Cisco Intersight Management for UCS X-Series Lab v1

First Published: 2022-03-21

Last Modified: 2022-04-26

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© 2022 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 About 1
About This Demonstration 1
Topology 2
About This Solution 2
Before You Present 3
Get Started 3
Sign into Cisco Intersight 3

CHAPTER 2 Deploying a UCS X-Series Domain Using the Cisco Intersight GUI 7

Naming the UCS Domain, Assignment, and VLAN Configuration 7

Port Configuration 11
UCS Domain Configuration 13
Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series) 18
Configure LAN Connectivity for the Server Profile 24
Assign and Deploy the Server Profile to a Server 28
Optional: Install an Operating System 30

CHAPTER 3 Deploying a UCS X-Series Domain Using the Cisco Intersight API 35
Automating the UCS Domain Profile Creation and Deployment Process 35
Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series) 40
Configure LAN Connectivity for the Server Profile 47
Assign and Deploy the Server Profile to a Server 51
Optional: Install an Operating System 52

CHAPTER 4 What’s Next? 57

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Contents

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 CHAPTER 1
About
• About This Demonstration, on page 1
• Topology, on page 2
• About This Solution, on page 2
• Before You Present, on page 3
• Get Started, on page 3

About This Demonstration

This demonstration provides you access to a dedicated physical Cisco UCS X-Series system. You access the
UCS X-Series system using a demo Cisco Intersight account that connects to the Cisco UCS X-Series system
as a target. The demo takes you through the process of configuring the UCS X-Series system manually, using
the Cisco Intersight GUI, or through automation that is built on the Cisco Intersight API.
Review this guide along with Cisco Intersight documentation. Also, refer to Cisco Intersight Managed Mode
Configuration Guide when running through this demonstration:

Requirements

Required Optional
Laptop

Limitations
This demo presents two methods ways to configure UCS Domain profiles: using a GUI or using an API. You
can only demonstrate one method in a session. After demonstrating one method, if you must demonstrate the
other, you must start a new session.

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 About
Topology

Topology

About This Solution

Cisco Intersight provides a portfolio of services that enables intelligent visualization, optimization, and
orchestration to bring your teams, tools, infrastructure, and applications together.
Cisco Unified Computing System with X-Series (UCS X-Series) provides the functionality of both blade and
rack servers, offering compute density, storage capacity, and expandability in a single system. Cisco Intersight
manages UCS X-Series from the cloud using SaaS or on-premises using appliances. UCS X-Series with
Intersight has an adaptable, future-ready, modular design that meets the needs of modern applications and
improves operational efficiency, agility, and scale.
Several key components comprise UCS X-Series.
• Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis - The chassis has a unified Ethernet fabric with UCS Intelligent Fabric Modules
and the ability to add future fabrics (for example, CXL, PCIe Gen 5, and so forth) with Cisco UCS
X-Fabric Technology. With a midplane-free design, I/O connectivity for the X9508 chassis is accomplished
with front-loading, vertically oriented compute nodes intersecting with horizontally oriented I/O
connectivity modules in the rear of the chassis.
• Cisco UCS 9108 Intelligent Fabric Modules (IFMs) - IFMs brings the unified fabric into the X9508 blade
server chassis enclosure, providing connectivity between the blade servers and the fabric interconnects,
simplifying diagnostics, cabling, and management. IFMs connect the I/O fabric between:
• Cisco UCS 6454 Fabric Interconnects
• Cisco UCS 64108 Fabric Interconnects
• Cisco UCS X9508 Chassis

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 About
Before You Present

The IFMs also manages the chassis environment (power supply, fans, and blades) with the fabric
interconnects. Therefore, there is no requirement for separate chassis-management modules.
• Cisco UCS X-Fabric Technology Slots - Eight front-facing flexible slots can house a combination of
compute nodes and future resources such as GPUs, FPGAs, and storage. The first server node is the
Cisco UCS X210c M6 Compute Node.

Before You Present

Cisco dCloud strongly recommends that you perform the tasks in this document before presenting it in front
of a live audience. This will allow you to become familiar with the structure of the document and content.
dCloud recommends using the Chrome browser for all demos.

PREPARATION IS KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION.

Get Started
Follow the steps to schedule a session of the content and configure your presentation environment.

Procedure

Step 1 Initiate your dCloud session. [Show Me How].

Note It may take up to 30 minutes for your session to become active.

Step 2 Connect to the workstation using the Cisco dCloud Remote Desktop client [Show Me How].
The dCloud Remote Desktop client works best for accessing an active session with minimal interaction.

Sign into Cisco Intersight

Note If needed, click Yes to dismiss any Remote Desktop Connection warnings.

Procedure

Step 1 Double-click .
You are signed in automatically to the desktop.
Step 2 In the desktop, double-click the Google Chrome shortcut and then, in the resulting dialog, click Login.
Example:

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 About
Sign into Cisco Intersight

Note The system prepopulates the Username and Password fields. Do not change them.
The Meet Intersight pop-up displays.

Step 3 In the Meet Intersight pop-up, click Skip.

