Overview of configuration, debug, and installation of the Cisco Intersight Virtual Appliance.  The appliance now features customizations for managing at scale and updating network settings if needed. ... View more

Cisco UCS Platform Emulator, Release 4.0(4ePE1)   CONFIGURATION IMPORT NOTE:  Importing configuration backups (All, System, or Logical) taken from the UCS Platform Emulator (UCSPE) to physical UCS Manager domains is not recommended or supported by Cisco TAC.  UCSPE backups should only be imported to UCSPE domains.   New Features and Significant Changes in Cisco UCS PE, Release 4.0(4ePE1) Full scale emulation of UCS Manager 4.0(4e) with support for 6454 Fabric Interconnects and C4200 Series Rack Server Chassis with C125 Rack Servers.  Note that not all features present in UCS Manager 4.0(4e) are supported (see Known Limitations in the Release Notes). New default HW config with 6454 Fabric Interconnects and C4200 Series Rack Server Chassis added. Additional example Hardware configurations have been attached below.  The attached UCSPE configs can be imported from the UCSPE Equipment page. UCSPE is featured in a Cisco dCloud programmability demo.   The demo includes a comprehensive lab guide including the following content for Cisco UCS PowerTool and the Python SDK: Overviews of PowerShell and Python programming environments with step-by-step usage instructions. Code generation examples including code generation with UCS Manager's HTML5 interface. Sample script creation and use with UCSPE. Hardware Feature Summary Please see the Release Notes for a complete list of supported Hardware.  Below is a summary: 6454 Fabric Interconnects C4200 Series Rack Server Chassis with C125 Rack Servers M5 B-Series and C-Series servers including HX220C and HX240C Cisco UCS S3260 chassis, servers, and storage controllers NVMe-based PCIe storage options Known Limitations The Platform Emulator does not support connections to Cisco Intersight to avoid the use of Intersight resources by emulated devices. The Intersight Device Connector has been disabled and the device connector menu in the UI is non-functional. You can use Intersight demo environments in the Cisco demo Cloud (https://dcloud.cisco.com/ ) and Cisco DevNet (https://developer.cisco.com/site/intersight/ ) to explore Intersight management of UCS. Imported configurations should be manually checked to ensure there are no missing or unsupported components.  If issues are experienced following an import, any unsupported components can be manually deleted and missing components manually added through the Equipment menu on the Navigation pane. Firmware Management and Firmware Auto Install have not been fully validated in this release.  If issues are experienced during FW download, please try alternate methods such as API based download (e.g., using PowerTool or Python SDK).  If issues are experienced with FW policies, please try excluding all components from the policy. AAA-based authentication (LDAP, RADIUS, TACACs): The Platform Emulator accepts security configuration changes, but does not enforce local or remote password authentication.  Any username and password combination can successfully log into the Cisco UCS Manger UI with administrator privileges. See the Release Notes for the complete list of Known Limitations. IMPORTANT CONFIGURATION NOTE: Backup/Import of UCSM Configuration The Platform Emulator does not save UCSM configuration state across Emulator resets to avoid consistency issues in UCSM configuration and the emulator HW configuration.  To preserve UCSM state, UCSM backup and import operations can be performed.  See an example backup/import flow at PythonSDK for backup/restore (import) of UCSM config Firmware Management: UCSPE supports uploading B-Series and C-Series server firmware bundles.  Because of the large file sizes of the firmware bundles, UCSPE only supports uploading of stripped-down versions (link below).  Stripped-down versions include only the firmware metadata (not the actual firmware binaries). Download UCSPE Firmware Bundles:  UCS Platform Emulator Firmware Bundles (includes firmware meta-data only) Download Instructions Direct downloads from this site are not supported.  The following links should be used for downloads: OVA and ZIP file downloads: UCSPE_4.0(4e) Downloads Note that download and use of the Platform Emulator is subject to the UCS Platform Emulator License Agreement MD5 hashes for downloads: ZIP: da032a4c904b699e6291fd3c7ea7761a OVA: 946a4b62c860653bdee6dceb13ae5094 ... View more

Cisco has released the 3.0(2) beta version of the the Cisco UCS Manager VMware vSphere HTML client plugin.  The UCS Manager vSphere HTML client plugin enables a virtualization administrator to view, manage and monitor the Cisco UCS physical infrastructure. The plugin provides a physical view of the UCS hardware inventory on the HTML client. You can perform the following tasks using the plug-in: • View Cisco UCS physical hierarchy • View inventory, installed firmware, faults, power and temperature statistics • Map the ESXi host to the physical server • Manage firmware for B and C series servers • View VIF paths for servers • Launch the Cisco UCS Manager GUI • Launch the KVM consoles of UCS servers • Switch the existing state of the locator LEDs   New and Changed Features in Release 3.0(2) Defect fixes. Added a new Fault (F1706) to the Cisco UCS Provider failure conditions list Added support for proactive HA for more than 100 hosts in vCenter   Please see the attached User Guide for specific information on installing and using the plugin with the vSphere HTML client.   The attached registration tool must be used to register the plugin with an existing vSphere HTML client version 6.7 or later.  Here is an example registration tool information screen:   Once the plugin is registered and the vSphere HTML client has been restarted (browser re-opened), the Shortcuts menu in the vSphere HTML client will show a Cisco UCS Monitoring icon:   UCS Domains can be registered from the Management Center menus by providing access information and credentials for each domain:   When a domain is registered, the plugin can be used to perform common configuration operations and monitor UCS domains, servers, and VMs from within the vSphere HTML client: The UCS Manager plugin is currently in beta and supported directly through community.cisco.com.  Please post comments here with questions or feedback. ... View more

