UCS Step

Step-by-Step: Simple Stand Alone UCS Setup in a Lab from Start to FinishThese are the notes I took during the first time I got to set up a non redundant UCS with 1 fabric interconnect, 1 IOM and 1 chassis. Please note that this is just a quick and dirty setup of UCS and should by no means be used for production purposes. The complete build document for the UCS components I wrote for an actual project was 40 pages long complete with proper design of UUID, MAC, WWP pools that requires careful thought based on the client's datacenter requirements and rack layout.

I hope these notes help other professionals out there that are just starting out and I will try to find some time to post a thorough "how to" for a fully redundant setup in the future.

Please also excuse any typos or mistakes below as I had to copy and paste the content from an Outlook email I sent myself, into notepad then back here and some of the text didn't paste properly.

To reset Cisco UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnect, run the following commands: 

1. connect local-mgmt

2. erase configuration

Setting up management IP on the 6100 via Console: 

1. Plug in network cable for management interface (Mgmt0 on 6100).

2. Console into Cisco UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnect (Baud rate 9600, Data bits 8, Parity None, Stop bits 1).

3. Use “console” configuration method.

4. Choose “setup” for setup mode.

5. Set password (password).

6. No to “create a new cluster” to configure standalone.

7. Enter system name (UCSDemo).

8. Enter Physical Switch Mgmt0:

a. IPv4 address (172.200.5.131).b. IPv4 netmask (255.255.255.0).c. Default gateway (172.200.5.1).d. DNS: 172.200.1.5e. Domain name: domain.com.

9. Apply and save the configuration: yes.

Continue Configuration of 6100 via GUI:

1. Access GUI via management IP address.

2. Login to GUI.

3. Navigate to the Equipment tab and select the Equipment node.

4. On the right side of the GUI, select Policies.

5. Under the Global Policies tab, select the proper Chassis Discovery Policy based on the amount of twinax cables that will be used to connect the UCS-6120XP and the UCS Chassis.

6. Save the changes.

7. End-Host Mode is the default setting but if you would like to validate this, navigate to Equipment -> Fabric Interconnects -> Fabric Interconnect A.

8. Under the General tab and under the Actions area, you will see which mode is active.

9. Configure VLANs that will be used for ESX (i.e. service console, vmotion, iSCSI, data traffic).

10. To add VLANs to the Fabric Interconnect, navigate to Equipment -> Fabric Interconnects -> Fabric Interconnect A.

11. Under the General tab under the Actions area, click on LAN Uplinks Manager.

12. Navigate to the VLANs tab and create the additional required VLANs.

13. Once the VLANs have been added in, configure the uplink Ethernet port used for northbound traffic.

14. Navigate to Equipment à Fabric Interconnects -> Fabric Interconnect A -> Unconfigured Ports.

15. Right-click on the ports used to connect to the chassis and select Configure as Uplink port.

16. Verify that the port’s mode is trunk.

17. Connect the physical cables from the Fabric Interconnect to network switch.

18. Configure the northbound switch port as a trunk port.

Connecting UCS-6120XP Fabric Interconnect to the UCS-5108 Chassis:

1. Connect the twinax cable from the Fabric Extender behind the UCS-5108 Chassis to the UCS-6120XP Fabric Interconnect.

2. Plug in Fabric Extender port 1 to Fabric Interconnect port 1. Repeat for port 2.

3. The left Fabric Extender is primary so unless there is another Fabric Interconnect to be used, the right Fabric Extender does not have to be plugged in.

4. Once the cables are plugged, we will need to configure the ports on the Fabric Interconnect as server ports.

5. Navigate to Equipment -> Fabric Interconnects -> Fabric Interconnect A -> Unconfigured Ports.

6. Right-click on the ports used to connect to the chassis and select Configure as Server port.

7. To confirm that the ports have been assigned as Server Ports, navigate to Equipment -> Fabric Interconnects -> Fabric Interconnect A -> Server Ports and review the list of ports displayed.

8. Once the Server Ports have been configured, the Chassis should now show up in the Equipment tab.

Service Profile Creation

1. Navigate to the Servers tab.

2. Right-click on the Service Profiles node and select Create Service Profile (expert).

3. Name: ESX

4. UUID Assignment: 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001

5. Local Storage: Create a Specific Storage Policy

6. Mode: RAID Mirrored

7. Scrub Policy:

8. How would you like to configure SAN storage?: No vHBAs.

9. How would you like to configure LAN connectivity?: Expert

10. Name: eth0

11. MAC Address Assignment: 00:25:B5:XX:XX:XX

12. MAC Address: 00:25:B5:00:00:CE

13. Boot Policy: Create a Specific Boot Policy

Associate Service Profile to Server:

1. Navigate to the Servers tab.

2. Navigate to Servers -> Service Profiles -> Root.

3. Right-click on the Service Profile Name and select Change Service Profile Association.

4. Server Assignment: Select existing Server.

Create a set of Management IP Pool for external management:

1. The Cisco UCS manager needs a pool of IPs for external access to a server through the following:

a. KVM consoleb. Serial over LANc. IPMI

So in order to access the console of the blade, a pool of management IPs will need to be defined (172.200.5.230, 231, 232).

