progress. You can also select a scheduled task and click Remove Scheduled Tasks to remove the associated scheduled task.

Step 6

Click Submit.

Deleting the Firmware Image

Perform this procedure when you want to delete only the firmware image and not the profile using which the firmware image was downloaded.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Images - Local.

Step 3

Select a profile from the table.

Step 4

Click Delete Image.

Step 5

In the Delete Image(s) screen, click Delete.

The firmware image is deleted from the system. You can download this firmware image from later on by using the Download Image option.

Deleting a Profile Created for Firmware Upgrade

Perform this procedure when you want to delete a profile created for firmware upgrade.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Images - Local or Images - Network.

Step 3

Select a profile from the table.

Step 4

Click Delete Profile.

Step 5

In the confirmation dialog box, click Delete.

Clearing Firmware Upgrade Status Messages

Perform this procedure to clear all firmware-related status messages recorded in the Cisco UCS Director system.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Firmware Upgrades.

Step 3

Click Delete Upgrade Status.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Chapter 11. Monitoring and Reporting

- About Monitoring and Reporting

- Monitoring a Rack Server and Its Components

- Viewing Reports About a Rack Server

- Clearing SEL

- Uploading Technical Support Data to a Server

- Configuring Email Alert Rules

- Configuring an SCP User Password

About Monitoring and Reporting

Cisco UCS Director displays all managed components in each rack-mount server that has been added to a rack group. These components can be hardware or software.

Information You Can View

You can view and monitor details about each component, including the following:

- License status

- Summary of the current status

Components You Can Monitor

You can monitor specific components or view reports for each of the components, including the following:

- vNICs and vHBAs

- Adapters, such as network and PCI

- Hardware components, such as CPUs, interface cards, and memory

Email Alerts

You can configure rules in Cisco UCS Director so that an email message is triggered when faults of a certain severity occur on rack servers or rack server groups. When fault conditions specified in the rule occur, an email message is triggered and sent to the recipients you have specified. For information on configuring these email alert rules, see Configuring Email Alert Rules.

Monitoring a Rack Server and Its Components

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Rack Servers.

Step 5

Choose the row of the server that you want to monitor.

Step 6

Click View Details.

By default, the Summary tab is displayed.

Step 7

Click on one of the tabs to view the status of the licenses, the server, or a specific component in the server.

Additional information may be available if you click View Details on one or more of the individual components.

Viewing Reports About a Rack Server

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Rack Servers.

Step 5

Choose the row of the server for which you want to view reports.

Step 6

In the right pane, click Summary to view a wide array of tabular, graphical, and map reports that provide a view of trending data for the account.

Step 7

For some reports, you can click the icons on the table bar to customize the table columns, filter the results, or export a report of the current table contents.

For more information, see the Cisco UCS Director Administration Guide.

Clearing SEL

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Rack Servers.

Step 5

Double-click the sever from the list to view the details or click the sever from the list and from the More Actions drop-down menu, choose View Details.

Step 6

Click System Event Log.

Step 7

Click Clear IMC SEL Log.

Step 8

(Optional) In the Clear IMC SEL Logs screen, check Delete historical logs from Cisco UCS Director.

Selecting this option clears the system event logs from the Cisco UCS Director GUI.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Uploading Technical Support Data to a Server

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Physical > Compute.

Step 2

On the Compute page, choose the pod.

Step 3

On the Compute page, choose the account under Pods.

Step 4

Click Rack Servers.

Step 5

Double-click the sever from the list to view the details or click the sever from the list and from the More Actions drop-down menu, choose View Details.

Step 6

Click Tech Support.

Step 7

Click Create Tech Support.

Step 8

In the Create Tech Support screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Name

Description

Destination Type drop-down list

Select a destination for the support data. It can be one of the following:

- Remote—Implies an external server

- Local—Implies the current system.

Network Type drop-down list

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

- TFTP

- FTP

- SFTP

- SCP

Server IP/Hostname field

The IP address or hostname of the server on which the support data file should be stored. Depending on the setting in the Network Type drop-down list, the name of this field will vary.

Path and Filename field

The path and filename that must be used when uploading the file to the remote server.

Username

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

Password

The password for the remote server username. This field does not apply if the network type is TFTP.

Step 9

Click Submit.

Configuring Email Alert Rules

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > System.

Step 2

On the System page, click Email Alert Rules.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Add Email Alert Rule screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Name field

A unique name for the email alert rule.

Alert Scope drop-down list

Choose if the alert rule applies to a system, server groups or servers.

Server Groups field

Click Select to check the check boxes of the server groups that email alerts should be sent for.

This field is displayed only when Server Group is selected in the Alert Scope drop-down list.

Servers field

Click Select to check the check boxes of the servers that email alerts should be sent for.

This field is displayed only when Server is selected in the Alert Scope drop-down list.

Email Addresses field

The email address of the recipients of the email.

You can enter multiple email addresses, separated by commas.