 Attached are XML schemas for UCS Manager.  Each file specifies the version of UCS Manager represented by the schema. ... View more

Sign In to Intersight with SSO Single sign-on (SSO) support has been added to Intersight. Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication enables you to use a single set of credentials to log in to multiple applications.  With this functionality, you can configure Intersight to allow sign in using your Cisco.com ID or SSO.  Learn more about SSO with Intersight here: https://intersight.com/help/resources/#single_sign-on_with_intersight. Video Overview and Example Setup A video overview of the SSO setup process is now available, and additional details will be posted here soon. ... View more

Cisco UCS Platform Emulator, Release 3.2(3ePE1)   CONFIGURATION IMPORT NOTE:  Importing configuration backups (All, System, or Logical) taken from the UCS Platform Emulator (UCSPE) to physical UCS Manager domains is not recommended or supported by Cisco TAC.  UCSPE backups should only be imported to UCSPE domains.   New Features and Significant Changes in Cisco UCS PE, Release 3.2(3ePE1) Full scale emulation of UCS Manager 3.2(3e) which supports M5 Hardware.  Note that there are limited functional changes from the previous release and not all features present in UCS Manager 3.2(3e) are supported (see Known Limitations). New default HW config with M5 servers added. Additional example Hardware configurations have been attached below.  The attached UCSPE configs can be imported from the UCSPE Equipment page. UCSPE is featured in a Cisco dCloud programmability demo.   The demo includes a comprehensive lab guide including the following content for the Cisco UCS PowerTool and Python SDK: Overviews of PowerShell and Python programming environments with step-by-step usage instructions Code generation examples including code generation with UCS Manager's HTML5 interface Sample script creation and use with UCSPE Hardware Feature Summary Please see the Release Notes for a complete list of supported Hardware.  Below is a summary: M5 and M4 B-Series and C-Series servers including HX220C and HX240C Cisco UCS S3260 chassis, servers, and storage controllers NVMe-based PCIe storage options Known Limitations The Platform Emulator does not support connections to Cisco Intersight to avoid the use of Intersight resources by emulated devices. The Intersight Device Connector has been disabled and the device connector menu in the UI is non-functional. You can use Intersight demo environments in the Cisco demo Cloud (https://dcloud.cisco.com/ ) and Cisco DevNet (https://developer.cisco.com/site/intersight/ ) to explore the Intersight management of UCS. Imported configurations should be manually checked to ensure there are no missing or unsupported components.  If issues are experienced following an import, any unsupported components can be manually deleted and missing components manually added through the Equipment menu on the Navigation pane. Firmware Management and Firmware Auto Install have not been fully validated in this release. If issues are experienced during FW download, please try alternate methods such as API based download (e.g., using PowerTool or Python SDK). If issues are experienced with FW policies, please try excluding all components from the policy. AAA-based authentication (LDAP, RADIUS, TACACs)— The Platform Emulator accepts security configuration changes, but does not enforce local or remote password authentication.  Any username and password combination can successfully log into the Cisco UCS Manger UI with administrator privileges. See the Release Notes for the complete list of Known Limitations. IMPORTANT CONFIGURATION NOTE: Backup/Import of UCSM Configuration The Platform Emulator does not save UCSM configuration state across Emulator resets (to avoid consistency issues in UCSM configuration and the emulator HW configuration).  To preserve UCSM state, UCSM backup and import operations can be performed.  See an example backup/import flow here: PythonSDK for backup/restore (import) of UCSM config Firmware Management: UCS PE supports uploading B-Series and C-Series server firmware bundles.  Because of the large file sizes of the firmware bundles, UCS PE only supports uploading of stripped-down versions (link below).  Stripped-down versions include only the firmware metadata (not the actual firmware binaries). Download UCSPE Firmware Bundles:  UCS Platform Emulator Firmware Bundles (includes firmware meta-data only) Download Instructions Direct downloads from this site are not supported.  The following links should be used for downloads: OVA and ZIP file downloads: UCSPE_3.2(3e) Downloads Note that download and use of the Platform Emulator is subject to the UCS Platform Emulator License Agreement MD5 hashes for downloads: ZIP: 4B409EB4046354BA333A3AD4BFC4F15F OVA: 587B64E769546E6069E9318D66968FFE ... View more