Step 4 To see the data associated with the session username, in the upper-right, click the Profile menu.
Example:

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About
Sign into Cisco Intersight

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 About
Sign into Cisco Intersight

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 CHAPTER 2
Deploying a UCS X-Series Domain Using the
Cisco Intersight GUI
A UCS Domain Profile configures a Fabric Interconnect pair through reusable policies. The profile allows
you to configure the ports and port channels, and also configures the VLANs and VSANs in the network.
Assign one UCS Domain Profile to one Fabric Interconnect Domain.
You can define port, VLAN, VSAN, and other UCS domain policies for use in your fabric.

Note Use any name that you want when creating policies and domains. This demo guide uses specific names to
provide guidance.

Creating a UCS domain profile consists of:

1. Naming the UCS domain
2. Optionally assigning the UCS Domain Profile to the Fabric Interconnect cluster
3. Defining UCS Policies for the UCS domain

• Naming the UCS Domain, Assignment, and VLAN Configuration, on page 7

• Port Configuration, on page 11
• UCS Domain Configuration, on page 13
• Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series), on page 18
• Optional: Install an Operating System, on page 30

Naming the UCS Domain, Assignment, and VLAN Configuration

The Domain Policy creation wizard in Cisco Intersight has two main stages:
• General - The General page allows you to select the organization and enter a name for your policy.
Optionally, include a short description and tag information to identify the policy.
• Policy Details - The Policy Details page has properties applicable to the UCS Domain Policies. You can
define various Policies that configure the likes of Port Configuration. In this section, you set the VLAN
and Multicast policies.

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Naming the UCS Domain, Assignment, and VLAN Configuration

Procedure

Step 1 In the menu, click Profiles then, in the Profiles display, click UCS Domain Profiles, then click Create UCS
Domain Profile and then, click Start.
Example:

Step 2 In the UCS Domain Profile Policy page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Domain-Profile-01 and then,
click Next.
Example:

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Naming the UCS Domain, Assignment, and VLAN Configuration

Step 3 Click Assign Now and then, in the Domain Name list, select UCS-IMM-Pod and then, click Next.
Example:

Step 4 Configure the VLAN Policy.

a) Under Fabric Interconnect A, in the VLAN Configuration row, click Select Policy then, in the Policy
pane, click Create New.
Example:

b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-VLAN-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
Example:

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Naming the UCS Domain, Assignment, and VLAN Configuration

c) In the Policy Details page, click Add VLANs then, in the Add VLANs page, in the Name/Prefix field,
enter Demo and then, in the VLAN IDs field, enter 5-7,10.
Example:

d) Under Multicast, click Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, click Create New.
e) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Multicast-Policy-01 then, click Next and
then, in the Policy Details page, click Create.
Note Do not change the default settings on this page.
f) In the Add VLAN page, click Add.
The system creates VLANs 5, 6, 7, and 10.
g) In the Policy Details page, click the check box next to Set Native VLAN ID then, under VLAN ID enter
10 and then, click Create.
Example:

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Port Configuration

h) In the VLAN & VSAN Configuration page, under Fabric Interconnect B, in the VLAN row, click
Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, select Demo-VLAN-Policy-01.

i) To verify the profiles, click the profile under each fabric and, when done, click Next.

Port Configuration
In this section, you configure the ports and port roles for the Fabric Interconnect. Each Fabric Interconnect
has a set of ports in a fixed port module that you can configure. You associate the Port Policy with a switch
model.

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Port Configuration

Procedure

Step 1 In the Ports Configuration page, under Fabric Interconnect A in the Port Configuration row, click Select
Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, click Create New.
Step 2 In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Port-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
Example:

Step 3 In the Unified page, leave the defaults and then, click Next.
Step 4 In the Breakout Options page, leave the defaults and then, click Next.
Step 5 In the Port Roles page, in the image or the port list, select ports 17 and 18 and then, click Configure.
Example:

Step 6 In the Configure (2 Ports) page, in the Role drop-down, select Server and then, click Save.
The system highlights the two ports you configured in the 6454 Fabric Interconnect image indicating the ports
are server ports.

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UCS Domain Configuration

Step 7 To configure an Ethernet uplink, select port 48 in the image or the port list and then, click Configure.
Step 8 In the Configure Port page, in the Role drop-down, select Ethernet Uplink and then, click Save.
The system highlights the port that you configured in the 6454 Fabric Interconnect image indicating the port
is an Ethernet Uplink port.

Step 9 After you verify the correct server and Ethernet Uplink ports, to save the port policy, click Save.
Step 10 Under Fabric Interconnect B, in the Port Configuration row, click Select Policy then, in the Policy detail
pane, click Demo-Port-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
Note You can configure a separate port policy for Fabric Interconnect B to support different port
configurations for the A and B fabrics. Normally, you use separate port policies when configuring
SAN fabric connections. Otherwise, you can attach the same port policy to both fabric
interconnects.

UCS Domain Configuration

In this section, you configure the Policies for NTP, Network Connectivity, System QoS, and Switch Control.

Procedure

Step 1 In the UCS Domain Configuration page, under Management, in the NTP row, click Select Policy and then,
in the Policy detail pane, click Create New.
a) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-NTP-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
b) In the Policy Details page, in the NTP Servers field, enter 198.18.128.1 then, in the Timezone
drop-down, select America/New_York and then, click Create.
Example:

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UCS Domain Configuration

Note For the Timezone, you can choose any time zone that you want rather than
America/New_York.

