8.31.2011
Hardware and Software Interoperability Matrices
Great reference for hardware/software interoperability on UCS: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10477/prod_technical_reference_list.html
Nexus 1000v Upgrade Videos
Nexus 1000v upgrade videos are available on Cisco's website: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9902/prod_installation_guides_list.html
8.30.2011
Serial over LAN Configuration on UCS Blades
Serial over LAN (SoL) is a mechanism that enables the input and output of the serial port of a managed system to be redirected via an SSH session over IP. SoL provides a means of reaching the host console via CIMC.
The SoL session will display line-oriented information such as boot messages, and character-oriented screen menus such as BIOS setup menus. If the server boots an operating system or application with a bitmap-oriented display, such as Windows, the SoL session will no longer display. If the server boots a command-line-oriented operating system (OS), such as Linux, you may need to perform additional configuration of the OS in order to properly display in an SoL session.
In the SoL session, your keystrokes are transmitted to the console except for the function key F2. To send an F2 to the console, press the Escape key, then press 2.
In order to configure SoL on your UCS blades, you would first need to create a Serial over LAN policy that enables the feature and provides you with the ability to set the baud rate:
Once this is complete, the policy can be applied to your blade's service profile. Applying this policy to your service profile will not require a blade reboot.
It is also recommended that an IPMI policy be assigned to the service profile as well.
Additionally, the BIOS of the blade needed to be configured in order to enable the serial interface for console redirection. This canbe done via a BIOS policy, or directly in the BIOS of the blade by going to Server Management -> Console Redirection. Ensure that the baud rate matches what was set inside of your SoL policy.
At this point, you can SSH into the IP of the KVM for the UCS blade. This is found under the Admin tab -> Communication Services -> Management IP Pool. The username and password that is used to log into the session should be the same as that, which was created previously in the IPMI profile. You should now be able to log into the console as a user other than root. Note: If you launch the SSH to CIMC for SoL, you will receive an error message if you are on a Mac:
In Windows XP, I received this same error message, but in order to resolve it, needed to associate my SSH client in UCSM under Options -> External Applications:
After this, I was able to successfully have an SSH session launches to the KVM IP of the specified blade:
Note: I made the following modifications to my RedHat host.
Added the following to /etc/inittab:
se:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 9600 ttyS0
Added the following to /etc/securetty:
ttyS0
The SoL session will display line-oriented information such as boot messages, and character-oriented screen menus such as BIOS setup menus. If the server boots an operating system or application with a bitmap-oriented display, such as Windows, the SoL session will no longer display. If the server boots a command-line-oriented operating system (OS), such as Linux, you may need to perform additional configuration of the OS in order to properly display in an SoL session.
In the SoL session, your keystrokes are transmitted to the console except for the function key F2. To send an F2 to the console, press the Escape key, then press 2.
In order to configure SoL on your UCS blades, you would first need to create a Serial over LAN policy that enables the feature and provides you with the ability to set the baud rate:
Once this is complete, the policy can be applied to your blade's service profile. Applying this policy to your service profile will not require a blade reboot.
It is also recommended that an IPMI policy be assigned to the service profile as well.
Additionally, the BIOS of the blade needed to be configured in order to enable the serial interface for console redirection. This canbe done via a BIOS policy, or directly in the BIOS of the blade by going to Server Management -> Console Redirection. Ensure that the baud rate matches what was set inside of your SoL policy.
At this point, you can SSH into the IP of the KVM for the UCS blade. This is found under the Admin tab -> Communication Services -> Management IP Pool. The username and password that is used to log into the session should be the same as that, which was created previously in the IPMI profile. You should now be able to log into the console as a user other than root. Note: If you launch the SSH to CIMC for SoL, you will receive an error message if you are on a Mac:
In Windows XP, I received this same error message, but in order to resolve it, needed to associate my SSH client in UCSM under Options -> External Applications:
After this, I was able to successfully have an SSH session launches to the KVM IP of the specified blade:
Note: I made the following modifications to my RedHat host.
