This chapter contains the following sections:
Global Equipment Policies
The chassis/FEX discovery policy determines how the system reacts when you add a new chassis or FEX. Cisco UCS uses the settings in the chassis/FEX discovery policy to determine the minimum threshold for the number of links between the chassis or FEX and the fabric interconnect and whether to group links from the IOM to the fabric interconnect in a fabric port channel.
For more information about chassis links, including an overview of how the chassis/FEX discovery policy works in a multichassis Cisco UCS domain, see the Cisco UCS Manager configuration guides.
The rack server discovery policy determines how the system reacts when you add a new rack-mount server. Cisco UCS uses the settings in the rack server discovery policy to determine whether any data on the hard disks are scrubbed and whether server discovery occurs immediately or needs to wait for explicit user acknowledgement.
Cisco UCS cannot discover any rack-mount server that has not been correctly cabled and connected to the fabric interconnects. For information about how to integrate a supported Cisco UCS rack-mount server, see the appropriate rack-mount server integration guide.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . |
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. |
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Equipment Global Policies tab. |
Step 4 | Check the Rack Server Discovery Policy check box. |
Step 5 | From the Action drop-list, choose what happens when you add a new rack server: |
Step 6 | From the Scrub Policy drop-down list, choose the scrub policy to run on a newly discovered server if that server meets the criteria in the server pool policy qualification. |
Step 7 | Click Save. |
The rack management connection policy determines whether a newly added rack-mount server is automatically managed by Cisco UCS or whether it needs to wait for explicit user acknowledgment. We recommend that you configure this policy for auto-acknowledgment.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . |
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. |
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Equipment Global Policies tab. |
Step 4 | Check the Rack Management Connection Policy check box. |
Step 5 | From the Action drop-list, choose one of the following: |
Step 6 | Click Save. |
A UUID pool is a collection of SMBIOS UUIDs 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 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the pool and then click View Details. | ||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the UUID Pools tab. | ||||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add UUID Pool dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | Click Submit. |
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to modify the pool and then click View Details. | ||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the UUID Pools tab. | ||||||||||||
Step 6 | Click on the pool to which you want to add a block of addresses and then click Add UUID Addresses Block. | ||||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add UUID Pool dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | 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.
Cisco UCS Director displays only the managed servers in a server pool, but the size of the pool includes all servers. For example, if a server pool contains two servers and only one server is managed by Cisco UCS Director, all server pool reports and actions on that pool display only one (managed) server. However, the pool size is displayed as two.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . |
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. |
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. |
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the pool and then click View Details. |
Step 5 | Click the Server Pools tab. |
Step 6 | Click Add. |
Step 7 | In the Add Server Pool dialog box, add a name and description for the pool |
Step 8 | (Optional)In the Servers field, do the following to add servers to the pool: |
Step 9 | Click Add. |
A management IP pool is a collection of external IP addresses. Each block of IP addresses in the management IP pool is reserved for external access that terminates in the CIMC on a server.
All IP addresses in the management IP pool must be in the same subnet as the IP address of the fabric interconnect.
![]() Note |
The management IP pool must not contain any IP addresses that have been assigned as static IP addresses for a server or service profile. |
The management IP pool must not contain any IP addresses that have been assigned as static IP addresses for a server or service profile.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Management IP Pool tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 5 |
In the Create Block of IP Addresses dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 6 | Click Submit. |
The boot policy determines the following:
For example, you can choose to 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 must include this policy 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, the server uses the default settings in the BIOS to determine the boot order.
![]() Note |
Changes to a boot policy might be propagated to all servers created with an updating service profile template that includes that boot policy. Reassociation of the service profile with the server to rewrite the boot order information in the BIOS is automatically triggered. |
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.
We recommend that you use 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 exact same operating system image. Therefore, the new server appears to be the exact same server to the network.
To use a SAN boot, ensure that the following is configured:
![]() Tip |
We recommend that the boot order in a boot policy include either a local disk or a SAN LUN, but not both, to 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 might boot 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 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the Boot Policies tab. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add Boot Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | In the Add Boot Device area, check Add SAN Boot. | ||||||||||
Step 9 | In the Primary vHBA field, enter the name of the vHBA that you want to use as the first address defined for the SAN boot location. | ||||||||||
Step 10 | In the Secondary vHBA field, enter the name of the vHBA that you want to use as the second address defined for the SAN boot location. | ||||||||||
Step 11 |
(Optional)If either or both of the primary and secondary vHBAs points to a bootable SAN image, check the appropriate Add SAN Boot Target check box and complete the following fields:
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Step 12 | 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.