Step 2 In the Network Connectivity row, click Select Policy and then, in the Policy detail pane, click Create New.
a) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Net-Connect-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
b) In the Policy Details page, in the Preferred IPv4 DNS Server field, enter 198.18.133.1 and then,
click Create.
Example:

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UCS Domain Configuration

Step 3 In the UCS Domain Configuration page, in the System QoS row, click Select Policy and then, in the Policy
detail pane, click Create New.
a) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-System-QoS-Policy-01 then, click Next and
then, in the Policy Details page, click Create.
This demo uses the default QoS values.

Step 4 In the UCS Domain Configuration page, in the Switch Control row, select Select Policy then, in the Policy
detail pane, click Create Policy.
a) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Switch-Control-Policy-01 then, click Next
and then, in the Policy Details page, click Create.
This demo uses the default Switch Control values.
You configured the NTP, Network Connectivity, System QoS, and Switch Control policies.

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UCS Domain Configuration

b) Review the policies, and then click Next.

Step 5 In the Summary page, review all the policies and then, when done, click Deploy twice.
The status of the profile is Configuring. This process takes some time. During processing, the Last update
column indicates when the profile was modified.

Step 6 To view the progress of the deployment, at the top of the display, click the Requests icon.
Example:

The Requests pane displays.

Step 7 To see the details of the progress of the deployment, click one of the requests.
When the deployment completes, you see that all the flows are marked with a check mark and the status is
Success.

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UCS Domain Configuration

Note After the UCS Domain Profile deploys, UCS chassis and server discovery begins automatically.
You see several requests kick off in the Requests Monitor. The requests must complete before
you see full details for discovered chassis and servers or you can deploy a UCS Server Profile.
For this environment, the entire discovery process can take about 20 minutes. While waiting for
the discovery process to complete, continue with the next section to create a UCS Server Profile.
In Cisco Intersight, we can take advantage of the ability to create logical configuration objects
that you later apply to physical hardware.

Step 8 To view the Fabric Interconnect, under Operate, click Fabric Interconnects and then, click UCS-IMM-Pod
FI-B.

Step 9 To view the USC Domain Profile, in the Operate > Fabric Interconnects > UCS-IMM-Pod FI-B display,
click the UCS Domain Profile tab.

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Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series)

Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series)

A Server Profile defines a server and its compute, storage, management, and network characteristics. When
you deploy a Server Profile to a server, Cisco Intersight automatically configures the server and its connections
to match the configuration specified in the server profile. A configuration that is drawn from the specified
policies and pools comprises a Server Profile.
Policies in Cisco Intersight provide different configurations for UCS servers including: BIOS settings, firmware
versions, disk group creation, Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) settings, and more. Once
configured, you can assign a policy to any number of servers to provide a configuration baseline.
Pools are the basic building blocks to uniquely identify hardware resources. As the basis for the UCS
management model, they allow Service Profiles to be associated with any blade server while providing the
same ID and presentation to the upstream LAN or SAN.
Server Profile Templates enables you to define a template from which you can derive and deploy multiple
server profiles. Any property modification that you make in the template syncs with all the derived profiles.
Then, you deploy these modified profiles individually. This feature provides quick and easy configuration
because you can create and edit multiple profiles simultaneously.
In this section, you create Server Profiles using the Server Profile wizard which simplifies the process and
also allows you to create the required policies. A future demo release adds the use of Server Profile Templates.

Procedure

Step 1 Start and configure the UCS Server Profile.

a) In the menu, under Configure, click Profiles then, in the Profiles page, click UCS Server Profiles and
then, click Create UCS Server Profile.
Example:

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Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series)

b) In the Create UCS Sever Profile page, click Start.

c) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-UCS-Server-Profile-01 then, under Target
Platform, select UCS Server (FI Attached) and then, click Next.
d) In the Server Assignment page, click Assign Later and then, click Next.
Note You will assign a server later in the process, when the servers have been fully discovered
after the UCS Domain deployment performed earlier.

Step 2 Assign the UUID Pool.

a) In the Compute Configuration page, under UUID Pool, click Select Pool and then, in the Pool detail
pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-UUID-Pool-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Pool Details page, in the Prefix field, enter F733776E-1ED8-11E2.
d) Under UUID Blocks, in the From field, enter 0000-000000000001 then, in the Size field enter 128
and then, click Create.
Step 3 Configure the BIOS policy.
a) In the Compute Configuration page, click BIOS then, click Select Policy and then, in the BIOS detail
pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-BIOS-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
The Policy Details page displays, listing the BIOS settings and their defaults. You customize these settings
for your server requirements.

c) In the list, next to Processor click + then, in the Energy Performance drop-down, select
balanced-performance, then in the CPU Performance drop-down, select enterprise and then, click
Create.
Example:

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Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series)

Step 4 Configure the Boot Order policy.

a) In the Compute Configuration page, in the Boot Order row, click Select Policy and then, in the Boot
Order details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Boot-Order-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, under Configured Boot Mode, click Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
(UEFI) then, in the Boot Device drop-down, select Local Disk.
The local disk configuration section appears.

d) Under Local Disk 0, in the Device Name field, enter Demo-Local-Disk-01 and then, in the Slot
field, enter MSTOR-RAID.
e) Click Add Boot Device and then, select Virtual Media.
f) Under Virtual Media 0, in the Name field, enter Demo-Virtual-Media-01 and then, in the Sub-Type
drop-down, select KVM MAPPED DVD.
You have added both boot devices. You can change the order using the up and down arrows on a specific
device.

