Cross-Version Firmware B-Series

[EnricoG.]

Hi everybody, we have: Cisco UCS 5108 AC2 Chassis (PID: UCSB-5108-AC2) Cisco UCS 6332 16UP (PID: UCS-FI-6332-16UP) Cisco UCS B200 M4 (PID: UCSB-B200-M4) UCS VIC1340 vCenter 6.5 U1 Esxi 6.5 U1 FW Bundle 3.2 (1d) Do you think is possible to have the version of the Fabric interconnect Firmware (Bundle A) greater than the version of the host Firmware (Bundle B)? Specifically, is it possible to have Esxi 6.5 U1 with version 4.1 (1) of the Fabric interconnect Firmware (Bundle A) and version 4.0 (4) of the host Firmware (Bundle B)? Attached is the Cross-Version Firmware table. Thanks.

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

Greetings.

The Cross support matrix indicates all the previous B/C series firmware bundles that are supported with the higher version Infrastructure (A) version.

When you are looking at the UCS HCL it is based on the B/C series bundle actually applied to a blade or rack server, and not the UCSM version.  Granted, there may be certain equipment dependencies that may require a certain version of both the blade/rack bundle and the ucsm.

Kirk...

[EnricoG.]

Thanks a lot for your answer.
How do I know if there are equipment dependencies that require a certain version of both the blade/rack bundle and the ucsm?

Is there a compatibility matrix between ESXi and UCS Bundle A?

[Steven Tardy · Accepted solution]

No, there is no direct ESXi <> UCS A-bundle matrix.

UCSM is "one step removed" from the server and for the most part doesn't really care what OS is on the servers.

The UCS HCL gives OS <> UCS B/C-bundle.

The UCS release notes gives UCS B/C <> UCS A-bundle (Cross-Version Firmware Support).

So indirectly you have OS <> UCS B/C <> UCS A-bundle.

The equipment dependencies which Kirk mentioned are in two locations in the release notes:

• Deprecated Hardware (old hardware, usually several generations, which is no longer supported.)
• New Hardware (new hardware, which didn't exist until UCSM version X so UCSM version X-1 had no idea it existed.)

Be sure to read all release notes between the version UCSM is on to the version to which UCSM is upgrading. For instance, if UCSM was on 3.1 and wanted to upgrade to 4.0, the Deprecated Hardware from 3.2 release notes would typically NOT be listed on the 4.0 release notes.

[EnricoG.]

Many thanks to both of you.