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This chapter contains the following sections:
A UUID pool is a collection of SMBIOS (Systems Management Built In Operating System) UUIDs (Universally Unique Identifiers) that are available to be assigned to servers. The first number of digits that constitute the prefix of the UUID are fixed. The remaining digits, the UUID suffix, are variable. A UUID pool ensures that these variable values are unique for each server associated with a service profile which uses that particular pool to avoid conflicts.
If you use UUID pools in service profiles, you do not have to manually configure the UUID of the server associated with the service profile.
Step 1 | Choose . | ||||||||
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. | ||||||||
Step 5 | Click Organizations. | ||||||||
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to modify the pool and then click View Details. | ||||||||
Step 7 | Click UUID Pools. | ||||||||
Step 8 | Click the pool to which you want to add a block of addresses and then click Add UUID Addresses Block. | ||||||||
Step 9 | On the Add UUID Pool Block screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 10 | Click Submit. |
A server pool contains a set of servers. These servers typically share the same characteristics. Those characteristics can be their location in the chassis, or an attribute such as server type, amount of memory, local storage, type of CPU, or local drive configuration. You can manually assign a server to a server pool, or use server pool policies and server pool policy qualifications to automate the assignment.
If your system implements multitenancy through organizations, you can designate one or more server pools to be used by a specific organization. For example, a pool that includes all servers with two CPUs could be assigned to the Marketing organization, while all servers with 64 GB memory could be assigned to the Finance organization.
A server pool can include servers from any chassis in the system. A given server can belong to multiple server pools.
Step 1 | Choose . |
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. |
Step 5 | Click Organizations. |
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to create the pool and then click View Details. |
Step 7 | Click Server Pools. |
Step 8 | Click Add. |
Step 9 | On the Add Server Pool screen, add a name and description for the pool. |
Step 10 | (Optional)In the Servers field, do the following to add servers to the pool: |
Step 11 | Click Add. |
The Server Pool Qualification policy qualifies servers based on the servers available in the system. You can use this policy to qualify servers according to
Server-related criteria such as model or type, product family, or chassis location
Domain-related criteria such as domain group or domain name
Processor-related criteria such as CPU cores, type, and configuration
Storage configuration and capacity
Memory type and configuration
Other criteria such as adapter type, owner, site, or IP address
Based on the criteria added in the Server Pool Qualification policy, the servers qualified can then be used in the create server pool operation.
Step 1 | Choose . |
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. |
Step 5 | Click Organizations. |
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. |
Step 7 | Click Server Pool Qualification Policy. |
Step 8 | Click Add. |
Step 9 | On the Create Server Pool Qualification Policy screen, type a name for the policy, an optional description, and an optional Server Model/PID. Click Next. |
Step 10 | In the
Domain screen, click the plus (+) sign to optionally
add the domain qualifier.
The
Add Entry
to Domain Qualifier screen appears. You can qualify servers based on
the following criteria:
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Step 11 | In the Add Entry to Domain Qualifier screen, type a name for the qualifier in the Name box. Check the criteria you want to add. Then click the plus (+) sign to add the criteria. After adding the domain qualification option, click Next. |
Step 12 | In the Hardware - Processors screen, check the Processor box to optionally add processor-related criteria. Then click Next. |
Step 13 | In the Hardware - Memory screen, check the Memory box to optionally add memory-related criteria. Then click Next. |
Step 14 | In the Hardware - Storage screen, check the Storage box to optionally add storage-related criteria. Then click Next. |
Step 15 | In the Hardware - Adapter screen, check the Adapter box to optionally add the adapter type, number of adapters, and Model/PID. |
Step 16 | After adding all the criteria, click Submit. |
Step 1 | Choose . |
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. |
Step 5 | Click Organizations. |
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to modify or delete a server qualification policy and then click View Details. |
Step 7 | Click Server Pool Qualification Policy. |
Step 8 | To delete a server pool qualification policy, choose the policy and click Delete. A confirmation message appears. Click Delete again. |
Step 9 | To modify an existing server pool qualification policy, choose the policy and click Edit. The Edit Server Pool Qualification Policy dialog box appears. It contains the following screens: |
Step 10 | After modifying existing qualification options or adding new options, click Submit. |
The Cisco UCS Manager enables you to create a boot policy for blade servers, rack servers, and modular servers.
The Cisco UCS Manager boot policy overrides the boot order in the BIOS setup menu and determines the following:
Selection of the boot device
Location from which the server boots
Order in which boot devices are invoked
For example, you can have associated servers boot from a local device, such as a local disk or CD-ROM (VMedia), or you can select a SAN boot or a LAN (PXE) boot.
You can either create a named boot policy to associate with one or more service profiles, or create a boot policy for a specific service profile. A boot policy must be included in a service profile, and that service profile must be associated with a server for it to take effect. If you do not include a boot policy in a service profile, Cisco UCS Manager applies the default boot policy.
Note | Changes to a boot policy might be propagated to all servers created with an updating service profile template that includes that boot policy. Re-association of the service profile with the server to rewrite the boot order information in the BIOS is automatically triggered. You can also specify the following for the boot policy:
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You can configure a boot policy to boot one or more servers from an operating system image on the SAN. The boot policy can include a primary and a secondary SAN boot. If the primary boot fails, the server attempts to boot from the secondary.