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 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the Boot Policies tab. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add Boot Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | In the Add Boot Device area, check the Add LAN Boot check box. | ||||||||||
Step 9 | In the Primary vNIC field, enter the name of the vNIC that you want to use as the first address defined for the LAN boot location. | ||||||||||
Step 10 | In the Secondary vNIC field, enter the name of the vNIC that you want to use as the second address defined for the LAN boot location. | ||||||||||
Step 11 | Click Submit. |
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 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the Boot Policies tab. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add Boot Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | In the Add Boot Device area, check the Add Local Disk check box. | ||||||||||
Step 9 | 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 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the Boot Policies tab. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add Boot Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | In the Add Boot Device area, check one or both of the following check boxes: | ||||||||||
Step 9 | Click Submit. |
iSCSI boot enables a server with a virtual interface card (VIC adapter) to boot its operating system from an iSCSI target machine located remotely over a network. Cisco UCS Director supports iSCSI boot with the following storage:
When you configure iSCSI boot in Cisco UCS Director, you must first configure iSCSI boot for Cisco UCS and then configure the iSCSI boot workflow for Cisco UCS Director.
For more information about iSCSI boot within Cisco UCS, including guidelines for implementing it, see the Cisco UCS Manager configuration guides.
The following prerequisites must be met before you configure iSCSI boot:
![]() Note |
This procedure provides a high level overview of the steps required to configure iSCSI boot. You must ensure that you complete all of the following steps. |
Command or Action | Purpose | |
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Step 1 | Create the required VLANs to carry iSCSI traffic. | See Creating a VLAN. |
Step 2 | Create one or more MAC pools for the servers within the appropriate organizations. | See Creating a MAC Pool. |
Step 3 | Create one or more vNIC templates within the appropriate organizations. | |
Step 4 | Create a vNIC for fabric A and fabric B. | See Creating a vNIC. |
Step 5 | Create a network policy that includes those vNICs. | |
Step 6 | Create a storage policy. | |
Step 7 | Create one or more IQN pools within the appropriate organizations. | See Creating an IQN Pool. |
Step 8 | Create one or more IP address blocks for the iSCSI IP Pool. | |
Step 9 | Create an initiator and target iSCSI authentication profile. | |
Step 10 | Create one or more iSCSI adapter policies. | |
Step 11 | Create an iSCSI boot workflow and add the required tasks to that workflow. | The following example shows the workflow to create an iSCSI boot workflow for NetApp ONTAP storage:
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An IQN pool is a collection of iSCSI Qualified Names (IQNs) for use as initiator identifiers by iSCSI vNICs in a Cisco UCS domain. IQN pool members are of the form prefix:suffix:number, where you can specify the prefix, suffix, and a block (range) of numbers. An IQN pool can contain more than one IQN block, with different number ranges and different suffixes, but sharing the same prefix.
![]() Note |
In most cases, the maximum IQN size (prefix + suffix + additional characters) is 223 characters. When using the Cisco UCS NIC M51KR-B adapter, you must limit the IQN size to 128 characters. |
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the pool and then click View Details. | ||||||||
Step 5 | Click the IQN Pools tab. | ||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Define Name and Description screen of the Create IQN Pool wizard, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 |
In the Add IQN Blocks screen of the Create IQN Pool wizard, do the following:
Repeat this step until you have added all desired IQN pool blocks. |
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Step 9 | Click Submit. |
The iSCSI IP pool is a group of IP addresses that is reserved for iSCSI boot. This IP pool must not contain any IP addresses that have been assigned as static IP addresses for a server or service profile.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the iSCSI IP Pool tab. | ||||||||||||||
Step 4 | Click Add. | ||||||||||||||
Step 5 |
In the Create Block of IP Addresses dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 6 | Click Submit. |
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the iSCSI Auth Profiles tab. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the iSCSI Authentication Profile dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | Click Submit. |
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the iSCSI Adapter Policy tab. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the iSCSI Adapter Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | Click Submit. |
This example shows how to create an iSCSI boot workflow for NetApp ONTAP. The steps for configuring the Cisco UCS components are the same for all types of storage.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||||||
Step 2 | Click the Workflows tab. | ||||||||||||||
Step 3 | Click Add Workflow. | ||||||||||||||
Step 4 |
In the Add Workflow Details screen of the Add Workflow wizard, complete the following fields and then click Next.
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Step 5 |
In the Add User Inputs screen of the Add Workflow wizard, do the following:
Repeat this step if you want to add additional user inputs. |
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Step 6 |
Click Submit. If you created the workflow in a new folder, you might need to click Refresh to see that folder in the folder list. |
Add tasks to the empty workflow.
