UCS Driver bundle

[pkprasanna]

Hello Cisco Community,

I just wanted to check on the need to install "ISO image of UCS-Rack related linux drivers only".

Linux - say LTS 18.04 of Ubuntu has all the necessary drivers built-in for C240 M5, is it still required to install drivers from the "ISO image for UCS-Rack related linux drivers only" bundle?

If yes, how different are these drivers from the one in Linux?

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

Cisco (as well as 3rd party hardware included in UCS servers such as Intel NICs, LSI/Broadcom, etc) releases updated drivers as defects or enhancements dictate.

The driver's ISO releases are a point in time, as are the OS distribution releases.

If a given OS release occurs a while after a server's firmware and drivers have been published, then there is good chance most the drivers will be the same.  As newer driver ISOs are released, then you will tend to see newer drivers available, and no longer matching the OS inbox versions.

If the inbox drivers are the same version, then no need to upgrade.

If you do decide to upgrade, please check the ucs HCL to confirm you have matching firmware.

Kirk...