Now that we have the UCS system racked, powered up, connected to the upstream switch (please use 10GB only see previous posts on why) and SAN we can configure the 2 6100 Fabric interconnects (FI). Everything should be connected similary to Fig 1. One thing not shown here and probably the most important is the L1 and L2 ports on each FI. They must be connected to the other respective ports. These two ports are used for keep alives and to determine which FI is the master. We will configure the primary FI and save and reload. Once back up, we will perform a minimal configuration on the secondary FI and it will sync up with the primary. Each Fabric Interconnect will have upstream 10/100/1000 connection for out of band management. Connect the mgmt0 from each Fabric Interconnect to an upstream switch for connectivity to the Fabric Interconnects and blades.
Here are some things we need to have before we power on the primary UCS sysmtem and go through the startup wizard.
Before beginning the initial configuration of the primary fabric interconnect switch you will need the following information:
- System name (Keep in mind the system name is automatically appended with an A and B)
- Password for the admin account
- Three static IP addresses: two for the management port on both interconnect (one per interconnect), and one for the virtual IP address used by Cisco UCS Manager
- Subnet mask for the three static IP addresses
- Default gateway IP address
- DNS server IP address (optional)
- Domain name for the system (optional)
First interconnect configuration
- Connect to the console port.
- Power on the interconnect device. You will see the power on self test messages as the interconnect boots.
- When the unconfigured system boots, it prompts you for the setup method to be used. Enter console to continue the initial setup using the console CLI.
- Enter setup to continue as an initial system setup.
- Enter y to confirm that you want to continue the initial setup.
Second fabric interconnect configuration
- Connect to the console port.
- Power on the interconnect device. You will see the power on self test messages as the interconnect boots.
- When the unconfigured system boots, it prompts you for the setup method to be used. Enter console to continue the initial setup using the console CLI.
- Enter y to add the subordinate interconnect to the cluster. The cluster is built automatically, and the primary cluster member has been detected.
- Enter the admin password of the peer interconnect.
- Enter the IP address for the management port on the subordinate interconnect switch.
- Review the setup summary and enter yes to save and apply the settings, or enter no to go through the setup wizard again to change some of the settings.
UCS MANAGER INITIAL CONFIGURATION
- With the SAN and LAN upstream switches configured we will start configuring the UCS environment using the UCS Manager. To use the UCSM interface you will need to have a Java runtime environment loaded on your system.
- To begin point your web browser to the cluster IP address you configured on the fabric interconnect switches. On the Welcome screen select launch to download and run the UCS Manager. When the Logon screen appears enter the admin account and password you configured during the initial configuration of the fabric interconnect switches.
At this point UCS is up and running but we still need a lot more work. The chassis need to be discovered by the FI’s so we shall configure this now.
Hardware configuration (Equipment tab)
We will start the configuration by performing some of the general hardware configurations such as defining the server uplinks, defining LAN uplinks and configuring the chassis discovery policy. The following is a list of tasks that will be performed during the hardware configuration: From the equipment tab navigate to policies and under the global polices configure these. Please keep in mind the port licensing structure when you configure the Server and uplink ports. By default only the first 8 ports on the 6120 and first 16 ports on the 6140 as well as the ethernet ports on the 4×4 and 6 port 10 gb expansion module are licensed. So if you didnt get the port licenses, the ports are basically dead.
From the equipment tab we will perform the following tasks so we can have a fully functional and ready to configure UCS system.
DEFINE SERVER PORTS
You can only configure server ports on the fixed port module. Expansion modules do not include server ports.
This task describes only one method of configuring ports. You can also configure ports from a right-click menu, from the General tab for the port, or in the LAN Uplinks Manager.
Procedure
| Step 1 |
In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. |
| Step 2 |
In the Equipment tab, expand Fabric Interconnects > Fabric Interconnect_Name > Fixed Module > Unconfigured Ports . |
| Step 3 |
Click one or more ports under the Unconfigured Ports node. |
| Step 4 |
Drag the selected port or ports and drop them in the Server Ports node.The port or ports are configured as server ports, removed from the list of unconfigured ports, and added to the Server Ports node. |
DEFINE UPLINK PORTS
Configuring Uplink Ethernet Ports
You can configure uplink Ethernet ports on either the fixed module or an expansion module.