This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Create UCS Service Profile task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Create UCS Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create UCS Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create UCS Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
This task adds a third vNIC to the service profile that serves as an overlay vNIC for the iSCSI vNIC.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Add vNIC to Service Profile task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Add vNIC to Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Add vNIC to Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Add vNIC to Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Add iSCSI vNIC to Service Profile task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Add iSCSI vNIC to Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Add iSCSI vNIC to Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Add vNIC to Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Create Service Profile iSCSI Boot Policy task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Create Service Profile iSCSI Boot Policy) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create Service Profile iSCSI Boot Policy) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create Service Profile iSCSI Boot Policy) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Associate UCS Service Profile task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Associate UCS Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Associate UCS Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Associate UCS Service Profile) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
![]() Note |
We recommend that you create a volume of at least 12 GB for an ESXi installation. |
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Create Flexible Volume task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Create Flexible Volume) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create Flexible Volume) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create Flexible Volume) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
![]() Note |
We recommend that you create a LUN of at least 10 GB for an ESXi installation. |
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Create LUN task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Create LUN) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create LUN) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create LUN) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Create Initiator Group task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Create Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Create Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Add an Initiator to Initiator Group task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Add an Initiator to Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Add an Initiator to Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Add an Initiator to Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Create Initiator Group task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Map LUN to Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Map LUN to Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Map LUN to Initiator Group) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand Network Services Tasks. |
Step 4 | Click the Setup PXE Boot task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Setup PXE Boot) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Setup PXE Boot) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Setup PXE Boot) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Power On UCS Server task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Power On UCS Server) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 | In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Power On UCS Server) wizard, do the following: |
Step 7 | In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Power On UCS Server) wizard, do the following: |
This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand Network Services Tasks. |
Step 4 | Click the Monitor PXE Boot task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Monitor PXE Boot) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 |
In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Monitor PXE Boot) wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 |
In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Monitor PXE Boot) wizard, do the following:
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This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Power Off UCS Server task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Power Off UCS Server) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 | In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Power Off UCS Server) wizard, do the following: |
Step 7 | In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Power Off UCS Server) wizard, do the following: |
This procedure assumes that you have created a workflow, as described in Example: Creating an iSCSI Boot Workflow, and that you are already on the Workflow tab within Orchestration.
Step 1 | In the left pane, expand the folder where the workflow is located and click the row for the iSCSI workflow to which you want to add the task. |
Step 2 | On the icon bar, click the purple drop-down list icon and choose Workflow Designer. |
Step 3 | In the Available Tasks pane of the Workflow Designer, expand . |
Step 4 | Click the Modify Service Profile Boot Policy to Boot from iSCSI task, and then drag and drop the selected task onto the workflow designer window. |
Step 5 |
In the Task Information screen of the Add Task (Modify Service Profile Boot Policy to Boot from iSCSI) wizard, do the following:
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Step 6 | In the User Mapping Inputs screen of the Add Task (Modify Service Profile Boot Policy to Boot from iSCSI) wizard, do the following: |
Step 7 | In the Task Inputs screen of the Add Task (Modify Service Profile Boot Policy to Boot from iSCSI) wizard, do the following: |
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . |
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. |
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. |
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to modify a policy and then click View Details. |
Step 5 | Click the Boot Policies tab. |
Step 6 | Choose the boot policy that you want to clone and click Manage Boot Devices Order. |
Step 7 | Use the following buttons to change the order of the boot devices: |
Step 8 | When you are done, click Back. |
This policy qualifies servers based on the inventory of a server conducted during the discovery process. The qualifications are individual rules that you configure in the policy to determine whether a server meets the selection criteria. For example, you can create a rule that specifies the minimum memory capacity for servers in a data center pool.
Qualifications are used in other policies to place servers, not just by the server pool policies. For example, if a server meets the criteria in a qualification policy, it can be added to one or more server pools or have a service profile automatically associated with it.