Added the following to /etc/inittab:
se:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty 9600 ttyS0
Added the following to /etc/securetty:
ttyS0
UCS Supported/Recommended Firmware
The following table shows the supported/recommended firmware for UCS blades as of today, August 30th, 2011:
More information on supported versions for adapters and other components can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/release/notes/OL_24086.html
More information on supported versions for adapters and other components can be found here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/release/notes/OL_24086.html
Re-number UCS Chassis
A UCS chassis can be renumbered when it is recommissioned into UCSM. This procedure can be done from the CLI or from the GUI. Note: This feature is available in 1.3(1t) and later, and 1.4(2x) and later.
From the CLI:
recommission chassis vendor-name model-name serial-num [chassis-num]
From the GUI:
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab.
Step 2 On the Equipment tab, expand Equipment > Chassis.
Step 3 Verify that the Chassis node does not include the following:
• The chassis you want to renumber
• A chassis with the number you want to use
If either of these chassis are listed in the Chassis node, decommission those chassis. You must wait until the decommission FSM is complete and the chassis are not listed in the Chassis node before continuing. This might take several minutes.
Step 4 On the Equipment tab, click the Chassis node.
Step 5 In the Work pane, click the Decommissioned tab.
Step 6 For the chassis that you want to renumber, do the following:
a. Right-click the chassis and choose Re-commission Chassis.
b. In the Chassis ID field of the Re-commission Chassis dialog box, type or use the arrows to choose the ID that you want to assign to the chassis
c. Click OK
Step 7 If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.
Sources:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/cli/config/guide/1.4/UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_1_4_chapter36.html#task_D9A1BBEB813A40DEB845D1C2163EAF3A
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/1.4/UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_1_4_chapter38.html#task_7CE3D4DF1CEF42A2A7BE144FEDF8DAB5
From the CLI:
recommission chassis vendor-name model-name serial-num [chassis-num]
From the GUI:
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab.
Step 2 On the Equipment tab, expand Equipment > Chassis.
Step 3 Verify that the Chassis node does not include the following:
• The chassis you want to renumber
• A chassis with the number you want to use
If either of these chassis are listed in the Chassis node, decommission those chassis. You must wait until the decommission FSM is complete and the chassis are not listed in the Chassis node before continuing. This might take several minutes.
Step 4 On the Equipment tab, click the Chassis node.
Step 5 In the Work pane, click the Decommissioned tab.
Step 6 For the chassis that you want to renumber, do the following:
a. Right-click the chassis and choose Re-commission Chassis.
b. In the Chassis ID field of the Re-commission Chassis dialog box, type or use the arrows to choose the ID that you want to assign to the chassis
c. Click OK
Step 7 If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.
Sources:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/cli/config/guide/1.4/UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_1_4_chapter36.html#task_D9A1BBEB813A40DEB845D1C2163EAF3A
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/1.4/UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_1_4_chapter38.html#task_7CE3D4DF1CEF42A2A7BE144FEDF8DAB5
Uplink Port Needed for Appliance Port
For reference, posting a link from the Unified Computing Blog regarding the need for an uplink if you are going to be using appliance ports: http://www.unifiedcomputingblog.com/?p=252
8.22.2011
Set UCS SPAN Destination Interface Speed
If the sniffer connected to the traffic monitoring port on the Fabric Interconnect (port 1-8 on a 6120) is running at 1Gbps, the Status of the Port will be failed with the additional information as “SFP Validation Failed” even with a valid SFP in the port. The speed of the port needs to be set at 1 Gbps for it to be in UP state as it does not auto-negotiate. The GUI option for changing speed of a monitoring port to 1 Gbps is not present (Defect ID: CSCti86217) so as a workaround, set the as an Uplink port, set the admin speed to 1 Gbps (under the LAN tab) and then unconfigure the port. The admin speed sticks as 1 Gbps and then the port can be set as a Monitor port and will come up at 1Gbps.
In my experience, setting the port's admin speed to 1 Gbps from 'Show Interface' in the equipment tab is not enough to force the port to preserve the 1 Gbps speed.
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