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Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series)

g) Make sure the KVM MAPPED DVD is first in the boot order then, click Create.
Step 5 Configure the Virtual Media policy.
a) In the Compute Configuration page, in the Virtual Media row, click Select Policy and then, in the
Virtual Media details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Virtual-Media-Policy-01 and then, click
Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, click Create.
At this point, the BIOS, Boot Order, and Virtual Media policies are attached to the profile.
d) To continue the Management Configuration, click Next.
You now configure the IMC Access, Local User, and Virtual KVM policies.
Step 6 Configure IMC Access.
a) In the Management Configuration page, in the IMC Access row, click Select Policy and then, in the
IMC Access details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-IMC-Access-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, under In-Band Configuration, in the VLAN ID field, enter 10 then, under
IP Pool click Select IP Pool and then, in the Select IP Pool details pane, click Create New.
d) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-IP-Pool-01 and then, click Next.
e) In the IPv4 Pool Details page, enter the following information and then, click Next.

Field Name Value

Under Configuration
Netmask 255.255.255.0
Gateway 198.18.0.1
Primary 198.18.133.1
DNS
Under IP Blocks
From 198.18.0.100
Size 10

Note You can use the same pool on multiple policies or profiles to coordinate address assignment
across an available subnet address range.
Example:

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f) In the IPv6 Details click Configure IPv6 Pool and then, click Create.
You disabled the IPv6 pool configuration and created the IP Pool policy.

g) Review the IMC Access policy and then, click Create.

Step 7 Configure the Local User policy.
Note You must define a local user to connect to the KVM. When you open a KVM, you get a window
to the KVM Manager. Use the credentials from this policy to log in.
a) In the Management Configuration page, in the Local User row, click Select Policy and then, in the
Local User details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Local-User-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, under Password Properties, click Enable Password Expiry and then, under
Local Users, click Add New User.
Example:

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d) Next to New User click + and then, in the New User dialog, in the Username field, enter admin then,
in the Role drop-down, select admin then, in the Password and Password Confirmation fields, enter
C1sco12345 and then, click Create.
Example:

Step 8 Configure the Virtual KVM policy.

a) In the Management Configuration page, in the Virtual KVM row, click Select Policy then, in the
Virtual KVM details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Virtual-KVM-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, click Create.
Step 9 Review the values for the IMC Access, Local User, and Virtual KVM policies and then, to connect the policies
to the Management Configuration of the profile, click Next.
Step 10 Configure the storage policy.
a) In the Storage Configuration page, in the Storage row, click Select Policy and then, in the Storage
Policy details pane, click Create New.

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b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Storage-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, in the M.2 RAID Configuration row, click Enable and then, click Create.
Example:

You attached the storage policy to the storage configuration.

d) In the Storage Configuration page, click Next.

Configure LAN Connectivity for the Server Profile

The LAN Connectivity Policy determines the connections and the network communication resources between
the server and the LAN on the network. You must create the Ethernet Adapter, Ethernet QoS, and Ethernet
Network policies as part of the LAN connectivity policy. For IMM servers, use a MAC pool or static MAC
addresses, to assign MAC addresses to servers and to identify the vNICs that the servers use to communicate
with the network.

Procedure

Step 1 Configure LAN connectivity.

a) In the Network Configuration page, in the LAN Connectivity row, click Select Policy and then, in the
LAN Connectivity details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-LAN-Connect-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, in the vNIC Configuration section, click Auto vNIC Placement and then,
click Add vNIC.
Example:

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Configure LAN Connectivity for the Server Profile

d) In the Add vNIC page, in the Name field, enter vnic0, then under Mac Address Pool, click Select Pool
and then, in the Pool details pane, click Create New.
e) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-MAC-Pool-01 and then, click Next.
f) In the Policy Details page, in the From field, to complete the MAC address, enter AB:00:00 then, in the
Size field, enter 256 and then, click Create.
Step 2 Configure the vNIC failover policies.
a) In the Add vNIC page, verify that Switch ID is A then, under Ethernet Network Group Policy click
Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, click Create New.
Example:

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b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-Net-Group-Policy-01 and then, click
Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, in the Allowed VLANS field, enter 5-7 then, in the Native VLAN field, enter
5 and then, click Create.
d) In the Add vNIC page, under Ethernet Network Control Policy click Select Policy and then, in the
Policy details pane, click Create New.
e) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-Net-Control-Policy-01 and then, click
Next.
f) In the Policy Details page, click Enable CDP then, click Enable Transmit then, click Enable Receive
and then, click Create.
Example:

g) In the Add vNIC page, under Ethernet QoS click Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, click
Create New.
h) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-QoS-Policy-01 then, click Next and then,
in the Policy Details page, click Create.
You can adjust the Ethernet QoS settings based on server operating system requirements. For this
demonstration, use the default settings.
i) In the Add vNIC page, under Ethernet Adapter click Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane,
click Create New.
j) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-Adapter-Policy-01 then, click Next
and then, in the Policy Details page, click Create.
You can adjust the Ethernet Adapter settings based on server operating system requirements. For this
demonstration, use the default settings.