2. Navigate to the Admin tab.

3. Navigate to All -> Communication Services -> Management IP Pool (ext-mgmt).

4. Select Create Block of IP Address.

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Installation Checklists and Prerequisites

This chapter includes the following sections:

Installation Overview Checklist

Installation Prerequisites Checklist

Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites

SAN Boot Topology Example

Mounting the Installation ISO Image

Installation Overview Checklist

Complete the following tasks to install an operating system (OS) on your Cisco UCS B-Series server.

Completed? Task Additional Information

  Complete the prerequisites described in Installation Prerequisites Checklist.

For more information about installation or licensing requirements, see the documentation for the operating system you are going to install.

Completed? Task Additional Information

  Complete the service profile configuration prerequisites described in Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites.

For more information about service profiles, see the GUI or CLI configuration guide for the version of Cisco UCS Manager that you are using.

  Launch the KVM Console and mount the installation media.

For details, see Mounting the Installation ISO Image.

  Complete the installation as described in the procedure for your OS.

For details, see one of the following:

Installing Windows Server 2003 on an Internal Drive

Installing Windows Server 2003 on a Bootable SAN LUN

Installing Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 on an Internal Drive

Installing Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 on a Bootable SAN LUN

Installation Prerequisites Checklist

Before you begin installing the operating system (OS), make sure that you have the following items or have

completed the following tasks:

Completed? Prerequisite

  Make sure the installation-target server supports the version of the operating system (OS) you plan to install.

For the supported versions, see the appropriate PDF or use the interactive UCS Hardware and Software Interoperability Utility. Both are available at the following URL: http:/ / www.cisco.com/ web/ techdoc/ ucs/ interoperability/ matrix/ matrix.html .

Note    The interoperability information for a particular release is dependent on third-party certification testing done after the release has been made public. Therefore, the

Completed? Prerequisite

interoperability information may not be available until several months after the release becomes publically available.

  Make sure you have a configured IP address for Cisco UCS Manager GUI, as well as a login account with administration privileges.

  Make sure you have the installation media for the OS, either on a DVD or as an ISO image. If the software requires an activation key, make sure you have that information as well.

Tip    We recommend that you install the OS from an ISO image that you map as a virtual device.

You can also install from a physical disk, but that method requires that you attach an external USB CD/DVD drive to the blade on which you want to install the OS using a KVM cable with a USB connector. For details, see the Hardware Installation Guide for the blade server that you are using. All hardware installation guides are available at the following URL:http:/ / www.cisco.com/ en/ US/ products/ ps10477/ prod_ installation_ guides_ list.html

Make sure you have the Cisco UCS B-Series Drivers DVD or the ISO image of this DVD.

The Cisco UCS B-Series Drivers DVD ISO image is available from the Cisco.com support site under Downloads > Servers - Unified Computing >Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Server Software > Unified Computing System (UCS) Drivers . The direct URL is: http:/ / www.cisco.com/ cisco/ software/ type.html? mdfid=283853163&flowid=25821.

Note    If you download the ISO image, you need to burn the image to a DVD or use a third-party utility to mount the image on a laptop hard drive.

During the installation, you will need to extract the appropriate driver image file from this DVD to a location accessible to the server so that it can be mounted as a virtual floppy.

Completed? Prerequisite

  If your server has an LSI MegaRAID controller, configure RAID settings for the drives in your server. If you do not configure your LSI MegaRAID LUNs before installing the OS, disk discovery failures might occur during the installation and you may see error messages such as “No Device Found.”

After you complete these prerequisites, make sure you have a properly-configured service profile available to

associate with the server. For details, see Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites.

Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites

Regardless of which version of the OS you install, the installation-target server must be associated with a properly

configured service profile. The service profile contains all of the information and settings that are applied to the

server.

The following checklist provides the minimum configuration settings required in the service profile. For detailed

instructions about configuring these settings, see the Configuration Guide for the version of Cisco UCS Manager that

you are using. The configuration guides are available at the following URL: http:/ / www.cisco.com/ en/ US/ products/

ps10281/ products_ installation_ and_ configuration_ guides_ list.html

Completed? Configuration Task Additional Information

  Use Cisco UCS Manager to configure pools that identify the physical and logical resources on your network. You select from these pools as you build the service profile for the server.

Cisco UCS allows you to define pools for servers, MAC addresses, WWN addresses, UUID suffixes, and management IP addresses.

  Configure one named VSAN for each uplink fabric to which the target server is networked.

A named VSAN creates a connection to a specific external SAN fabric.