Severity field

Click Select to check the check boxes of the severity levels for which the email alert must be triggered.

Enable Alert check box

Check this check box to enable the alert rule immediately.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Overview of Server Diagnostics

Server diagnostics is available through UCS Server Configuration Utility (UCS-SCU). You can use diagnostics tools to diagnose hardware problems with your Cisco servers and run tests on various server components to find out hardware issues along with analysis of the test results in a tabular format.

You must download, configure, and save the UCS-SCU image to a remote location.

Note

Running a diagnostic test using the UCS-SCU image results in the server being temporarily unavailable as the server reboots with the UCS-SCU image.

When you run diagnostics on any rack server, it reboots with the UCS-SCU image hosted on the location you have configured. The diagnostics tabular report displays the status of diagnostics for each server on which you have run diagnostics. Also, details of the server, the date and time the report was generated, diagnostics status and so on are displayed. You can delete or download diagnostic reports for a single or for multiple servers.

Note

You must configure the scpuser password to run server diagnostics. To configure the scpuser password, see Configuring an SCP User Password.

Configuring Server Configuration Utility Image Location

Perform this procedure to configure and save the location of the UCS-SCU image.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click SCU Images Profiles.

Step 3

Click Add.

Step 4

In the Configure SCU Image Location screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Profile Name field

Enter a name for the SCU image profile.

ISO Share Type drop-down list

Choose either Network File System (NFS), Common Internet File System (CIFS), World Wide Web (WWW) or Local share type.

ISO Share IP field

Enter the ISO share IP address.

ISO Share Path field

Enter the ISO share path.

Username field

Enter your ISO share login user name.

Password field

Enter your ISO share login password.

Step 5

Click Save.

Running Diagnostics

Perform this procedure when you want to run diagnostics for servers or server groups. Running diagnostics on servers will result in the selected servers being restarted.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Physical Accounts.

Step 2

On the Physical Accounts page, click Server Diagnostics.

Step 3

Click Run Diagnostics.

Step 4

In the Run Diagnostics screen, complete the required fields, including the following:

Field

Description

Select Profile drop-down list

Choose a diagnostics profile from the list.

Server(s) drop-down list

Click Select to check the check boxes of the server groups for which you want to run the diagnostics.

Step 5

Click Submit.

Note

You can perform the following actions on a server or multiple servers:

- Select a server and click View Report to view reports.

- Select a server or multiple servers and click Delete Report to delete reports.

- Select a server or multiple servers and click Download Report to download reports. When you select multiple servers to download diagnostics reports, a zip file containing all the reports are downloaded.

You cannot choose a server which is already running a diagnostics operation. Wait for the diagnostics operation to complete before triggering another diagnostics on this server.

Diagnostics may take around 40 minutes to complete. This varies depending on the number of components present in the server.

Configuring an SCP User Password

An SCP user is used by server diagnostics and tech support upload operations for transferring files to the Cisco IMC Supervisor appliance using the SCP protocol. An scp user account cannot be used to login to the Cisco IMC Supervisor UI or the shelladmin. You must create an SCP user using Putty, and then log in to the user interface to set a password.

Complete this procedure to configure a password for an SCP user.

Procedure

Step 1

Choose Administration > Users and Groups.

Step 2

On the Users and Groups page, click SCP User Configuration.

Step 3

Enter the scp user password in the Password field.

Step 4

Click Submit.

Chapter 12. Using Orchestration Workflows

- Orchestration Workflows for Rack Servers

- Orchestration Tasks for Rack Servers

- Sample Workflow: Power Cycling a Rack Server

Orchestration Workflows for Rack Servers

Cisco UCS Director includes orchestration features that allow you to create workflows to automate the configuration and management of tasks that are typically managed by Cisco Integrated Management Controller (Cisco IMC). Some tasks, such as associating a rack server profile with a rack server or adding a vNIC or a vHBA to a rack-mount server, can only be done through a workflow.

For an example of a workflow for a rack server, see Sample Workflow: Power Cycling a Rack Server. For more information about orchestration in Cisco UCS Director, see the Cisco UCS Director Orchestration Guide.

Orchestration Tasks for Rack Servers

Cisco UCS Director provides some orchestration tasks in the Task Library that you can include in workflows.

Location of Orchestration Tasks

A complete list of the Cisco IMC orchestration tasks is available in the Workflow Designer and the Task Library. The Task Library includes a description of the orchestration tasks. It can be accessed from the following locations in Cisco UCS Director:

- Policies > Orchestration > Workflows

- http://IP_address/app/cloudmgr/onlinedocs/cloupiaTaskLib.html where IP_address is the IP address of Cisco UCS Director.

In the Workflow Designer, you can access these tasks to add them to a workflow from the Available Tasks pane through Physical Compute Tasks > Rack Server Tasks.

