Cisco IMC for Configuration Management 2012 R2 - Blades?

[joe.poandl]

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/msft_tools/C-Series/sccm/sccm_1_x/user_guide/sccm_userguid…

Hi,

Does the Cisco IMC for Configuration Management 2012 R2 support BLADE devices?

According to the documentation it does not:

Supported Hardware Platforms The Cisco IMC Integration Pack is supported on the following hardware platform: • Cisco UCS C22 M3 Server • Cisco UCS C24 M3 Server • Cisco UCS C220 M3 Series Server • Cisco UCS C240 M3 Series Server • Cisco UCS C260 M2 Server • Cisco UCS C420 M3 Server • Cisco UCS C460 M2 Server • Cisco UCS E160D-M1/K9 • Cisco UCS E160DP-M1/K9 • Cisco UCS E140D-M1/K9 • Cisco UCS E140S-M1/K9

Anyway if you know about this, please respond.  If there is a Cisco tool similar to this that does allow for Cisco Blade management, please let me know.  our servers are:  B220 M4

[Jeffrey Foster · Accepted solution]

Hi Joseph,

You are going to want to download the SCCM Integration Pack for UCSM. The IMC is for just the platforms listed when running in standalone mode. Here is a link to the page where the Integration Pack is available: (Note, please select the one for UCSM):

Cisco UCS Integration Pack for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

Jeff

[joe.poandl]

I've noticed that the UCS seems to require Internet Access.  This is a problem for me as I am working in a highly secure environment where Internet Access is forbidden.  Is there a way to import drivers, etc from ISO instead of synchronizing with the Cisco Web servers?

[sumbr]

Hi Joseph,

There are 2 options to create driver package in SCCM using our Integration Pack. First one requires internet access. You can actually manually download the driver zip file from cisco.com and import using the 2nd option available as part of the Driver Import Wizard.

You can download the Windows OS drivers by using the below link.

https://software.cisco.com/download/type.html?mdfid=284296254&flowid=&softwareid=283291009

Please select the appropriate OS required and select driver zip version 2.0(1) and download the zip file locally.

You can use this driver zip for OS deployment on both Cisco UCS C-Series and B-Series servers.

Thanks!

Sumanth

[joe.poandl]

Sorry for asking all of these questions but you are all doing a great job on informing me.  I have tight timelines and this forum is very much helping me.

I'm still having a bit of problems with the drivers.  I'm familiar with DELL servers.  Dell has a utility similar to UCS for CM 2012 r2.  However, with the Dell tool, you need to download drivers based on Server Model.  At work, we use 5 different Dell models and therefore, we download special driver Zips per each Dell server model.  In this way, the Dell drivers are matched perfectly for the Model.  It's important to have the proper certified drivers per Model.

However, it seems you are recommending downloading https://software.cisco.com/download/type.html?mdfid=284296254&flowid=&softwareid=283291009https://software.cisco.com/download/type.html?mdfid=284296254&flowid=&softwareid=283291009

We are using B type servers and I can't find a ZIP for B model servers?  Are you saying to simply use the C Model drivers?  That maybe they are the same drivers for All Cisco server models?

To download the driver from cisco.com, follow these steps—

Click Support > Downloads > Products > Server-Unified Computing > Cisco UCS Rack-Mount

Standalone Server Software. From the list, select particular standalone server, select Drivers, and

click Download button.

Note Driver zip version 2.0.3 is not supported in this release for operating system deployment.

[sumbr]

Hi Joseph,

We have drivers based on a particular OS rather than for each server model. This driver zip contains all the required drivers for both Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series servers. We don't have a separate driver zip available for B-Series.

Cisco UCS C-Series driver zip will work fine even for the B-Series servers.

Let us know if you need further clarifications on this.

Thanks!

Sumanth

[joe.poandl]

I understand now.  Thank you all for helping with this.  I'm finding the Cisco documentation and support very good.  Thanks a bunch!

[sumbr]

Glad to hear that!. Do let us know if anything else is needed on this.

Thanks!

Sumanth

[joe.poandl]

Another quick question...

As I learn Cisco and plan our Server OS engineering for Cisco, I wonder about any Cisco agents or Software that should be installed on the Windows server OS?

For example, for Dell servers we load Dell OpenManage System Adminstrator OMSA:

This allows us to manage the RAID, view hardware health, check hardware logs, etc via the OS.  Is there a similar product for Cisco servers?

Are there any additional software that the Server OS should get loaded in order to better manage the server?

[reswaran]

Joseph,

We do not have OS based agents.  UCS Manager, UCS Central and other UCS integrations like PowerTool, SCOM MP, SCCM pack, SCO IP are available to manage UCS blade servers.

-Ravikumar

[reswaran]

Hi Joseph,

Glad that you are able to make progress. For any further issues, contact us through Cisco TAC for faster resolution. Support through communities is also available but it is on best-effort basis.

[joe.poandl]

"

We have drivers based on a particular OS rather than for each server model. This driver zip contains all the required drivers for both Cisco UCS B-Series and C-Series servers. We don't have a separate driver zip available for B-Series.

Cisco UCS C-Series driver zip will work fine even for the B-Series servers. "

I think this advice might be wrong?  After downloading 2.0.8a drivers through the technique mentioned, I found that my OSD builds failed.

I then manually built the OS on the UCSB-B200-M4 server.  I then tried to manually apply the drivers in the 2.08a zip file.  But the OS failed to see these as valid drivers.

[joe.poandl]

Inside the ZIP - like in the Chipset area there are EXE files???  These types of files cannot be consumed by SCCM??

[sumbr]

Hi Joseph,

Yes you can't import the EXE files in to the SCCM. Have you tried importing the 2.0.8a driver zip file using the Cisco UCS Driver Import Wizard? This will create the driver package for the OS install properly. It also helps you inject the right set of drivers to the boot image that will be used for the OS Deployment.

[joe.poandl]

Yes I have and have posted the results here:  Create Cisco UCS Server Driver Package - CM 2012 R2