  Associate each VSAN with a physical uplink port on its corresponding fabric interconnect.

For example, associate the VSAN that you created for Fabric A with an available physical port on Fabric Interconnect A.

  Create one vHBA policy for each uplink fabric to which the

This vHBA policy defines how the vHBA connects to the SAN.

Completed? Configuration Task Additional Information

target server is networked.

  If your server has an LSI MegaRAID controller, configure RAID settings for the drives in your system by creating a Local Disk Configuration policy.

If you do not configure your LSI MegaRAID LUNs before installing the OS, disk discovery failures might occur during the installation and you may see error messages such as “No Device Found.”

  Create a boot policy for the type of installation you are preforming.

If you are installing the OS on an internal drive, define the following Boot Order:

1. CD-ROM

2. Floppy (for Windows 2003 only)

3. Local Disk

If you are installing the OS in a bootable SAN LUN, define the following Boot Order:

1. CD-ROM

2. Floppy (for Windows 2003 only)

3. Storage

o SAN Primary

o SAN Secondary

  If your server has two network interface cards (NICs), such as theCisco UCS CNA M71KR-E, you must create separate vNIC policies for each card in order to get user-defined MAC addresses for both NICs.

If you only associate one vNIC policy with the service profile, Windows assigns a hardware-based MAC address to the second NIC.

If you later move the service profile to a different server, the hardware-based MAC address will not move with that profile, and any programs that link to the MAC address will not be able to locate

Completed? Configuration Task Additional Information

the proper server.

  Configure any other policies that you require to manage the server.

A complete list of the available policies is included in the Cisco UCS ManagerConfiguration Guides.

  Create a new service profile or modify an existing service profile for the target blade server. Make sure this service profile is associated the network settings and policies that you created for the target server.

If you plan to install the same OS on multiple servers, you can also create a service profile template and associate that template with the configuration settings you created.

You can then use that template to create a unique service profile for each target server.

  Associate the service profile with the target server and reboot the server.

When the target server is rebooted, the settings in the service profile are assigned to it.

Important:

You cannot mount an ISO installation or driver image until after the server has finished rebooting and Cisco UCS Manager has successfully associated the service profile with the server.

SAN Boot Topology Example

The following example shows the topology of a Cisco UCS domain that uses the SAN boot feature.

Figure 1. SAN Boot Topology

Mounting the Installation ISO Image

Before You Begin

Make sure you have completed the prerequisites described in Installation Prerequisites

Checklistand Service Profile Configuration Prerequisites.

 Make sure you have a Cisco UCS username and password.

 Make sure you know the name of the service profile or the server on which you want to install the operating

system (OS).

Make sure that the server is associated with a service profile. For details, see the Configuration Guide for

the version of Cisco UCS Manager that you are using. The configuration guides areavailable at the following

URL: http:/ / www.cisco.com/ en/ US/ products/ ps10281/ products_ installation_ and_ configuration_ guides_

list.html You cannot mount an ISO image on the server until it is associated with a service profile.

Procedure

Step 1   In your web browser, type or select the web link for Cisco UCS Manager GUI. 

Example:

The default web link is http://UCSManager_IP or https://UCSManager_IP . In a standalone configuration, UCSManager_IP is the IP address for the management port on the fabric interconnect. In a cluster configuration, UCSManager_IP is the IP address assigned to Cisco UCS Manager.

Step 2   On the Cisco UCS Manager launch page, click Launch KVM Manager.

Step 3   If a Security Alert dialog box appears, click Yes to accept the security certificate and continue.

Step 4   On the UCS - KVM Launch Manager Login page, do the following:

a. Enter your Cisco UCS username and password.b. Optional: If your Cisco UCS implementation includes multiple

domains, select the appropriate domain from the Domain drop-down list.

c. Click OK.

Step 5   In the Service Profiles table of the KVM Launch Manager, do the following:

a. Locate the row containing the service profile and associated server on which you want to install the OS.

b. In the Launch KVM column for that server, click Launch.

The KVM console opens in a separate window.

Tip    If the Caps Lock key on your keyboard is on when you open a KVM session, and you subsequently turn off your Caps Lock key, the KVM Console may continue to act as if Caps Lock is turned on. To synchronize the KVM Console and your keyboard, press Caps Lock once without the KVM Console in focus and then press Caps Lock again with the KVM Console in focus.

Step 6   How you access virtual media depends on the version of the KVM Console that you are using. Do one of the following to access virtual media:

Click the Virtual Media tab.

Click the VM tab.

Select Tools > Virtual Media.

Step 7   Click Add Image and navigate to the directory containing the installation ISO image.

Step 8   Select the ISO image file and click Open.

Step 9   In the Client View area, check the check box in the Mapped column associated with the ISO file, then wait for mapping to complete.

Tip    Click Details to see the mapping progress.

What to Do Next

Install the OS as described in the installation procedure that matches the OS you are installing