Types of Orchestration Tasks

The Cisco IMC orchestration tasks include tasks to configure and manage the following:

- Power On/Power Off CIMC Server

- Configure Rack Server

- Unconfigure Rack Server

- Select Rack Server

Note

These Cisco IMC orchestration tasks are currently not supported on Cisco UCS S3260 servers.

Sample Workflow: Power Cycling a Rack Server

You can create workflows to automate many configuration and management tasks for rack servers. The following sample workflow power cycles a rack-mount server. You can find detailed information about each workflow task in the Task Library.

Workflow Task

Inputs

Outputs

Power On/Off CIMC Server

User input:

- Manage Workflow User Inputs—Add CIMC Server Identity as a user input.

- CIMC Server—Check the Map to User Input check box and choose the label you assigned to CIMC Server Identity to enable the user to choose a server.

Task input—Choose Power Off, Power On or Reset to perform respective power operation on the selected server.

Server identity, including information about the MAC address, VLAN, and WWPN of the vHBA.

Configure Rack Server

User inputs:

- Manage Workflow User Inputs—Add CIMC Rack Server Profile Selector and CIMC Server Identity as user input.

- Check the Map to User Input check box and choose the label you assigned to Rack Server Profile Selector to enable the user to choose the rack server profile to be associated with the server.

- Select Rack Server—Check the Map to User Input check box and choose the label you assigned to CIMC Server Identity to enable the user to choose a server.

Task inputs:

- Policy Type— Choose the type of policy to be applied to the server from the profile.

- Rack Server Profile— Choose the rack server profile that includes the policy type that you selected.

- Select Rack Server— Choose the rack server to which the policy type must be applied. The selected policy type from the profile is applied on the rack server.

Server identity, including information on the server profile identity, MAC address, VLAN and WWPN of the vHBA.

Unconfigure Rack Server

User input:

- Select Rack Server—Check the Map to User Input check box and choose the label you assigned to Rack Server Identity to enable the user to choose a server.

Task input—None.

Server identity.

Preface

- Audience

- Conventions

- Related Documentation

- Documentation Feedback

- Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

Audience

This guide is intended primarily for data center administrators who use Cisco UCS Director and who have responsibilities and expertise in one or more of the following:

- Server administration

- Storage administration

- Network administration

- Network security

- Virtualization and virtual machines

Conventions

Text Type

Indication

GUI elements

GUI elements such as tab titles, area names, and field labels appear in this font.

Main titles such as window, dialog box, and wizard titles appear in this font.

Document titles

Document titles appear in this font.

TUI elements

In a Text-based User Interface, text the system displays appears in this font.

System output

Terminal sessions and information that the system displays appear in this font.

CLI commands

CLI command keywords appear in this font .

Variables in a CLI command appear in this font .

[ ]

Elements in square brackets are optional.

{x | y | z}

Required alternative keywords are grouped in braces and separated by vertical bars.

[x | y | z]

Optional alternative keywords are grouped in brackets and separated by vertical bars.

string

A nonquoted set of characters. Do not use quotation marks around the string or the string will include the quotation marks.

< >

Nonprinting characters such as passwords are in angle brackets.

[ ]

Default responses to system prompts are in square brackets.

!, #

An exclamation point (!) or a pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line of code indicates a comment line.

Note

Means reader take note. Notes contain helpful suggestions or references to material not covered in the document.

Caution

Means reader be careful. In this situation, you might perform an action that could result in equipment damage or loss of data.

Tip

Means the following information will help you solve a problem. The tips information might not be troubleshooting or even an action, but could be useful information, similar to a Timesaver.

Timesaver

Means the described action saves time. You can save time by performing the action described in the paragraph.

Warning

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

This warning symbol means danger. You are in a situation that could cause bodily injury. Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with electrical circuitry and be familiar with standard practices for preventing accidents. Use the statement number provided at the end of each warning to locate its translation in the translated safety warnings that accompanied this device.

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

Related Documentation

Cisco UCS Director Documentation Roadmap

For a complete list of Cisco UCS Director documentation, see the Cisco UCS Director Documentation Roadmap available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/ucs-director/doc-roadmap/b_UCSDirectorDocRoadmap.html.

Cisco UCS Documentation Roadmaps

For a complete list of all B-Series documentation, see the Cisco UCS B-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcomputing/b-series-doc.

For a complete list of all C-Series documentation, see the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap available at the following URL: http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcomputing/c-series-doc.

Note

The Cisco UCS B-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap includes links to documentation for Cisco UCS Manager and Cisco UCS Central. The Cisco UCS C-Series Servers Documentation Roadmap includes links to documentation for Cisco Integrated Management Controller.

Documentation Feedback

To provide technical feedback on this document, or to report an error or omission, please send your comments to ucs-director-docfeedback@cisco.com. We appreciate your feedback.

Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

For information on obtaining documentation, using the Cisco Bug Search Tool (BST), submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see What's New in Cisco Product Documentation.

To receive new and revised Cisco technical content directly to your desktop, you can subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation RSS feed. RSS feeds are a free service.

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