Lower firmware with higher driver version on UCS C 240 standalone

[suhag79]

Hello all,

We have recently installed 4 CISCO UCS c240 M4sx (standalone) to setup the vSAN cluster. 

Current CIMC version of this hardware is - 3.0 (3a)

Cisco 12G SAS Modular Raid Controller container is - 24.12.1-0110, which is having supported firmware

ESXi LSI driver installed is - lsi-mr3 version 7.701.17.00-1OEM 

Now as per the vSAN compatibility, we should match the driver and firmware as per below,

container - 24.12.1 

driver - megaraid_sas version 6.610.15.00-1OEM.

===============

Above compatible driver megaraid_sas version 6.610.15.00-1OEM is supported by 3.0 (1). 

so question is, should i run the "ucs-cxxx-drivers-vmware.3.0.1a.iso" or i can only run the firmware bundle file "ucs-c240m4-huu-3.0.1d.iso" which support the compatible vSAN driver.

Pl help.

Regards,

[Wes Austin]

You should run whatever driver versions are outlined in the matrix. The bundle versions do not necessarily reflect the "required" drivers for the bundle, they are just the drivers that are release when that firmware is released. vSAN required megaraid_sas driver, not lsi-mr3. You do not need both.

You may be required to run a driver version that is contained in a 3.0.1 bundle when you are running CIMC 3.0.3. This is fine. The driver ISO is just a bundle of drivers, not the drivers you should be running for a specific firmware release.

Hope that helps.

[suhag79]

Hi Wes Austin,

Sorry m little confuse..

So what i understand is, i need to run "ucs-cxxx-drivers-vmware.3.0.1a.iso" and this will downgrade the CIMC version from 3.0 (3a) to 3.0(1) ? is this correct ?

and when i run this "ucs-cxxx-drivers-vmware.3.0.1a.iso" , this will also replaced the drive from "lsi-mr3 version 7.701.17.00-1OEM" to "megaraid_sas version 6.610.15.00-1OEM" ?

correct ?

Thanks for your swift reply

[Wes Austin]

You can run whatever CIMC firmware version you want. I recommend the latest "Suggested" release on Cisco.com. You do NOT need to downgrade to 3.0.1 to use that .iso.

ucs-cxxx-drivers-vmware.3.0.1a.iso is just a bundle of drivers made into an ISO file. It has drivers that are the required/supported driver for a mix of all firmware versions. This file is just the bundle of drivers that came out the same time as the 3.0.1 firmware did. If you run that .iso file it will NOT downgrade your CIMC, it will just allow you to browse for the drivers that are contained in the bundle.

When you run that .iso it will not replace lsi-mr3 with megaraid_sas drivers. Your best option is to extract the drivers you need out of that bundle and install them on the hypervisor. You can also download the driver inventory list from Cisco.com that will show you what driver is contained in what .iso file. Once you find the required driver, extract it, and install it via CLI. You will need to ensure that you the correct driver is in use (lsi-mr3 vs megariad_sas). Reference documentation:

UCS Driver Installation for Common Operating Systems

If you are still confused or have questions I would recommend opening a TAC case for assistance.

[suhag79]

Thanks, that  helps.

i have extracted the drive iso 3.0.1 and under the "\Storage\LSI\Cisco_Storage_12G_SAS_RAID_controller\ESXi_6.5" folder, i could not found any driver. instead there is one instruction as below.

===================

VMware README

LSI Driver Update for VMware ESXi 6.5

LSI driver updates are available directly from VMware

Please use the INBOX lsi-mr3 drivers for the LSI MegaRAID SAS controllers. This driver is built into the operating system.

For legacy SAS2 generation controllers, please download updated megaraid_sas ESXi 6.5 drivers for the LSI MegaRAID SAS controllers from this location.

Please follow the instructions on the VMware website for installing the drivers.

=======================

Hence, instead of running whole ISO, i will go to the location mention above and download the driver "VMware ESXI6.0 scsi-megaraid-sas 6.610.15.00-1OEM SAS Driver" from VMware site,

https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=DT-ESXI60-LSI-SCSI-MEGARAID-SAS-66101500-1OEM&productId=491

Thanks for yr advice.