UCS Manager 3.2 (2b) firmware upgrade questions

[lasdcisco]

New with UCS, here are my questions for firmware upgrades:

1. Does the UCS Manager automatically download the latest firmware for chassis as well as blade servers (in our case), or do i have to download them manually on Cisco.com

2. one of our our chassis' I/O module is showing a newer version of firmware is in "Startup Version" pending next boot, how do i reboot just the I/O module? 

3. the other chassis I/O module is showing the newer firmware in "Backup Version", how do I make it to "Startup Version" then perform step above?

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

1. The UCSM/FI/IOM  A bundle is the infrastructure bundle.

     The B series bundle is for the blades.

     The C series bundle is for the Rack servers.

Each is a separate download.

2. To reboot the IOM, you can click on reset (in equipment view, under the chassis, IOM)

3.  Sounds like you have upgraded the infrastructure (which copies the newer version to the 'backup' slot).  You now need to 'activate' the newer version, and can choose the set startup only, pending reboot.

When the FI's are rebooted they automatically check and reset the IOMs on that side.

As long as you have all the IOMs activated for 'start up' only, then they will wait until you reboot the FIs.

The UCSM auto install normally takes care of all this for you.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[lasdcisco]

I'm getting this error when trying to activate the newer version.  how do i access the default infrastructure policy settings?  

[Kirk J]

Greetings.

You will want to clear the startup version.

See below:

[lasdcisco]

umm, that option is grayed out on my end.  I checked under FSM tab, FSM status is showing In Progress but it's stuck at 88% since yesterday.  So confusing, we may just redo the setup from beginning, fortunately no production servers are using this yet.

[lasdcisco]

I tried to upgrade the infrastructure firmware via Firmware Auto Install, here's what i've done:

However, after i went through the wizard and triggered the update, it keeps stuck in "retry" status

[Kirk J]

Would really need to take a look at the UCSM tech supports, check processes to see specifically what is hanging up the upgrade.

I would suggest opening a TAC case at this point...

Do need to point out that 3.22x version requires 2.28 or 3.1x as interim version before going to 3.22 or higher. "Upgrading directly to Cisco UCS Manager 3.2(x) is supported from Release 2.2(8) and later releases"

Thanks,

Kirk...

[lasdcisco]

the UCS Manager is already at version 3.2, the infrastructure is still at 2.2.  could this mismatch cause the hung?

[Kirk J]

The UCSM component is always upgraded first, followed by the NXOS (system, kickstart) of the FI switches, and the IOMs.

The issue may be the nxos portion of either the IOMs or the FIs is hanging because you are trying to jump from 2.25 (based on screen shot) and not 2.28 or higher, which does not meet the minimum requirement for 3.2.

Try the following to cancel/clear out the pending/failing 3.22 auto install:

Create additional 'infrastructure' auto install, but reference a 'not set' version.

 

This should supersede/cancel out the pending 3.22 auto-install instance.

After this, you should be able to manually re-activate the 2.25 original UCSM component.

Once that is complete, you can re-issue an auto install against a 2.28 version.

Thanks,

Kirk...

[lasdcisco]

I assume I have to download the 2.28 package from Cisco correct? Thanks.

[Wes Austin]

That is correct.

[lasdcisco]

I'm confused on the order of upgrading.  Is the order UCS Manager-->FI-->IOM and blades?

currently our UCS Manager is running 3.2 but the rest are still on 2.2(5).  According to the Kirk's post, i have to cancel out the auto install of 3.2 for FI, IOM and blades, upgrade them to 2.2(8) first, and then upgrade them to 3.2 via Firmware Auto Install.  Is this correct?

[Wes Austin]

That is correct.

I would just use auto-install to upgrade to 2.2.8, then use host firmware packages to upgrade the blades to 2.2.8.

Then use the same procedure to move to 3.2.

[lasdcisco]

when i cancel out the 3.2 auto install the Upgrade Manager will automatically pick up 2.2(8) as the next upgrade level for all the non-UCS Manager components? or do i need to go to Cisco's download site and download each 2.2(8) upgrade file manually?

[Wes Austin]

No, you will need to cancel the upgrade and re-initiate an upgrade/downgrade to 2.2.8. You will need to download the firmware bundle from cisco.com and load it into UCSM. This is the A bundle.

You will also need the B bundle for your blades and the C bundle if you have rack mount servers.