You can use the server pool policy qualifications to qualify servers according to the following criteria:
Depending upon the implementation, you might need to configure several policies with server pool policy qualifications including the following:
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . |
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. |
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. |
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. |
Step 5 | Click the Server Pool Policy Qualifications tab. |
Step 6 | Click Add. |
Step 7 | In the Create Server Pool Policy Qualifications wizard, enter a name and description for the policy and click Next. |
Step 8 |
On the Adapter Qualifications page, do the following to add adapter qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them:
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Step 9 |
On the Chassis/Server Qualifications page, do the following to add chassis and/or server qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them:
Example: For example, if you want to use chassis 5, 6, 7, and 8, enter 5 in the First Chassis ID field and 4 in the Number of Chassis field. If you want to use only chassis 3, enter 3 in the First Chassis ID field and 1 in the Number of Chassis field. |
Step 10 |
On the Memory Qualifications page, do the following to add memory qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them:
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Step 11 |
On the CPU/Cores Qualifications page, do the following to add CPU and/or cores qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them:
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Step 12 |
On the Storage Qualifications page, do the following to add storage qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them:
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Step 13 | On the Power Group Qualifications page, do the following to add power group qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them: |
Step 14 |
On the Rack Qualifications page, do the following to add rack-mount server qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them:
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Step 15 | On the Server Model Qualifications page, do the following to add rack-mount server qualifications to the policy or click Next if you do not want to add them: |
Step 16 | Click Submit. |
This policy is invoked during the server discovery process. It determines what happens if server pool policy qualifications match a server to the target pool specified in the policy.
If a server qualifies for more than one pool and those pools have server pool policies, the server is added to all those pools.
This policy requires that one or more of the following resources already exist in the system:
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||||||
Step 5 | Click the Server Pool Policies tab. | ||||||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||||||
Step 7 |
In the Create Server Pool Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | Click Submit. |
vNIC/vHBA placement policies are used to determine the following:
Each vNIC/vHBA placement policy contains four vCons that are virtual representations of the physical adapters. When a vNIC/vHBA placement policy is assigned to a service profile, and the service profile is associated with a server, the vCons in the vNIC/vHBA placement policy are assigned to the physical adapters and the vNICs and vHBAs are assigned to those vCons.
For blade or rack servers that contain one adapter, Cisco UCS assigns all vCons to that adapter. For servers that contain four adapters, Cisco UCS assigns vCon1 to Adapter1, vCon2 to Adapter2, vCon3 to Adapter3, and vCon4 to Adapter4.
For blade or rack servers that contain two or three adapters, Cisco UCS assigns the vCons based on the type of server and the selected virtual slot mapping scheme, which can be Round Robin or Linear Ordered. For details about the available mapping schemes, see vCon to Adapter Placement.
After Cisco UCS assigns the vCons, it assigns the vNICs and vHBAs based on the Selection Preference for each vCon. This can be one of the following:
If you do not include a vNIC/vHBA placement policy in the service profile, Cisco UCS defaults to the Round Robin vCon mapping scheme and the All vNIC/vHBA selection preference, distributing the vNICs and vHBAs between the adapters based on the capabilities and relative capacities of each adapter.
Cisco UCS maps every vCon in a service profile to a physical adapter on the server. How that mapping occurs and how the vCons are assigned to a specific adapter in a server depends on the following:
You must consider this placement when you configure the vNIC/vHBA selection preference to assign vNICs and vHBAs to vCons.
![]() Note |
vCon to adapter placement is not dependent upon the PCIE slot number of the adapter. The adapter numbers used for the purpose of vCon placement are not the PCIE slot numbers of the adapters, but the ID assigned to them during server discovery. |
In N20-B6620-2 and N20-B6625-2 blade servers, the two adapters are numbered left to right while vCons are numbered right to left. If one of these blade servers has a single adapter, Cisco UCS assigns all vCons to that adapter. If the server has two adapters, the vCon assignment depends upon the virtual slot mapping scheme:
For all other servers supported by Cisco UCS besides the N20-B6620-2 and N20-B6625-2 blade servers, the vCon assignment depends on the number of adapters in the server and the virtual slot mapping scheme.
For blade or rack servers that contain one adapter, Cisco UCS assigns all vCons to that adapter. For servers that contain four adapters, Cisco UCS assigns vCon1 to Adapter1, vCon2 to Adapter2, vCon3 to Adapter3, and vCon4 to Adapter4.
For blade or rack servers that contain two or three adapters, Cisco UCS assigns the vCons based on the selected virtual slot mapping scheme: Round Robin or Linear Ordered.
Number of Adapters | vCon1 Assignment | vCon2 Assignment | vCon3 Assignment | vCon4 Assignment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
2 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
3 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
Adapter3 |
Adapter2 |
4 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
Adapter3 |
Adapter4 |
Round Robin is the default mapping scheme.
Number of Adapters | vCon1 Assignment | vCon2 Assignment | vCon3 Assignment | vCon4 Assignment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
2 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
Adapter2 |
3 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
Adapter3 |
Adapter3 |
4 |
Adapter1 |
Adapter2 |
Adapter3 |
Adapter4 |
Cisco UCS provides two options for assigning vNICs and vHBAs to vCons through the vNIC/vHBA placement policy: explicit assignment and implicit assignment.
