UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers
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How to configure the Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers to the supported Tested Reference Configuration
This following sections describe how to configure the Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers to the supported Tested Reference Configuration (TRC).
Configuration Checklist for Installing and Configuring the Server
Table 4 provides a checklist of the major steps required to install and configure UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers. The Related Documentation column contains references to documentation that is related to the step.
| | Configuration Steps | Related Documentation |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 | Prepare to install the server. |
Cisco UCS C210 Installation and Service Guide |
| Step 2 | Physically install and connect the server. | Cisco UCS C210 Installation and Service Guide |
| Step 3 | Power on the server and Configure Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) for remote management. | Cisco UCS C210 Installation and Service Guide |
| Step 4 |
If you purchased the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server server separately from UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers, configure the RAID settings to the following specifications:
|
Cisco UCS C210 Installation and Service Guide |
| Step 5 |
If you purchased the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server server separately from UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers, configure the BIOS to the following specifications:
–SATA5:Optiarc DVD first –PCI Raid Adapter second | Cisco UCS C210 Installation and Service Guide |
| Step 6 | Install and configure VMware ESXi on the smaller of the two available disks. Refer to Table 3 for the supported versions of VMware ESXi. |
Cisco UCS C-Series Servers VMware Installation Guide VMware ESXi documentation |
| Step 7 | Install vSphere Client. |
vSphere Client documentation |
| Step 8 | Align the datastores for the VMs. | Aligning the Datastore Used for VMs |
| Step 9 | Install and configure virtual machines (VMs). | Creating Virtual Machines |
|
Step 10 | Install UC Applications on VMs. | See Installing UC Applications On a VM |
Preparing To Install
This section describes how to prepare to install a UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server in a standalone configuration, meaning that it is not in a datacenter.
You should allocate the following resources before installation:
- Space in a rack to receive a 2 RU Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server
- 3 Ethernet ports on a switch close to the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server:
- – One port for the CIMC
- – Two ports for the LAN on motherboard (LOM) NICs
- Optionally, up to four IP addresses for the Broadcom NIC, if your server has it
- An IP address for the CIMC management port
- An IP address for the virtual host. This is the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server's IP address and is used by ESXi.
- A maximum of four IP addresses for the LAN on motherboard (LOM) NICs
- A hostname, and optionally configure DNS for the virtual hosts' hostname
- IP addresses for the VMs
Configuring RAID
If you purchased the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server server separately from UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers, configure the RAID settings to the following specifications:
- The first 2 drives are configured as a RAID 1 (mirrored) drive. This drive is for ESXi installation.
- The remaining drives, if any exist, are configured as a RAID 5 drive. This drive is for UC Applications application VMs.
Follow this procedure to perform this task:
Step 1Make sure that Quiet Boot is disabled by following these steps:
- a. Boot the server and watch for the F2 prompt during bootup.
- b. Press F2 when prompted to enter the BIOS Setup utility.
- c. On the Main page of the BIOS Setup utility, set Quiet Boot to Disabled. This allows non-default messages, prompts, and
- POST messages to display during bootup instead of the Cisco logo screen.
- d. Press F10 to save your changes and exit the utility.
Step 2 During server bootup, press Ctrl+Y to enter the preboot CLI.
Step 3 Enter the following commands to determine the current RAID configuration:
- -ldinfo -l0 -a0
- -ldinfo -l1 -a0
- The required configuration is two drives in a RAID 1 array for logical drive 0, and for servers with more drives, the remaining drives in a RAID 5 array for Logical drive 1. If the RAID configuration is wrong, continue with this procedure.
 | Note: | Do not continue with this procedure if RAID is configured correctly. |
Step 4 Enter the command -cfgclr -a0 to clear the RAID configuration.
 | Caution: | Clearing the RAID configuration deletes all data on the hard drives. |
Step 5 Determine the Device ID of the enclosure that contains the disk drives by entering the command -encinfo -a0 -page 20.
- If necessary, page through the output to find the Device ID of the enclosure that has a non-zero entry for Number of Physical Drives. Substitute this Device ID value where deviceID appears in the commands in this procedure.
Step 6 Determine the starting slot number in the enclosure that you identified by entering the command -pdinfo -physdrv [deviceID:0] -a0.
- If this command generates meaningful output, the drives start at slot zero. If it generates an error, the drives start at slot one.
- If this command generates meaningful output, the drives start at slot zero. If it generates an error, the drives start at slot one.
