UCS Chassis Swap 4.0(4l)

[lee.ainsworth]

Hi,

I have to swap out a chassis with a new chassis, i have a couple of questions:

the old chassis had power issues, so we have been sent a new chassis. 

1: Is it easier to use the original ioms (so they are upgraded already to the same firmware)?

2: will i have to shutdown the fabric ports so as not to interfere with the rest of the domain?

3: will there be any issues i may come across in regards to the port channels that the ioms are connected to when i open up the fabric ports again after installation?

the old chassis is numbered 5, if i decommission the old chassis, and put in the new chassis - will i be able to recommission the new chassis to use the same chassis number or will it just take the last one available? I.e.  we have chassis 1-7, will it take number 8? am i able to decom the chassis and put a new one in or will i have to remove the old chassis entirely from the fabric?

what is the best process to remove the old chassis safely without causing any issues for the rest of the domain so that we can put in the new chassis seamlessly?

Also, while the chassis is populated with 8 servers, only 1 is in use. This will be put in maint and powered down. With the 7 blades not in use, i'm going to just remove them and put them back in the new chassis in the same order. When i replace the Server that is in use back in the new chassis, same slot...will there be any issues when bring it back up? is it linked to the old chassis/serial number in anyway?

Thanks

[Steven Tardy]

There are a few prior community posts which may help:

https://community.cisco.com/t5/unified-computing-system/replacing-ucs-5108-eol-chassis/td-p/3555447

https://community.cisco.com/t5/data-center-and-cloud-documents/how-to-reclaim-ucs-chassis-id-after-replacement/ta-p/3122200

I would:

1. Decommission the existing Chassis
2. Shutdown switchports to existing Chassis
3. Delete existing Chassis from UCSM / Equipment / [Decommissioned]
   1. This is so the "new" chassis will reuse the existing number (5) instead of taking the next available number (8).
   2. This will also purge any existing UCSM knowledge of the old blade/IOM/etc SNs.
4. Physically disconnect existing Chassis
5. Unconfigure switchports
6. Physically swap chassis/blades/IOMs/PSUs/Fans
7. Reconfigure switchports as server ports
8. Wait for UCS to finish discovery of chassis
9. Apply Service Profile to servers

Think that answers all of your questions if not directly.

Hope that helps.

[lee.ainsworth]

Hi Steven,

i actually found those before and read through them, but i thought it best to have it in one place.

points 5 and 7, why would i unconfigure the ports rather than just admin down them?

Im running FW 4.0(4l) - does that change any of the steps? will the new chassis automatically get added to the port channel (chassis/fex discovery policy)after configuring the the switchports to server again?