This task describes only one method of configuring uplink Ethernet ports. You can also configure uplink Ethernet ports from a right-click menu or from the General tab for the port.
Procedure
| Step 1 |
In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. |
| Step 2 |
On the Equipment tab, expand Equipment > Fabric Interconnects > Fabric_Interconnect_Name. |
| Step 3 |
Depending upon the location of the ports you want to configure, expand one of the following:
- Fixed Module
- Expansion Module
|
| Step 4 |
Click one or more of the ports under the Unconfigured Ports node. |
| Step 5 |
Drag the selected port or ports and drop them in the Uplink Ethernet Ports node.The port or ports are configured as uplink Ethernet ports, removed from the list of unconfigured ports, and added to the Uplink Ethernet Ports node. |
CONFIGURE CHASSIS DISCOVERY POLICY
Configuring the Chassis Discovery Policy
| Step 1 |
In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. |
| Step 2 |
On the Admin tab, click the Equipment node. |
| Step 3 |
In the Work pane, click the Policies tab. |
| Step 4 |
Click the Global Policies subtab. |
| Step 5 |
In the Chassis Discovery Policy area, choose the number of links to be used by the chassis from the Action drop-down list. |
| Step 6 |
In the Power Policy area, click one of the following radio buttons in the Redundancy field:
- non-redundant—All installed power supplies are turned on and the load is evenly balanced. Only smaller configurations (requiring less than 2500W) can be powered by a single power supply.
- n+1—The total number of power supplies to satisfy non-redundancy, plus one additional power supply for redundancy, are turned on and equally share the power load for the chassis. If any additional power supplies are installed, Cisco UCS Manager sets them to a “turned-off” state.
- grid—Two power sources are turned on, or the chassis requires greater than N+1 redundancy. If one source fails (which causes a loss of power to one or two power supplies), the surviving power supplies on the other power circuit continue to provide power to the chassis.
|
| Step 7 |
Click Save Changes |
CONFIGURE POWER POLICY
Configuring the Power Policy
Power Policy
The power policy is a global policy that specifies the redundancy for power supplies in all chassis in the Cisco UCS instance. This policy is also known as the PSU policy.
For more information about power supply redundancy, see Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis Hardware Installation Guide.
Configuring the Power Policy
| Step 1 |
In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. |
| Step 2 |
On the Admin tab, click the Equipment node. |
| Step 3 |
In the Work pane, click the Policies tab. |
| Step 4 |
Click the Global Policies subtab. |
| Step 5 |
In the Power Policy area, click one of the following radio buttons in the Redundancy field:
- non-redundant—All installed power supplies are turned on and the load is evenly balanced. Only smaller configurations (requiring less than 2500W) can be powered by a single power supply.
- n+1—The total number of power supplies to satisfy non-redundancy, plus one additional power supply for redundancy, are turned on and equally share the power load for the chassis. If any additional power supplies are installed, Cisco UCS Manager sets them to a “turned-off” state.
- grid—Two power sources are turned on, or the chassis requires greater than N+1 redundancy. If one source fails (which causes a loss of power to one or two power supplies), the surviving power supplies on the other power circuit continue to provide power to the chassis.
For more information about power supply redundancy, see Cisco UCS 5108 Server Chassis Hardware Installation Guide.
|
| Step 6 |
Click Save Changes. |
ACKNOWLEDGE CHASSIS(S)
Acknowledging a Chassis
Perform the following procedure if you increase or decrease the number of links that connect the chassis to the fabric interconnect. Acknowledging the chassis ensures that Cisco UCS Manager is aware of the change in the number of links and that traffics flows along all available links.
Procedure
| Step 1 |
In the Navigation pane, click the Equipment tab. |
| Step 2 |
On the Equipment tab, expand Equipment > Chassis. |
| Step 3 |
Choose the chassis that you want to acknowledge. |
| Step 4 |
In the Work pane, click the General tab. |
| Step 5 |
In the Actions area, click Acknowledge Chassis. |
| Step 6 |
If Cisco UCS Manager displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.Cisco UCS Manager disconnects the chassis and then rebuilds the connections between the chassis and the fabric interconnect or fabric interconnects in the system. |
At this point you should go into the USCM and verify that all chassis as well as all blades, power supplies, fans etc are all goo dna there are no alarms or events.
The Journey of binary bits 