Step 7 Configure the first RAID array by entering one of the following commands, depending on the starting slot number:
- If your drives start at slot zero, run this command:
- -cfgldadd -r1 [deviceID:0, deviceID:1] -a0
- If your drives start at slot one, run this command
- -cfgldadd -r1 [deviceID:1, deviceID:2]-a0
Step 8 If your server contains 6 total disk drives, enter the following command to configure the second RAID array:
- -cfgldadd -r5 [deviceID:2, deviceID:3, deviceID:4 deviceID:5] -a0
- -cfgldadd -r5 [deviceID:2, deviceID:3, deviceID:4 deviceID:5] -a0
Step 9 If your server contains 10 total disk drives, configure the second RAID array by entering one of the following commands, depending on the starting slot number:
- If your drives start at slot zero, run this command:
- -cfgldadd -r5 [deviceID:2, deviceID:3, deviceID:4 deviceID:5, deviceID:6, deviceID:7, deviceID:8, deviceID:9] -a0
- If your drives start at slot one, run this command:
- -cfgldadd -r5 [deviceID:3, deviceID:4 deviceID:5, deviceID:6, deviceID:7, deviceID:8, deviceID:9, deviceID:10] -a0
Step 10 If the hard drives did not have a RAID configuration previously, you are done configuring RAID. If the hard drives had a RAID configuration before, continue with this procedure.
Step 11 Enter the following commands to initialize the logical volumes.
- -ldinit -start -full -l0 -a0 (l0 is the letter l and the number 0, not the number 10)
- -ldinit -start -full -l1 -a0 (l1 is the letter l and the number 1, not the number 11)
- This clears data on the drives and initializes the new array.
- -ldinit -start -full -l0 -a0 (l0 is the letter l and the number 0, not the number 10)
Step 12 Allow these commands to finish running before exiting the Preboot CLI. Enter the following commands to display the progress of the commands:
- -ldinit -showprog -l0 -a0
- -ldinit -showprog -l1 -a0
- When both commands report that no initialization is running, it is safe to quit the Preboot CLI.
Step 13 After configuring the two logical volumes, you can exit the Preboot CLI by entering q.
Installing vSphere Client
When the virtual host is available on the network, you can browse to its IP address to bring up a web-based interface. The vSphere Client is Windows-based, so the download and install must be performed from a Windows PC.
Once the vSphere Client is installed, you can run it and log into the virtual host using the virtual host's name or IP address, the root login ID, and the password you configured.
You can join the host to a vCenter if you want to manage it through vCenter.
Aligning the Datastore Used for VMs
| Note: | This section does not apply to servers that contain only 2 disk drives. There is only one logical volume on such servers. |
When you install VMWare ESXi, the second logical volume is automatically imported unaligned. VMs have better disk performance when all partitions (physical, ESXi and VM) start on the same boundary. This prevents disk blocks being fragmented across the different boundaries.
To ensure that the ESXi partition used for VMs will be aligned, you should delete the unaligned datastore (the larger disk partition), then recreate the datastore using vSphere client.
Creating Virtual Machines
Cisco provides a VM template for you to download and transfer to your virtual host. Use this template to create the VMs for UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers installation.
Before you deploy the template and create VMs, you should have a hostname and IP address allocated for each new VM.
Follow these steps to create a VM and prepare to install UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers on it:
Step 1 Download the VM template for your application.
Step 2 Upload the template to a datastore on the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server.
- It is recommended to use the smaller datastore (with ESXi installed on it) for this.
Step 3 Make this template available to the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server.
Step 4 Deploy the template file using vSphere Client. Enter the following information for the new VM:
- hostname
- datastore—Select the larger datastore
Step 5 Complete creating the VM.
- At this point a new VM has been created with the correct amount of RAM, number of CPUs, size and number of disks for the intended application.
Step 6 Install UC Applications on the VM. See the "Installing UC Applications on a VM" section for more information.
Installing UC Applications On a VM
Follow this procedure to install UC Applications on a new VM:
Step 1 In vSphere Client, edit the VM to force entry into BIOS setup the next time the VM reboots.
Step 2 Make the UC Applications installation media available to the VM DVD-ROM drive.
Step 3 Power on the VM, then in BIOS setup, promote CD ROM to boot before the hard drive.
Step 4 Complete booting the VM.
- The UC Applications installation program starts. For information about performing the installation, see the document Installing UC Applications.
- The UC Applications installation program starts. For information about performing the installation, see the document Installing UC Applications.
| Note: | UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers does not support a hardware clock; you must use NTP. The option to configure a hardware clock is not available in the installation program. |
Migrating To UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers
Migrating from a Media Convergence Server (MCS server) to a UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server follows a procedure that is very similar to replacing server hardware, which is described in the document Replacing a Single Server or Cluster for UC Applications.