Step 3 In the Add vNIC page, verify the settings and then, click Add.

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Note In the Add vNIC settings, the Connection section is for configuring usNIC or VMQ adapter
settings. The Disabled button does not disable this connection, but means that there are no usNIC
or VMQ adapter settings.

Step 4 For Fabric Interconnect B, create another vNIC.

a) In the Policy Details page, click Add vNIC
b) In the Add vNIC page, in the Name field, enter vnic1.
c) In the Switch ID drop-down, select B then, for the MAC Pool and Failover policies, select the policies
that you defined in 1.d, on page 25 through Step 3, on page 26 then click Add.
Step 5 In the Policy Details page, verify that you created vnic0 and vnic1 and then, click Create.
Step 6 In the Network Configuration page, verify that you created and attached the LAN Connectivity policy and
then, click Next.
Example:

Step 7 In the Summary, verify the settings for the configurations and then, click Close.
Because you have not assigned the profile to a server, as indicated by the Not Assigned status, you cannot
deploy it now. When you click Close, the system saves the profile.
Example:

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Assign and Deploy the Server Profile to a Server

Assign and Deploy the Server Profile to a Server

Procedure

Step 1 In the UCS Server Profile list, click the check box next to the profile you just created then, click and
then, in the General page, click Next.

Step 2 Assign the server profile to a discovered server and then, click Next.
For example, select the circle next to UCS-IMM-Pod-1-3.
When you complete this step, you see a message stating that the profile updated successfully.
Step 3 Click Close.
You saved the profile. In the profile list, you see that the profile status is Not Deployed.

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Step 4 Select the profile, then in the top left of the list, click then, select Deploy and then, in the Deploy UCS
Server Profile pop-up, click Deploy.
Example:

You see a message stating the deployment started.

Step 5 To view the progress of the deployment, click the Requests number at the top right and then, click the request.

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Optional: Install an Operating System

Step 6 When the deployment completes, in the menu, click Profiles, Policies, and Servers to view the status for
those items.

Optional: Install an Operating System

Cisco Intersight provides secure Virtual KVM capabilities for Fabric Interconnect-attached and standalone
Cisco UCS systems, and HyperFlex server nodes. Launch the virtual keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM)
console directly from Cisco Intersight.
In this section, you install VMware ESXi using a vKVM and an ISO mounted with virtual media.

Procedure

Step 1 In the menu, under Operate, click Servers then, at the end of the row with the server profile

Demo-UCS-Server-Profile-01, click and then, in the drop-down, select Launch KVM.

Example:

A new browser tab displays the KVM console.

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Note If the KVM console does not display and you receive a login dialog, the credentials are Username
admin and Password C1sco12345.

Step 2 To mount the install media, click Virtual Media and then, in the drop-down, select vKVM-Mapped vDVD.
Example:

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Step 3 In the Map Virtual Media - CD/DVD dialog, click Browse then, select
ISOs/VMware-ESXi-7.0.3-Custom-Cisco-4.2.1-a and then, click Open.
You could choose any .iso file but, for this demo, use the file that is indicated.
Example:

Step 4 In the Map Virtual Media - CD/DVD dialog, click Map Drive.
You receive a message that the drive was mapped successfully.
Step 5 To verify the mapping, click Virtual Media.
You see that the virtual DVD mapped to the ISO image.

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Optional: Install an Operating System

Step 6 Warm boot the server.

a) Click Power then, select Reset System and then, in the confirmation dialog, click Confirm.
After the system reset initiates, you see BIOS POST messages as the server starts up.

The reset takes up to ten minutes and you may see some No Signal messages while the reset occurs.
When the reset completes, you see a message stating the operating system, in this example VMware ESXi,
is ready to begin installation.

Step 7 On your keyboard, press Esc and then, F11 to end the setup.
Step 8 Close the KVM Console browser tab.

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 CHAPTER 3
Deploying a UCS X-Series Domain Using the
Cisco Intersight API
In this section, we run through the process of automatically creating and deploying a UCS Domain Profile
and all related UCS Policies using Python tools that are built on the Intersight Python SDK. By leveraging
automation through the Intersight API, you can complete configuration, management, and operations in a
fraction of the time compared to manually using the GUI.
UCS domain profiles allow you to predefine the configuration for fabric interconnects using associated UCS
domain policies. You then define and deploy the UCS domain profiles, providing verifiable, scalable, and
repeatable configurations that you can use for consistency in your fabric.
You define port, VLAN, VSAN, and several other UCS domain policies to use in your fabric. The Intersight
API enables automating the entire process.

Note Before proceeding with configuring using the API, you must start a new demo session.

• Automating the UCS Domain Profile Creation and Deployment Process, on page 35
• Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series), on page 40
• Optional: Install an Operating System, on page 52

Automating the UCS Domain Profile Creation and Deployment

Process
In this section, you run through the process of automatically creating and deploying a UCS Domain Profile
and all related UCS Policies using Python tools that are built on the Intersight Python SDK.