Cisco recommends using a SAN boot, because it offers the most service profile mobility within the system. If you boot from the SAN when you move a service profile from one server to another, the new server boots from the same operating system image. Therefore, the new server appears as the same server to the network.
To use a SAN boot, ensure that the following is configured:
The Cisco UCS domain must be able to communicate with the SAN storage device that hosts the operating system image.
A boot target LUN (Logical Unit Number) on the device where the operating system image is located.
Note | SAN boot is not supported on Gen-3 Emulex adapters on Cisco UCS blade and rack servers. |
Tip | We recommend that the boot order, in a boot policy, include either a local disk or a SAN LUN, but not both. It helps avoid the possibility of the server booting from the wrong storage type. If you configure a local disk and a SAN LUN for the boot order storage type and the operating system or logical volume manager (LVM) is configured incorrectly, the server boots from the local disk rather than the SAN LUN. For example, on a server with Red Hat Linux installed, where the LVM is configured with default LV names and the boot order is configured with a SAN LUN and a local disk, Linux reports that there are two LVs with the same name and boots from the LV with the lowest SCSI ID, which could be the local disk. |
Note | If you are creating a boot policy that boots the server from a SAN LUN and you require reliable SAN boot operations, we recommend that you first remove all local disks from servers associated with a service profile that includes the boot policy. |
Step 1 | Choose . | ||||||||||||||||
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click Organizations. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 7 | Click Boot Policies. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 8 | Click Add. | ||||||||||||||||
Step 9 | On the Add Boot Policy screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 10 | In the vHBAs area, check Add SAN Boot and enter the additional parameters, including the following:
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Step 11 | Click Submit. |
You can configure a boot policy to boot one or more servers from a centralized provisioning server on the LAN. A LAN (or PXE) boot is frequently used to install operating systems on a server from that LAN server.
You can add more than one type of boot device to a LAN boot policy. For example, you could add a local disk or virtual media boot as a secondary boot device.
The order in which boot devices are invoked within the same device class (LAN/Storage/iSCSI) is determined by PCIe bus scan order.
Step 1 | Choose . | ||||||||||||||
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||||||
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||||||
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. | ||||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click Organizations. | ||||||||||||||
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||||||
Step 7 | Click Boot Policies. | ||||||||||||||
Step 8 | Click Add. | ||||||||||||||
Step 9 | On the Add Boot Policy screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 10 | In the vNICs area, check Add LAN Boot and enter the additional parameters, including the following: .
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Step 11 | In the iSCSI vNICs area, check Add iSCSI Boot and enter the additional parameters, including the following:
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Step 12 | Click Submit. |
If a server has a local drive, you can configure a boot policy to boot the server from that device or from any of the following local devices:
You can add more than one type of boot device to a boot policy. For example, you could add a local disk boot as a secondary boot device.
Step 1 | Choose . | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click Organizations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 7 | Click Boot Policies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 8 | Click Add. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 9 | On the Add Boot Policy screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 10 | In the Add Local Devices area, choose from the following options:
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Step 11 | Click Submit. |
You can configure a boot policy to boot one or more servers from a virtual media device that is accessible from the server. A virtual media device mimics the insertion of a physical CD/DVD disk (read-only) or floppy disk (read-write) into a server. This type of server boot is typically used to manually install operating systems on a server.
You can add more than one type of boot device to a boot policy. For example, you could add a local disk boot as a secondary boot device.
Step 1 | Choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | On the Compute page, expand Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click Organizations. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 7 | Click Boot Policies. | ||||||||||
Step 8 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 9 | In the Add Boot Policy screen, complete the following fields:
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Step 10 | In the CIMC Mounted vMedia area, check one or both of the following options to select the vMedia device to add to the boot policy:
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Step 11 | Click Submit. |
vMedia enables dynamic mapping of an external image file to the server’s CIMC. If a vMedia file is mapped as a CDD, then the image file presents itself as a CD-ROM image. vMedia can be referenced as a device in a Boot Policy, from which a server attempts to boot.
vMedia policies are bound to Service Profiles (SPs). Any given SP can have only one vMedia policy active at any given time. However, the policy can include one or more vMedia Mount.
Note | Changing the vMedia Policy for a service profile does not cause service profile reconfiguration, reboot, or service interruption. |
Make sure that you have the required minimum version of Cisco UCS Manager, the BIOS, and CIMC. See Cisco UCS Director Compatibility Matrix.
Step 1 | Choose . |
Step 2 | On the Compute page, choose the UCS Central Account under Multi-Domain Managers. |
Step 3 | On the UCS Central Accounts page, choose the account and click View Details. |
Step 4 | Click Organizations. |
Step 5 | Choose the organization that you want to update and click View Details. |
Step 6 | Click vMedia Policy. |
Step 7 | Click Add. |
Step 8 | On the Add vMedia Policy screen, enter a name and description for the policy. |
Step 9 | From the Retry on Mount Failure drop-down list, choose one of the following to determine whether the vMedia will continue to mount even after a mount failure occurs: |
Step 10 | Expand vMedia Mount Points, and check the vMedia Mount you want to use.
You can create a new vMedia mount point entry using the following steps: |
Step 11 | Click Submit. |