Table 5 provides an overview of the migration process and references to other pertinent documentation.
| Configuration Steps | Related Procedures and Topics | |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1 |
Review the document Replacing a Single Server or Cluster for UC Applications. This document describes how to replace server hardware, which is very similar to migrating from an MCS server to a UC Application on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server. You should perform the document's pre-replacement and post-replacement tasks, and review the procedures for installing UC Applications and migrating data. | Replacing a Single Server or Cluster for UC Applications |
| Step 2 | Upgrade the MCS server to UC Applications Release 8.0(2) or later. | Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration Guide |
| Step 3 |
If the UCS VM will use a different IP address or hostname than the MCS server, change the IP address and hostname of the MCS server to the values that the UCS VM will use. This is required for DRS backup and restore to work. | Refer to the topic "Changing the Cluster IP Addresses for Publisher Servers That Are Defined by Host Name" in the Changing the IP Address and Host Name for UC Applications guide. |
| Step 4 |
Perform a DRS backup on the MCS server.
| Disaster Recovery System Administration Guide |
| Step 5 |
Use the Answer File Generator to generate a license MAC for the UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server. The license MAC is required to obtain licenses for the server. After you obtain the license MAC, you can rehost the licenses for your new server. |
Licensing Model for Virtualized UC Applications Installing UC Applications |
| Step 6 | Create the virtual machine (VM) on the UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server that will be used as the replacement for the MCS node. |
Installing UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers |
| Step 7 | Install the same release of the required UC Application on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server that you installed on the MCS server. |
[Installing UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers]] Installing UC Applications |
| Step 8 |
Perform a DRS restore to restore the data backed up from the MCS server to the UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server.
| Disaster Recovery System Administration Guide |
| Step 9 |
Upload the new licenses to the UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers server. If you did not obtain licenses for the new server already, you must request the licenses first. Note The previous license will no longer be valid. However, you have 30 additional days in which to use your previous license. See Licensing Model for Virtualized UC Applications".
|
Licensing Model for Virtualized UC Applications Cisco Unified Communications Operating System Administration Guide |
VMware Support
Consider the following, when using UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers:
- Install, upgrade, and recovery procedures now use "soft media" such as ISO or FLP (virtual floppy) if the server does not have a DVD drive.
- The answer file generated by the Answer File Generator (platformConfig.xml) cannot get read from a USB key to perform an unattended installation. Instead, you must put the answer file into a FLP image to be mounted in the floppy drive.
- Music On Hold external source and Cisco Messaging Interface requires a mixed MCS/UCS cluster.
- USB tape backup is not supported.
- NIC teaming is configured at the VMware virtual switch.
- Hardware SNMP and syslog move to VMware and UCS Manager.
- Install logs are written only to the virtual serial port.
- Unattended installs use virtual floppy instead of USB.
- Basic UPS Integration, as used with a Cisco 7800 Series Media Convergence Server, is not supported.
- Boot order is controlled by the BIOS of the VMware VM.
- Hardware BIOS, firmware, and drivers must be the required level and configured for compatibility with UC Applications Manager-supported VMware product and version.
- Hardware MIBs are not supported.
- Hardware Failure alert and Hardware failure syslog messages are not available.
- CLI does not support hardware information.
- SNMP Hardware agent does not run on VMware.
- Real-Time Management Tool Client—Hardware alerts are not generated. The scope is limited to Virtual Machine and not to Physical Machine.
- CDP reports as a Virtual Machine.
- Certain kinds of Cisco UCS B-Series Blade Server and Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server hardware alerts are only available via CIM alerting, and must be viewed in VMware vCenter or an equivalent CIM-compliant console.
For more information on the Cisco UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Server, go to the following URL:
To view the list of product installation and configuration guides for Cisco UCS C-Series Integrated Management Controller, go to the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10739/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
To view the list of product installation and configuration guides for Cisco UCS Manager, go to following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/products_installation_and_configuration_guides_list.html
Performing Daily Operations for UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers
Daily operations for UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers software applications are identical to when the application is installed on an MCS server.
There are some differences in hardware management and monitoring, because UC Applications on Cisco UCS C210 Rack-Mount Servers operates in a virtual environment.
Monitoring Hardware from the VM
Applications running in a VM have no ability to monitor the physical hardware. Any hardware monitoring must be done from the CIMC, ESXi plugins, vCenter, or by physical inspection (for flashing LEDs, etc.).
Monitoring from CIMC
The CIMC provides the following hardware monitoring:
- An overview of CPU, memory and power supply health
- An overview of hardware inventory, including CPUs, memory, power supplies and storage
- Monitoring of sensors for power supplies, fans, temperature and voltage
- A system event log that contains BIOS and sensor entries
Monitoring from vSphere Client and vCenter
The vSphere Client provides the following monitoring features:
- When you are logged into vCenter, the vSphere Client displays hardware and system alarms defined on the Alarms tab.
- VM resource usage displays on the Virtual Machines tab, and on the Performance tab for each VM.
- Host performance and resource usage display on the Performance tab for the Host.
- When ESXi is used standalone (without vCenter), hardware status and resource usage are available, but alarming is not possible.