Note You can use the Python tools in this demonstration in any environment to automate Cisco UCS configuration
and deployment on Intersight. Access them at
https://developer.cisco.com/network-automation/detail/f337ca4e-2647-11ec-a54c-622e68afe087/.

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Before you begin

Important If you are not logged into Cisco Intersight, log in before continuing.

Procedure

Step 1 In the Select Service drop-down, click System.

Step 2 Create an API key and copy the API and Secret Keys.
a) In the Settings page, click API Keys and then, in the API Keys pane, click Generate API Key.
Example:

b) In the Generate API Key dialog, in the Description field, enter key01 then, select API key for OpenAPI
schema version 2 or 3 and then, click Generate.

c) To copy the API Key to the clipboard, next to the API Key section, click .

d) To save the secret key to a text file, next to the Secret Key section, click .
The secret key downloads to the workstation.
Step 3 Edit the ucs_domain_deployment_tool.py file.
a) Minimize the jump server RDP window then, on the desktop, right-click the
ucs_domain_deployment_tool.py file and then, select Edit with IDLE 3.7 (64 bit).
Example:

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b) In the ucs_domain_deployment_tool.py file, in the key_id statement, right-click between the

quotation marks and then, select Paste.
You pasted the key_id in the clipboard into the file.

c) After verifying the key_id is correct, click File > Save and then, click Run > Run Module.
Example:

The python script runs in the Python shell window. When it completes, you see messages indicating the
UCS Domain Profile and all related UCS Policies are created and deployed similar to the following.

d) Return to the jump server RDP session and then, to close the Generate API Key dialog, click Close.
Step 4 Return to the jump server then, in, Cisco Intersight, click Profiles > UCS Domain and then, verify that the
UCS Domain profile deploys.
Step 5 To view the progress of the deployment, at the top of the display, click the Requests icon.
Example:

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The Requests pane displays.

Step 6 To see the details of the progress of the deployment, click one of the requests.
When the deployment completes, you see that all the flows are marked with a check mark and the status is
Success.

Note After the UCS Domain Profile deploys, UCS chassis and server discovery begins automatically.
You see several requests kick off in the Requests Monitor. The requests must complete before
you see full details for discovered chassis and servers or you can deploy a UCS Server Profile.
For this environment, the entire discovery process can take about 20 minutes. While waiting for
the discovery process to complete, continue with the next section to create a UCS Server Profile.
In Cisco Intersight, we can take advantage of the ability to create logical configuration objects
that you later apply to physical hardware.

Step 7 To view the Fabric Interconnect, under Operate, click Fabric Interconnects and then, click UCS-IMM-Pod
FI-B.

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Step 8 To view the USC Domain Profile, in the Operate > Fabric Interconnects > UCS-IMM-Pod FI-B display,
click the UCS Domain Profile tab.

Create a Server Profile in Cisco Intersight (X-Series)

A Server Profile defines a server and its compute, storage, management, and network characteristics. When
you deploy a Server Profile to a server, Cisco Intersight automatically configures the server and its connections
to match the configuration specified in the server profile. A configuration that is drawn from the specified
policies and pools comprises a Server Profile.
Policies in Cisco Intersight provide different configurations for UCS servers including: BIOS settings, firmware
versions, disk group creation, Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) settings, and more. Once
configured, you can assign a policy to any number of servers to provide a configuration baseline.
Pools are the basic building blocks to uniquely identify hardware resources. As the basis for the UCS
management model, they allow Service Profiles to be associated with any blade server while providing the
same ID and presentation to the upstream LAN or SAN.
Server Profile Templates enables you to define a template from which you can derive and deploy multiple
server profiles. Any property modification that you make in the template syncs with all the derived profiles.

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Then, you deploy these modified profiles individually. This feature provides quick and easy configuration
because you can create and edit multiple profiles simultaneously.
In this section, you create Server Profiles using the Server Profile wizard which simplifies the process and
also allows you to create the required policies. A future demo release adds the use of Server Profile Templates.

Procedure

Step 1 Start and configure the UCS Server Profile.

a) In the menu, under Configure, click Profiles then, in the Profiles page, click UCS Server Profiles and
then, click Create UCS Server Profile.
Example:

b) In the Create UCS Sever Profile page, click Start.

c) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-UCS-Server-Profile-01 then, under Target
Platform, select UCS Server (FI Attached) and then, click Next.
d) In the Server Assignment page, click Assign Later and then, click Next.
Note You will assign a server later in the process, when the servers have been fully discovered
after the UCS Domain deployment performed earlier.

Step 2 Assign the UUID Pool.

a) In the Compute Configuration page, under UUID Pool, click Select Pool and then, in the Pool detail
pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-UUID-Pool-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Pool Details page, in the Prefix field, enter F733776E-1ED8-11E2.
d) Under UUID Blocks, in the From field, enter 0000-000000000001 then, in the Size field enter 128
and then, click Create.
Step 3 Configure the BIOS policy.
a) In the Compute Configuration page, click BIOS then, click Select Policy and then, in the BIOS detail
pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-BIOS-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
The Policy Details page displays, listing the BIOS settings and their defaults. You customize these settings
for your server requirements.

