UCS-C 220 m4-M6 software updates free?

[netgn]

Hi all,

   I've always been under the impression with Cisco that you have to have a valid service contract in order to get access to software updates.  I've taken over admin duties for someone and need to upgrade the UCS/FI environment.  I noted that our service contract expired about 6 months ago and on a whim decided to see if I could download software.  Now I don't have any contracts associated with my CCO account and am able to download the software freely without any service or software support contracts.  Does anyone know if this is right?  Or did Cisco leave the door open on accident?  So do I need to have a valid contract to download software or is this like the Catalyst 9000 series software upgrade program?  

I read through some of the install documentation, and again Im new to this so learning as i go, but from what I gather there is no requirement for anything during install either.  

So again my real question is should I renew my smartnet contract in order to just get access to downloads?  Or can I grab these downloads for free off Cisco with a basic CCO account?  

[Leo Laohoo]

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@netgn wrote:

Or can I grab these downloads for free off Cisco with a basic CCO account?  

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Create a new CCO login and see if it is possible to download the files with it.

[Kasun Bandara]

Hi,

you need valid contract to download many cisco contents. you can try with new CCO id first to download the things you want. if you getting authorization error, you need to buy a valid cisco contract for given devices which you need to renew via cisco partner in your country. partner will ask you for serial numbers to renew contract.

[netgn]

I found my answer buried in some of their documentation below fyi.

I think I found a good answer, check it out.  Page 42, highlighted below.  This is why you can download the updates without valid contract I believe.  

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/servers-unified-computing/ucs-b-series-blade-servers/b200m5-specsheet.pdf

Unified Computing Warranty, No Contract

If you have noncritical implementations and choose to have no service contract, the following

coverage is supplied:

• Three-year parts coverage.

• Next business day (NBD) parts replacement eight hours a day, five days a week.

• 90-day software warranty on media.

• Downloads of BIOS, drivers, and firmware updates.

• UCSM updates for systems with Unified Computing System Manager. These updates include

minor enhancements and bug fixes that are designed to maintain the compliance of UCSM with

published specifications, release notes, and industry standards.