With explicit assignment, you specify the vCon and, therefore, the adapter to which a vNIC or vHBA is assigned. Use this assignment option when you need to determine how the vNICs and vHBAs are distributed between the adapters on a server.
If you attempt to assign a vNIC or vHBA to a vCon that is not configured for that type of vNIC or vHBA, a message displays that advises you of the configuration error.
During service profile association, Cisco UCS validates the configured placement of the vNICs and vHBAs against the number and capabilities of the physical adapters in the server before assigning the vNICs and vHBAs according to the configuration in the policy. Load distribution is based upon the explicit assignments to the vCons and adapters configured in this policy.
If the adapters do not support the assignment of one or more vNICs or vHBAs, Cisco UCS raises a fault against the service profile.
With implicit assignment, Cisco UCS determines the vCon and, therefore, the adapter to which a vNIC or vHBA is assigned according to the capability of the adapters and their relative capacity. Use this assignment option if the adapter to which a vNIC or vHBA is assigned is not important to your system configuration.
To configure a vCon for implicit assignment, do the following:
During service profile association, Cisco UCS verifies the number and capabilities of the physical adapters in the server and assigns the vNICs and vHBAs accordingly. Load distribution is based upon the capabilities of the adapters, and placement of the vNICs and vHBAs is performed according to the actual order determined by the system. For example, if one adapter can accommodate more vNICs than another, that adapter is assigned more vNICs.
If the adapters cannot support the number of vNICs and vHBAs configured for that server, Cisco UCS raises a fault against the service profile.
When you use implicit vNIC assignment for a dual slot server with an adapter card in each slot, Cisco UCS typically assigns the vNICs/vHBAs as follows:
The following examples show how Cisco UCS would typically assign the vNICs and vHBAs with different combinations of supported adapter cards:
![]() Note |
Exceptions to this implicit assignment occur if you configure the vNICs for fabric failover and if you configure dynamic vNICs for the server. |
For a configuration that includes vNIC fabric failover where one adapter does not support vNIC failover, Cisco UCS implicitly assigns all vNICs that have fabric failover enabled to the adapter that supports them. If the configuration includes only vNICs that are configured for fabric failover, no vNICs are implicitly assigned to the adapter that does not support them. If some vNICs are configured for fabric failover and some are not, Cisco UCS assigns all failover vNICs to the adapter that supports them and a minimum of one nonfailover vNIC to the adapter that does not support them, according to the ratio above.
For a configuration that includes dynamic vNICs, the same implicit assignment would occur. Cisco UCS assigns all dynamic vNICs to the adapter that supports them. However, with a combination of dynamic vNICs and static vNICs, at least one static vNIC is assigned to the adapter that does not support dynamic vNICs.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . | ||||||
Step 2 | In the left pane, expand the data center and then click the Cisco UCS Manager account. | ||||||
Step 3 | In the right pane, click the Organizations tab. | ||||||
Step 4 | Click the organization in which you want to create the policy and then click View Details. | ||||||
Step 5 | Click the vNIC/vHBA Placement Policies tab. | ||||||
Step 6 | Click Add. | ||||||
Step 7 |
In the Add Network Control Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
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Step 8 | Click Submit. |
The placement policy is a Cisco UCS Director policy that allows you to select and map vCons to vNICs and vHBAs. Depending upon the configuration you choose, you can allow the system to do the placement, choose the placement yourself, or use a vNIC/vHBA placement policy to determine the placement.
This policy assigns vNICs or vHBAs to the physical adapters on a server. Each placement policy contains virtual network interface connections (vCons) that are virtual representations of the physical adapters. When a vNIC/vHBA placement policy is assigned to a service profile, and the service profile is associated to a server, the vCons in the placement policy are assigned to the physical adapters. For servers with only one adapter, both vCons are assigned to the adapter; for servers with two adapters, one vCon is assigned to each adapter.
You must include this policy in a service profile and that service profile must be associated with a server for it to take effect.
Before you create a placement policy, review the guidelines for vNIC/vHBA placement policies in the Cisco UCS Manager configuration guides to ensure that you understand the impact of the choices that you make.
Step 1 | On the menu bar, choose . |
Step 2 | Click the Placement Policy tab. |
Step 3 | Click Add. |
Step 4 |
In the Placement Policy Details screen of the Add Placement Policy wizard, complete the following fields:
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Step 5 |
If you chose the manual placement option, do the following:
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Step 6 |
On the Virtual Interface Order screen of the Add Placement Policy wizard, do the following:
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Step 7 | After you have completed the placement configuration, click Submit. |