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c) In the list, next to Processor click + then, in the Energy Performance drop-down, select
balanced-performance, then in the CPU Performance drop-down, select enterprise and then, click
Create.
Example:

Step 4 Configure the Boot Order policy.

a) In the Compute Configuration page, in the Boot Order row, click Select Policy and then, in the Boot
Order details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Boot-Order-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, under Configured Boot Mode, click Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
(UEFI) then, in the Boot Device drop-down, select Local Disk.
The local disk configuration section appears.

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d) Under Local Disk 0, in the Device Name field, enter Demo-Local-Disk-01 and then, in the Slot
field, enter MSTOR-RAID.
e) Click Add Boot Device and then, select Virtual Media.
f) Under Virtual Media 0, in the Name field, enter Demo-Virtual-Media-01 and then, in the Sub-Type
drop-down, select KVM MAPPED DVD.
You have added both boot devices. You can change the order using the up and down arrows on a specific
device.

g) Make sure the KVM MAPPED DVD is first in the boot order then, click Create.
Step 5 Configure the Virtual Media policy.
a) In the Compute Configuration page, in the Virtual Media row, click Select Policy and then, in the
Virtual Media details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Virtual-Media-Policy-01 and then, click
Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, click Create.
At this point, the BIOS, Boot Order, and Virtual Media policies are attached to the profile.
d) To continue the Management Configuration, click Next.
You now configure the IMC Access, Local User, and Virtual KVM policies.
Step 6 Configure IMC Access.
a) In the Management Configuration page, in the IMC Access row, click Select Policy and then, in the
IMC Access details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-IMC-Access-Policy-01 and then, click Next.

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c) In the Policy Details page, under In-Band Configuration, in the VLAN ID field, enter 10 then, under
IP Pool click Select IP Pool and then, in the Select IP Pool details pane, click Create New.
d) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-IP-Pool-01 and then, click Next.
e) In the IPv4 Pool Details page, enter the following information and then, click Next.

Field Name Value

Under Configuration
Netmask 255.255.255.0
Gateway 198.18.0.1
Primary 198.18.133.1
DNS
Under IP Blocks
From 198.18.0.100
Size 10

Note You can use the same pool on multiple policies or profiles to coordinate address assignment
across an available subnet address range.
Example:

f) In the IPv6 Details click Configure IPv6 Pool and then, click Create.
You disabled the IPv6 pool configuration and created the IP Pool policy.

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g) Review the IMC Access policy and then, click Create.

Step 7 Configure the Local User policy.
Note You must define a local user to connect to the KVM. When you open a KVM, you get a window
to the KVM Manager. Use the credentials from this policy to log in.
a) In the Management Configuration page, in the Local User row, click Select Policy and then, in the
Local User details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Local-User-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, under Password Properties, click Enable Password Expiry and then, under
Local Users, click Add New User.
Example:

d) Next to New User click + and then, in the New User dialog, in the Username field, enter admin then,
in the Role drop-down, select admin then, in the Password and Password Confirmation fields, enter
C1sco12345 and then, click Create.
Example:

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Step 8 Configure the Virtual KVM policy.

a) In the Management Configuration page, in the Virtual KVM row, click Select Policy then, in the
Virtual KVM details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Virtual-KVM-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, click Create.
Step 9 Review the values for the IMC Access, Local User, and Virtual KVM policies and then, to connect the policies
to the Management Configuration of the profile, click Next.
Step 10 Configure the storage policy.
a) In the Storage Configuration page, in the Storage row, click Select Policy and then, in the Storage
Policy details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Storage-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, in the M.2 RAID Configuration row, click Enable and then, click Create.
Example:

You attached the storage policy to the storage configuration.

d) In the Storage Configuration page, click Next.

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Configure LAN Connectivity for the Server Profile

Configure LAN Connectivity for the Server Profile

The LAN Connectivity Policy determines the connections and the network communication resources between
the server and the LAN on the network. You must create the Ethernet Adapter, Ethernet QoS, and Ethernet
Network policies as part of the LAN connectivity policy. For IMM servers, use a MAC pool or static MAC
addresses, to assign MAC addresses to servers and to identify the vNICs that the servers use to communicate
with the network.

Procedure

Step 1 Configure LAN connectivity.

a) In the Network Configuration page, in the LAN Connectivity row, click Select Policy and then, in the
LAN Connectivity details pane, click Create New.
b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-LAN-Connect-Policy-01 and then, click Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, in the vNIC Configuration section, click Auto vNIC Placement and then,
click Add vNIC.
Example:

d) In the Add vNIC page, in the Name field, enter vnic0, then under Mac Address Pool, click Select Pool
and then, in the Pool details pane, click Create New.
e) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-MAC-Pool-01 and then, click Next.
f) In the Policy Details page, in the From field, to complete the MAC address, enter AB:00:00 then, in the
Size field, enter 256 and then, click Create.
Step 2 Configure the vNIC failover policies.
a) In the Add vNIC page, verify that Switch ID is A then, under Ethernet Network Group Policy click
Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, click Create New.
Example:

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b) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-Net-Group-Policy-01 and then, click
Next.
c) In the Policy Details page, in the Allowed VLANS field, enter 5-7 then, in the Native VLAN field, enter
5 and then, click Create.
d) In the Add vNIC page, under Ethernet Network Control Policy click Select Policy and then, in the
Policy details pane, click Create New.
e) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-Net-Control-Policy-01 and then, click
Next.
f) In the Policy Details page, click Enable CDP then, click Enable Transmit then, click Enable Receive
and then, click Create.
Example:

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g) In the Add vNIC page, under Ethernet QoS click Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane, click
Create New.
h) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-QoS-Policy-01 then, click Next and then,
in the Policy Details page, click Create.
You can adjust the Ethernet QoS settings based on server operating system requirements. For this
demonstration, use the default settings.
i) In the Add vNIC page, under Ethernet Adapter click Select Policy and then, in the Policy details pane,
click Create New.
j) In the General page, in the Name field, enter Demo-Eth-Adapter-Policy-01 then, click Next
and then, in the Policy Details page, click Create.
You can adjust the Ethernet Adapter settings based on server operating system requirements. For this
demonstration, use the default settings.

Step 3 In the Add vNIC page, verify the settings and then, click Add.
Note In the Add vNIC settings, the Connection section is for configuring usNIC or VMQ adapter
settings. The Disabled button does not disable this connection, but means that there are no usNIC
or VMQ adapter settings.

Step 4 For Fabric Interconnect B, create another vNIC.

a) In the Policy Details page, click Add vNIC
b) In the Add vNIC page, in the Name field, enter vnic1.
c) In the Switch ID drop-down, select B then, for the MAC Pool and Failover policies, select the policies
that you defined in 1.d, on page 47 through Step 3, on page 49 then click Add.
Step 5 In the Policy Details page, verify that you created vnic0 and vnic1 and then, click Create.

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Step 6 In the Network Configuration page, verify that you created and attached the LAN Connectivity policy and
then, click Next.
Example:

Step 7 In the Summary, verify the settings for the configurations and then, click Close.
Because you have not assigned the profile to a server, as indicated by the Not Assigned status, you cannot
deploy it now. When you click Close, the system saves the profile.
Example:

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Assign and Deploy the Server Profile to a Server

Assign and Deploy the Server Profile to a Server

Procedure

Step 1 In the UCS Server Profile list, click the check box next to the profile you just created then, click and
then, in the General page, click Next.

Step 2 Assign the server profile to a discovered server and then, click Next.
For example, select the circle next to UCS-IMM-Pod-1-3.
When you complete this step, you see a message stating that the profile updated successfully.
Step 3 Click Close.
You saved the profile. In the profile list, you see that the profile status is Not Deployed.

Step 4 Select the profile, then in the top left of the list, click then, select Deploy and then, in the Deploy UCS
Server Profile pop-up, click Deploy.
Example:

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You see a message stating the deployment started.

Step 5 To view the progress of the deployment, click the Requests number at the top right and then, click the request.

Step 6 When the deployment completes, in the menu, click Profiles, Policies, and Servers to view the status for
those items.

Optional: Install an Operating System

Cisco Intersight provides secure Virtual KVM capabilities for Fabric Interconnect-attached and standalone
Cisco UCS systems, and HyperFlex server nodes. Launch the virtual keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM)
console directly from Cisco Intersight.
In this section, you install VMware ESXi using a vKVM and an ISO mounted with virtual media.

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Procedure

Step 1 In the menu, under Operate, click Servers then, at the end of the row with the server profile

Demo-UCS-Server-Profile-01, click and then, in the drop-down, select Launch KVM.

Example:

A new browser tab displays the KVM console.

Note If the KVM console does not display and you receive a login dialog, the credentials are Username
admin and Password C1sco12345.

Step 2 To mount the install media, click Virtual Media and then, in the drop-down, select vKVM-Mapped vDVD.
Example:

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Step 3 In the Map Virtual Media - CD/DVD dialog, click Browse then, select
ISOs/VMware-ESXi-7.0.3-Custom-Cisco-4.2.1-a and then, click Open.
You could choose any .iso file but, for this demo, use the file that is indicated.
Example:

Step 4 In the Map Virtual Media - CD/DVD dialog, click Map Drive.
You receive a message that the drive was mapped successfully.
Step 5 To verify the mapping, click Virtual Media.
You see that the virtual DVD mapped to the ISO image.

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Optional: Install an Operating System

Step 6 Warm boot the server.

a) Click Power then, select Reset System and then, in the confirmation dialog, click Confirm.
After the system reset initiates, you see BIOS POST messages as the server starts up.

The reset takes up to ten minutes and you may see some No Signal messages while the reset occurs.
When the reset completes, you see a message stating the operating system, in this example VMware ESXi,
is ready to begin installation.

Step 7 On your keyboard, press Esc and then, F11 to end the setup.
Step 8 Close the KVM Console browser tab.

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 CHAPTER 4
What’s Next?
Try the related demonstrations in the CISG Collection to learn how to deliver new levels of operational
efficiency and adaptability to your data center, to unlock the full potential of hyperconverged infrastructure.

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 What’s Next?

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